PNW Section ended its meeting season June 16 with the Section Annual Business Meeting/elections and a presentation by Immersion Networks of its novel, cloud-based immersive sound mixing system. Some 34 AES members and 24 others attended the Zoom meeting.
The Section Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary, Treasurer and 5 Committee positions were open. Each had only one candidate and no other nominations were presented, so the ballot was voted in by acclamation. The positions for the 2021-22 PNW Section are:
Next, the evening’s presentation was the debut of a new immersive sound mixing application by Immersion Networks of Redmond, WA. Founder Paul Hubert was joined by Chief Scientist jj Johnston and COO Jim Rondinelli. Applications to graphically mix 3-D audio and headphone virtualization are gaining popularity, but they require special hardware. Immersion’s “Mix³” (Mix Cubed) system relies on cloud-based processing as well as integrated acoustic modelling and virtualization techniques (not simple pan-pots, said jj) to enable accurate graphical 3-D sound mixing without the user having to fuss. The user does upload files to their cloud, then graphically mixes on the app. A range of fees including free was expected.
Demos were done on Zoom and headphones were recommended, but they also have material available on their website (note: the Zoom recording of the meeting is in mono, like all Zoom recordings). Some history of Immersion Networks was given, and some slides of their research facilities. A clip with Wynton Marsalis recorded with Mix³ was played. Local mastering engineer Steve Turnidge was a beta tester and gave his impressions of the system.
jj said that they were not going to present an in-depth technical explanation of their system at this time. After the Q & A session, attendees all had a chance to introduce themselves.
| Reported by Gary Louie, PNW Section Secretary |
