On Sun, May 13, 2012 at 01:32:23PM +0200, Ivan Vican wrote: > My questions: do you know how can I find some Ambdec 16-channel presets? > I have found several presets in Ambdec directory, but none of them are > for 16 speakers, so I could really use some help... There are several 16-speaker presets in the Ambdec distribution, but they may not be what you need. The decoding matrix depends on the number and position of the speakers - it is the only part in an Ambisonics system that does. If you send me the list of your speaker positions, either X,Y,Z or (preferred) distance, azimuth,elevation, then I can create an Ambdec preset for your system (free service !). > Also, I have to say I'm confused with the whole AMB plugins thing (I have > read papers where people claim they use both AMB plugins and Ambdec during > Ambisonics reproduction). What is their purpose? Are they just "routing" > the signals to their corresponding places in Ambdec decoding matrix or do > they become redundant if you use Ambdec? Harry has already answered this, but I'll try again using different words. If you use a convetional surround system (e.g. 5.1) then you have in each channel of you mixer a panner that distributes the mono input signal to a combination of speaker channels so you hear that signal from a particular direction. The mixing bus is a set of speaker signals. If you use Ambisonics this is different. There is stil a panner (one of the AMB plugins) in each channel, but the output of the panner, and the mixing bus, does not correspond to speaker signals. It is a set of signals, called B-format, that encodes the direction of each sound in a way that is completely independent of any particular speaker positions. You can mix B-format signals just as you can mix a set a speaker signals. So the mixing bus, and the output of the mixer is B-format. The decoder (Ambdec) converts B-format into a set of speaker signals. The advantage is that you can take your B-format mix to another studio or installation that uses a different set of speaker positions, and nothing in the mix has to change. That other place will use a different Ambdec preset of course, but that is all. That's why you should not consider Ambdec as a part of the production itself, it is just a detail of the playback system. Another way to look at it is this: the combination of an Ambisonic panner (plugin) and the decoder (Ambdec) is a conventional panner producing speaker signals. But since the second part (the decoder) is the same for all channels, it can be split off and done after the mixing instead of in each channel. The number of channels in B-format depends on if you use 2-D surround or 3-D (with height), and on the _order_ of the system. Higher order requires more signals but will provide better reproduction. As already mentioned, Joern Nettingsmeier's papers are an excellent introduction to how things are done in practice. If you need more help, just ask (on the list or privately). Ciao, -- FA A world of exhaustive, reliable metadata would be an utopia. It's also a pipe-dream, founded on self-delusion, nerd hubris and hysterically inflated market opportunities. (Cory Doctorow) _______________________________________________ Linux-audio-user mailing list Linux-audio-user@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx http://lists.linuxaudio.org/listinfo/linux-audio-user
