DSpatial debuts Reality 2.0 immersive audio software suite

Immersive sound specialist DSpatial has announced the all-new Reality 2.0 object-based software suite for Pro Tools. 

Available in four versions (VR, ONE, Studio, and Builder), the suite has been designed specifically for Avid’s industry-standard audio production software, shipping in AAX format for direct integration, including systems running in combination with Avid’s S6 console for mixing Dolby Atmos.

Only one mix is required for all delivery formats, with no additional requirement for downmixing, independent of equipment and media for film, music, television, XR (extended reality), or even theme parks and planetariums.

Format support is extensive, with everything content creators, mixers, and producers need require is now integrated into the same workflow, with all mixed tracks re directly compatible with all immersive or non-immersive formats alike, including Atmos, Auro3D, DTS, NHK, Sony SDDS, Ambisonics — FuMa and ambiX (inputs) and FOA FuMa, FOA ACN, or 2nd HOA ACN (outputs) — and binaural for cinematic VR and 360º video. 

Citing Apple’s move to include head tracking in its new AirPods Pro in-ear headphones, even the entry-level Reality VR iteration is positioned to address a growing need for binaural and Ambisonics content in today’s increasingly immersive sound world.

Reality 2.0 follows the release of Reality Builder in 2018, the first audio mixing system compatible with all existing immersive and non-immersive formats, and employs a proprietary physical modelling engine that allows users to realistically recreate real spaces and locate, move, and rotate sound sources in real-time, ‘transporting the listener to a new, virtual yet realistic dimension, thereby magnifying the aural experience and recreating natural soundscapes that rival reality — provided them with a tool to create and manipulate sound in a completely new way as the only existing object-based production system available for Pro Tools.’

There’s no requirement for external hardware to manage and mix the objects. DSpatial’s singular solution is used inside Pro Tools for the creation and production process. The position of DSpatial objects are saved as standard Pro Tools automation, allowing the mix to be modified as many times as necessary until the final rendered mix is completed. This means that the work can be started and finished inside Pro Tools. There is only metadata, so engineers can start work at home and continue it in a large studio later. 

The Barcelona-based software company says the original Reality Builder has found favour in Hollywood film mixing circles with the likes of Oscar-nominated Vincent Arnardi (Amélie) and fellow Oscar nominee Ron Bartlett (Blade Runner 2049) both citing DSpatial’s advancements as an indispensable part of their creative toolkit. It is especially exemplified by Mark Mangini, whose practical application of the system in the oratory composition ‘Last Whispers’ landed him an Oscar for Mad Max: Fury Road.

Reality 2.0 has been natively conceived for immersive 3D production. Instead of being designed around a user interface mirroring old audio hardware, it is rooted in the physical world and how humans interact with it, automatically and meticulously managing an array of complex tasks that, until now, were exclusively executed via manual processes. It’s also format agnostic.

Using Reality 2.0, mix engineers are able to exchange totally compatible sessions between different studios, each one with a different speaker format or even just headphones, and all without losing any spatial and immersive information. 

Consequently,  sound designers could start working in stereo, 5.1, or even binaural, and their sessions can be played back in an Atmos stage while all spatial information is retained. As all positions and related data are recorded in Pro Tools automation, work from different sound designers could also be aggregated with Pro Tools’ Import Session Data feature.

Reality 2.0 users can start working with standard AAX plug-ins inserted on each input channel. 

Time-saving features include a library of more than 200 spaces, both indoors and out. Reality 2.0 also enables engineers to locate, move, rotate, collapse, or explode sound sources in real-time. Reflection, refraction, diffraction, and acoustic scattering produced by walls, objects, and doors are simulated. 

Reality VR, Reality One, Reality Studio and Reality Builder are available for €495, €995, €1,495 and €2,595.00 EUR respectively, here