AES Show 2024 NY

This study investigates the perceptual strengths and weaknesses of various immersive audio capture techniques within an orchestral setting, employing channel-based, object-based, and scene-based methodologies concurrently. Conducted at McGill University’s Pollack Hall in Montreal, Canada, the research featured orchestral works by Boulanger, Prokofiev, and Schubert, performed by the McGill Symphony Orchestra in April 2024.
The innovative aspect of this study lies in the simultaneous use of multiple recording techniques, employing traditional microphone setups such as a Decca tree with outriggers, alongside an experimental pyramidal immersive capture system and a 6th order Ambisonic em64 “Eigenmike.” These diverse methodologies were selected to capture the performance with high fidelity and spatial accuracy, detailing both the performance's nuances and the sonic characteristics imparted by the room. The capture of this interplay is the focus of this study.
The project aimed to document the hall's sound quality in its last orchestral performance before closing for 2 years for renovations, providing the methodology and documentation needed for future comparative recordings of the acoustics before and after. The pyramidal system, designed with exaggerated spacing, improves decorrelation at low frequencies, allowing for the impression of a large room within a smaller listening space. Meanwhile, Ambisonic recordings provided insights into single-point versus spaced multi-viewpoint capture.
Preliminary results from informal subjective listening sessions suggest that combining different systems offers potential advantages over any single method alone, supporting exploration of hybrid solutions as a promising area of study for audio recording, enhancing the realism and spatial immersion of orchestral music recordings.