Sony’s 360 Reality Audio (360RA for short) was the first time I learned about and experienced Sony’s new product launch at the old dock on the Huangpu River in Shanghai on October 16. On the afternoon of October 29, the 360RA technology was officially launched, and the number of visits increased sharply from the afternoon to the evening that day. I will talk about it here specifically.
App homepage
The picture below shows Mr. Takahashi from Sony introducing 360 sound technology at the introduction conference. I noticed that it adopts the description of "immersive music experience" like the Ambeo system promoted by Sennheiser. The surround sound effect (Surround Sound) has always been something that audio manufacturers cannot ignore, and it makes sense for Sony to create its own surround sound technology.
Sony is very smart to only use 360RA technology for earphone listening. To rely on speakers to achieve surround sound effects, the cost is very high, at least multiple speakers and supporting multi-channel amplifiers are required. This kind of scheme is impossible to be parity. There are also so-called "virtual surround sound" that rely on two speakers + software processing, but that kind of thing is completely incomprehensible, there is no image at all, just some sounds are flashing like ghosts.
Relying on headphones to achieve Surround Sound is the most practical and lowest cost.
conference site
Sony 360RA’s Logo
To enjoy Sony’s 360RA sound effects, what you need is: a pair of Sony headphones (other headphones of course Can also), a mobile phone. You need to download an App on your mobile phone—Sony Selected Hi-Res Music. After downloading, you need to subscribe to high-quality music streaming services. Then enter 360RA's exclusive channel on the home page of the App to enjoy 360RA music specially provided in the channel. Currently there are not many albums available for appreciation in the channel, but it is expected to be expanded soon.
To experience the special features of 360RA, the most effective and quick way is to enjoy the following Demo soundtrack. You can clearly experience the 360-degree image, including the clear image behind the brain and the continuous movement of the image.
360RA’s Demo track
By the way, this "Sony Selected Hi-Res Music" App is a good thing! There are a lot of Hi-Res music with high bitrate (so-called "HD"), and there are also many classical music contents, which can be directly listened to or purchased and downloaded. Although the price is not cheap, the source is genuine and the quality is guaranteed. Many enthusiasts are paying for it. Generally speaking, I noticed that among the new enthusiasts, especially those with good equipment and better economic conditions, they are gradually accepting to pay for genuine music, especially Hi-Res high-rate music, because of the conventional 16bit/ 44.1KHz music can be obtained simply by grabbing tracks, while high-bit-rate music cannot be grabbed and can only be downloaded through official channels for payment. Although there are not many albums in the
360RA channel, and there are no classical music and jazz that I am most interested in, they are all popular, but the experience of sound effects is quite interesting. It provides 3 levels of 360RA effects for each soundtrack. My personal feeling is that level 1 is the closest and smallest sound field, giving people a more intimate and close experience, level 3 is the widest sound field, singer and The distance of the instruments is widened, showing a surround effect in a wider range. Level 2 is in the middle of the sense of space. Appreciators can choose 3 levels of sound effects according to their tastes (also according to earphones).
No matter which level of 360RA sound effect is selected, the unified advantage is a very wide and "immersive" earphone sound field, and it can be noticed that the singer’s knot is very stable in the middle of the sound stage. There will never be "erratic". The sound effects of the accompaniment part other than the human voice are very wide. The sound field and the sound point can sometimes extend to the back of the head, bringing a special,The feeling that ordinary two-channel music does not have.
If you are using Sony’s own headphones or earplugs to enjoy 360RA, then there is also a very interesting black technology feature-human ear optimization and customization. The specific method is to download another Sony "headphones connect" App, it will guide you to use the camera of the phone to take pictures of the left and right ears and upload them to the cloud. The cloud program will analyze the shape of the outer ears of the two ears according to the photos, and then make an assessment of the 360RA The sound effects are optimized to generate a personal configuration data file, which is automatically called when the user enjoys music through the "Sony Select Hi-Res Music" App to help users get the most optimized appreciation effect. Of course we don’t know the specific methods and algorithms, but the result of my own trial experience, I found that after using headphones connect to shoot binaural optimization, the 360RA surround sound effect heard through Sony headphones is indeed improved. Clearer and more pronounced surround sound. This realization process is rather "black technology sense" approach is quite innovative. Of course, I guess it may just divide the human ear into several categories based on the shape of the outer ear, and fine-tune the software accordingly.
This personal configuration file can also be automatically adjusted for the Sony headset model used to achieve the best appreciation effect. Therefore, it is highly recommended to use "Sony Selected Hi-Res Music" to experience 360RA at least one pair of Sony headphones. Although in theory any headphones can experience the effect of 360RA (compared to ordinary stereo recording), only Sony In order to ensure the best experience, you can configure and optimize your own headphones through the headphones connect App.
If you like to play with black technology, be sure to play with this headphones connect customized optimization function.
For the specific model of Sony headset earplugs adapted to 360RA, as well as Sony’s instructions on the use of this technology, please refer to the following link: https://www.sonystyle.com.cn/minisite/pa/360_reality_audio/mobile/index .htm
also contains some artists' evaluations of the 360RA effect. I personally hope to see more music types and albums in the 360RA channel of the App soon!
However, I would like to point out one last thing: According to analysis and speculation, this 360RA music should have been specially produced by Sony’s record company. On the basis of ordinary two-channel recording, it managed to "add in" more about the sound field. Information, even this may be a special, more informative music format, so currently it can only be enjoyed online without downloading. If you support purchase and download in the future, you may have to install special playback software to handle it. In the current surround sound market, AV audio and video are the mainstream. In terms of pure music appreciation, there are not many manufacturers involved (virtual surround sound is not counted). It may be because the commercial revenue is not particularly large—after all, only “enthusiasts” "Users will care about whether the song is traditional stereo or surround sound. But I think it is for this reason that this is a "virgin land" that has not been developed much. If Sony can use its own influence to encourage more people to experience the effects of 360RA and learn to care about the advantages of surround sound, it may be able to break through Create a new world and open up a new market with unpredictable potential.
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