Binaural recording is a method of recording sound that uses two microphones, arranged with the intent to create a 3D stereo sound sensation for the listener of actually being in the room with the performers or instruments. This effect is often created using a technique known as dummy head recording, wherein a mannequin head is fitted with a microphone in each ear. Binaural recording is intended for replay using headphones and will not translate properly over stereo speakers. This idea of a three-dimensional or "internal" form of sound has also translated into useful advancement of technology in many things such as stethoscopes creating "in-head" acoustics and IMAX movies being able to create a three-dimensional acoustic experience.
A game engine is a software framework primarily designed for the development of video games and generally includes relevant libraries and support programs such as a level editor. The "engine" terminology is akin to the term "software engine" used more widely in the software industry.
OpenAL is a cross-platform audio application programming interface (API). It is designed for efficient rendering of multichannel three-dimensional positional audio. Its API style and conventions deliberately resemble those of OpenGL. OpenAL is an environmental 3D audio library, which can add realism to a game by simulating attenuation, the Doppler effect, and material densities.
The Environmental Audio Extensions are a number of digital signal processing presets for audio, present in Creative Technology Sound Blaster sound cards starting with the Sound Blaster Live and the Creative NOMAD/Creative ZEN product lines. Due to the release of Windows Vista in 2007, which deprecated the DirectSound3D API that EAX was based on, Creative discouraged EAX implementation in favour of its OpenAL-based EFX equivalent – though at that point relatively few games used the API.
DirectSound is a deprecated software component of the Microsoft DirectX library for the Windows operating system, superseded by XAudio2. It provides a low-latency interface to sound card drivers written for Windows 95 through Windows XP and can handle the mixing and recording of multiple audio streams. DirectSound was originally written for Microsoft by John Miles.
The Gravis UltraSound or GUS is a sound card for the IBM PC compatible system platform, made by Canada-based Advanced Gravis Computer Technology Ltd. It was very popular in the demoscene during the 1990s.
Waves Audio Ltd. is an Israeli developer and supplier of professional digital audio signal processing technologies and audio effects, used in recording, mixing, mastering, post production, broadcast, and live sound. The company's corporate headquarters and main development facilities are located in Tel Aviv, with additional offices in the United States, China, and Taiwan, and development centers in India and Ukraine. In 2011, Waves won a Technical Grammy Award.
QSound is the original name for a positional three-dimensional (3D) sound processing algorithm from QSound Labs that creates 3D audio effects from multiple monophonic sources and sums the outputs to two channels for presentation over regular stereo speakers. QSound was eventually re-dubbed "Q1" after the introduction of "Q2", a positional 3D algorithm for headphones. When multi-speaker surround system support was later added to the positional 3D process, the QSound positional 3D audio process became known simply as "Q3D". QSound was founded by Larry Ryckman (CEO), Danny Lowe and John Lees. Jimmy Iovine served as senior vice president of music and Shelly Yakus as vice president of audio engineering in its formative years.
Sensaura, a division of Creative Technology, was a company that provided 3D audio effect technology for the interactive entertainment industry. Sensaura technology was shipped on more than 24 million game consoles and 150 million PCs . Formed in 1991, Sensaura developed a range of technologies for incorporating 3D audio into PC's and consoles.
Aureal Semiconductor Inc. was an American electronics manufacturer, best known throughout the mid-late 1990s for their PC sound card technologies including A3D and the Vortex The company was the reincarnation of the, at the time, bankrupt Media Vision Technology, who developed and manufactured multimedia peripherals such as the Pro Audio Spectrum 16.
iZotope, Inc. is an audio technology company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. iZotope develops professional audio software for audio recording, mixing, broadcast, sound design, and mastering which can be used in wide range of digital audio workstation (DAW) programs. In addition, iZotope creates and licenses audio DSP technology including noise reduction, sample rate conversion, dithering, time stretching, and audio enhancement to hardware and software companies in the consumer and pro audio industries.
Crystal River Engineering Inc. was an American technology company best known for their pioneering work in HRTF based real-time binaural, or 3D sound processing hardware and software. The company was founded in 1989 by Scott Foster after he received a contract from NASA to create the audio component of VIEW, a virtual reality based training simulator for astronauts. Crystal River Engineering was acquired by Aureal Semiconductor in 1996.
Q is a 3D engine / tech development platform / interoperability standard developed by the London-based developer Qube Software.
MAGIX Samplitude/ Sequoia is a computer program made by MAGIX for recording, editing, mixing, mastering and outputting audio. The first version was released in 1992 for the Amiga and three years later for Microsoft Windows. The latest versions of the software are Samplitude Pro X5, Samplitude Pro X5 Suite and Sequoia 16. Samplitude is an example of a digital audio workstation (DAW).
PrimeSense was an Israeli 3D sensing company based in Tel Aviv. PrimeSense had offices in Israel, North America, Japan, Singapore, Korea, China and Taiwan. PrimeSense was bought by Apple Inc. for $360 million on November 24, 2013.
Auralization is a procedure designed to model and simulate the experience of acoustic phenomena rendered as a soundfield in a virtualized space. This is useful in configuring the soundscape of architectural structures, concert venues, and public spaces, as well as in making coherent sound environments within virtual immersion systems.
TrueAudio is AMD's application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) intended to serve as dedicated co-processor for the calculations of computationally expensive advanced audio signal processing, such as convolution reverberation effects and 3D audio effects. TrueAudio is integrated into some of the AMD GPUs and APUs available since 2013.
3D sound is most commonly defined as the daily human experience of sounds. The sounds arrive to the ears from every direction and varying distances, which contribute to the three-dimensional aural image humans hear. Scientists and engineers who work with 3D sound work to accurately synthesize the complexity of real-world sounds.
ValhallaDSP is a company and brand name for multiple digital reverberator and delay plugins for Macintosh and Windows computers made by Sean Costello.
