Ambisonics Recording and Encoding – from Spherical Arrays to Wearables Videos (videos)

Ambisonics offers a signal-independent and mathematically rigorous framework for representing spatial audio. Widely adopted in industry and deeply studied in academia, Ambisonics models the sound field around a listener’s head using spherical harmonics. This makes it particularly well suited for headphone-based applications such as music playback, virtual reality (VR), and augmented reality (AR). This webinar provides an overview of Ambisonics recording and encoding. It begins with the theoretical foundations of Ambisonics and its relation to the physical sound field, followed by practical encoding using spherical microphone arrays. We then explore the challenges of capturing Ambisonics with arrays based on arbitrarily arranged mixrophones, such as those integrated into wearable devices like AR glasses, where spatial constraints demand novel solutions. Recent signal-independent approaches, such as Ambisonics Signal Matching (ASM), and signal-dependent techniques, including parametric encoding, are reviewed. Additionally, we examine perceptually motivated encoding applied to head-related transfer functions (HRTFs), which enhances the quality of binaural reproduction. Finally, the webinar discusses emerging applications of AI in Ambisonics encoding and processing, highlighting its potential to overcome existing limitations and shape future research directions.