University’s cutting-edge 3D audio software used in production of TV series Halo

APL VIRTUOSO was used in the production of US TV series Halo in its second season (Image: University of Huddersfield/Paramount+)

 

Cutting-edge 3D audio software created by the University of Huddersfield’s Applied Psychoacoustics Lab (APL) has been used to great success in the production of US TV series Halo.

APL VIRTUOSO is a plug-in offering an immersive 3D audio experience similar to using multiple loudspeakers, but all through headphones instead. It allows users to mix or monitor sounds on headphones while retaining the impression of listening to a stereo or immersive loudspeaker setup in a professional studio.

Renowned Professor of Audio and Psychoacoustic Engineering, Professor Hyunkook Lee, and his former PhD student and now colleague Dr Dale Johnson are behind the product, which has recently been named Best New Plugin of 2023 by SonicScoop.

Since its launch in April last year, the software has received praise from sound engineers in a number of fields, including Matthew Chan, the re-recording mixer on both seasons of Halo, who used VIRTUOSO during the second season of the Paramount+ programme which began airing in February.

Professor Lee of the University’s Centre for Audio and Psychoacoustic Engineering explained that APL VIRTUOSO is a binaural audio renderer that virtualises stereo or immersive loudspeaker setups and listening rooms for headphone listening, adding it provides an unprecedented level of tonal and spatial fidelity and a highly accurate translation to real loudspeakers.

He said: “When you are in a VR environment most oftentimes the focus is on the visual side of things but then if the audio doesn’t match what you see it doesn’t really immerse you fully.

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“3D audio can really enhance the sense of presence and immersive experience. We’ve developed our software product VIRTUOSO to provide the benefits of 3D audio over headphones based on our research conducted over seven or eight years.

“VIRTUOSO is essentially an auditory digital twin tool, which allows you to listen to loudspeakers in various listening rooms virtually on headphones. Thanks to our psychoacoustic research, it gives you a more natural and realistic simulation of a speaker listening experience whilst maintaining the tonal integrity of the original sound.”

Halo 2 re-recording mixer, Matthew Chan of Formosa Toronto, said they used the software for approval playbacks on the second season. He added: “We stumbled upon Virtuoso and found it to have the most convincing immersive/spatial render of any plugin we’d tested. You truly feel as though the sound is moving around you.“

Also, importantly, it provides a lot of effective control that we felt was missing from other plugins (ability to dial back the room effect, individual channel controls). We were able to build a preset that was very relatable to our Atmos/Meyer dubstage. We previewed the opening of the first episode in stereo and binaural for our new showrunner. He immediately chose binaural upon hearing the difference.”

Other high-profile users who have heaped praise on the product include:

Michael Patterson, the two time Grammy-winning mixer and producer; Emre Ramazanoglu a mixer and songwriter who has worked with the likes of Noel Gallagher, Lily Allen, Sia and Mark Ronson; Dror Mohar, a sound designer and re-recording mixer who has worked on blockbusters such as The Wolverine, The Greatest Showman, Divergent and The Revenant; and Simon Ratcliffe: a re-recording mixer and producer, who has worked on TV shows and games such as Guild Wars 2, Blood and Water, Chivalry 2, and Vagrant Queen.

Michael Patterson praised VIRTUOSO as “the best binaural monitoring tool” and “way ahead of the competition”. He added: “The records that I have mixed using Virtuoso have translated exceptionally well to speakers and radio, while the score I just mixed translated flawlessly to the dub stage. The ability to adjust the parameters of the "room" allows me to recreate some of my favourite mixing studios to the point where I close my eyes and I feel as if I am sitting in those rooms listening to a playback. Other apps only let you tweak one or two parameters, while Virtuoso enables you to build an entire room how you want.”

Emre Ramazanoglu described VIRTUOSO as “an unprecedented solution” while Dror Mohar said it was “phenomenal” and “truly immersive”. Simon Ratcliffe added that VIRTUOSO was a “really powerful remote QC tool”, saying: “It sounds so realistic that the first time I heard Virtuoso I had to take off headphones and check if the speakers were still on.”

APL VIRTUOSO is available to purchase online through APL’s website here.