Studer's BRS Processor Lets You Take Your Surround Environment with You
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(Click for a close-up) |
 September 5, 2001
The new Studer BRS Processor allows the reproduction of surround (and
stereo) audio signals -- including the control rooms acoustics -- over a pair of
headphones.
The introduction of new media and formats for surround sound demands new techniques for
headphone reproduction. Mixing surround is a demanding task and becomes a real challenge when
the monitoring and acoustics are not at level and not comparable. This is true for headphone as well
as for loudspeaker reproduction. The ideal would be a monitoring system with predictable response,
a reference monitoring situation an operator can rely on in any studio of the world -- known
loudspeakers, known loudspeaker position, known acoustics, known sound and for surround and
stereo reproduction.
Now, these criteria can be met with the Studer BRS Processor. It is a unique
monitoring device which allows the reproduction of surround (and stereo) audio signals including the
loudspeakers, their position and the room acoustics of a defined room over a standard headphone set. The
headphone monitoring system consists of the Studer BRS Processor with the measured data of the
preferred room(s) loaded. The first version is used with a standard headphone (not included, has to
meet certain specs). The second version includes a headphone set with headtracker.
The Studer BRS Processor in conjunction with a standard headphone set reproduces precisely
speaker/room acoustics, better than standard surround headphones. In conjunction with the
headphones and headtracker the measured room is reproduced in every detail. Working with a BRS
system is like working with a clone of the measured room with its specific loudspeakers, their
placement and the acoustics. But at any location desired and regardless if surround or stereo
is required.
Known virtual surround headphone systems use model-based algorithms to create the virtual
environment. The Studer BRS processor goes much beyond that and uses measured data from
existing rooms with their loudspeaker systems, including the direct and early reflections and
reverberation. Room scanning measurements are a service Studer representatives provide. They are
made using a dummy-head and a special BRS software and measure at various head rotation angles.
The dummy-head is placed at the optimum listening position in the chosen environment (a control
room, a living room, a car interior etc.). Each binaural room impulse response is measured from each
loudspeaker of the control room to each microphone of the dummy-head. The processed room data
is then downloaded into the BRS Processor. Now, the operator can comfortably carry the preferred
room(s) to any other location being assured the mix still will sound exactly the same like it would
have done in the original room.
In use, the listener has to simply plug the headtracking headphones into the processor and to feed
the audio signal (e.g. stereo, surround 5.1) into the BRS unit. Then the desired room has to be
chosen. The headtracker provides the processor with the information on the rotational head angle of
the listener. The BRS Processor uses this data to address the room database and chooses the
appropriate set of data to calculate the necessary signals for the ears: the equivalent of up to five
loudspeaker signals including the complete room acoustics. The processed signal is fed to the
headphones.
Numerous applications can benefit by using the BRS processor:
- Location work, e.g. remote trucks / OB vans -- emulating the loudspeakers, the acoustics and the size of the main production studio of a facility inside the remote truck.
- Production, e.g. studio facilities -- "cloning" the sound stage or mix theatre for work in edit suites without recourse to re-equalizing and leveling of stems at the final mix
- Post production, e.g. multiple workstation production room -- multiple sound engineers working in the same multi media production room in front of their workstations can listen to their individual, big surround control rooms without affecting each other.
- Studio work with producer -- by using two BRS systems the producer gets the same acoustic impression the sound engineer has, both can sit in the sweet spot. The producer can also audition work in progress at home with the same acoustic environment.
- Sound comparison -- various studios, a theatre, a car, a living room, a movie theatre . . . -- any measured environment contained in the database may be used for monitoring comparisons.
- Listening format comparisons -- to judge the results in surround as well as in stereo without being limited by space, acoustics and loudspeaker positions.
The
Studer BRS Processor will become available at the end of year 2001.
For more information, visit their web site at www.studer.ch. |
