Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1057439
62 F A L L 2 0 1 8 C A S Q U A R T E R L Y Atmos sound bars are becoming more common in the consumer market. Panelists agreed that immersive sound at home is likely to continue expanding. Sound designer Scott Gershin joined this panel after having given the keynote presentation in the morning. He was joined by production mixer Ben Adams, sound effects editor Tim Gedemer, and Netflix audio engineer Scott Kramer. Gershin was the first to discuss the fact that Ambisonics works great on headphones and maybe even at home but does not work in a large theater because the room adds its own acoustics. He also added that the current style of picture editing makes the use of Ambisonics for feature films more confusing than effective, whereas for gaming it makes perfect sense. Panelists agreed that SoundField makes excellent tetrahedral mic systems. Tim Gedemer added that the Schoeps decoding software is as good as the SoundField system, and it is free. The Cantar system does its own decoding. Adams added that Sennheiser AMBEO mics need to be set accurately to the decibel. Some are off by as much as 2 dB per channel, which makes decoding inaccurate. One good thing about Ambisonics, he added, "Ambisonics allow control in post. Binaural does not." Scott Gershin: "I use different paint brushes. Ambisonics, binaural, M/S, multichannel. They all have a place in immersive sound." Scott Kramer pointed out that 70 percent of Netflix users watch media on their television, not through headphones, which makes binaural recording less appealing. "Kids watch on headphones so no one else knows what they are watching. They control it. The TV is generally controlled by the parents." AMBISONIC RECORDING: The Future Is Back Presented by the Cinema Audio Society Following the Parade of Carts, there was a discussion about the use of Ambisonic sound in current media MODERATOR: Glen Trew CAS Photos by David Bondelevitch CAS MPSE OBSERVATIONS BY David Bondelevitch CAS MPSE