I review Beyerdynamic's free Headphone Lab plugin, which offers headphone correction and virtual studio room simulation for Beyerdynamic headphones. While it's simple to use and costs nothing, it has limitations including stereo-only support and a missing blend option for the correction curve.

I revisit the Neumann RIME plugin and Supperware Head Tracker combination, now with full 3D head tracking support, and compare it to the newly updated WalkMix Creator for immersive audio production. If you've wanted to work with spatial audio but lack the space or budget for a 7.1.4 studio, this setup is an outstanding and surprisingly affordable solution.

During a conference visit to Athens, I toured Alejandro Cabrera's acoustically isolated studio and discussed his recent integration of Audio Brewers' ambisonic decoder into Pro Tools, which streamlines spatial audio workflows by automating technical configuration. The conversation explored how his dual perspective as artist and developer informs plugin design that prioritizes creative usability over exposing every available parameter.

In this video, I explore the Waves Immersive Wrapper's new ability to wrap any VST3 plugin for immersive audio formats up to 9.1.6, making it one of the most powerful tools in immersive audio today. While the plugin itself is outstanding, I also address the elephant in the room—Waves' controversial 2023 attempt to eliminate perpetual licenses—and explain why this affects my recommendation.

In this video, I take a first look at the Illusonic plugin suite—a set of four immersive audio plugins currently available for free during beta testing, including an impressive upmixing plugin that supports rare formats like Sony 360RA's 13.1 layout. While the documentation is sparse, these plugins offer unique features you won't find elsewhere, and I'm particularly excited about the potential for head-tracking integration with the binaural renderer.

This year I'm doing something different for my year-in-review: instead of talking about my videos, I'm highlighting some of the most negative, insulting, weird, and sometimes insane comments I received in 2025—plus a couple of wholesome ones for balance. From developers upset about not making my top 10 lists to confidently incorrect commenters and AI critics, it's been quite a journey through this year's comment section.

In this video, I answer the 10 most important questions about Sony 360 Reality Audio and MPEG-H, covering everything from technical fundamentals to practical production workflows and how these formats compare to Dolby Atmos. Whether you're a producer considering immersive audio or just curious about spatial audio technology, this guide will give you everything you need to understand these next-generation formats.

In this video, I explore MELD from Metric Halo, a $400 channel strip plugin that brings a master bus workflow to Dolby Atmos by allowing you to group and control multiple instances simultaneously with powerful sidechaining capabilities. However, be warned: it currently has a critical bug in Reaper (and potentially other DAWs) where it doesn't save group assignments, so test thoroughly before buying.

In this interview, I sit down with Thorsten Michels, a maker from our Discord community who builds high-quality ambisonics microphones on a budget. We discuss his DIY approach to immersive audio recording and his new website, ambisonic.studio, where he's making his blueprints and knowledge accessible to anyone wanting to get started with spatial audio without breaking the bank.

In this video, I'm testing the latest update to zplane's Elastique Pitch plugin, which now includes multi-channel support for immersive audio workflows including Dolby Atmos and Ambisonics. I demonstrate how well it works across 16 channels by pitch-shifting in the Ambisonics domain, and while it performs flawlessly, I discuss one small UI improvement that would make the multi-channel mode more obvious to users.

In this video, I explore Blue Cat Audio's Patchwork plugin update that now supports 16-channel processing for immersive audio formats like 9.1.6 and third-order ambisonics, demonstrating how to integrate multi-channel beds into Dolby Atmos Composer sessions within stereo DAWs. While the feature works perfectly in the instrument version, I discovered a significant bug in the effects plugin that currently limits it to 8 channels, something I hope Blue Cat Audio will fix soon.

In this episode, I speak with Patrick Kizny, founder of Slovox and creator of the "Singing Watermelons," a family of immersive sound instruments that use beamforming technology to project sound into architectural spaces.

In this video, I answer the ten most important questions about Dolby Atmos for music production, covering everything from how the format works and its journey from cinema to streaming, to the equipment you actually need and common mixing mistakes to avoid. Whether you're mixing on headphones or speakers, this guide will show you that getting started with Atmos is more accessible than you think—and you might already have what you need to begin.

In this Q&A video, I'm answering your most interesting questions about the Fiedler Audio Mastering Console for Dolby Atmos, covering topics like OBAM-compatible plugins, album assembly for Windows users, plugin scanning issues, and how to use processors on individual objects. I also dive into why head tracking matters for immersive audio production, especially for VR/AR applications and as a practical solution for traveling professionals who can't take their Atmos studios on the road.

In this video, I'm reviewing the APL Duopan plugin, a new panning tool that combines traditional amplitude-based panning with time-based panning approaches based on psychoacoustic principles. I'll demonstrate its features including the T-A slider for blending panning methods, the head shadow functionality that mimics natural frequency dampening, the dual band option for frequency-specific panning, and its seamless integration with immersive audio formats.

In this video, I review the IK Multimedia ARC On-Ear, a portable studio simulation device that promises to solve my biggest frustration with the Qudelix 5K—the difficulty of switching between different headphones. I'll show you how this compact, battery-powered device works, demonstrate its on-device headphone correction and studio simulation features, and share whether it lives up to my hopes for a more user-friendly alternative.

In this Q&A video, I'm answering your questions about Eclipsa Audio—covering what it actually is, how it differs from Dolby Atmos, practical concerns about platform support, and why it's currently Mac-only despite being a Google/Samsung technology. I also share my honest concerns about why releasing this technology as open source so early in development might signal a lack of long-term commitment from the companies behind it.

In this follow-up to my Dolby Atmos Mastering Console review, I explore the software's incredible head tracking implementation, which supports both Apple AirPods and the Supperware head tracker with unique features like non-recentering spatial audio and direct MIDI communication that achieves the lowest latency I've ever experienced. This is hands-down the best solution currently available for monitoring Dolby Atmos through headphones, whether you're on the road or working without access to a full Atmos studio.

Today I'm exploring Fiedler Audio's revolutionary Mastering Console 2 for Dolby Atmos - a comprehensive mastering solution that combines multiple workflows into one powerful application, featuring game-changing tools like a true peak limiter that measures post-render while limiting pre-render, Apple Spatial Audio monitoring for Windows users, and the innovative OBAM plugin format for direct metadata manipulation. This bird's-eye overview showcases how the Mastering Console extends far beyond Dolby's own software capabilities, seamlessly integrating into any Atmos workflow while remaining accessible to both professionals and serious hobbyists - with detailed deep-dives on specific features coming in future videos.

In this tutorial, I walk you through the complete workflow of setting up Eclipsa Audio plugins in Reaper to create immersive audio in the IAMF format, covering everything from configuring the renderer and creating audio elements to routing tracks using both built-in and third-party Ambisonics panners. I'll demonstrate the practical process using a four-track session, showing how to work with YouTube's Base profile to create a 16-channel third-order Ambisonics environment with an additional stereo element, and finally export your project as an IAMF file ready for upload.