In this follow-up to my SnappySnap review, I demonstrate the plugin's MCP integration, which lets you use Claude as a natural language interface to position immersive audio objects, create snapshots, and automate your mix — all inside your DAW. I walk through the full setup from scratch and show what this kind of AI-plugin collaboration actually looks like in practice.

In this video, I explore InShaper, Sound Particles' new LFO-driven waveshaper plugin, and put its impressive multi-channel capabilities — supporting formats all the way up to NHK 22.2 — to the test in a 7.1.4 Dolby Atmos session in Reaper. While the plugin has some limitations for immersive audio work, such as the inability to bypass individual channels internally, it's a convenient and powerful tool for spatial audio producers looking to add creative waveshaping to their multi-channel workflow.

In this video, I review Orbit by Orbit Spatial — a brand-new dedicated Dolby Atmos music player that finally makes it easy to play back and inspect your Atmos master files without needing the Dolby Atmos Renderer. At just 79 pounds (39 for educational users) and packed with features like object soloing, head tracking, and metadata PDF export, this Mac-only tool gets my first-ever unconditional buy recommendation.

In this video, I explore WaveLab 13's new Dolby Atmos mastering features, walking you through the complete workflow from ADM import to final render. I also compare it to competing solutions and share my honest verdict on whether it's worth the investment.

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 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 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 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.

Dolby quietly added Apple AirPods head tracking support to the Atmos Renderer, burying this game-changing feature in a support article without any proper announcement—and it works with virtually any Apple or Beats headphones containing the H1 or H2 chip. In this video, I'll show you how to set it up, demonstrate its impressive spatial monitoring capabilities in a real mixing session, and even reveal how to use your AirPods as a head tracker for your professional studio headphones.

I'm breaking down four game-changing developments in immersive audio that have been happening behind the scenes: NovoNotes' new format support for 9.1.6 and 7.1.6 configurations, Audio Brewers' revolutionary beamforming decoder, Eclipsa Audio's open-source spatial audio plugins that finally make 3D sound accessible to everyone, and Apple's Spatial Audio Format that transforms static mixes into responsive sound environments. Each of these deserves its own deep dive tutorial which I'll be releasing over the coming weeks, plus there's another massive announcement on the horizon that could revolutionize immersive music production—but I'll have to save that for another day.

In this video, I'm kicking off a new FAQ series by answering the 10 essential questions about Ambisonics—the full-sphere surround sound technology that's become the backbone of VR, AR, and 360-degree video. From understanding the B-format and the difference between AmbiX and FuMa standards, to practical guidance on getting started with Ambisonics in your DAW and monitoring your mixes, this comprehensive guide covers everything you need to know about this increasingly important immersive audio format.