Ircam HEar v3 - Binaural Encoding Tool

[ AU 32 & 64 bit | VST 32 & 64 bit | AAX Native 32 & 64 bit* ]

Ircam HEar v3 provides faithful reproduction of a stereo or surround mix with a pair of conventional stereo headphones. It relies on proven technology to model the various phenomena that occur when playing back audio material through a loudspeaker system.

This allows monitoring a full surround mix in situations when a surround-capable environment is not available or practical. Another typical use of HEar is doing precise checking of a mix, which is convenient with headphones as these provide a ‘surgical’ and very detailed, microscope-like rendering of the audio. HEar can also prove very useful in a project studio context, and whenever noise isolation is a concern, as it helps achieving a more realistic sound environment. 

Binaural technology

Binaural technology encompasses methods for recording, processing, synthesizing and reproducing sound that are specifically designed to preserve tridimensional localisation properties.

In order to mimic the impression of a sound originating from a given incidence, it is sufficient to filter a mono signal, which on its own lacks any kind of spatial information, with both left and right HRTF filters. This constitutes the foundation of binaural synthesis.

Please note that the resulting signal is only meant to be listened to with headphones, and isn’t designed for a conventional stereo loudspeaker setup.

Specifications

Virtual head

This plugin relies on HRTF fi lter measurements made using a KEMAR (Knowles Electronics Manikin For Acoustic Research) dummy head and torso simulation. This type of manikin was conceived during the 1970’s for conducting acoustics experiments using a model with anthropometric dimensions equivalent to that of an average human listener.

Virtual speakers

The audio input is routed internally to virtual speakers, through a routing matrix. These represent the emulated loudpseaker setup configuration. 

Ircam HEar v3, as all Flux:: plug-ins, provide

Up to 8 channels Input/Output.
64-bits internal floating point processing.
Sampling rate up to 384 kHz DXD (Pyramix DSP based).
Sampling rate up to 384 kHz for native (AU/RTAS/VST). 

Compatibility

All major native formats are supported
Windows - Vista, 7 and 8 all in both 32 and 64 bits*. (XP v.2.4 / 32 bit only)

VST (2.4)
AAX Native*
Mac OS X (Intel) - 10.7 and 10.8 in both 32 and 64 bits*.
VST (2.4)
AU
AAX Native*

* Ircam Verb v3 AAX Native supports 32 bit in Pro Tools 10.3.5 and 64 bit in Pro Tools 11.

Due to AVID ProTools changing to AAX, from Version 3 (v3) RTAS for AVID ProTools is no longer supported.