Spatial audio is rapidly becoming one of the most exciting movements in modern music production and is more accessible for both creators and listeners than ever before. More and more artists and producers are turning to new creative spatial audio tools to enhance the immersion and realism of their music.

The dearVR MUSIC and dearVR PRO plugins give you full control over the width and depth of your audio productions - ranging from binaural, Ambisonics, multichannel, and even Dolby Atmos. In this article, we introduce you to our new Clarity feature, and how it enables you to create more exciting and immersive mixes - no matter if you’re mixing for spatial audio formats or your everyday stereo productions.

Listening with headphones is an essential part of this spatial audio revolution. Simply because experiencing immersive binaural mixes is easier than ever before - with any pair of headphones. No wonder that currently almost 80% of spatial music is listened to with headphones.

However, to impart spatial information in a standard two-channel stereo headphone signal, binaural rendering technology is needed. Binaural filtering – using so-called HRTFs (head related transfer functions) alters the frequency response of a signal and ultimately colors the sound.

The new Clarity feature in dearVR PRO and dearVR MUSIC, based on a patented algorithm by Sennheiser AMBEO, allows you to minimize such colorations. It provides individual tunning to adjust to an optimal balance between the externalized spatial perception and the overall tonalpreservation. This is especially useful for musical instruments and the human voice and is also paving the way for a barrier-free transfer to regular stereo loudspeakers.

The two following audio examples - one with a vocal sample, and the other with a full-range guitar – provide a better sense of how the new Clarity feature in dearVR PRO and dearVR MUSIC sounds.

These samples demonstrate how a single spatialization setting may not be ideal for any type of audio signal. A process that works well for vocals may not be suitable for guitars, and vice versa. At the same time, both examples demonstrate the two polar extremes of the Clarity setting. To get the best position for your source material, you should move the Clarity control through the entire range of values and listen for the best sound. The optimal position is usually closer to the middle, rather than 0 or 100.

A simple trick to improve spatial impression in a mix, even with reduced binaural filtering, is to add movement to the source material. Movement can lead to better positional perception, as the motion in the HRTF helps the cognitive interpretation and psychoacoustic process of sound localization.

With dearVR PRO and dearVR MUSIC, you can deep dive into binaural productions. Both plugins let you build astonishing immersive mixes without any compromises. The new Clarity feature allows for an even deeper control over your spatial audio sound than ever before.