You’ve heard of 360-degree videos, you’ve seen it on major video streaming platforms. But audio hasn’t exactly kept up pace with video, until recently, that is. At the recent Sennheiser Sound Forum, the German audio company showed off some of its new products to the media and special guests present. One of the products that caught our eye is the AMBEO Smart Headset, a normal-looking pair of earphones that has a special feature: the ability to record 3D audio.
Sennheiser worked with US-based company Apogee, a brand known for its digital audio converters and interfaces, to make use of its PureDigital technology and let users record 3D audio through the headsets themselves thanks to the help of omnidirectional microphones. And by 3D audio, we mean it captures sound the way it is captured by our ears, allowing content creators to create what can be described as a “virtual reality” audio experience.
It doesn’t require an elaborate setup, too. You just need to plug in the headphones into your iOS device and record as usual. The audio track will be played back the same as any other audio file. You can customize the recording experience with the use of a Smart Slider that will let you adjust the mic sensitivity between normal and loud. The caveat is it only works with iOS devices but Sennheiser say they will be releasing an Android version in the future.
Aside from using it for recording though, the AMBEO also works as a great pair of headphones. It even comes with active noise cancellation. It’s available at Aperture and Shutter Master Pro for P20,000.
