How to get a true Ambisonics-B file?
The short answer is that you can use Cubase or any DAW that supports four-channel audio files and hosts VST plugins.
The process is to use an ambisonics panner, then put the encoder VST at the end of the Cubase chain and set Cubase output to “ambisonics”. Then you also need a decoder on your PC (or Mac) to be able to hear it properly. NOTE: when the Ambisonics-B file is used, it will be used in a game, app, or YouTube video that has a decoder built into it. So even though you have created a 4-channel file now, when it is heard by the listener it will be true 360 audio both vertically and horizontally, which can be heard through normal headphones.
NOTE: Waves Nx is not a true ambisonics VST. Although Waves Nx panner is useful, and the Nx listening plugin can decode ambisonics, but don’t put it in your actual listening chain because Nx is a virtual approach and not true Nx, it’s just good for panning and listening.
There are actually a lot of rendering VST plugins that will encode Ambisonics-B format for you, and they work fine in Cubase.
To encode in 4-channel ambisonics, get a real ambisonics encoder.
The end result will be a 4-channel .wav file in Ambisonics-B format.
At this time, this ambisonics encoder is free:
You can also do a search like this:
I can tell you that YouTube already supports true Ambisonics-B mixes and has a decoder built in. So you upload your Ambisonics-B file to YouTube and select the appropriate settings to tell YouTube it’s Ambisonics-B. I would not advise uploading 360 videos though, because at this time, the YouTube player chokes on the actual video part.
“Headlocked” ambisonics means that it is not tracking your head movements to change location. For most music purposes, ambisonics will be headlocked, unless you are creating a non-musical experience (or live stage) where the person can move around, such as in a game where there are audio elements all around the player controller and these change audio position as the player moves around in the game scene.
There are more refined ambisonics format, including 7 channel, 9 channel, and these all produce more refined audio localization in a complete 360 degree space vertically and horizontally. But 4-channel is fine for most purposes, and is better for most CPUs.
Good luck!
–David Lieder
Game Design WTF
www.gamedesign.wtf