Paper Spotlight – A Comparison of Stereo Microphone Techniques for Rendering Ambisonics

3D audio for virtual reality and 360 videos are often captured using Ambisonics; a full-sphere recording technique. This reproduction is usually concerned with accuracy compared to the original acoustic scene. However, when capturing recordings for stereophonic reproduction using two or more channels, common mic techniques are more likely chosen for ‘what sounds best’, rather than absolute accurate reproduction of the recording (for example, have a look at this Sound on Sound article: https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/comparing-stereo-miking-techniques). This paper documents a technique for the extraction of multiple stereo mic configurations from a single Ambisonic recording demonstrating that there is no clear winner for all recordings. It’s useful to have access to more than one method/technique.

The paper not only discusses microphone techniques for stereo production from Ambisonic recordings, but also provides access to free filters that allow you to directly apply those techniques using a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW).

Girijavallabhan, A., and B. Wiggins. ‘A Subjective Comparison of Virtual Stereo Microphone Techniques for Rendering Ambisonics’. Proceedings of the Institute of Acoustics 46, no. 3 (14 November 2024): 1–16.