Radio audiences in the UK are increasingly listening using headphones, and binaural mixes are likely to offer more natural and immersive classical musical experiences than stereo broadcasts. However, the stereo mix is currently a priority for broadcasters, and producers have limited resources to create an additional, binaural mix. This engineering brief describes the semi-automated workflow used to produce binaural mixes of performances from the BBC Proms. Spatial audio mixes were created by repositioning the individual microphone signals from the stereo broadcast in three dimensions, and adding ambient signals captured using a 3D microphone array. A commercial mixing application was used for spatial panning and binaural rendering, and the resulting binaural audio was streamed live online. Comments on the production workflow were collected from the music balancers, and audience responses were surveyed.

Authors: Parnell, Tom; Pike, Chris
Affiliations: BBC Research & Development, Salford, UK; University of York, York, UK(See document for exact affiliation information.)
AES Convention: 144 (May 2018) eBrief:430
Publication Date: May 14, 2018
Subject: Spatial Audio

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