Immersive sound was almost a causality of the pandemic because in-person broadcast and sports productions were shuttered and virtually all engineering and financial resources were diverted to getting and keeping live content flowing—by remote control. Remote production practices and technology advanced quickly and subsequently benefitted less popular secondary sports and content for smaller targeted audiences with an easier engineering setup and overall cheaper production costs.
Consequently, immersive sound was pushed to the back burner. However, I believe 2024 will see a revitalization of the dimensional sound format. Why? Because immersive sound production and reproduction technology is available and affordable, however the next task for practitioners is to create the “wow” factor and stoke the consumer attraction.
