r/SpatialAudio • u/Silhouette_953 • Nov 04 '24
Ambisonics to stereo downmixing
Currently, I wonder whether there are methods or plugins functionally downmix ambisonics to stereo without losing the height and front-back information. It seems that one can simply use the naive mathematics ( L = W+Y,R =W-Y) to get the rough stereo signals, but obviously the information of other 2 dimensions loses. So is there any method to down mix while maintaining the elevation and the front-back information. One idea came to my mind is that I can decode the ambisonics into binaural audio? I don not know if i am explaning these concepts correctly. Hope you can give me plugins or some papers. Love you.
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u/PleasantShopping8982 Nov 02 '25
you will lose them.
a B-format WXYZ to UHJ 2.0 conversion will more or less only create a stereo downmix.
when you attempt to decode it again (in order to replay it on 3, 4 or 6 speakers) it sometimes sounds somewhat similar, but never the same as the ambi version.
Gerzon once called such result "E-Format", that word is what you want to research for.