PLUGIN ALLIANCE AND DEAR REALITY OFFER SUITE OF LEADING 3D AUDIO PROCESSORS IN TWO NEW PLUGINS: DEARVR PRO AND DEARVR MUSIC
“One-stop plugins from Plugin Alliance’s new partner provide all the tools needed to create stunning, immersive 3D audio for virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) video, films and games—inside a DAW”
Plugin Alliance is thrilled to add Dear Reality, the preeminent vendor of 3D audio software, to their growing family of world-class, cutting-edge audio companies. To kick off their new partnership, Dear Reality’s state-of-the-art 3D audio algorithms have been made available in two new plugins: the comprehensive dearVR pro and streamlined dearVR music. Producers, mix engineers and musicians no longer need expensive middleware, unwieldy software bundles and complex routing schemes to create totally immersive 3D audio for video, films and games—all essential tools are now housed in a single plugin interface for direct processing of tracks inside a DAW.
dearVR pro—Complete 3D Audio Toolkit
For professionals working in VR and AR who need no-compromise, state-of-the-art performance with all of the workflow advantages of a self-contained plugin, dearVR pro is the ultimate solution. Its powerful yet intuitive GUI allows producers to position a track’s sound anywhere in a 3D soundstage—behind or in front of the listener, above or below their head, to the left or right, closer or farther away—by simply dragging an icon representing the track in the plugin’s graphical XYZ pad, or by using separate sliders for adjusting the sound’s elevation, azimuth and distance from the listener. Producers can choose from 46 vivid virtual acoustic environments, featuring true to life 3D imaging and depth, in which to place an object’s sound and move it around in real time, with full automation support. Among the many selections to choose from are concert halls, car interiors, variously sized rooms, and a church, cellar, staircase, bathroom, booth, warehouse, arena, outdoor street and live stage. Each environment is instantly and independently recallable per plugin instance, letting the producer place each object’s sound in a different space.
The shape, dimensions and texture of each virtual space can be modified using controls that adjust its size, damping and balance of early reflections and diffuse reverb. In Realtime Auralization mode, turning six knobs respectively adjusts the distance from the listener of the four walls, ceiling and floor to match onscreen visuals. As the operator moves a sound around to match the corresponding onscreen object’s movement, the delay times and directions of arrival for early reflections bouncing off these virtual boundaries change—just like in real environments. An Occlusion control adjusts the sound of the object to realistically match its being blocked by another virtual object in line of sight to the listener. And if a track’s sound doesn’t move in perfect sync with its corresponding visual element, other controls can be used to scale parameter ranges for azimuth and distance to make picture and sound match up flawlessly.
dearVR pro outputs the highest-quality 3D audio in seven delivery formats (including audio for 360-degree videos on YouTube and Facebook), meeting all the professional requirements for any VR or AR production. In addition to 2-channel binaural format (for immersive playback using conventional headphones), producers can choose 4-channel first order, 9-channel second order or 16-channel third order Ambisonics output in either AmbiX or Furse Malham (FuMa) format. The plugin’s 46 stellar virtual acoustic environments can also be used like conventional reverbs in 2D stereo mixes, doubling their usefulness for music production.
dearVR music—Streamlined Performer
For those who don’t need all the firepower dearVR pro offers, a streamlined version of the plugin—dearVR music—is available for entry-level 3D audio applications. dearVR music provides the same XYZ pad and azimuth, ambience and distance sliders as dearVR pro. Other controls respectively adjust the size, damping and balance of early reflections and diffuse reverb in its 18 virtual acoustic environments, which include a concert hall, church, stage, drum room and more.
dearVR music outputs the highest quality 3D audio in binaural or 4-channel Ambisonics format (the latter used for 360-degree YouTube videos). It’s the perfect vehicle for musicians and audio engineers wanting to attract more listeners and gain more traction on social media by incorporating immersive 3D audio into their mixes. And as with dearVR pro, dearVR music’s virtual acoustic environments can be used like conventional reverbs in stereo format, but with less fuss: Mouse-dragging a track inside a virtual space is much faster, easier and simpler than setting up an aux, effects send, pan controls and wet/dry balance for a reverb plugin.
Whether for working on cutting-edge VR and AR productions or immersive music mixes, Dear Reality’s new plugins put the power of their state-of-the-art 3D audio algorithms in the hands of DAW users for the first time.
“I can count on one hand the number of VR and Ambisonic plugins that I actually want to use,” said composer/producer Simon Franglen (Avatar, The Magnificent Seven, Titanic). “That list got smaller because dearVR just replaced three of them. It’s completely brilliant, utterly intuitive, excellent.”
dearVR pro and dearVR music are provided in AAX native, VST and AU formats for Mac OS 10.8 or higher and Windows 7 through 10. All Plugin Alliance products are available as fully functional 14-day demos at Plugin-Alliance.com.
About Plugin Alliance
Santa Cruz, California’s Plugin Alliance offers industry-leading pro-audio plugins and plugin bundles from acclaimed developers such as Brainworx, Chandler Ltd., elysia and SPL with customer-friendly prices, licensing procedures and financing options. Far more than just a website, Plugin Alliance is a new “über-standard,” supporting all major plugin formats and uniting some of the best-known international audio companies under one virtual roof. www.pluginalliance.com.
About Dear Reality
Dear Reality is a German software company specializing in spatial audio technology and Virtual Acoustics. The company’s dearVR 3D audio reality engine powers the creation of ultra-realistic soundscapes—complete with psychoacoustic cues for direction, distance and room acoustics—that are reproducible using any pair of headphones. Compatible with DAWs, game engines and audio middleware, Dear Reality’s 3D audio engine is the central component for content creators working on virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality productions for games, 360-degree videos and enhanced music releases.
www.dearvr.com
CONTACT:
Jonathan Miller
Miller Music and Media for Plugin Alliance
pr@plugin-alliance.com
