Ambisonic Decoders; Is Historical Hardware the Future?

Horsburgh AJ, Clark DF. Ambisonic Decoders; Is Historical Hardware the Future? In: AES Convention 128. Audio Engineering Society; 2010. Paper 7977. Available from: https://aes.org/publications/elibrary-page/?id=15274

@inproceedings{Horsburgh2010_15274,
  author = {Horsburgh, Andrew J. and Clark, D. Fraser},
  title = {{Ambisonic Decoders; Is Historical Hardware the Future?}},
  booktitle = {AES Convention 128},
  note = {Paper 7977},
  year = {2010},
  month = may,
  publisher = {Audio Engineering Society},
  url = {https://aes.org/publications/elibrary-page/?id=15274}
}

TY  - CPAPER
TI  - Ambisonic Decoders; Is Historical Hardware the Future?
AU  - Horsburgh, Andrew J.
AU  - Clark, D. Fraser
T2  - AES Convention 128
M1  - Paper 7977
PY  - 2010
DA  - 2010/05/06
UR  - https://aes.org/publications/elibrary-page/?id=15274
PB  - Audio Engineering Society
LA  - en
AB  - Ambisonic recordings aim to create full sphere audio fields through using a multi-capsule microphone and algorithms based on a “metatheory” as proposed by Gerzon. Until recently, Ambisonic decoding was solely implemented using hardware. Recent advances in computing power now allow for software decoders to supersede hardware units. It is therefore of interest to determine which of the hardware or software decoders provide the most accurate decoding of Ambisonic B-format signals. In this paper, we present a comparison between hardware and software decoders with respect to their frequency and phase relationships to determine the most accurate reproduction. Results show that software is able to decode the files with little colouration compared to hardware circuits. It is possible to see which implementation of the analogue or digital decoders match the behavioural characteristics of an “ideal” decoder.
ER  -