Tech Focus: Audio Monitoring, Part 1 - Immersive Sound Is Changing What Loudspeakers Are and Do Software steps in to manage the increase in speakers and greater complexity By Dan Daley, Audio Editor
Wednesday, January 15, 2025 - 7:00 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
The big winners in the immersive-sound sweepstakes have clearly been the companies that make loudspeakers. With Dolby Atmos and other formats adding multiple side and overhead speakers for 7.1.4 and larger configurations, transducers are shipping by the pallet load. This dynamic has also boosted the consumer soundbar sector, which reached the $8 billion mark in 2024 and is headed toward an estimated $16 billion by 2032.
However, managing multiple loudspeakers in an intensive broadcast-mix environment, such as production trucks, requires more than just numbers: it needs its own kind of math, in terms of placement and positioning. That has led to development of a robust software market for such requirements as time alignment and automated imaging correction.
Genelec's Will Eggleston: In immersive installations, the challenge is always the need for quick and precise calibrations.
In immersive installations, says Will Eggleston, marketing director, Genelec, the challenge is always the need for quick and precise calibrations that account for level matching and [time-alignment] compensation, as well as room-environment equalization. Those are an absolute necessity.
He cites the GLM Genelec Loudspeaker Manager software, used for keeping multiple speakers correctly aligned in the tight confines of the audio compartment in the rear of most trucks. We find most trucks have been adapting from 5.1 surround to 5.1.4 immersive or maybe 5.1.2 with the use of four or two overhead [speakers], respectively. Noting that the GLM software can scale from stereo to 5.1 or 7.1.4 and higher, he says, The biggest challenge in these environments is usually space.
Another concern with multiple speakers is their size and geometry. A compact form factor, performance attributes, and various mounting options usually top the list of requirements for playback and durability, he adds, citing Genelec's basic analog-input 8030 and its Smart Active cousin, the 8330.
Reading the Room The freelance nature of the A1 cohort in the U.S. means that sports-audio mixers operate from a variety of trucks, each with its own acoustical environment. Getting a mix to translate is important, and DSP has been the silver bullet for that.
Several brands have developed room-correction systems for this. Some begin by focusing on LFE correction -JBL's Intonato 24 system, for instance, works solely below 500 Hz - but all are said to optimize frequency response to the spaces they're used in. Though differing somewhat, all speaker-calibration solutions need a point of reference in order to function.
This takes the form of a measurement process that captures a snapshot of monitor performance from a listening position based on several swept-tone passes. The resulting profiles and a predetermined target curve (that is, a flat or ideal frequency response) are the two main components of speaker calibration. The effects of the two curves are seen as after curves, which compensate tonal issues using EQ within each monitor channel, work to improve the phase relationship between monitors, and enable improved stereo and multichannel imaging.
Neumann's Jonathan Ruest: It's less about speaker size than about how well the speaker can adapt and translate in a different environment.
Room-correction software comes into play much more often now, especially in immersive environments, says Jonathan Ruest, head of sales and business development, Americas, Neumann, a speaker and microphone manufacturer. It's less about speaker size - although they do have to be more compact than not - than about how well the speaker can adapt and translate in a different environment.
Neumann's MA 1 Automatic Monitor Alignment system uses algorithms that calculate room geometries from individually calibrated measurement microphones to create a room-adaptive target curve. The software is run once on a speaker, which then uses that stored DSP data to adapt itself to new environments. (Each microphone has a serial number; with the serial number loaded into the MA1 software before tuning, the software calibrates the speaker for that individual mic's measurements.)
Mountability matters as much as speaker size, Ruest says, noting that the company has developed a mounting matrix that takes into account ceiling locations - necessary for Atmos - as well as more-conventional wall and stand mounting.
Finally, he points out, speakers need to be loud enough, a parameter that requires more than a volume knob that goes to 11. Unlike in music mixing, sports production involves a combination of elements, including sound effects and speech, and all must be heard clearly within a complex mix.
Immersive mixes tend to be more dynamic, he says. There are a number of considerations, especially as the number of speakers in a truck multiply.
Collectively, DSP systems will likely prove their value as more sports broadcasts move to the REMI/at-home model. Productions with endpoints perhaps in an A1's basement or garage home studio - a situation once propelled by pandemic policies but now more by economic exigencies - are making REMI workflows the norm in many cases.
In the larger picture, as various flavors of surround audio become ubiquitous and immersive sound grows ever closer to becoming a broadcast standard, digital technology is redefining what a loudspeaker is, what it does, how it does it, and where it can do it. In a soon-to-be-world of 5.1.4 and then some, it's perhaps not a moment too soon.
Click here for Tech Focus: Audio Monitoring,
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
19/11/2025
Sphere Sound Kicks Up Its Heels at Radio City Music HallUltra-immersive system from the singular Las Vegas venue is also ready for sportsBy Dan Daley, Audio Edi...
19/11/2025
The Future of Stadium and Arena Video Control Rooms: Tech Leaders Talk 4K, IP, a...
19/11/2025
One Year at Intuit Dome: Walking Through the Stunning Arena's Advanced Video...
19/11/2025
SVG Sit-Down: IMG's Francois Westcombe Goes Inside IMG's Annual Digital ...
19/11/2025
Inside Brighton & Hove Albion's fan-first media machine By George Bevir
Tuesday, November 18, 2025 - 10:10
Print This Story
Brighton & Hove Albion'...
19/11/2025
Rock Chalk Rebuild, Part 1: Kansas Athletics Brings New Production Power to Rebu...
19/11/2025
Rock Chalk Rebuild, Part 2: A Pro's Guide to Kansas Athletics' New Video...
19/11/2025
MLB Media Rights Shakeup: NBC Inks Three-Year Deal for Sunday Night Baseball, Pe...
19/11/2025
Rohan Parashuram Kanawade attends the premiere of Sabar Bonda (Cactus Pears) at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival at Egyptian Theatre on January 26, 2025, in Pa...
19/11/2025
Awards season is heating up, and the International Documentary Association just ...
19/11/2025
Aerojet Rocketdyne President Ken Bedingfield and Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders were joined by state and local officials to celebrate the groundbreaking o...
19/11/2025
L3Harris and PentenAmio formalise their teaming agreement at MilCIS 2025, streng...
19/11/2025
Calrec gives Phoenix Broadcast Solutions its full support in strategic multi-year enterprise partnership New Singapore OB company invests in Calrec technology f...
19/11/2025
October brings a larger audience in front of TV screens. The cooler autumn weather and the continuation of new programming schedules brought increases in both t...
19/11/2025
IRVING, Texas Nexstar Media Group and Tegna filed applications on Nov. 18 with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) seeking its consent to transfer broad...
19/11/2025
Vitec has acquired Datapath, a developer of real-time video processing for large-scale video walls, AVoIP content distribution and KVM control in mission-critic...
19/11/2025
NEVADA CITY, Calif. Telestream has introduced ARGUS Version 2.3, which introduces Live Look, a feature that lets operators inspect live and on-demand streams vi...
19/11/2025
STAMFORD, Conn. and NEW YORK Charter Communications, Inc. has announced a major deal with Amazon Web Services (AWS) that establishes AWS as one of Charters stra...
19/11/2025
TOKYO Atomos has announced a major firmware update that brings integrated camera control to the Ninja TX GO and Ninja TX its new CFexpress-based monitor-recor...
19/11/2025
Berklee's Signature Series Reimagines the Musical and Visual Artistry of Col...
19/11/2025
PlayBox Neo departed the NAB Show New York 2025 on a high note. The company's all-new PlayBox Neo Suite made a splash on the show floor, drawing strong inte...
19/11/2025
AAVBR (American Audio Visual Baton Rouge), a leading full-service event production company serving Louisiana and the Gulf Coast region, has enhanced its product...
19/11/2025
In its mission to deliver live event services combining advanced engineering with a creative approach to captivating live sports and entertainment experiences, ...
19/11/2025
NEW YORK Short-form vertical video has exploded across platforms like TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, but a new survey commissioned by Media.net, a provider of c...
19/11/2025
NEW YORK YES Network, the regional sports network home of the New York Yankees and Brooklyn Nets, and CAMB.AI have struck a partnership they said will leverage ...
19/11/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has issued detailed guidance on filings that were disrupted by the government shutdown. While many of those fil...
19/11/2025
NEW YORK The popularity of NFL games is largely responsible for continued seasonal momentum in TV viewership into October (measured Sept. 29-Oct. 26), according...
19/11/2025
DirecTV has announced that its MyFree DirecTV streaming service has added seven new channels. Those include four sports services, NBA FAST, Red Bull TV, DAZN Ri...
19/11/2025
SURREY, U.K. Mark Roberts Motion Control (MRMC) has launched Flair Bridge, a compact device that transforms how operators control the company's motion-contr...
19/11/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission, which is continuing to rapidly ramp up its operations after the end of the federal government shutdown, has se...
19/11/2025
IRVING, Texas Nexstar Media Group and Tegna filed applications on Nov. 18 with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) seeking its consent to transfer broad...
19/11/2025
Martin Freeman, Jessie Buckley, Wu-Tang Clan's Raekwon, Eddie the Eagle and ...
19/11/2025
Rohde & Schwarz collaborates with Broadcom to enable testing and validation of n...
19/11/2025
Back to All News
Innato, starring Imanol Arias and Elena Anaya, arrives on Netf...
19/11/2025
Back to All News
Guillermo del Toro Sits Down With Troll 2 Director Roar Uthaug...
19/11/2025
Some projects feel monumental from the moment the first phone call comes in. When BCE, the host broadcaster appointed to coordinate the national coverage, asked...
19/11/2025
November 19 2025, 08:00 (PST) BAY AREA HOST COMMITTEE AND DOLBY PARTNER TO DELIVER IMMERSIVE FAN EXPERIENCES
During the Week of Football's Biggest Game...
19/11/2025
Michael D. Higgins: Ireland's Ninth President features RT Archives footage and interviews across seven decades
Watch Wednesday 19 November at 9:35pm on RT...
19/11/2025
Scripps Research scientists receive $1.1 million to advance AI modeling for HIV vaccine development New AI system helps scientists rapidly pinpoint the most pro...
18/11/2025
Independent media across Central America are operating under intensifying financial pressure, yet there is a clear appetite for models that can sustain both ind...
18/11/2025
NBA Debuts New Comms Infrastructure and Systems for RefereesTwo-phase rollout is intended to improve game flow, enhance officiating accuracyBy Dan Daley, Audio ...
18/11/2025
Platinum White Paper: How Aggreko Delivers Certainty For Broadcasters On The Wor...
18/11/2025
Kiswe Extends DTC Products With Kiswe Core Cloud-Based Tool for Distributing Con...
18/11/2025
Spanish Basketball Federation partners with ScorePlay to power digital transform...
18/11/2025
HBS selects BBright encoders and decoders to connect ST 2110 live production wor...
18/11/2025
Ashes to Ashes: Inside TNT Sports' hybrid and maverick' production plan...
18/11/2025
SVG All-Stars: Mimi Fotopoulos, Director, Talent and Production Operations, Tenn...
18/11/2025
SVG LIVE! Conference Explores the Tech Side of Sports and Entertainment ConvergenceLive sports and music productions increasingly share gear and infrastructureB...
Tech Focus: Audio Monitoring, Part 1 - Immersive Sound Is Changing What Loudspeakers Are and Do Software steps in to manage the increase in speakers and greater complexity By Dan Daley, Audio Editor 
