By Kiley Brown
Music has come a long way in the past 50,000 years and continues to evolve daily. Ambisonic Audios, otherwise known as 8D audios, is the latest development where sound starts in one ear, goes behind or to the sides of the head, and makes its way to the other ear, creating a new sound-enhancing experience for the listener.
“I discovered 8D audios this year,” sophomore Abbie Kellen said. “A lot of my friends and I listen to them.”
Ambisonic sound is a full surround-sound format which has been around since the ‘70s when loud speakers reproduced audio. It aims to stimulate a virtual reality experience for the listener. The original audio is recorded by programming the audio in a sphere dome studio. Then, the amplitude results, or vibrations, are used to divide the audio into the left and right sides of your ears.
“I think it’s cool how much work can go into making them,” junior Andrew Hudon said. “Even though it’s technically not real, it’s still cool, and I enjoy it.”
8D audios stands for eight dimensions, but most people are only familiar with three: length, width, and height. The concept is that each extra dimension of audio adds a variety of effects to music, enhancing the characteristics and mood. The higher the number of the dimension, the better the quality.
YouTube channels that use 8D audios gain more subscribers and views because many believe they are better than audios with lower dimensions. Although they are fake, each dimension that is added creates a better sound. The fake dimensions are simply a way for YouTube channels to increase their popularity since many believe they are the best quality. 8D audios are becoming more and more popular in the YouTube community because of this.
“8D audios sound very realistic; it’s a surreal feeling,” senior Khristian Rosales said. “It’s like the singer is singing just to me.”
