Sony 360 Reality Audio and Hi-Res Audio
Many people will find that many audio devices will have a small gold logo, especially in Sony’s headphones, players, mobile phones and even TV. This Hi-Res Audio gold label will appear. Today we will discuss Hi-Res Audio and sony 360 reality audio.
What is Hi-Res Audio ?
Hi-Res is is known as High-Resolution Audio. Hi-Res Audio is a high-quality audio product design standard proposed and defined by Sony and developed by JAS (Japan Audio Association) and CEA (Consumer Electronics Association). Audio devices with this logo represent high-resolution music output and responsiveness, and now this logo is almost a “good sound quality” logo for audio products.
The Hi-Res logo first appeared on Sony’s products and is now an industry standard. Any audio equipment manufacturer’s products can achieve high-resolution audio product standards can apply for certification marks, so more and more headset players and other products Above, we can all see this golden little logo.
Introduction to Sony’s 360 Reality Audio
On the CES 2019, Sony announced the features of 360 Reality Audio’s surround sound technology. At the launch of the Walkman 40th Anniversary NW-500/A 100 series player, Sony officially announced 360 Reality Audio’s surround sound technology. Details and provided on-site audition. Sony then announced that the “Sony Select Hi-Res Music” app in mainland China has a music file that supports 360 Reality Audio technology for users to play.
What are the characteristics of 360 Reality Audio?
The acoustic concept of surround sound is not unfamiliar to most consumers. In particular, the concept of Dolby Surround has been cultivated for many years. In recent years, it has been upgraded to “Dolby Panoramic Sound”, but many of the past surround sound technologies are only Sony 360 Reality Audio (hereinafter referred to as 360RA) is the first to be applied to the audio system and to realize the technology of surround sound on the headset.
Humans can sense the direction of the sound, we can distinguish which direction the sound comes from, so in the sound system, the most ideal surround sound is the surround sound system built by multi-speakers. Many people may feel in the cinema with surround sound. It was the feeling that the plane flew over the top of the head.
The traditional earphones have two left and right speakers, that is a two-channel system. It belongs to stereo music. You can only hear the horizontal and fixed sound of CH1 and CH2. You can sense that some instruments sound from the left earphone and some other instrument sounds from the right.
360 Reality Audio allows you to feel the instrument in the same space, the sound orientation is more clear, more stereo and sense of fusion, 360 Reality Audio technology format are created by creating multiple virtual speakers People are better able to feel the sound of various sound sources, distances, and angular positions.
How do I experience 360 Reality Audio sound effects?
Headphones, according to information released by Sony, any headset can listen to 360 Reality Audio music; but some Sony headphones that support 360RA through the Headphones Connect application, analyze the ear shape to optimize the sound field, you can get more personalized 360 sound.
Take my Sony XZ3 mobile phone as an example. I want to install two apps on my mobile phone. One is Sony’s Headphones Connect, which is the Sony headset online management control software, and the other is Sony’s “Sony Select Hi-Res Music” app. Play music on 360RA.
STPE 1: Headphones Connect software settings
After installing the new version of Headphones Connect software, the software will prompt you to set the 360 Reality Audio settings. If you are set up, you will see the settings information in the headset management interface.
STPE 2: Sony’s selected Hi-Res music software settings
If you click on the settings, the software will jump to Sony’s selected Hi-Res music software, where you can see some of the 360 Reality Audio tips. The software then starts the test.
STPE 3: Setup process
The software will give you a piece of normal audio and audio that supports 360 Reality Audio technology. Listen to it, of course, the latter’s surround sound is better and more stereoscopic.
The software will then prompt you to take a photo of the ear for analysis.
According to the software prompt, take pictures of the left and right ears separately.
After completing these steps, the software begins to analyze and optimize the configuration, and you can enjoy the music of 360 Reality Audio technology when you are finished.
Where to find Sony 360 Reality Audio music library?
At present, the mainland needs to listen to 360 Reality Audio music through the “Sony Select Hi-Res Music” app.
Sony’s Hi-Res music app features Hi-Res music. We generally say that “lossless music” refers to CD-level music, that is, 44.1kHz/16bit music, while Hi-Res music audio files contain the highest amount of data. 6-7 times of “lossless music”; besides, Sony also has a richer format DSD/DXD music library for users to download, as the leading Hi-Res music platform in China, although the membership subscription price is higher than The general music platform in China is high, but the quality is also consistent.
Sony Select has prepared a separate module for the 360 Reality Audio library, which can be accessed through the banner at the top of the home page. The 360RA concert has a blue-black logo or the [360RA] logo in the title. You can listen at will. There aren’t a lot of music on the shelves, mainly the singers who signed Sony music, including works by Farrell Williams, Bob Dylan and Billy Joel, as for Britney Spears. It is the old style of Sony music, I believe that Sony will gradually put more songs, enrich the 360RA music library.
Also, I also saw the original song “Death Stranded” by Kojima Hideo – the new single “Ghost” created by the electronic voice teacher Alan Walker and the popular female voice Au-Ra is also in the music library.
Sony will also cooperate with companies such as Universal Music, Warner, Live Nation, etc. In the future recording, Sony will actively promote the recording of 360 Reality Audio sound music. I believe that more tracks supporting 360 Reality Audio technology will soon be available.
Is Sony 360 Reality Audio sound good?
Of course, it’s nice!
In the playback interface, click on the 360RA menu. You can see that there are three different formats of Level1-3. This is equivalent to the intensity of the surround sound. After clicking, the song starts playing from the beginning and the software recalculates the virtual effect.
The feeling that the individual hears is that the sound will appear “lively” a lot.
- The layering of the sound is clearer, the music is more distinct and the position is more obvious.
- As the sound field becomes larger, the bass seems to become heavier and more flexible.
- Some of the tracks will feel that the vocals are farther away, not so close to the ear. This may be the reason why the sound field becomes larger. At the same time, the separation of vocals and instrumental sounds is more obvious, and the vocals will be more concave. But it is more clear.
In general, music that supports 360 Reality Audio sounds like the feeling of “good sound quality, rich information, and distinct levels.”
In the process of audition, my other feeling is that different headphones listen to 360 Reality Audio music is not the same, the head-mounted WH 1000XM 3 is much better, the in-ear WF 1000XM3 of course, the stereo sound is slightly Worse. So the hardware has a big impact on the final performance of 360 Reality Audio.
In the past, better surround sound requires a multi-speaker system. Sony 360 Reality Audio can restore the surround sound field that needs multiple speakers to create a live, three-dimensional music on the headphones. It is very pleasant. Hopefully, under the efforts of all parties, 360 Reality Audio technology will be popularized more quickly, bringing us more and more music supporting 360 Reality Audio technology.