Launched in 2023, APL’s Virtuoso plug-in represents more than ten years of research into binaural audio and spatial sound, and offers the ability to mix and monitor immersive audio without the need for a loudspeaker set-up. With the release of Virtuoso v2, newly developed features further advance what is possible from binaural rendering.
Based at the University of Huddersfield in the UK, Applied Psychoacoustics Laboratory (APL) was founded in 2013 by renowned spatial audio and psychoacoustic engineering expert, Professor Hyunkook Lee to ‘push the boundaries of sound technology, focusing on the intersection of psychoacoustics and immersive audio’.
Powered by ASPEN technology, APL Virtuoso creates customisable virtual listening rooms that mimic real environments. Virtuoso delivers accurate externalisation and localisation of sound, ensuring mix decisions translate well to loudspeakers. The software also claims ‘tonal naturalness’, simulating the experience of listening to premium loudspeakers in a perfectly tuned room.
Key features include support for 53 speaker configurations (from mono to Dolby Atmos and Auro-3D), seven virtual room presets, fully customisable acoustic settings, and built-in HRTF and head tracking. The software currently provides EQ compensation for 100 headphone models.
Head-Related Transfer Function (HRTF) settings in APL Virtuoso is a filter that models how an individual’s ears, head and torso affect the way sound reaches the ear from different directions. Users can either use one of the five presets built into Virtuoso, or upload their own personalised settings for an even more realistic adjustment.
‘By adjusting HRTF and virtual room acoustic settings, Virtuoso simulates how sound would be perceived in a physical space, providing realistic spatial cues,’ the company says. ‘This allows listeners to experience audio that feels externalised, as if coming from around them, rather than from within their headphones. This precise spatial representation is key to reducing ear fatigue and delivering a highly authentic and natural listening environment.’
Virtuoso v2 adds three new features: ten-band parametric EQ for headphone equalisation takes the previous compensation tool to a new level. Users now have the ability to load built-in or custom EQ profiles and tweak the EQ for a more accurate representation of their desired headphones.
The standalone version of Virtuoso v2 now has a built-in WAV/ADM player so users can cue up their favourite music in stereo or multichannel format, or Dolby Atmos ADM master files for easy listening.
With a newly developed 3D interactive GUI, users can better visualise each loudspeaker arrangement and customise their settings more intuitively. This improvement allows more control over the mix.
With the release of Virtuoso v2, APL introduces Audeze Maxwell head-tracking integration, offering a more immersive experience. Unlike traditional head-trackers, which typically require wired connections and additional bridge software, Maxwell’s built-in head-tracker works wirelessly. Virtuoso v2 reads the Maxwell’s tracking data directly, eliminating the need for complicated set-ups.
The new multichannel WAV/ADM player in the standalone app will be found useful not only for checking how a users stereo or immersive mixes would translate in various playback environments, it is also a useful quality control tool when working remotely with a client. This has already become one of the main use cases of Virtuoso at major music and postproduction studios.
Virtuoso v2 is available as a plug-in at US$199 (AAX, AU and VST3), a standalone app at US$149 (macOS and Win) and a bundle (plug-ins and standalone) at US$299.
More: https://apl-hud.com
