Introducing APL Virtuoso v2: Intuitively Mix and Monitor Immersive Audio on Headphones

October 8th 2024: 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. The mission was to push the boundaries of sound technology, focusing on the intersection of psychoacoustics and immersive audio – delivering high-quality audio experiences to the daily lives of everyone.

Originally launched in May of 2023, APL Virtuoso is a culmination of over 10 years of research into binaural audio and spatial sound, offering users the ability to mix and monitor immersive audio without the need for complex loudspeaker setups. Today, APL introduces Virtuoso v2 which includes three newly developed features that further revolutionises what is possible from binaural rendering technology.

Available to purchase on the 8th October from apl-hud.com with three options: Plugins $199 (AAX, AU and VST3), Standalone app $149 (macOS and Win) and Bundle $299 (plugins and standalone). APL will offer a 50% discount on all three versions for a limited time starting from the launch day.

Powered by ASPEN™ technology, APL Virtuoso brings immersive audio mixing and listening to headphones, offering 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 provides superb tonal naturalness, simulating the experience of listening to premium loudspeakers in a perfectly tuned room, while reducing headphone fatigue.

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, ensuring a personalised, high-fidelity listening experience across any setup. The Virtuoso v2 plug-in is available as AAX, VST3 and AU. Virtuoso v2 is also available as standalone software, opening up the potential uses and providing a level of flexibility not yet seen in this area.

HRTF (Head-Related Transfer Function) settings in APL Virtuoso are crucial for creating a natural and immersive listening experience. HRTF is a filter that models how an individual's ears, head, and torso affect the way sound reaches the eardrum 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 accurately simulates how sound would naturally be perceived in a physical space, providing realistic spatial cues. 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 to its already feature-rich platform. 10-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 10-band 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. Making the most of audio customisation will transport music lovers into their perfect listening room, equip with an array of loudspeaker options for the ultimate real-life headphone experience.

With a newly developed 3D interactive GUI, users can better visualise each speaker arrangement and customise their settings more intuitively. This improvement allows for more control over the mix and brings more enjoyment to the experience.

With the release of Virtuoso v2, APL introduces seamless Audeze Maxwell head-tracking integration, offering users an even 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 setups. This integration allows Virtuoso+Maxwell users to experience more realistic binaural audio effortlessly, making spatial audio mixing and immersive listening simpler and more precise than ever before.

For professional users, APL Virtuoso v2 provides a game-changing tool for mixing and monitoring audio in a variety of environments. Its realistic virtual loudspeaker setups, with new interactive GUI, allows engineers to make precise mix decisions on headphones with a new level of accuracy and spatial localisation. The software's highly accurate translation to real loudspeakers ensures consistency across listening environments, while its extensive features offer maximum control. This makes Virtuoso v2 ideal for professionals who demand precision and flexibility in their workflow, whether they are working in the studio or remotely.

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 post-production studios.

APL Virtuoso v2 offers audiophiles and music lovers an immersive, high-fidelity listening experience, allowing users to enjoy music as if they were in a professional studio or live concert venue. With its ability to create realistic virtual listening rooms, Virtuoso v2 provides superb tonal accuracy and precise spatial representation, placing the audio source outside of the head as though listening to real speakers. This leads to a more natural and engaging experience, with reduced listening fatigue for longer, more comfortable sessions. The headphone compensation EQ feature also ensures that each user can enjoy perfectly tuned audio, tailored to their specific setup, enhancing both clarity and immersion.

Bob Katz, a world-renowned mastering and mixing engineer, highlights Virtuoso's power in professional use, stating, "I thought I was listening to my speakers! Virtuoso fooled me. Amazing creation. We finally have a translation tool that allows mixing with headphones". He also says “Using Virtuoso, I got a sense of height and rear localization which is far better than other binaural systems I have tried”.

This demonstrates the software's capacity to deliver precise audio spatialisation, ensuring that mixes made on headphones translate seamlessly to loudspeakers - crucial for professionals delivering high-quality audio across platforms.

Hans-Martin Buff, a long time engineer for iconic artists like Prince and Peter Gabriel, called Virtuoso "a game-changer for my binaural adventures". Emphasising its reliability and portability whether in a studio or on the road.

With the release of APL Virtuoso v2 on October 8th, 2024, audio professionals and enthusiasts alike can look forward to an enhanced, immersive listening experience. Whether used for critical mixing decisions or simply enjoying music, Virtuoso’s cutting-edge technology continues to redefine how we interact with sound. This latest version reinforces APL's commitment to innovation in audio, making high-quality sound accessible to everyone, from top-tier professionals to passionate music lovers.

APL are a multidisciplinary team of psychoacoustics researchers, digital audio signal processing engineers, sound engineers and music producers, based in the School of Computing and Engineering of the University of Huddersfield, UK. Since the establishment of the lab in 2013 by Professor Hyunkook Lee, a world-leading expert in spatial audio and psychoacoustic engineering, APL have been advancing the understanding of how humans perceive various types of auditory attributes and developing new audio signal processing algorithms and spatial recording techniques. The academic and industrial impacts of our research were considered 4-stars (world-leading) in the Research Excellence Framework 2021, the UK’s system for assessing the excellence of research in UK Universities.