The Alliance for Open Media (AOMedia) has published the Open Audio Renderer (OAR) v1, which provides a reference implementation for rendering spatial audio.
Developed by AOMedia’s Audio Codec Working Group, in collaboration with the Storage and Transport Formats Working Group, OAR complements the organisation’s Immersive Audio Model and Formats (IAMF) specification, which defines how immersive audio content is packaged and delivered.
“While IAMF standardises the representation of spatial audio, it does not specify how that content should be rendered for individual playback systems. OAR fills that role by converting IAMF content into audio signals optimised for the listener’s playback environment,” said AOMedia.
The renderer supports two primary modes:
- Loudspeaker rendering, adapting immersive audio for playback systems ranging from stereo speakers to surround sound and home theatre configurations.
- Binaural rendering, producing immersive spatial audio over headphones by generating distinct signals for each ear.
OAR also supports channel-based, scene-based (Ambisonics), and object-based audio representations. In object-based audio, individual sounds are accompanied by metadata describing their position and movement within a three-dimensional space. OAR interprets this information during playback, creating an optimised listening experience regardless of the playback hardware, said AOMedia.
“By providing a high-quality reference renderer for IAMF, we’re making it easier for developers to build interoperable spatial audio experiences while giving implementers the flexibility to innovate,” added Jan Skoglund and Remi Audfray, co-chairs of AOMedia’s Audio Codec Working Group.
OAR v1 is available here.
