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Hybrid setup for 64 speakers setup: HOA and WFS

Spat
#1

Dear IRCAM community,

I think I need quite a bit of help here. I’ve been researching about Spat5 for a while but I’m still trying to figure out how to design my system.

What I want to make is A hybrid system for our 64 speakers array where I can choose the panning algorithm (HOA or WFS) for each of the 16 audio sources provided

My doubts are:

  • Do i need more than one spat5.spat objects? Or can I do it with just one sending different messages depending on the desired algorithm? I’m having multiple errors when sending the /panning/type message.

  • Should I define the number of speakers and layout (in my case a circle with radius 1.75m) again in the spat object or just sending the info from the spat5.viewer is enough?

I’m using the pak and sprintf objects at the moment to send the type of algorithm (hoa or wfs) and the number of the source where it should be applied but also having errors here.

As you see, I have found several difficulties, so any help would be really appreciated.

Thanks a lot!

Daniel

#2

Hello Daniel,

  • One spat5.spat~ object supports one (and only one) panning algorithm. So if you wish to combine several algorithms (HOA and WFS), you would need several spat5.spat~ objects.

  • For controlling spat5.spat~, one typically uses spat5.oper.
    Spat5.oper is essentially the same as spat5.viewer (as you mentioned it), with additional controls for the reverb effect.

  • spat5.oper (or spat5.viewer) sends the coordinates of the loudspeakers to the spat5.spat~ object(s) it is connected to.
    Yet, you still need to initialise all objects with the proper number of loudspeakers (the “~” objects shall be initialised with the proper number of sources/speakers, using @inputs and @outputs attributes)

Feel free to send your patchers if you want us to have a look at the error messages.

Alternatively, you may use Panoramix (see for instance Panoramix-Ircam.maxpat), which is somewhat similar to spat5.spat~ but ‘more easily configurable’ (with a single click, you can route a given source to either HOA or WFS bus)

Hope this helps,
T.