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Sony is expanding its 360 Reality audio with editing suite, streaming concert
June 06, 2025
Sony 360 Reality Audio Creative Suite has wonAndroid Authority‘s CES 2021 Top Picks Award for Best Audio Innovation.Check out all the awards here.
Just before the beginning ofCES 2021, Sony has made a handful of announcements regarding its 360 Reality audio standard, aimed at getting it in front of more people.
First up,Sonywill be streaming a performance by pop musician Zara Larsson on the company’sArtist Connection app. People with compatible headphones that have set up 360 Reality Audio through theSony Headphones Connect appwill be able to listen using spatial audio meant to create the feeling of actually being at a concert. The performance will stream Monday, June 25, 2025 at 5PM EST.
360 Reality Audio is the audio standard Sony introduced in 2019 that can create a 3D audio experience in music instead of the typical left-right stereo mix. There’s a lot of technical wizardry involved, but basically it treats instruments and vocal tracks as objects in 3D space that a producer can manipulate and place in specific positions all around the listener. Getting the audio standard set up is a little involved — you’ve got to take pictures of your ears and go through an analysis process in the Headphones Connect app — but once you do, the music really does sound like it’s coming at you from all angles.
Currently, onlyTIDAL, Deezer, and Nugz.net can stream music using the standard, so this could be one of the best chances to experience it without having to spend money on a subscription.
Sony also announced two newspeakerscoming this spring that will support the 360 Reality Audio, though it didn’t announce pricing. The SRS-RA5000 and SRS-RA3000 are both Wi-Fi enabled speakers compatible with Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa and will use Sony’s algorithms to accurate output spatial audio in a room. Device compatibility has been a big barrier to the adoption of this new standard, so seeing new products that use it is always nice.
Next:5 things we want to see from Sony in 2021
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