The release of Merging Technologies Ovation 9 brings ‘highly significant changes that make this product more accessible’ and dramatically improves the immersive audio options for live event.
While Ovation natively offers a spatial audio rendering engine, Ovation is now able to seamlessly connect to Flux Spat Revolution (audio + custom mapped OSC metadata by Merging and Flux) or a Dolby Atmos Renderer (audio + Dolby Atmos metadata). Spatial audio engines typically work by sending separate elements to a processor (the renderer) that will ‘render’ all elements into a custom speaker set. This has the benefit of giving full freedom to the show designer to work with any mixture of Objects (audio and metadata), bus-based audio (stereo, 5.1, 7.1, 22.2, etc…) and scene-based audio (Ambisonics, for example).
The OSC ( Open Sound Control) protocol is simple to read and customise, without limiting control of a certain set of parameters – and being adopted by a growing number manufacturers to allow their devices to be controlled by others or to control other devices. Ovation 9 is capable of generating and receiving OSC commands from anywhere.
The Dolby Atmos integration is also on Pyramix (supplied with Ovation) for the production of immersive music but it is available to Ovation users should they wish to create a live show in this format.
This allows for direct connection with HE-RMU to transfer audio and metadata with the Dolby Atmos Mastering Suite; full compatibilty with the Dolby Atmos Production Suite renderer; and extremely flexible mixing options. Bed and Objects can be optimised in Pyramix to manage different speaker set configurations
In a move to make the software packs simpler to understand and more cost effective, Ovation is available in three software packs that can run in native mode or on the Merging+MassCore audio engine.
Suited to use in small theatres and simple corporate A/V events, Ovation Elements packs everything needed to fire audio cues – instant and user-friendly audio cues playback, live cue recording, on-the-fly editing, support for multichannel buses, Ambisonic and objects audio, Merging Technologies spatial audio renderer, Midi send/receive and Ovation redundancy
Ovation Pro delivers all the tools necessary to run the show, whether being controlled by external devices or running the show itself or a mix of both, and is suited to professional show designers and broadcasters. It includes all Ovation Elements pack options along with mixer automation, OSC send/receive, OSC automation, support for all other control protocols (LTC, MTC, TCP/IP, COM, RS-422, MSC, Script/Batch files), support for HUI Controllers, webserver with customisable GUI allowing Ovation to be controlled from any tablet/smartphone/laptop.
The ultimate Ovation pack, Ovation Premium runs on Merging+MassCore audio engine allowing on-the-fly recording, editing and playback audio cues through a Flux SPAT or Dolby Atmos renderer, as well as synchronisation with Dataton WatchOut and Ross Video. Control of mixing with Eucon or Ovation surfaces.
Also included are Dolby Atmos and Flux support, support of EuCon and Oasis controllers, multi sequencer synchronisation, and support for up to 384 I/O (with Merging+MassCore engine only).
Ovation and Pyramix are also offered in free versions to users having purchased a Merging Hardware product after 1 September 2020 and registered it on the Merging website – who then get the choice of Pyramix or Ovation Elements in a full version and fully capable of DSD and DXD recording.
Something that affects all releases is a new security system. With laptops being stripped of USB ports and software deployment requiring lightning speed, Merging has implemented a new security system allowing customers to authorise software without any hardware dongle. This system works online and offline and should users prefer to use hardware dongles, the choice is there. This also means that it will now be easier to download a trial of Pyramix.
The next major improvement also applies to all new software. Pyramix and Ovation are now based on a multi-threading architecture, so Native users will benefit from a significant performance improvement. The audio engine analyses the session in real time and calculates the optimal number of threads to be used. For the power user, MassCore remains the go to option for maximum I/O, lowest latencies and tons of power for VS3 processing.
‘Ovation has been top of the multichannel and immersive tree for some time, and we felt this a good moment to make it more accessible for people to give it a try,’ says Merging Software Engineer, Dominique Brulhart. ‘A truly painless entry level, put it is reach of any small theatre or venue. Even though live events have been the hardest hit by the pandemic, it has been great to see that some customers are gearing up for more normal times.’
More: www.merging.com
