International. Sennheiser's Sphere surround microphone system was recognized with an IABM Design and Innovation Award in the audio category.
"We are very honored that the IABM's independent panel of experts has selected Sphere for the award in the Audio category," said Claus Menke Head of Portfolio Management Pro of Sennheiser's Professional Division. "Immersive audio is one of our focus areas, an area that really creates a different TV experience in viewers. Sphere makes the lives of broadcasting professionals much easier. The system allows them to efficiently and authentically capture an environment using just two audio channels, and convert that audio information into 5.1 at any point in the workflow, whether live or in post-production."
The Sphere system consists of a two-channel SPM 8000 microphone unit and an SPB 8000 processing unit. The microphone unit has the typical advantages of RF condenser microphones: natural and detailed sound, transparency, robustness and high resistance to adverse weather conditions. The process unit uses an algorithm perfectly suited to microphones to generate a 5.1 surround sound signal with sample rates up to 96 kHz.
An integrated compressor ensures a broadcast-friendly signal. To facilitate the operation, the processing unit uses four directly selectable presets. These can be modified via an Ethernet interface to suit local conditions, including the gain settings of individual channels, front and surround focus, surround sound delay, rotation, filters and cut-off frequencies, compression, compensation, gain, output gain, limiter and 'windshield' compensation.
