Auro-3D to Demonstrate AURO-CX at CES 2024, a "Powerful Technology"

(December 14, 2023) Auro-3D has announced its plans for the forthcoming Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada. The immersive audio specialist says it will demonstrate its next-gen codec, AURO-CX, which promises to elevate streaming and broadcast TV audio.

According to Auro, AURO-CX is scalable, which is advantageous to content creators, distributors, streaming services, and manufacturers. How? A variety of audio resolutions—from lossless to transparent to lossy—are included within a single bitstream thanks to multiple audio waveform coding techniques. It also has scalable sample rates that allow a single bitstream to carry 48, 96, and 192kHz, allowing a decoder to extract only what it needs from a single encode, depending on its capabilities.

Ultimately, working with the codec requires less storage space and fewer encoding passes, both of which save considerable time, manpower, and costs as compared to other modern encoding options.

“Thanks to AURO-CX’s scalable quality, content distributors have the flexibility to address multiple audiences using the same stream. A single stream can include high-res immersive audio for the audiophile community and lower bitrate mixes for a wider consumer audience,” says Bert Van Daele, CTO of NEWAURO B.V. “Because AURO-CX is scalable, it is attractive to streaming services, which can make a single stream upgradeable for premium services. This is a powerful technology.”

AURO-CX also has the flexibility to transmit objects embedded in the same bitstream for immersive audio. “Other formats have to extract objects from 7.1, resulting in a big reduction in audio quality, especially for the height channels in an immersive audio setup,” says Van Daele. “AURO does it differently. We embed objects in 13.1 immersive so that the user’s 7.1 experience is more 3D due to higher-quality height information, allowing the mix to stay true to the artist’s intent and deliver to the end user what was heard in the studio.”

In addition, AURO-CX supports a wide range of flexible broadcast features, such as dialogue enhancement and localized audio for multiple languages. It also enables interactive and assistive audio, where the quality of the immersive experience can be set higher than the additional audio tracks, guaranteeing the best immersive experience while providing better access to all.



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[Sonnie Parker]

Interesting... especially on the hi-res audio.

 

[Todd Anderson]

Agreed. We'll try to get Auro on a livestream to answer some questions and flesh this out a bit

 

[Sonnie Parker]

That would be wonderful.

 

[Ty_Tanium]

I sure hope it takes hold here in the U.S. Sounds like a great technology.

 

[MusicManLen]

@Todd Anderson I am going to CES next month. The notification sent out says AURO 3D will be at The Venetian but so far no suite info.
If you find the suite info please let us know. Thank you

 

[FargateOne]

Since you are talking about Auro, I have a (stupid?) question about it. In a receiver Auro2D or 3D are for upmixing a 2.0 signal or oa 5.1 into 7.3.6 isn't it? If we don't want to upmix a stereo cd, is there any difference between dolby digital 2.0 or Auro native?

 

[Ty_Tanium]

FargateOne, if you live in the US, whenever you use any type Auro you'll be using an upmixer as Auro isn't used by US based movie, TV, or recording studios (at least that I know of).

Whenever upmixing, it doesn't mean it only upmixes to 7.3.6. It can upmix into numerous different combinations of speakers.

When comparing any of the Dolby Digital formats against anything from Auro, if memory serves me right Dolby Digital is a lossy format (removes a percentage of the original signal to preserve band-width and/or storage space) where as Auro is not. You can't help but hear a difference between the two. That's not saying one is right or wrong, it's a simply a matter of preference like everything else audio. For me personally it's no contest, I play all of my 2-channel music through the Auro upmixer on both of my systems.

 

[FargateOne]

I live in Canada so kind of like USA...for this matter...! Thanks and Happy new year!

 

[MusicManLen]

Auro 2D really works well with music. It adds depth and spaciousness without adding unnatural audio effects. Unlike Auro 3D which has overhead effects Auro 2D only adds dimension to your floor level speakers. For movies I have found upmixing with Auro 3D much better than Dolby Atmos or DTS:X. I have found much more activity in my overhead speakers with Auro 3D and more impactful bass. Your mileage may vary.

 

[FargateOne]

Thanks. Maybe I was not clear but my question was about Auro native (which doesn't upmix if I understand well) vs Dolby digital for 2 channels sources not upmixed when I listen music in stereo. Is Auro doing something different of Dolby before the dac in the chain when playing in stereo astereo signal.