Redscape Audio 3D Tracker + Software Impressions

So I broke down and got the software only. For movies and games, it is incredible. I watched some Atmos demos and I was stunned with what I was hearing out of headphones. For games, the added positional cues were almost distracting. A bit of echo when outdoors was a little unnatural, but you can turn the "room" effect down to minimize it. For just movies and games, it is nearly worth it.

For music, I am still exploring my collection. For classical, it certainly adds a nice dimension to it. Certainly anything in the midrange is going to sound further away, so if you have intimate vocal recordings, it will really change how they sound. That said is does a credible job of creating a room, and it is easy to visualize where the vocalist is. This is only day one, so obviously a honeymoon period, but this really does add to the experience something that is basically missing from headphone listening. I don't know how accurate or high fidelity it is, but honestly when it increases my engagement or my interest in the music, it is doing its job. If a lot of the equipment game is to get to a live sound, this does an awful lot on the environmental side.

As a last aside, since my office is a tiny box and my speakers are bounded by a corner, this actually doesn't sound awful and adds some faux space to the sound. I am fairly certain most of the people here who have chased the dragon further than me might poo poo this as novelty, but for those in the budget realm who plan to stay there, this might be an incredibly worthwhile $100 purchase. At any rate, you have 15 days to decide if it is.

 

Too bad it's limited to Windoze. I'd love to try it on LMS>pCP>PI2AES.

 

Just want to update and say that I use this 95% for games and videos/movies and it is excellent for both. Well worth the $100 (someone thought I was hacking because I was able to track them through sound in Overwatch). For music, it is pretty selective when it sounds better to me than straight through the DAC/Amp - possibly because I am used to my favorite tracks sounding a certain way (I like Norah whispering in my ear, not halfway across the room). The effect is very impressive and I can get into it now and again, but it isn't quite there for me. Another possible reason is I am using just the iFi Micro BL, which while great, isn't super hi fidelity so the fidelity loss when using Redscape might be too much where what I gain in perceived 3D space is negated by the overall lack of fidelity. Maybe with better gear, the effects might work better?

At any rate, I think it is worth the money I spent and certainly worth a 15 day trial for those of you interested in it.