Waves NX Head Tracker for Headphones

This small Bluetooth device latches on to your headphones and tracks your head movements in order to augment the immersive spatial audio experience created by Nx technology.

Pair the Nx Head Tracker with the Nx Virtual Mix Room or Abbey Road Studio 3 plugin in order to recreate on headphones the spatial acoustics of a high-end room, improving your headphone mixing and recording experience.

Use the Nx Head Tracker along with the Nx 3D audio apps to experience the music, movies and games you love in 3D audio – on your computer, tablet or mobile device, using any set of headphones.

Features:

• Augments the realism of Nx software for immersive 3D audio
• Tracks your head movements in 360 degrees (full sphere)
• Use it with the Nx Virtual Mix Room or Abbey Road Studio 3 plugin to make better mixing decisions on headphones
• Use with the Nx 3D audio apps to experience 3D audio on any headphones
• Up to 6 users can use 6 Nx Head Trackers simultaneously
• Requires Bluetooth 4.0 BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy

Why Head Tracking Matters

When you hear sounds in the real world, your physical head movements help your brain create a sense of 3D audio depth. Your brain remembers where the sound used to be and where it is now, and combines this with its knowledge that the head (and not the external object) has moved. It then uses this information to locate the external sound source and construct a 3D “audio scene.”

However, when you listen to sound on headphones, the audio scene constantly shifts with your head, and your experience of 3D auditory space is gone.

By tracking your head movements and adjusting the audio to the direction and orientation of your head, the Nx Head Tracker (combined with Nx software) helps reconstruct the realistic three-dimensional experience of sounds coming at you from external sources in the real world.

Nx Head Tracker, Webcam – or the Best of Both Worlds?

There are several ways you can track your head movements to enhance the Nx experience:

1. With the Nx Head Tracker
2. Using your computer’s camera
3. Using both simultaneously (what we call “sensor fusion” – see table below)*

Using the Nx Head Tracker has several advantages over using your webcam:

• Speed and accuracy: The Nx Head Tracker is faster and more accurate, providing a smoother tracking experience.
• Freedom of movement: With a webcam, you must face your computer’s camera at all times. With the Nx Head Tracker you are free to move around.
• Full 360° tracking: A webcam can track your head movements in ±30 degrees only. The Nx Head Tracker will track them in full 360 degrees.
• Multiple users: With a webcam, only one user can use Nx software at a time; with the Nx Head Tracker, several users (each with his or her own Nx Head Tracker) can experience Nx simultaneously on the same audio source.

Here’s a more detailed comparison between the different options:

* Available with the Nx Virtual Mix Room plugin only; currently not available with the Nx application for 3D audio.

UPC 702781702745