Higher-order ambisonics improve localization accuracy and ease surround-sound format conversion

Evidence

In principle, it is possible to extend the system to sample acceleration components and higher-order changes, in addition to the velocity components, to provide greater accuracy. The effective microphone patterns required for the different orders are shown in Figure 7.10. This results in the ability to produce more complex sound fields to give better localization accuracy. These higher-order ambisonic systems are now used for a variety of purposes and have been proposed as an intermediate format for production, because it is comparatively easy to mix down from an ambisonic format into the perplexing variety of different surround-sound formats. — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 2234

Categorization

• DEFINE: Clarifies what higher-order ambisonics are and why the added orders matter technically.
• QUESTION: Worth probing: how exactly does the mix-down from ambisonic to various surround formats preserve accuracy, and where does it break down?