Panorama 7

Name: Panorama 7
Price: 129 USD
Author: Wave Arts

by Wave Arts · Imaging · Binaural 3D panner

Not rated yet

Panorama 7 is a 3D audio plugin that places sounds around the listener using HRTF binaural synthesis and room modelling, for headphones or speakers.

It includes a position sequencer, Doppler and distance modelling, crosstalk cancellation and SOFA HRIR support, for $129.

Best for: Sound Design, Vocals, Keys & Synths, Mix Bus. Genres: Ambient & Cinematic, Electronic & EDM.

Keywords: spacious, auto-pan, sound design, tempo-synced, bus processing, cinematic, dark, full mix, impulse-response based, mix bus, mixing, pitch-shifting, vocals.

What it does

Panorama 7 is a virtual acoustics plugin from Wave Arts that places and moves sounds in 3D space for headphones and loudspeakers, going beyond simple stereo panning. It combines binaural synthesis with a room model.

Binaural synthesis: positioning based on head-related impulse responses (HRIRs), with a Near Head Model using spherical head modelling for close sources.
Custom HRIRs: load SOFA-format HRIRs (via the Sofa2Pan converter) or your own HRIRs, with sample rate conversion.
Room modelling: early reflections and late diffuse reverb, plus Doppler pitch shift for moving sources and distance modelling.
Position sequencer: waypoint-based trajectories, including beat-synced auto-pan effects.
Loudspeaker playback: crosstalk cancellation based on real head models, a Stereo Pan HRIR for conventional panning, and Stereo Passthru for binaural-to-speaker conversion.
Panning view: a virtual area of -100 to +100 feet (up from 10 feet in earlier versions), zoom, side and rear views, and a darker, larger interface.

Version 7. A 30-day fully functional demo is available.

Source: Wave Arts product page

When to use it

Panorama 7 is for putting a source at a point in 3D space and moving it there, mainly for headphone listening, inside a normal stereo session. Compared with stereo imagers such as Ozone Imager, S1 Stereo Imager or Wider, it does not just spread or narrow width; it models direction, distance, reflections and Doppler for each source. Unlike surround and ambisonic suites like Audio Ease 360pan, it needs no multichannel bus or immersive setup. Its custom SOFA HRIR support also makes it useful for research and teaching. The 3D effect is strongest on headphones; on speakers it relies on crosstalk cancellation and is less convincing.

Best for: binaural movement, sound design, ear-candy effects and headphone-focused mixes.
Genres: ambient, cinematic, electronic, podcasts and audio drama, and audio for games or VR.
Look elsewhere if: you only need a stereo widener (Ozone Imager or Wider), or you are mixing in Atmos or ambisonics.
Tip: for mixes heard on both speakers and headphones, use binaural placement on selected ear-candy parts and keep the main elements in normal stereo.

What producers say

Sound On Sound found it an intriguing tool with impressive spatial effects, strongest on headphones.

Sound On Sound (Paul White, April 2023) called it "well worth trying", praising the boundary reflections that support the 3D illusion, the tempo-synced auto-pan sequencer, the extended panning distance and SOFA support.
Criticisms: the effect is less convincing on loudspeakers, and since "everyone has a slightly different head shape" it won't work equally for every listener.

Sound On Sound review

Where to buy

Tutorials and reviews

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