Immersive Machines Demos Eclipsa Audio Authoring at AES New York Event
A release party for Immersive Master Pro 1.5, and a case for YouTube as immersive audio’s biggest untapped market
On October 9, Immersive Machines and the New York Section of the Audio Engineering Society hosted a casual event at Engine Room Audio in New York City to celebrate the new release of Immersive Master Pro 1.5. Guests heard Eclipsa Audio streaming live from YouTube on Samsung’s top soundbar, and Eclipsa Binaural on Grado Labs’ famous headphones. The Immersive Machines engineering team and Google’s Eclipsa Audio team were on hand to answer questions.
“To get your concert on HBO Max or Netflix you have to be The Weeknd or The Rolling Stones.”
Why YouTube matters for indie artists
About a third of U.S. on-demand music listening happens on YouTube. This is a giant market, and my observation is that a lot of listeners don’t move from YouTube to a subscription service like Apple Music or Spotify. They stay on YouTube. For anyone mixing in immersive formats, this is a huge untapped market.
It’s an untapped outlet for artists, too. Audio-only immersive mixes can go to the subscription services, but immersive music with picture, like a concert film, has had nowhere to go unless you’re a major act. I ran into this firsthand. Composer David Felder wrote a beautiful modern opera for orchestra, singers and electronics, composed to fill the concert hall with sound. He had the performance professionally recorded with an audio team and a film crew. I mixed it in immersive and we made a concert film. David was very excited to have a real 7.1.4 mix of the opera, but there was no platform where he, as an independent artist, could share it. To get your concert on HBO Max or Netflix you have to be The Weeknd or The Rolling Stones. With Eclipsa Audio, YouTube now gives indie artists like David the opportunity to showcase immersive music with video, in front of the audience that’s already there.
“Literally every upload you put on YouTube should be in Eclipsa Audio.”
Google’s Eclipsa Audio Product Lead Jani Huoponen discussing open-source audio over pizza
How it works
My team at Immersive Machines spent a good part of 2026 building Eclipsa Audio functionality into our flagship software, Immersive Master Pro. You can use it to author an Eclipsa Audio triple-package MP4 for YouTube:
7.1.4 audio
stereo audio
4K video
YouTube automatically switches between the immersive master and the stereo master depending on the playback device. That has a big implication: literally every upload you put on YouTube should be in Eclipsa Audio. There’s no technical downside, and only upside when that music plays on a compatible system.
The new version is out now. For a technical overview, see my short piece in the Immersive Master Pro 1.5 announcement, “What is Eclipsa Audio?”
Listening to music on Engine Room Audio’s 7.1.4 system vs. Samsung’s 11.1.4 Q990H soundbar
Where you can hear it
As of this writing, Eclipsa Audio plays on Samsung and LG televisions and soundbars, and on YouTube in Chrome for macOS and Windows.
Thanks
Thanks to the AES New York Section, Engine Room Audio, Grado Labs, and Google’s Eclipsa Audio team. Special thanks to the producers and engineers who contributed music to the demos:
Andrew Law, Anthony Rodriguez, Brad Leigh, bz lewis, David Felder, Gabriel Lundh, Jeff Silverman, Jonathan Cornell, Julius Dobos, Justin Gray, Ken Candelas, Morten Lindberg, Nathaniel Reichman, Richard Burki, So Percussion, Yaron Fuchs
Morten Lindberg’s recording on YouTube, with ‘Stats for nerds’ confirming immersive Opus (773) playback
From left to right: AES NY co-chair Roey Shamir, Eclipsa Audio Product Lead Jani Huoponen, Immersive Machines co-founders Nathaniel Reichman and Al Houghton, Engine Room Audio owner Mark Christensen, and Grado COO Richard Grado.
New customers can try Immersive Master Pro free for 30 days. Existing customers who have not yet upgraded to our 2nd-generation license can do so at a competitive upgrade price.
For more information, contact us at info@immersive-machines.com
Download a 30-day demo of Immersive Master Pro here.