Auro Technologies Files For Bankruptcy
Image Credit: Auro Technologies
According to the German media magazine Heise Medien the Belgian sound specialist Auro Technologies has just filed for bankruptcy after a recent new investment deal fell through. Auro Technologies is best known for its internationally known Auro-3D immersive sound format that competes with DTS:X and Dolby Atmos. Fortunately Auro Technologies is an independent company that was spun off from the Galaxy Studios so they will not be affected.
It would appear, that as for many other companies, the corona pandemic is responsible for their current lack of funds. Chip shortages, AVR receiver royalties, the inability to release new products and increase in labor and production charges have all contributed to their current financial insolvency.
New money making products like high-resolution streaming and soundbar technologies that had been developed prior to the arrival of the corona pandemic were due to be released to compete with similar products but are now delayed and may not hit the market until 2023 at the earliest.
Auro-3D Background
Auro-3D was the first immersive audio format to be launched on the market but was only supported by Denon and Marantz for a long time. Recently Yamaha has also joined the Auro-3D team. In comparison all major manufacturers of AV receivers and processors have adopted both Dolby Atmos and DTS:X right from their market release.
Just like Dolby and DTS, Auro adds additional height channels to the surround speaker sound system, but their solution is completely channel-based and does not use audio objects that contain the audio information for the height channels. While this solution has the potential to better reproduce the original captured room acoustics at home, the number and placement of height speakers is more critical.
Recently Auro’s highly regarded upmixer “AuroMatic”, was released which adds height channels to existing multi-channel mixes. This product also competes directly with the Dolby Atmos “Dolby Surround Upmixer” and the DTS:X “DTS Neural:X” products.
While making minor inroads into music titles and despite the immersive formats audio performance, it has been unable to gain traction with big movie companies. There are very few movies released that currently use Auro-3D, particularly within the USA, almost all exclusively using Dolby Atmos or as a second choice DTS:X.
It is hoped that this filing is just a precaution and that after the company is restructured it will return to business as usual.
Original news post: heise online.
For more on Immersive Sound Formats see this post: Introduction to Audio Formats on CD, SACD, DVD, DVDA and Blu-Ray
