Virtual Acoustics

Summary

In this three-part series of the Immersive Audio Podcast, Oliver Kadel will travel to Zurich in Switzerland for an exclusive opportunity to speak to the entire Ambeo Mobility team. The use of spatial audio is becoming ever so ubiquitous, it seems that it’s just a matter of time before we get to enjoy immersive content from the comfort of our cars on a regular basis. Join us on this journey to explore and learn about the cutting-edge applications of spatial audio in automotive.

Veronique Larcher (Director)

Dr Veronique Larcher is the Director of AMBEO Immersive Audio, Sennheiser’s brand for immersive audio products and experiences. She is also a founding advisor at Earkick, a startup focused on monitoring anxiety using audio biomarkers, among others. Veronique has over 20 years of experience in the areas of audio and venture building – before launching AMBEO in 2016, she held multiple roles spearheading innovation at Sennheiser, most notably founding and managing their Strategic Innovation office in San Francisco. Veronique holds a PhD in 3D Audio for Virtual Reality from Ircam (France) and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Finance from the Paris Institute of Political Studies.

Luca Brambilla (Project Manager)

Luca is the project manager of the Sennheiser AMBEO Mobility initiative, part of the founding team of the project and a real car enthusiast. As a car audiophile, he is motivated by bringing innovative audio technology into the most prestigious cars in the industry and is excited by the opportunities the future of mobility hold. His background is in Industrial Engineering, and with a Master’s degree in Management, Technology and Economics from ETH Zurich, he is skilled at combining technical knowledge and management expertise. In the team, he covers the role of project coordination, and planning, and is in charge of customer and supplier relations.

Sofia Brazzola (Brand & Marketing Manager)

Sofia is leading Brand & Marketing efforts aimed at the growth of the corporate venture AMBEO Mobility, launching Sennheiser in the automotive industry. She has been in the team for several years under different capacities leveraging her Design Strategy, User Experience and Marketing skills aimed at de-risking and launching product concepts in new opportunity markets for Sennheiser internationally, including VR/AR and immersive music streaming. In her current role, she coordinates digital and event marketing activities designs brand strategies and is responsible for Sennheiser AMBEO’s brand positioning in the automotive world. She recently graduated with an MBA from Imperial College in London and holds a Master’s degree in Design from the Zurich University of the Arts.

Rui Wang (Customer Developer)

Rui is a digital marketer, cross-cultural communicator, and partnership developer. She holds a master’s degree in European and Asian Business Management from the University of Zurich. With four years of experience working with top technology companies, she has a keen understanding of the needs of B2C & B2B clients in the field of innovation. As a bridge between the West and the East within the Sennheiser AMBEO team, she takes pride in providing market insights and data-driven business strategies. In addition to her primary job functions, she has been certified as a Data Analyst with Python for her commitment to data analysis.

Lorenz Bucher (Software Architect)

Lorenz Bucher is part of Sennheiser’s interdisciplinary AMBEO Mobility team. As a software architect, he’s eagerly striving to shape the future of automotive sound experiences and leading Sennheiser towards software excellence. He has a background in electrical engineering and spent many years of his career developing embedded audio DSP systems and implementing audio algorithms for high-end professional mixing consoles and consumer electronics. Being an avid musician in his spare time, Lorenz has found the sweet spot where he can combine his love for music with his passion for tweaking the technology to create the ‘wow’.

Sofia Checa (Software Engineer)

Sofia is a software engineer specializing in spatial audio. She has a degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Yale University and is also a classically trained cellist. She joined the team in 2019 to help create the first AMBEO Mobility Demo Car and has been fascinated with the project ever since. Sofia loves her job because it allows her to tap into both her technical side and her artistic side each and every day. Her responsibilities range from writing code to critical listening to developing demo experiences.

Henrik Oppermann (Head of Sound)

Henrik Oppermann (M.Mus.) is a leading 3D sound specialist, bringing with him over 15 years of experience in recording studio-quality audio on location for film, advertising, music industry clients and 3D sound installations. Henrik has worked on over 150 VR and AR projects, capturing 3D audio in a number of challenging environments, including low-flying military aircraft, formula one race cars, refugee camps, mountain peaks and concert halls around the world. An expert in his field, Henrik has developed hardware and software audio applications and workflows for VR collaboration with leading sound partners, to deliver the best possible Immersive Sound. Henrik joined Sennheiser AMBEO Immersive Audio as the Head of Sound in February 2022.

Hans-Martin Buff has been a Recording engineer and music producer since 1993, when he graduated from Music Tech vocational college in Minneapolis, USA. He began his career at Pachyderm Studios, where he made excellent coffee and then proceeded to hone his studio chops by assisting on projects such as Live’s million-seller “Throwing Copper”. Hans-Martin worked his way through various Minnesota rock’n’roll factories before he found a more permanent home at Prince’s Paisley Park Studios, whose personal engineer he became and remained for four funky years. During this period he wasn’t only responsible for His Purple Majesty’s recordings, but also for the studio affairs of world-renowned artists, including No Doubt, Chaka Khan and Larry Graham. Being a native of Germany, Hans-Martin Buff relocated to his home country in 2001, where he continued his career as an independent recording engineer and producer, and where he has since mixed and recorded a host of national and international talent, such as Mousse T., Joss Stone, Zucchero, Eric Burdon, Roachford, Maxi Priest and the Scorpions. Since 2018, Hans-Martin has explored the subject 3D-Audio for headphones, and he is now considered an industry expert. He has written a book on the subject and holds an “MA in Immersive Music Production”.

Listen to Podcast

Show Notes

Sennheiser – https://en-uk.sennheiser.com

Immersive Audio – https://en-uk.sennheiser.com/ambeo

AMBEO Mobility Official Page – https://en-uk.sennheiser.com/ambeo-mobility

AMBEO Mobility LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/ambeo-mobility