SoundField has announced the Surround Zone (Mac/Win) plug-in for Steinberg Nuendo. The company says that the plug-in brings all the control of SoundField's surround and stereo processing to the digital domain, combining the hardware features of the SP451 Surround Processor and MKV System. It is also designed to accept the B-Format information generated by any of the current SoundField microphone models.

Once the SoundField B-Format file is in the Nuendo environment, the plug-in enables the user to generate a variety of surround mic-arrays with variable polar patterns: three separate 5.1 arrays, individual 6.1 and 7.1 arrays, independently variable width of both the front and rear pairs, phase coherent LFE, and individual level controls with Mute and Solo. The software also provides additional control over the sound, including 360 degree horizontal rotation, the ability to adjust the microphone pick-up angle by +/- 45 degrees in the vertical plane, and the ability to zoom in on sound sources. The manufacturer adds that the Surround Zone can output mono, stereo, M/S, 5.1, 6.1, 7.1, or any other surround format.

In addition to the surround capabilities are simultaneous stereo outputs. The Stereo page features variable graphically displayed polar patterns, variable stereo width, a variable highpass filter from 20 Hz to 250 Hz, and mid/side encoded output. Additional information is available at www.soundfieldusa.com and www.transaudiogroup.com