Karlheinz Brandenburg, the co-inventor of the MP3 format, is turning his attention to augmented reality (AR) audio. His company, Brandenburg Labs, has announced that the Okeanos Pro, a headphone-based system capable of simulating 16 virtual loudspeakers, is now shipping across the UK, Europe, and the US.
While the current price tag and hardware requirements position it firmly in the professional audio mixing and academic research space, the underlying technology, branded as Deep Dive Audio (DDA), represents a significant leap in how geeks might eventually experience immersive soundscapes in roleplaying games and digital environments.
The system is designed to remove the need for massive, expensive physical speaker arrays. Instead, it uses a combination of high-end rendering and motion tracking to convince the brain that sound is coming from specific points in a 3D space.
The Tech Behind the Immersion
The Okeanos Pro utilises “six degrees of freedom” tracking, allowing the listener to move their head or body within a virtual sound field while the audio sources remain fixed in place. To achieve this level of precision, the kit includes an HTC Vive Tracker 3.0 and two Vive base stations that monitor the user’s position in real time.
Brandenburg Labs claims the system can accurately simulate the acoustics of specific rooms and allows users to adjust the directivity of virtual sound sources. This means a producer could evaluate how a 3D audio mix sounds in a cathedral versus a recording studio without leaving their desk.
Karlheinz Brandenburg, CEO of Brandenburg Labs, said in a statement:
From the early proof of concept, we put in a lot of work to make the system ready for real-world usage. Now, we’ve made it and are beginning to sell our systems to professional studios and educational institutions worldwide.
Professional Specs and Academic Adoption
The system operates at a 96kHz sampling rate and integrates with standard professional studio hardware via Dante or Ravenna. It is already being deployed at institutions such as the SAE Institute in Switzerland and PXL University in Belgium to train the next generation of audio engineers in immersive sound.
Lasse Nipkow, a 3D audio lecturer at SAE Zurich, explained in the press release:
The Okeanos Pro is a valuable tool for adequately assessing and improving 3D audio mixes. Due to its realistic playback capability, it increases students’ awareness of how our ears perceive sound and what effect the direction of the individual tracks in the mix has on the consumer.
The Cost of Innovation
For those looking to upgrade their home setup for the ultimate Dungeons & Dragons VTT session, the Okeanos Pro carries a professional price tag of approximately £4,250 ($5,871/€5,000), excluding taxes and shipping.
While that likely puts it out of reach for most hobbyists, the company has expressed a long-term goal of bringing “intelligent headphones” to the consumer market. If the technology scales down, it could eventually offer a solution for roleplaying groups seeking high-fidelity, spatialised ambient audio without the need for a dedicated media room.
For those heading to NAMM 2026 in Anaheim later this month, the system will be available for live demonstrations at Booth #14916.
