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Waves audio launches Nx Head Tracker via Kickstarter Campaign
MUMBAI: Earlier this year, Waves Audio announced Nx, a groundbreaking software technology that applies panoramic audio imaging to stereo headphones, opening the door to applications in virtual reality, augmented reality, 3D mixing and much more. Waves Nx lets users hear the same natural depth, natural reflections, and panoramic imaging heard from speakers in a physical room, but on headphones. With Waves Nx, music, movies and games are heard in a revolutionary way as they take on a new dimension of immersive 3D reality – and it all happens inside the headphones you already own. Waves has decided to put significant R&D emphasis on Nx to further develop the technology. Now Waves is reaching out to the audio community to get involved via a Kickstarter campaign beginning June 22. Kickstarter is a way for audio enthusiasts to grab an early stake in this revolutionary set of tools.
Waves is the recipient of a Technical GRAMMY® Award and the world-leading developer of audio DSP technologies. For over two decades, Waves has pioneered the development of psychoacoustic signal processing algorithms that leverage cutting-edge knowledge of human hearing and perception in order to radically improve perceived sound quality.
The perception of spatial sound is a complex phenomenon. It combines the interactions between acoustic sound waves and a room or space, the interaction between the sound waves and the physical movement of our head and ears, the reaction of our middle and inner ear and the audio nerve, and finally our brain’s cognition and interpretation of the acoustic landscape.
The perception of sound over headphones is a completely different experience. Waves Nx bridges the gap by recreating, on headphones, the same auditory cues that reach our ears in the real world. One of the ways it does this is by tracking the user’s head position and positioning the sound in the user’s headphones to match the way the user would hear it in the real world. Waves Nx tracks the actual movements of the user’s head, rendering the slightest nuances that create a real, dynamic and variable sensory experience – appropriately positioning the audio in the left and right headphones to simulate movement through a three-dimensional audio space.
Recently, Waves successfully launched the first product in the Nx family – the Nx Virtual Mix Room plugin, a “virtual monitoring” tool that recreates on headphones the ideal acoustics of a high-end mix room, allowing audio professionals to make better mixing and recording decisions on headphones. Since its release, the Nx Virtual Mix Room plugin has won unanimous acclaim. The next Nx tool coming to market (expected release in September) is the Nx Head Tracker, a small Bluetooth device that latches on to any pair of headphones, tracks the user’s head movements, and communicates with the Nx software. The Nx Head Tracker can be used together with the Nx Virtual Mix Room plugin, or with the soon-to-be-released Waves Nx application, which will allow all consumers to experience 3D audio on their computers and mobile devices. With the help of the audio community via the Kickstarter campaign, Waves will expand its development of Nx, with the goal of heightening the senses and changing the way we all hear the world.
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TV bills on the rise: JioStar, Sony, and Zee crank up prices by 10 per cent
Broadcasters tune into higher tariffs as JioStar, Sony, and Zee reveal new prices
MUMBAI: If you were hoping for a cheaper night in front of the telly next year, you might want to look away from the remote. India’s broadcasting giants are flipping the script on pricing, with JioStar, Sony, and Zee all tuning into a new frequency of higher tariffs. Ahead of the 2026 financial year, the Big Three have released their updated Reference Interconnect Offers (RIOs), signalling a collective push that will see most monthly bills rise by roughly 10 per cent.
The synchronised move suggests that broadcasters are testing the price elasticity of their audience. In simpler terms, they are betting that your love for daily soaps and live sports is stronger than your annoyance at a slightly lighter wallet.
Sony is making a particularly bold play in the High Definition space. If you enjoy the crispness of Sony Entertainment Television HD or Sony SAB HD, your monthly bill for those channels will jump from 25 rupees to 30 rupees. The same 30-rupee price tag now applies to their sports heavyweights, including Sony Sports Ten 1, Sony Sports Ten 2, Sony Sports Ten 3 Hindi, and Sony Sports Ten 5.
However, Sony is also expanding its horizons. Fans of regional content have new arrivals to look forward to, provided they are patient. Sony Sports Ten 4 Kannada is slated for an April 2026 debut, while Sony Vizha and Sony Vizha HD are expected by June. By August, Sony Telugu and Sony Telugu HD should be live. To keep customers sweet until then, Sony is offering “proportionate discounts.” For instance, the Happy India 2026 Smart Tamil bouquet, normally 42 rupees, will cost just 29.91 rupees until the new Vizha channel officially joins the party.
On the standard definition front, Sony is keeping its “strategic mass price” at 19 rupees for big hitters like Sony Max, Sony Marathi, and Sony Aath. Smaller channels see minor tweaks: Sony Max 2 is nudging up from 2 rupees to 3 rupees, while Sony Yay! sits at 6 rupees and Sony Max 1 remains at 5 rupees.
Zee Entertainment is also getting in on the act with a comprehensive 10 percent hike. Their flagship Standard Definition channels, such as Zee TV, Zee Cinema, Zee Marathi, Zee Bangla, Zee Sarthak, Zee Kannada, and Zee Tamil, are all locked in at 19 rupees. Interestingly, they have matched this 19-rupee price point for many of their HD versions too, including &TV and &Pictures.
For those who prefer the all-you-can-eat bouquet approach, Zee’s All-in-One Hindi SD pack has risen to 58 rupees. Their Marathi and Bangla packs are now 64 rupees, while the Southern trio of Tamil, Kannada, and Telugu SD packs will set you back 85 rupees. If you want those same Southern packs in glorious HD, the price climbs to a steeper 131 rupees. Zee is also shuffling its deck by exiting English entertainment but entering the sports arena, with Zee Cafe and &flix seeing price adjustments to 7 and 8 rupees respectively.
JioStar is perhaps the most aggressive of the bunch when it comes to regional favourites. While they have kept core Hindi staples like Star Plus, Colors, and Star Gold at 19 rupees, they have pushed premium regional channels like Asianet, Colors Kannada, Vijay TV, and Maa TV up to 30 rupees. This move is significant because any channel priced over 19 rupees cannot be included in a discounted bouquet, meaning fans of these channels will have to buy them separately, potentially driving up the total cost of a monthly subscription.
Even the youngsters aren’t spared, with kids’ favourites like Nick SD and Nick HD+ now priced at 19 rupees. As we head towards April 2026, the ball is now in the court of the cable and dish operators. They must decide how much of these increases they can swallow and how much they will pass on to the person holding the remote. For the average viewer, the message is clear: premium content is getting a premium price tag.
