be superhuman. :D

introducing the first...

virtual auditory display

iyo vad pro

The iyo vad pro is a new kind of professional, studio reference quality audio display that can render virtual auditory scenes.

VAD stands for Virtual Auditory Display - IYO's breakthrough in audio spatialization with high precision.

When paired with iyo’s proprietary psychoacoustics software, VAD PRO enables artists to create and render truly personalized, deeply immersive audio on an entirely new creative canvas.

the leap from stereo to VAD is bigger than the jump from mono to stereo almost 75 years ago. you must experience the sound to really understand. it is like virtual reality, but for audio.

get ready to plug in to your macbook, using your favorite daw or atmos source, and create or consume immersive audio soundscapes quite literally like you’ve never heard before.

who it’s for:

professional musicians
audio engineers
audiophiles
auditory neuroscientists
psychoacousticians

mix + master on a breakthrough audio canvas.

“UMRK II”

our custom-designed 7th-order ambisonic array we use for R&D - VAD PRO puts this dome in your pocket.

music should be in 3-d

we hear in 3-d

our hearing brain - the auditory system - uses complicated methods to hear in three dimensions, just like we see in three dimensions.

the study of our perception of sound and how we hear audio outside our head is called “psychoacoustics”. We have many psychoacoustic cues in our physiology and psychology that give us the perception of immersiveness and spaciousness of sound in everyday life.

iyo has invented new ways of “inverting” those cues and applying them to virtually created sounds, so that these virtual sounds can appear outside your head all around you.

making music in 3-d

using the vad pro and iyo’s psychoacoustic software, you can hear sounds in a virtual 3-d soundstage.

this gives artists an entirely new creative canvas. whereas before artists were restricted to a stereo soundstage, you now have the freedom to place sounds all around you.

instead of adding generic reverb to your stems, you can render your music as it would sound in Musikverein - or a nightclub - just by clicking a button. tapping into the full bandwidth of the auditory system is the future of music.

the tech

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an unbeatable acoustic foundation

because psychoacoustic cues often occur at high frequencies, we needed to innovate on fundamental acoustic design to have perfect control over the sounds entering your auditory system across the full frequency range of 20 hz to 20 khz.

vad pro’s triple-driver acoustic engine deploys a dynamic driver for low frequency and a dual balanced armature driver for high frequencies.

the digital crossover is finely tuned in DSP by expert ears to yield an incredible reference-quality sound.

our acoustic engine is wrapped in the most comfortable, most secure fitting custom tip ever created - iyo’s “soft custom” tips. you can wear these all day long and forget they are there.

vad pro requires a custom fit, which we will arrange for you with a white-glove service through earproject.org, iyo’s bespoke fitting partner.

the soft customs are made by taking your ear impression, 3-d scanning it, and then designing an ear tip fully custom to your ear in cad software, before 3d printing and hand-making the custom tip for you.

“soft custom” fit

ultra-fast head tracking

your brain expects sounds to change at each ear as your head moves, and change quickly. vad pro has head tracking built-in, and it is the fastest possible to ensure a crisp, stationary virtual auditory scene. each ear has a rotatable magnetic connector that allows you to change the angle of the wire for comfort, and you can re-zero quickly and easily in vad software.

breakthrough psychoacoustics

iyo developed a new approach to rendering audio in space all around you - we call them “vad filters”. vad filters are inspired by deep expertise in psychoacoustics, and incorporate stimuli to give auditory cues like interaural time and level differences, as well as pinna effects. vad filter’s ability to precisely position sound in auditory space is unparalleled.

vad software customizes audio for your brain

iyo’s vad software for mac deploys our proprietary vad filters. these filters are customized to your auditory system, ensuring the best possible soundstage rendering. when you first run iyo’s vad software, you will be walked through a quick fitting procedure to find the vad filters that will render virtual auditory space the best for you.

also, just dope as custom in-ear stereo monitors

“stereo mode”

in “stereo mode”, vad pro is the best stereo reference monitor made, period.

the sound quality is unbeatable across the full frequency spectrum, distortion non-existent, sound isolation is the highest of any device available, and they are the most comfortable audio device ever made.

(vad pro has a usb-c connector, so the stereo audio source must be usb-c...works in stereo with any computer or phone with usb-c).

FAQs

  • VAD stands for Virtual Auditory Display - it's iyO's breakthrough in audio spatialization with high precision. When paired with VAD filters in VAD Software, VAD enables you to create and render truly personalized immersive audio.

  • What makes VAD unique from spatial audio is that it can render a continuous virtual auditory scene, rather than just single virtual loudspeaker locations outside your head.

  • Use VAD PRO and VAD Software to listen and create stereo and spatial music in any DAW including Logic, ProTools, Ableton, and Reaper. Spatial music creation depends on DAW. Please see your DAW’s manual for further information and compatibility details.

  • Because of its USB-C connector, VAD PRO is not compatible with audio bodypacks. If you would really like this feature, or if you have any questions about device compatibility or how to integrate VAD PRO and VAD Software into your workflow, please let us know at support@iyo.audio.

  • Yes, it is. And, if the fit isn’t perfect, our team of experts at support@iyo.audio will work with you to make small adjustments until they’re just right.
 Also, your purchase of VAD PRO has a lifetime warranty.

  • We are so confident that you'll enjoy your VAD PRO and we have Audio Engineers on standby to collaborate with you or to answer any questions. If for any reason you want to return them, feel free to do so within 60 days of receiving them. Simply reach out to us at support@iyo.audio.

  • We are happy to answer any questions that you have. Please email us at support@iyo.audio or call us at +1.650.472.0011.

  • iyO’s VAD software is compatible with Mac (Intel and Mac Silicon), and macOS Big Sur (11.X) up to macOS Sonoma (14.X). macOS Sequoia (15.0) is currently not supported by the VAD Software and is still under development.