Free 3D Immersive Ambience Samples

Recorded with the Schoeps ORTF-3D by Free To Use Sounds

With the purchase of the Schoeps ORTF 3D, we’re opening a new chapter and we want you to be part of it.

While we’re already back on the road recording new sounds, here are free Schoeps ORTF 3D samples that lets you experience how the world around us sounds in three dimensions.

This collection includes four short immersive ambiences, each around one to two minutes long, offering a first glimpse into the new 3D recordings we’re working on right now.

What’s Inside

• four original 3D surround recordings (approx. 1 to 2 minutes each)
• Fully tagged with UCS metadata (Filename, Description, RecType, Location, etc.) using Soundminer
• Recorded with Schoeps ORTF 3D, Cinela windshield, and Sound Devices MixPre-10 II

Format: WAV 96 kHz / 32 bit – 8 channels (L, R, Ls, Rs, Lh, Rh, LSh, RSh)

Total size: ~1.1 GB

Playback & Mixing

To experience these recordings in true 3D, you’ll need a DAW that supports multichannel playback and a surround setup with eight speakers (four around you and four above).

If you don’t work in surround, no worries, down-mixing to stereo is totally possible and still sounds great.

Who This Is For

These recordings are ideal for:

• Sound designers exploring spatial mixing and immersive formats
• Game audio and VR creators working in Ambisonic or surround workflows
• Film and TV mixers adding natural 3D depth to environmental scenes
• Curious listeners who simply want to hear how the world sounds in 360°

Endless Possibilities

When mixed creatively, ORTF-3D recordings can be used to:

• Native 8-Channel (ORTF-3D format) — full spatial image:L, R, Ls, Rs, Lh, Rh, LSh, RSh
• 5.1 Surround Downmix — natural phase-aligned reduction maintaining front/rear and height perspective coherence.
• 5.0 or 4.0 Surround Downmix — omits LFE, ideal for cinematic ambiences or installations where sub-bass is not required.
• Binaural Conversion — using HRTF or custom plugins (e.g. Facebook 360, Sennheiser AMBEO Orbit, or DearVR) for headphone playback.
• Stereo Downmix (Clean or Spatial) — summed with proper phase correction to preserve spatial width and ambience depth.
• Quad (L, R, Ls, Rs) — for simpler surround use or spatial music mixing.
• Ambisonic Conversion (optional) — convert the ORTF-3D signals to B-format using tools such as IEM Suite or Harpex for VR or 360-video workflows.
• Stereo ORTF Variations — extract front L/R for traditional ORTF stereo or experiment with upper Lh/Rh or rear Ls/Rs pairs for alternative spatial textures.

UCS-Compatible Metadata Embedded

To give you the fastest and most efficient workflow, all files contain UCS-compliant metadata, including full descriptions and keywords.

Metadata can be read by most DAWs and professional sound library tools such as:

Soundminer, BaseHead, and of course Soundly

⚠️ Important Usage Notice

Our original field recordings including metadata are protected by copyright law. These recordings must not be used, copied, resold, or redistributed in any form for:

• AI or Machine Learning training

• Dataset creation or synthetic audio generation

• Integration into software, hardware, or virtual instrument products (including Kontakt, plugins, samplers, or sound libraries)

Use of our recordings in their original form for any of the purposes above is strictly prohibited without prior written permission.

Our sounds are created for artists, filmmakers, educators, musicians and sound designers for creative projects. Please respect the work, time, and resources behind every recording.