The Tenth
The Tenth International 3D Audio Production Competition in Ambisonics for Students 2026
Anniversary! In 2026, the Student 3D Audio Competition will take place for the tenth consecutive time. What once began as a small initiative has developed over the past decade into an internationally recognized competition for emerging talent. In this anniversary year, we would like to explicitly encourage all students from relevant disciplines to submit their productions!
The final round and award ceremony will take place on Friday, November 13th, in the György Ligeti Hall in Graz and will be streamed online. Finalists are expected to participate (virtually) in the event. In advance, the nominated works of Category 1 will already be presented on October 3rd as part of the ORF musikprotokoll in Graz.
The Categories
Submissions can be entered in three different categories. Depending on suitability, the jury reserves the right to move a submission to another category.
- Contemporary / Computer music
- Audio drama / Documentary / Soundscapes
- Music recording / Studio production
Public Hearing Sessions
We are also organizing so-called public hearing sessions in other cities, where our VDT members and guests can experience the entries locally on-site through an immersive sound system, surrounded by like-minded people. The entire final round will be broadcast there, and the Ambisonics entries will be played locally. We encourage venues that have sound systems and space available for this event to contact us about hosting such a live breakout session!
IEM Graz together with the ORF musikprotokoll and the VDT
The Competition is organized as a cooperation between the VDT, the Institute of Electronic Music and Acoustics at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz, Sounding Future](https://www.soundingfuture.com) – and this year once again also in collaboration with the ORF musikprotokoll.
To ensure that expensive tools and licenses are not a prerequisite for participation, the submission format is 5th-order Ambisonics, for which many free tools are available. The Competition represents an important step toward professionalization for students. At the same time, attractive prizes await.
Headtracking with Camera-Tracked 3D Audio Player (Cat3DA)
It is best to use circumaural headphones. To be able to use head tracking, a webcam must be available and enabled on the playback device. The following browsers are suitable for playback: Firefox, Opera or Chrome on a PC (Mac or Windows). Playback via the Safari browser, smartphones or tablets is currently not possible or not recommended.