Blackmagic’s $1,695 Spatial Mic Packs 108 MEMS Sensors

Blackmagic Design says its $1,695 Ambisonic Microphone will be available next month through the company and authorized retailers, with 108 digital MEMS microphones in a claimed seventh-order ambisonic array for immersive-video productions.

Blackmagic’s announced package:

• Sensor array: 108 digital MEMS microphones form a seventh-order ambisonic array that Blackmagic says captures the entire sound field.
• Body and mounting: All 108 sensors sit flush inside a solid, faceted metal body. Blackmagic describes the shell as extremely strong, small enough to fit in one palm and suitable for mounting atop a camera.
• Processing: An internal processor runs Apple’s encoding filters and converts the signals from all 108 MEMS microphones into seventh-order ambisonics in real time.
• Connection: A single USB-C cable provides power and data. Blackmagic says customers need neither complicated software nor a breakout box, and crews can mount the unit quickly to a URSA Cine Immersive camera.
• Price and availability: $1,695 through Blackmagic Design and authorized retailers next month. The announcement supplies no exact calendar date.

What the announcement leaves unmeasured

The announcement leaves several procurement-critical parameters unanswered:

• Microphone performance: No sensitivity, self-noise, dynamic range or maximum sound-pressure level.
• Signal chain: No output format, latency figures or independent test results.
• Shipments: The announcement does not document shipments or a calendar delivery date.

Apple’s licensed role

Development began while Blackmagic worked with Apple on the URSA Cine Immersive camera, which Blackmagic formally announced in June 2024. Blackmagic positioned the camera as the ultimate camera system for making immersive video for Apple Vision Pro, a marketing description rather than an independently tested performance verdict.

Blackmagic Design CEO Grant Petty said: “This microphone started when we were collaborating with Apple on the Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive camera. I heard a high resolution spatial audio capture for the first time and it was like hearing an acoustic reality, I was totally blown away.”

Petty also said: “Apple licensed their array geometry and the ambisonic encoding filters, we did the engineering and design, and the result is an ambisonic microphone where you just plug in one cable and capture true spatial audio.”

Blackmagic says filmmakers have used the URSA Cine Immersive camera for basketball games and rocket launches. Those examples show deployment settings, but the announcement names no productions, crews, recording formats or post-production outcomes.

What does this change for immersive-video crews?

It brings Blackmagic’s claimed spatial-audio capture into a camera workflow; according to the company, users need neither a breakout box nor complicated software because the internal processor performs the conversion. For photographers and production businesses adding immersive work, the investment case therefore rests on a $1,695 unit, a one-cable setup and the URSA Cine Immersive workflow, not on any published evidence of higher fees, client demand or faster delivery.

Buyers should still verify the delivery date, decoding and monitoring path, and how ambisonic files enter their editing and finishing pipeline. The announcement explains on-device encoding but does not describe the workflow after capture, so one cable does not establish a complete production solution.

For a rental house or freelancer, the stated benefit is fewer required accessory and software steps, not a quantified cost reduction; Blackmagic publishes only the microphone price and no comparison with a multi-microphone or breakout-box setup. The announcement also provides no shipment volume, dealer list or revenue forecast.

Apple’s licensed contribution defines the technology split: Apple licensed its array geometry and ambisonic encoding filters, while Blackmagic performed the engineering and design. The arrangement connects a new $1,695 accessory to the URSA Cine Immersive ecosystem, though the announcement does not state whether other camera systems can use the microphone.

If Blackmagic ships next month at $1,695 and independent tests match its spatial-capture claims, the microphone could remove hardware and software steps from early immersive-video workflows; without those results, buyers have an announced price and specifications, but no verified performance or exact delivery date.