A research team from Aalto University, the University of York (UK), and Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (Germany) has won the Best Paper award at the International Conference on Digital Audio Effects (DAFx) 2026, held at MIT in the beginning of September. The winning authors from Aalto University are Gloria Dal Santo, Xiaojie Pi and Prof. Vesa Välimäki, in collaboration with Dr. Karolina Prawda and Prof. Sebastian J. Schlecht.
This marks the second Best Paper award for Gloria Dal Santo of the Aalto Acoustics Lab. This research started at Aalto University in the Master’s thesis project of the second author, Ms. Xiaojie Pi, who graduated from the major of acoustics and audio technology in 2025.
The paper, 'Shimmer Reverberation with Nonlinear Feedback Delay Networks', reimagines the popular 'shimmer' effect – known for its ethereal, pitch-shifted ambience – by embedding nonlinear and time-varying processes into a feedback delay network, a well known architecture in real-time artificial reverberation. The result is a toolkit that can craft everything from harmonically rich textures to musically coherent pitch-shifted reverbs, all while staying stable and controllable in decay.
The work bridges physically inspired acoustic signal processing with creative, non-physical sound design, opening fresh possibilities for music producers and audio developers seeking expressive, next-generation ambience.
In addition to the conference diploma, the award included audio plugin prizes from sponsoring companies.
DAFx, The International Conference on Digital Audio Effects, is a leading annual venue for breakthroughs in sound synthesis, effects, and audio signal processing, bringing together researchers, engineers, and artists worldwide.
Read the article: dafx.de/paper-archive/2026/papers/DAFx26_paper_05.pdf
Hear for yourself: sound examples related to the research are available at research.spa.aalto.fi/publications/papers/dafx26-shimmer
Aalto Acoustics Lab is a multidisciplinary research center focusing on audio processing and spatial sound technologies. The laboratory gathers professors and research teams from three different units: Department of Information and Communications Engineering, Department of Computer Science, and Department of Art and Media.
The International Conference on Digital Audio Effects (DAFx) 2025 witnessed a remarkable achievement by researchers from the Aalto University Acoustics Lab, as Eloi Moliner and Professor Vesa Välimäki brought home two prestigious paper awards, showcasing cutting-edge innovation in audio signal processing.
The research optimises an artificial reverberation method to improve its sound quality. The award was received at the International Conference on Digital Audio Effects in Copenhagen.
