michael romanowski, one of the first immersive audio mastering engineers on the planet. >> wow, look at that. there's actually -- yeah. we have meters. >> reporter: his tools include a dummy head with high fidelity microphones embedded in the ears, a second microphone perched on top captures all the sound surrounding it from all angles and directions. >> dogs here, people playing, stuff going on this way, a food truck over here. you can hear that occasionally. there's music going on over here. i heard a squirrel a minute ago. >> reporter: the recorded sound, known as immersive audio, is closer to the way our ears really hear and perceive the world. >> our hearing sense is the most 3d sense we have. it was the sense that would be paying attention to everything that we don't see. >> reporter: now romo is up for a grammy as mastering and comixing engineer for best immersive album. the work, ray charles' last studio recording, "genius loves company. " >> ray is one of my heroes. to be a part of the record is astounding. it would mean a ton to me if this won. >> reporter: romo opened his