Immersive audio is a hot topic these days. The ability to place sounds above as well as around the listener creates a 3-dimensional hemispherical soundstage that immerses them in the story far more than 5.1 or 7.1 surround can manage. But implementing an immersive-audio system at home is more complicated than simple surround, and there are several different formats to consider.

To help AV enthusiasts better understand immersive audio, AVS Forum and Sony are offering our members an opportunity to ask an expert anything they want to know about it in a real-time interactive session. On Tuesday, March 7, 2017, from 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM Pacific time (2:00 PM to 3:30 PM Eastern time), we will have a thread in the Audio Theory, Setup, and Chat forum called "Ask Me Anything: Immersive Audio" in which you can post questions for the expert, who will answer them right then and there. Since it will be a normal AVS Forum thread, you'll need to reload the page often to see his responses as well as any new questions that are posted.

Who's the expert? Bob O'Donnell, the founder, president, and chief analyst at Technalysis Research, has enjoyed a long, multi-faceted career in the technology business. The firm's research and Bob's opinions are regularly used by major media outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg TV, Investor's Business Daily and more. Bob writes a weekly column/blog for Techpinions.com and a biweekly column for the Tech section of USA Today. He also occasionally writes guest columns for Fast Company, engadget, Smarter Analyst, Indian Engineers, and other digital publications. In addition, he participates in a weekly podcast for Techpinions.

Prior to founding Technalysis Research, Bob served as a vice president at industry-research firm IDC. He was also the editor of Electronic Musician and Music Technology magazines, where he gained a deep knowledge of audio technology. In addition, Bob is the author of the book Personal Computer Secrets, and for over 10 years, he hosted O'Donnell on Technology, a radio show that was selected as the Best Computer Audio program in the country by the Computer Press Awards. You can follow him on Twitter @bobodtech, on Facebook at Bob O'Donnell, and on LinkedIn at Bob O'Donnell.

In addition to getting answers about immersive audio, those who submit a question will be automatically entered to win a Sony STR-DN1080 AV receiver with support for Dolby Atmos and DTS:X as well as many other advanced features; for more on this outstanding AVR, click here. The winner will be selected by random drawing from among those who submit at least one question; submitting more than one question will not increase your chance of winning.

To help the event get off to a good start, we invite you to submit a question about immersive audio in this thread , which will be transferred over to the new thread on March 7 and answered first—and of course, you will be entered to win the STR-DN1080 AVR.

So what would you like to know about immersive audio? Post your question(s) here and be sure to follow the event thread on March 7 for the answers.

For the official rules and regulations of the giveaway, click here .