The Binaural Source - News and Views

Mailbag Review

nospam@example.com (Rich Lewandowski) — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 07:13:02 -0800

A Q and A plus a link from recent emails:

Name of sender: Evil Joe

I was wondering if the binaural effect would be the same if I had a surround
sound speaker system. Like two front speakers, two rear speakers, and a
subwoofer/center speaker. Thanks.

Hi EJ:

Most modern binaural recordings sound excellent in plain stereo, and will probably sound very good on a surround system, just as good stereo does.

But it will not be surround sound, neither will it sound the same as Binaural played back with headphones, or with just two "crosstalk-cancelled" stereo loudspeakers.

Binaural recordings played back through good headphones can also reproduce the up and down dimension: above and below as well as around you in a horizontal circle, and reproduce the effects of closeness or distance much better than a 5.1 surround speaker setup can.

Steve
The Binaural Source

and to illuminate, enjoy this binaural multimedia art from Jeff Anderson:

http://digdagga.com/2009/01/ghost.html

Does binaural have a purpose beyond happy listening?

nospam@example.com (Rich Lewandowski) — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 18:42:45 -0700

There are stories within stories, even in this Radio Lab program on "Emergence" which made my head turn more than once to see the source of the sounds. Of course, then the illusion evaporated and I refocus on the message.

Download the MP3 of the Radio Lab program "Emergence" by clicking on this line

So what do we make of recorded sound in our lives? Does the affect alter our paths or is the act of listening everything?

...and what does that say about background use in movies and the rare television use? Can you see the story?

Aachen HEAD and History - Audio Coming

nospam@example.com (Rich Lewandowski) — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 05:23:46 -0700

Audio Engineering Society
Detroit Section
P. O. Box 721464
Berkley, Michigan, U.S.A
Telephone: 248-699-9219

Detroit AES
AES is the professional society for audio engineers.
Non-members and guests are always welcome at Detroit Section AES Meetings.

Speaker: Wade Bray of HEAD acoustics, Inc.

Topic: The History of Binaural Technology

Audio recording and presentation abstract - click on "more" below:
Continue reading "Aachen HEAD and History - Audio Coming"

Now Hear This....

nospam@example.com (Rich Lewandowski) — Sun, 19 Nov 2006 04:44:00 -0800

Thankful for a rich subject area, daily additions will resume, perhaps with your guidance. Meanwhile, catch up with previously submitted entries and imagine how a podcast should sound.

Want to send your idea or feedback? Click for a form.

Binaural Sound and Binocular Vision

nospam@example.com (Rich Lewandowski) — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 04:44:00 -0700

Binaural recording with stereoscopic vision

Read about other projects at Fraunhofer IGD

We found this while searching for binaural videos.

Seen any?

Sound Engineering Advice

nospam@example.com (Rich Lewandowski) — Tue, 03 Oct 2006 04:44:00 -0700

This snippet is from the binaural discussion on Sursound but not in that
item and/or item comments.

"Both Head Acoustics and Bruel and Kjaer have made products for doing binaural recording or measurements using a human head. They are like the Sennheiser MKE2002 in that they place microphones close to the ear canal entrance of a human subject. I have used the B&K 4101 and it works much better than the MKE2002. It is also much more expensive than the Sennheiser device. It is important to note that you need to know what the diffuse-field response of the system (microphone plus head) is, so that it can be equalized out in order that the recording can be played back on diffuse-field equalized headphones, or on loudspeakers."

Information Links:

Sennheiser MKE2002

Head Acoustics BHM III.3

Bruel and Kjaer 4101

Ambiosonics and Binaural

nospam@example.com (Rich Lewandowski) — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 04:44:00 -0700

This snippet is from a Sursound thread that is not a comment in the entry from last Thursday.

Ambisonic => Binaural:
It is possible to produce material ambisonically, either using studio techniques or by recording with a soundfield microphone, and then to convert it to binaural. It should also be fairly trivial to apply head tracking in order to fix the sound images to the surroundings, and not with the listeners head. The basic technique is to use a virtual reproduction system, and associate an HRTF with the location of each of the virtual loudspeakers. In this way, by summing up the ear signals from the HRTF filters from each of the loudspeaker location, one can calculate the ear signals that would have been heard if the listener had actually been listening to the loudspeaker reproduction. This virtual reproduction idea works in principle with ANY loudspeaker system.

Motion Tracked Binaural at CIPIC:
The folks at CIPIC, notably Ralph Algazi and Richard Duda, have published a number of papers on a binaural-like system that they call Motion Tracked Binaural, or MTB.

Check out: http://interface.cipic.ucdavis.edu/CIL_html/CIL_MTB.htm

Holophonic versus Binaural - Matches

nospam@example.com (Rich Lewandowski) — Sun, 01 Oct 2006 04:44:00 -0700

Binaural v Holophonic is the subject of this page of discussion forum

You'll find links, including one to the famous holophonic Zuccarelli matchbox, discussion of binaural related to the Tuesday, September 26th item, and an audio related website with an interesting operational model. The first link in the page is dead.

New Auditory Technology - Outer Limits or Binaural Future?

nospam@example.com (Rich Lewandowski) — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 03:49:00 -0700

Boston Scientific Announces FDA Approval of

Harmony™ HiResolution® Bionic Ear System
versus

The Gizmodo Entry for the Bionic Ear

and another Gizmodo entry

Ultimate Ears Triple.fi 10 Is Like Sex in Your Ear Canal

Field Recorder with USB Features, 320kbps

nospam@example.com (Rich Lewandowski) — Sat, 23 Sep 2006 03:35:00 -0700

USB Port (For direct connectivity to supported USB Storage Device)
Records audio to Uncompressed WAV format or MP3 format
Selectable bit rate, up to 320kbps
Microphone input with Phantom power
Built-in Phono preamp for direct connection of Turntables
LED Indicator shows memory remaining on target drive
6-bar VU meter with peak hold and Overload indicator
1/8” (3.5mm) Headphone monitor output

View the Manufacturers Web Page

H4 Handy Recorder

nospam@example.com (Rich Lewandowski) — Tue, 19 Sep 2006 06:11:16 -0700

It's a handy stereo field recorder!

Mobile Field Recording
Fits in the palm of your hand
Ideal for infinite variety of mobile recording applications
Records 24-bit/96 kHz digital audio as well as MP3 format with bitrates up to 320kbps
Two studio quality X/Y pattern condenser microphones for true stereo recording
Two combination XLR-1/4-inch input jacks with phantom power
Onboard studio effects compression, limiting and mic modeling
1/8-inch headphone jack provided for monitoring
128MB Secure Digital (SD) card included.
Using a 2GB SD memory card provides 380 minutes of recording with CD Quality sound
Up to 34 hours recording in MP3 stereo mode
USB mass-storage interface
Four hours of continuous recording operation from 2 AA batteries
Back-lit, 128×64 pixel LCD provides the visual interface
AC adapter, windshield cover, USB Cable and tripod adapter included

4-Track Recording
4-track audio in CD quality 16-bit PCM, 44.1 kHz sampling
Combination high-impedance phone inputs for vocals, guitars, bass or keyboards.
Built in guitar amp modeling equivalent to the Zoom G2

Audio Interface
Records directly to your computer as a USB audio interface
Bundled with Cubase LE, 48-Track Digital Audio Workstation software

See the Manufacture's Product Page

Binaural is...

nospam@example.com (Rich Lewandowski) — Mon, 18 Sep 2006 17:38:21 -0700

The overview from the old home page (click here to view it):

HEADPHONE BINAURAL:

provides 360-degree virtual audio - all around you!
requires no special equipment - just your stereo headphones
you can experience it anywhere - in privacy or with
someone else
not only loudspeaker-compatible but also gives you
superb surround sound via any matrix surround decoder

There will be some changes

nospam@example.com (Steve Eberbach) — Sun, 17 Sep 2006 12:41:34 -0700

Enjoy the binaural experience

even without headphones:

Enjoy the old stuff but come back for the changes. Post a comment or send a note and let us know what you think:

Send feedback, comments, questions in email form

Old Bulletins and Opinions

nospam@example.com (Steve Eberbach) — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 11:34:31 -0700

Rave Reviews of Binaural CDs from Various
Publications

Newspaper Articles on Binaural

Other Comments from the Press

3D IMAX Experiences with Binaural Soundtracks

Stereo on Headphones vs. Binaural

Binaural Research Opportunity

nospam@example.com (Steve Eberbach) — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 03:48:00 -0700

Ah, researching binaural HRTFs in Paris in the Spring...

http://www.limsi.fr/Formation/prop_these/theseKatz.pdf

The subject of this thesis relates to the study and the development

of several models for HRTF adaptation used in 3D audio rendering for

a given individual, without using of individual HRTF acoustic measurements.