NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Binaural recording

Binaural recording is a method of recording audio which uses a special microphone arrangement. The term "binaural" has often been confused as a synonym for the word "stereo", and this is partially due to a large amount of misuse in the mid-1950s by the recording industry, as a marketing buzzword. In truth, binaural recordings are the best way to reproduce stereo with headphones. Typical stereo recordings are mixed for loudspeaker arrangements, and do not factor in natural crossfeed or sonic shaping of the head and ear, since these things happen naturally as a person listens, generating his own ITDs (interaural time differences) and ILDs (interaural level differences). Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1600x1067, 240 KB) A dummy head being used as a binaural microphone. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1600x1067, 240 KB) A dummy head being used as a binaural microphone. ... Historical records of events have been made for thousands of years in one form or another. ... Audio can mean: Sound that can be heard. ... Inside a condenser microphone. ... Synonyms (in ancient Greek syn συν = plus and onoma όνομα = name) are different words with similar or identical meanings. ... In popular usage, stereo generally to dual-channel sound recording and sound reproduction â€“ sound that contains data for more than one speaker simultaneously. ... // Events and trends The 1950s in Western society was marked with a sharp rise in the economy for the first time in almost 30 years and return to the 1920s-type consumer society built on credit and boom-times, as well as the height of the baby-boom from returning... The record industry (or recording industry) is the industry that manufactures and distributes mechanical recordings of music. ... Marketing is the process of planning and executing the pricing, promotion, and distribution of goods, ideas, and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational goals. ... A buzzword (also known as a fashion word) is an idiom, often a neologism, commonly used in technical, administrative, and sometimes political environments. ... In-ear headphones Headphones (also known as earphones, stereophones, headsets, or the slang term cans) is a transducer that receives an electrical signal from a media player or receiver and uses speakers placed in close proximity to the ears (hence the name earphone) to convert the signal into audible sound... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... For other uses of the word head, see head (disambiguation). ... Image:TimEar. ...

Recording technique

With a simple recording method, two microphones are placed seven inches (18cm) apart facing away from each other. This method will not create a real binaural recording. The distance and placement roughly approximates the position of an average human's ear canals, but that is not all that is needed. Anatomy of the human ear. ...

More elaborate techniques exist in pre-packaged forms. A typical binaural recording unit has two high-fidelity microphones mounted in a dummy head, inset in ear-shaped molds to fully capture all of the audio frequency adjustments (known as head-related transfer functions (HRTFs) in the psychoacoustic research community) that happen naturally as sound wraps around the human head and is "shaped" by the form of the outer and inner ear. The Neumann KU-81, and KU-100 are the most commonly used binaural packages. The KEMAR system is another alternative. The more expensive and accurate Aachen Head Acoustics unit does automatic equalization and processing to create a more enveloping experience. A simplified version of this, called a Jecklin Disk, uses a 30 cm (11.81") acoustically-absorptive disk between the mics, as a compromise. High fidelity or hi-fi is the reproduction of sound and image that is very faithful to the original. ... Dummy may refer to: A mannequin The figure used by a ventriloquist A babys dummy â€“ the British English equivalent word for a pacifier Something that is not real; a forgery Something that features certain aspects of a real object that require repeated or straining exposure to testing, but does... Molding is the process of manufacturing by shaping pliable raw material using a rigid frame or model called a mold. ... An audio frequency (abbreviation: AF) is any frequency from about 20 hertz to about 20 kilohertz, which is the approximate range of sound frequencies that is audible to humans. ... HRTFs for left and right ear (expressed here as HRIRs) describe the filtering of a sound source (x(t)) before it is perceived at the left and right ears as xL(t) and xR(t), respectively. ... Psychoacoustics is the study of subjective human perception of sounds. ... Image:TimEar. ... Neumann (German meaning new man) may refer to: Alfred Neumann, a writer Erich Neumann (politician) Erich Neumann (psychologist) Günter Neumann, a German cabaretist Hartwig Neuamnn, author of Stadt und Festung Jülich auf bildlichen Darstellungen Balthasar Neumann, Johann Balthasar Neumann, Bohemian John Neumann, Saint John Nepomucene Neumann, Bohemian John von Neumann...

In the past, a number of microphone sets were available that offered a customized "in-ear" microphone system, which could be linked to a portable DAT or MiniDisc recorder, bringing the ability to not only create binaural recordings to the masses, but to create mobile recordings as well. Unfortunately, these have been discontinued and are only available in the used electronics market. A 90-minute DAT cartridge, size compared to an AAA(LR03) battery. ... The Sony MZ1 MiniDisc player, the first to hit the market in 1992. ...

Playback

Once recorded, the binaural effect can be reproduced using only headphones. It does not work with mono playback; nor does it work while using loudspeaker units, as the acoustics of this arrangement distort the channel separation via natural crossfeed (unless the arrangement is carefully designed, and using expensive crossfeed cancellation equipment.) Monaural sound reproduction is single channel. ...

The result is a listening experience that spatially transcends normally recorded stereo, since it accurately reproduces the effect of hearing a sound in person, given the 360° nature of how human ears pick up nuance in the sound waves. Binaural records can very convincingly reproduce location of sound behind, ahead, above, or wherever else the sound actually came from during recording.

Any set of headphones that provide good right and left channel isolation are sufficient to hear the immersive effects of the recording, and anyone who has even a cheap set of headphones can enjoy the recordings. As with any playback, higher quality headphones will do a better job of creating the illusion. Several high-end head set manufacturers have created some units specifically for the playback of binaural. Etymotic Research's ER-4B canal phone actually sits inside the ear, much like a hearing aid. The B model is tuned and equalized to enhance binaural playback. In addition, a number of headphone amplifier companies have created hardware that takes advantage of these special recordings. Etymotic Research is an Illinois, USA-based research, development and manufacturing company that designs and manufactures products to measure, improve, and protect hearing. ... Behind the ear aid A hearing aid is a device used to help the hard-of-hearing hear sounds better. ...

There are some complications with the playback of binaural recordings through normal headphones. The sound that is picked up by a microphone placed in or at the entrance of the ear channel has a frequency spectrum that is very different from the one that would be picked up by a free-standing microphone. The free-field head-transfer function, that is, the frequency response at the ear drum averaged for sounds coming from all possible directions, is quite grotesque, with peaks and dips of 10 dB. Especially frequencies around 5kHz are strongly emphasized. A good headphone for normal usage is designed to have a frequency response that compensates for the distortion caused by the pinneae, shoulders, head, and ear channel. A binaural recording already has these corrections in the frequency response, and a headphone should not affect the frequency spectrum again. Hence, a binaural recording that is listened to through normal headphones will have a strong and undesired coloration. Binaural recordings that are intended to be played back through standard headphones should therefore be recorded with (omnidirectional) microphones outside the ears, approximately at the location where the headphone loudspeaker will be sitting. The decibel (dB) is a measure of the ratio between two quantities, and is used in a wide variety of measurements in acoustics and electronics. ...

History

The history of binaural recording goes back to 1881. The first binaural unit was an array of carbon telephone microphones installed along the front edge of the Paris Opera. The signal was sent to subscribers through the telephone system, and required that they wear a special head set, which had a tiny speaker for each ear. Jump to: navigation, search 1881 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Jump to: navigation, search General Name, Symbol, Number carbon, C, 6 Chemical series nonmetals Group, Period, Block 14, 2, p Appearance black (graphite) colorless (diamond) Atomic mass 12. ... Jump to: navigation, search A telephone handset A touch-tone telephone dial Telephone Complex relay used in a telephone switching system. ... Jump to: navigation, search Exterior of the Palais Garnier. ... Jump to: navigation, search A telephone handset A touch-tone telephone dial Telephone Complex relay used in a telephone switching system. ...

The novelty wore off, and there wasn't significant interest in the technology until around forty years later when a Connecticut radio station began to broadcast binaural shows. Stereo radio had not yet been implemented, so the station actually broadcasted the left channel on one frequency and the right channel on a second. Listeners would then have to own two radios, and plug the right and left ear pieces of their head sets into each radio. Naturally, the expense of owning two radios was, at the time, too much for a broad audience, and again binaural faded into obscurity. Novelty is the quality of being new. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... State nickname: The Constitution State Other U.S. States Capital Hartford Largest city Bridgeport Governor M. Jodi Rell (R) Senators Chris Dodd (D) Joe Lieberman (D) Official languages English Area 14,371 kmÂ² (48th) - Land 12,559 kmÂ² - Water 1,809 kmÂ² (12. ... A radio station is a sound broadcasting service. ... Sine waves of various frequencies; the lower waves have higher frequencies than those above. ...

Binaural stayed in the background due to the expensive, specialized equipment required for quality recordings, and the requirement of headphones for proper reproduction. Particularly in pre-Walkman days, most consumers considered headphones an inconvenience, and were only interested in recordings that could be listened to on a home stereo system or in automobiles. Lastly, the types of things that can be recorded do not have a typically high market value. Recordings that are done in studios would have little to benefit from using a binaural set up, beyond natural crossfeed, as the spatial quality of the studio would not be very dynamic and interesting. Recordings that are of interest are live orchestral performances, and ambient "environmental" recordings of city sounds, nature, and other such subject matters. SONY Recorder Walkman (TCM-S68V) MD Walkman Sony Walkman SRF-S84 transistor radio (released 2001) The Sony Walkman personal stereo was a transistorized miniature portable cassette tape player invented by Akio Morita, Masaru Ibuka, and Kozo Ohsone, manufactured by Sony Corporation. ... Jump to: navigation, search A small variety of cars, the most popular kind of automobile. ... Market capitalization, often abbreviated to market cap, mkt. ... Art studio Adriaen van Ostade. ... Orchestra at City Hall (Edmonton). ...

The modern era has seen a resurgence of interest in binaural, specifically within the audiophile community, partially due to the widespread availability of headphones, and cheaper methods of recording. A small grassroots movement of people building their own recording sets and swapping them on the Internet has joined the very small collection of CDs that one can find available for purchase. An audiophile (literally, one who loves sound) is one who is concerned with achieving high-quality results in the recording and playback of music. ... A grassroots political movement, inspired by the German word Graswurzel, is a movement organized by a network of citizens. ... CD may stand for: Compact Disc Canadian Forces Decoration Cash Dispenser (at least used in Japan) CD LPMud Driver Centrum-Demokraterne (Centre Democrats of Denmark) Certificate of Deposit ÄŒeskÃ© DrÃ¡hy (Czech Railways) Chad (NATO country code) Chalmers DatorfÃ¶rening (computer club of the Chalmers University of Technology) a 1960s...

Encyclopedia > Binaural recording

Contents

Recording technique

Playback

History

See also