Video and Binaural Audio

A lot of videos have the purpose of providing the viewer the experience of visiting an interesting setting, recreating the experience of being there. Ambient sound is of course an important part of that experience.

Binaural audio provides, if the viewer uses headphones, a three-dimensional out-of-head sound field that realistically reproduces what the scene sounded like if one were there. It is superior to stereo - which provides some sense of space, but with headphones it is all in one's head, and thus very artificial. Binaural surrounds you with sounds - you hear sounds behind you, above you, to the right and left, just like in the real world.

What is great about recording binaural audio is that one only needs two mics, so any camera with a stereo mic input can be used (no need for any external audio recorder, leaving aside the quality of preamps etc.). And any listener can experience it with no special equipment (unlike VR or 3D video).

They key aspect for recording binaural is that it simulates how you hear - you hear with two ears (so two mics) that are separated by your head. So, binaural recording puts the two mics in your ears (or the ears of a dummy head). That's it.

Roland makes a cheap (omnidirectional) mic/earbud combo (CS-10EM) with excellent fidelity properties - you put it your ears, just like any earbuds (it looks just the same). It has wires with two plugs - for the mic-in and for the headphone out (the latter is not required). So if you have a headphone jack in the camera or recorder you can monitor exactly what the mics are picking up, which of course is exactly what you would hear without them! So, the rig adds nothing to weight and is inconspicuous.

For editing, no special decoder is needed and for listening, again, no special equipment is needed - just any headphones or earplugs. For $99 and no cumbersome rigging you record better surround sound than DTS or Dolby Atmos or any artificial attempts at reproducing how you hear.

So, you see I have recently begun to explore this very old technology. And here is my first attempt at using it - in a rainstorm:

Put on your headphones if you want to experience the surround - what I heard when I shot the video. And, btw, if you listen with speakers you still get stereo; it sounds perfectly fine, just you lose the true spatial nature of the sounds, like sounds literally behind or above you!

I will be shooting using this rig in other environments to further test it out. The mics come with wind shields, which are very important - you can hear wind without distortion too.

Headphones for the full experience, but even without them you get a lifelike spatial audio and video experience.

Stations, train ride, subway ride, trains and subways enter and exit.

That is too cool! Thinking I should get a pair.  At the moment is is pretty quiet in the neighborhoods in AZ but that will change eventually.

That is so cool!  I first heard this 3D effect from a friend who shared the Cetera effect "Barber shop" demonstration.  I'd thought they'd used special high tech computer processing to get the amazing 3D sound to work with regular headphones.  But after seeing your demo and digging around online a bit, I can't believe all that they did was stick a pair of mics in a dummy head where the ears are.

These Roland in ear mics are an awesome idea, wish I'd known of these sooner.

Thanks Mark

All good info. I’m now retired, but what I did for a living was record sound and vibration for Ford Motor Company. My equipment for sound usually was an Aachen Head by Head Acoustics. This device looks like a human head and shoulders and has a mic in each ear. This is a global recognized company that most all auto manufacturers use. The Aachen Head usually is placed in the front passenger seat. The data is recorded and analyzed. And of coarse listened to with high quality electrostatic headphones. Head Acoustics also has the in-ear mics. So, I’m very familiar with binaural recordings, great stuff! Nice to see this brought up.

Tom B. wrote:

All good info. I’m now retired, but what I did for a living was record sound and vibration for Ford Motor Company. My equipment for sound usually was an Aachen Head by Head Acoustics. This device looks like a human head and shoulders and has a mic in each ear. This is a global recognized company that most all auto manufacturers use. The Aachen Head usually is placed in the front passenger seat. The data is recorded and analyzed. And of coarse listened to with high quality electrostatic headphones. Head Acoustics also has the in-ear mics. So, I’m very familiar with binaural recordings, great stuff! Nice to see this brought up.

Great info. I have always been tempted to try electrostatic headphones.

Markr041 wrote:

Tom B. wrote:

All good info. I’m now retired, but what I did for a living was record sound and vibration for Ford Motor Company. My equipment for sound usually was an Aachen Head by Head Acoustics. This device looks like a human head and shoulders and has a mic in each ear. This is a global recognized company that most all auto manufacturers use. The Aachen Head usually is placed in the front passenger seat. The data is recorded and analyzed. And of coarse listened to with high quality electrostatic headphones. Head Acoustics also has the in-ear mics. So, I’m very familiar with binaural recordings, great stuff! Nice to see this brought up.

Great info. I have always been tempted to try electrostatic headphones.

Here's what it looks like, minus the fixture. As you've experienced, once you listen to binaural recordings there's nothing else like it, hard to explain.

Brief description from their website.

"The artificial head geometry offers you:

a mathematically describable reproduction of the human head and shoulder geometry with an award-winning design

an accurate reproduction of all acoustically relevant parts of the human outer ear

Turn it on - Record - Done!

The HEAD Measurement System IV is a stand-alone, mobile measuring device that is ready to perform aurally accurate binaural recordings immediately after powering up.

The recordings can be saved directly to a CompactFlash card, allowing stand-alone operation without a notebook or PC. Via the integrated headphone output, the recordings can be played back immediately with aurally accurate equalization."

Artificial head measurement systems like the HMS IV are compatible with conventional measurement technology and are necessary for an authentic hearing impression during playback.

Released my first 4K video with binaural sound. Made a binaural head with silicone ears and highly sensitive mics at the bottom of the ear canals. Recorded 48KHz 24bit to a Tascam DR-60DMkII.

Soundbar 059 - Incredible BINAURAL 3D SOUND - Nature - Stream

You will hear sound in a 360 degree arc around you and can pinpoint planes flying over your head. Wear headphones.

Perfectly nice for music too,

The Roland CS-10EM binaural earbuds - which I believe is what was used for this video - are far from ideal in representing binaural sound. The mics are outside the ear instead of at the bottom of an ear canal, which is where they should be. Also, the mic preamp on the Hero 11 is, well, consumer. This Hero + Roland solution is portable, yes, but you get what you pay for. The audio is basically stereo, and the video is akin to smartphone video.

burkek wrote:

The Roland CS-10EM binaural earbuds - which I believe is what was used for this video - are far from ideal in representing binaural sound. The mics are outside the ear instead of at the bottom of an ear canal, which is where they should be. Also, the mic preamp on the Hero 11 is, well, consumer. This Hero + Roland solution is portable, yes, but you get what you pay for. The audio is basically stereo, and the video is akin to smartphone video.

You seem to have missed the point about video - it should be interesting. Action cams open up possibilities for interesting shots that cannot be produced by even the best professional cameras. Congratulations on having posted the most boring video probably ever in this forum - 15 minutes of flowing water!

Relatedly, you criticize not how a video looks or sounds but criticize the equipment used as not being ideal. Nevermind the content.

Let us not equate what is not ideal for what is not good. And not mistake what is ideal for what is actually valuable. As you seem to have.

The easiest way to think about stereo vs, binaural: stereo sounds like it's coming from inside your head. Binaural sounds like it's coming from outside your head - 360 degrees + from above you.

I'm listening on AKG K141 studio headphones + Bose QuietComfort 35's.

The Roland binaural earbuds are a simple, budget way to get into "binaural" sound though they leave MUCH to be desired in terms of effect and sound quality. I didn't say to anyone that there is NO binaural effect, but it is comparatively minimal compared to authentic capture devices witch replicate human ears with ear canals and mics placed where our eardrums would be. Authentic binaural sound needs the reflections provided by the shape of the ear, the shape of the ear canal and the density of the material between the left and right "ears".

Hear the astounding difference between a 3dio device (still not ideal) and the Roland solution:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGNGSgxUzX4

1. burkek wrote:

I'm listening on AKG K141 studio headphones + Bose QuietComfort 35's.

The Roland binaural earbuds are a simple, budget way to get into "binaural" sound though they leave MUCH to be desired in terms of effect and sound quality. I didn't say to anyone that there is NO binaural effect, but it is comparatively minimal compared to authentic capture devices witch replicate human ears with ear canals and mics placed where our eardrums would be. Authentic binaural sound needs the reflections provided by the shape of the ear, the shape of the ear canal and the density of the material between the left and right "ears".

Hear the astounding difference between a 3dio device (still not ideal) and the Roland solution:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGNGSgxUzX4

Most of the commentors of that "video" preferred the Roland. Fidelity matters too.

Carrying around a dummy head is not practical for almost any video applications that anyone would want to watch, as your posted video clearly exemplifies.

Bose headphones are horrible; no sound professional would use them for gaging audio fidelity. Your AKG is a decent budget headphone, but nobody would use it seriously for professional monitoring. Try Sennheiser 650 and come back with comments about audio.

Comments on all of my Roland-miced videos suggest that viewers were able to discern the advantages of binaural stereo, some even going on to to try it themselves. If you actually were an enthusiast for this type of recording you should be grateful, rather than a grouch pushing a wholly impractical method for videography.

There are other practical in-ear kits, from Sound Professionals, which mount the mics in the ear pinna.