[Audio Empire]

On Thu, 24 May 2012 10:46:32 -0700, Randy Yates wrote
(in article ):

Audio Empire writes:
[...]
Since a good binaural setup has a pair of high-quality omnidirectional mikes
mounted in a dummy head which has been designed to mimic the dimensions and
the acoustical properties of a skin-covered human head, it probably comes
closer to the ideal capture medium than any other microphone technique.
However, binaural playback only works through headphones, and the quality of
the playback depends, in large measure, on the quality of the headphones.

Even so, binaural recordings cannot differentiate between sounds coming from
directly in front of the dummy head or directly behind. A simple experiment
using a binaural setup will prove this point. While recording, walk around
the dummy head jingling a set of keys. Play the recording back through
headphones. images from the sides appear as they should (often with shocking
realism, especially if one is not used to the effect), but when the keys
move
to the front or back of the head, they sound as if they are IN the
listener's
head rather than in front or in back. Our ears don't have this problem and
humans can easily tell the direction from which a sound emanates,
irrespective of its direction.

This may be due to the concha resonance. As I understand it, one cannot
simply play back a binaural recording using earphones but must equalize
for this resonance as well.


You may have a point there. If so, that's a big flaw in binaural recording. I
can't imagine that equalizing for this resonance would be easy to do without
extensive auditory measurements being made.