What Can We Hear? EDIT
"Audio Empire" wrote in message
...
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.
I have to admit I've never tried that, even though I've done some binaural
listening. The most impressive demo I've participated in involved a
portable binaural recording system disguised as eyeglasses with real time
monitoring.
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.
When you properly equalize a set of earphones for flat response
subjectively, any such resonances are dealt with automagically. Of course
you need a competent equalizer - a 4 to 6 band full parametric would be my
tool of choice. Unfortunately I know of no portable digital players with
this feature - most top out with 5 band graphic equalizers which are
amazingly blunt sticks for actually doing things well.
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