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by neya 4856 days ago
If I'm correct, this is a type of Binaural recording, where they use a stereo microphone combination separated approximately at the distance of our ears while recording. I used to be a Binaural hobbyist sometime back and I recorded some (unprofessional) stuff along the way. I'd be glad to share it with the community:

1) 3d Sea - https://www.box.com/s/krtxx1tejeftffaegh4v

2) 3d Rain - https://www.box.com/s/feoczntidb4rkppz1fa7

3) 3d forest - https://www.box.com/s/35p4vpn4t6rdc2p8ok39 (This is a Binaural music track composed by me :D)

Please use headphones to listen to these tracks (and not your speakers, because binaural stuff sounds good only on headphones)

EDIT:

Here are two more professional recordings (not by me) that will (possibly) blow you away! :D

1) Amazing 3d Matchbox - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYdIidUIbAs

2) Virtual 3d Haircut - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnNEJfokpWU

3 comments

Another professional one, more of a binaural play: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u163wC6mP2A
I think there is a lot of space for improvement left in binaural recordings and presentation. For me the suspention of disbelief required to hear a sound from my headphones as actually being remote is really hard. I still mainly hear it as being right at my ears, or maybe somewhere between my ears. Does anyone feel the same?
For a headphone with a particularly "live" sound that's not too awfully expensive, let me recommend the German Maestro GMP 8.300 D (http://www.amazon.com/German-Maestro-GMP-8-300-Professional/...) or 8.35 D (http://www.amazon.com/German-Maestro-GMP-8-35-Headphone/dp/B...). The 8.35 is a 35Ω model but otherwise identical -- it will play louder and is intended for use with portable players (but I just tried my 300Ω unit with an iPod and it gets pretty loud, just not into ear-damage territory).

When listening to well-recorded jazz with these 'phones, I find it easy to close my eyes and imagine I'm in the room with the musicians -- more so than with anything else I've found in the price range.

Beware of heavily marketed expensive headphones! I'm not saying the one you suggested is bad, but you gotta make sure you don't fall for the Psychological marketing that is heavily abused in the world of headphones, where you end up paying more for the brand than the headphone components themselves. For example, when they say "You will hear sounds you've never heard before" you will suddenly almost always feel that way, because of how psychology works. I can suggest you two excellent, professional, accurate, inexpensive, comfortable headphones that are better than even the most popular Sennhs:

1)http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-RPHTF600S-RP-HTF600-S-Stereo...

2)http://www.amazon.com/Sony-MDR-V6-Monitor-Series-Headphones/...

Cheers

Maybe my recordings are shitty mate, but in general they're REALLY good. There is another one called Holophony, which is a patented technique of recording binaural audio, (by some guy named Hugo) which is multitudes better than plain binaural recordings! I want you to check out if you feel the same way for these PROFESSIONALLY recorded holophonic recordings too:

1) Amazing 3d Matchbox - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYdIidUIbAs

2) Virtual 3d Haircut - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnNEJfokpWU

>Does anyone feel the same?

It varies from person to person, a lot of variables are involved:

Your age, your headphones' type, brand, closed/open, etc.

I think your recordings are great, comparing the stereo to mono version with VLC is really impressive. But it still sounds located close to my ears to me. Might be that my headphones are bad, or I have unusual ears? I would really love to have a truly immersive audio experience, but so far I haven't found it.
I'm given to understand that binaural recording works much better if played from actual speakers. Headphones end up placing the sound "in your head" too much. See this recent New Yorker article:

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/01/28/130128fa_fact_...

Headphones bypass our pinnae, which I suspect may be an important part of how we place sound (along with all the other important parts).

I've heard of lengths one can go to to get truly accurate 3D sound from headphones, but those involve taking an impression of your ear - I forget if it's the canal, or the pinna, or both - and then running some sort of further audio processing based on their topology.

Thanks, I think you can check out those Youtube links I've posted above, they are the best you will ever find, I guess..
Binaural beats are also kinda amazing - listen to a 400hz tone with left ear, a 407hz tone with the right ear, and your brain registeres a 7hz beat.

Here's an example: http://www.plyply.com/binaural/