<<"Cocktail Party Effect" wherein one can pick out any one specific
conversation in a room full of multiple simultaneous conversations,
merely by focussing visually on the speakers. Mics cannot
discriminate like this. To recreate the same sense of direct to
diffuse sound you need to place the mics much closer to the source.
<Is that in the kind of information contained in binaural recordings?
People mentioned about directional information of the sound from how
it reflects (/refracts?) through our ears/head etc.
If so, do those binaural recordings seem to have less reverb (than
they do)? Then, does the noticeability of the reverb increase when
using speakers (due to speakers not conveying the binaural
information)?>
Directional information derived from the various stereo recording
techniques defines position in the horizontal plane, but not depth
position within a reverberant field. I don't know binaural very well
at all, but I see no reason to imagine it is not subject to the same
criteria as other techniques in presenting the direct/diffuse ratio of
a position within the recording space. Binaural is not really well
known in the field of professional stereo recording due to the rather
extreme niche requirement of headphone playback in order to get the
full effect. I know there are several binaural-oriented web sites,
dedicated to the sharing & discussing of recordings. It might be
worthwhile to seek them out to get a more informed answer to your query.
Scott Fraser
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