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1. Re: Binaural test

Subject: 1. Re: Binaural test
From: "Richard Youell" ryouell
Date: Fri Jul 24, 2015 7:54 am ((PDT))
Hi Charles



Thank you for taking the time to listen to the two recordings and giving me=
 some feedback.



A was the spaced omnis and B was the dummy head with ears.



Kind regards



Richard







From:  =
.com]
Sent: 17 July 2015 16:32
To: 
Subject: Re: [Nature Recordists] Binaural test



 

Richard,



I listened with headphones and switched back and forth between them a lot. =
They sounded surprisingly similar to me in terms of sound staging. The over=
all signal seemed much more defined in pair B, and I'm going to guess that =
pair A was the binaural pair. I prefer B.


- Charles



(Pardon any terseness or typos, this was sent from my iPad.)


On Jul 17, 2015, at 4:28 AM, 'Richard Youell'  [naturerec=
ordists] <> wrote:

 

Hi Charles and all



I'm also in the middle of experimenting with some dummy-head binaural recor=
ding too.  eBay is a wonderful thing!



EM172s are also very wonderful.



I've made a 'blind test' of some simultaneous recordings that I made with s=
paced AB (40cm) and dummy-head EM172s.



https://soundcloud.com/ryouell/compare-spaced-ab-and-binaural-pair-a



https://soundcloud.com/ryouell/compare-spaced-ab-and-binaural-pair-b



All comments and feedback welcome. Which pair did you prefer? Can you hear =
a difference? What difference did you hear? Did you listen via speakers, he=
adphones or ear-buds? Which pair do you think are the spaced-omnis and whic=
h the dummy head?  ;-)



Richard







From:  =
.com]
Sent: 13 July 2015 21:08
To: 
Subject: [Nature Recordists] Binaural test



 

I decided to try my hand at doing some binaural recording, as I've always b=
een fascinated by the demonstrations I've heard. I used a stereo pair of Cl=
ippy EM172 mics I got from micbooster.com, along with a styrofoam head from=
 a hobby store and some silicone ears I purchased on eBay. After a bit of t=
weaking, I got my first good recording out in the real world today, and I a=
m pretty impressed with the results, although I'd appreciate feedback from =
those who really know what they're doing.

My initial tests were interesting, but a bit disappointing. I was getting s=
ome pretty good sound staging, but I wasn't getting much differentiation be=
tween front and rear. My hunch was that this was because I hadn't incorpora=
ted ear canals, and had simply placed the mics so that the opening was at t=
he proper location of the pinna facing outwards and flush with the surface.=
 I picked up some surgical tubing and made canals a little over an inch in =
length. This did seem to help a lot, although it works much better with rec=
ordings where I'm getting acoustics from the room, and not as well outside.

I made a recording at a wetlands that has nearby industry-not great for nat=
ure recording, but good for a binaural demo. There's a gravel pit behind, w=
hich has large trucks. There's a small airport a few miles away, so a bit o=
f private plane activity. There's also a water treatment plant on the other=
 side of the pond, so ignore the steady background noise, it's not the faul=
t of the mics. The head was placed such that there were a lot of birds to t=
he right and left, but not many in front, unfortunately.

The file is available here (343 MB): https://www.dropbox.com/s/x0jwrfmuj51s=
ejy/150713_01.WAV

Here's a picture of it in situ during the recording: https://www.dropbox.co=
m/s/ux2x2t4dw2jyofa/IMG_1762.jpg

Of particular interest are two planes. The first goes from right to left an=
d was behind, around 7:30. Around 14:30 there's a plane that goes from left=
 to right somewhat in front (although more vertical). To my ear I am gettin=
g placement both in front and behind, which was evident by reversing the ea=
rphones and having the positions swap, but you'll have to assess it yoursel=
f. Surprisingly I'm getting a sense of vertical direction, but maybe it's m=
y mind playing tricks on me. Most of the activity otherwise-trucks, people =
talking, etc-is behind.

I'd love to hear people's thoughts. Note that I haven't done anything to th=
e file in terms of EQ or cleanup, this is straight out of the recorder.

- Charles















"While a picture is worth a thousand words, a
sound is worth a thousand pictures." R. Murray Schafer via Bernie Krause.



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