Binaural Reproduction

Author: N.H. Crowhurst

Binaureal reproduction

This brings us to some final aspects in achieving realism in high-fidelity reproduction: the artificial reproduction of sound that gives an impression of coming from different directions and enables the hearing faculties to draw similar conclusions to those that would have been received in the original program.

There are two main approaches to this objective. One uses a dummy human head with a microphone in the position of each ear and makes two-channel recordings. By means of a pair of headphones, one of these channels is delivered to each ear of the listener when the record is played. This system is called binaural reproduction. This same two-channel sound could be reproduced over two loudspeakers, but the effect would not be as good. When sound is released into the room by two loudspeakers, the waves from each loudspeaker reverberate around the room and recombine. The impression conveyed to each ear in this way is not the same as that conveyed by the earphones and the sound field created is not like the original field.

Two-channel sound using two loudspeakers