Thank you for the excellent explanations Michael! I have watched many videos trying to figure out what exactly binaural audio is and how to render it, and I thinki I now understand it for the first time.
I like binaural. Makes listening to lively mixes on headphones easier. Not so much with modern dance music, which is center focused with some diffusion. People say that modern music is often crammed into "mono". I think the demonstration could be more effective with two instruments having a conversation, where you hear some sounds only on one side in certain moments. I find that binaural creates boomy bass and muffled highs. As if you had a subwoofer in a small padded room. So at first it is a surprise. Your presentations are educational and a bit entertaining.
I believe the metadate for RU-vid is only required if you want to use it with VR. Essentially it's the location data and timecode for playing back regarding to head position/direction.
Great video! I love making binaural recordings using a old Samsung Note5 with 2 mics. Set phone to high quality stereo recording (Cant remember the bits and Hz). Then hold the phone horizontal on my nose bridge to get the two mic's as close to my ears. It sounds amazing listening back on headphones, for me! (Probably very personalised to my head and ears' physics ;-) Anyway it cost me nothing and I enjoy it.
I'm trying to understand what does Dolby Atmos mean in context of Blu-Ray movies and headphones? Can you get a sense of audio going over your head or being more immersive than just 5.1 or 7.1 option if you convert to binaural? I mean would Dolby Atmos audio be the best option in headphones when converted to binaural?
Hello, location sound mixer here with a question. I use the Sennheiser Ambeo VR microphone to get ambience sounds (parks, streets, beaches, etc.) for films. I have the option to export to stereo or binaural stereo. The binaural stereo always sounds more clear & spatial than regular stereo. Even when listening on my stereo studio monitors or on my MacBook speakers I notice the binaural stereo sounds better overall. My concern is, what is the downside of using binaural and why would you say it's pointless without headphones if it still sounds spatial on regular speakers?
My comment is meant more as a matter of principle. Binaural recreates a spatial representation when listened through headphones. Having said that, there is nothing wrong with using it as an effect. In the end, whatever sounds good to you is the way to go. Just be aware that the representation cannot be accurate when played through anything else but headphones.
So the ear geometry or the exact dimensions of the hearing head are in my experience something that has only quite marginal influence compared to standard dimensions. Long before these special aspects come all the three-dimensional composition parameters that seriously influence the 3D image and the experience. Especially the ear geometry seems to me like a marketing hype or not very application-friendly basic research when dealing with 3D audio more and more intensively.
That’s primarily because HRTFs remain extremely coarse approximations, even if the system is based on ear geometry. There are ways to capture binaural audio directly through in-ear microphones. If that is done, the results are supposed to be extremely good (have no experience myself). But in general, I do agree that binaural audio is somewhat overhyped.
@@michaelgwagner yes, thats what I do with this project with the munich philharmonics: ru-vid.com/show-UCFenFfBIYuULMRYB-2bUN6Q binaural can be very powerful, it depends on how and what you do with it. Especially since headphones have become the reception standard. It seams to be more a dramaturgic (in a german function) question, than a technical one. you can probably unpack r. mauray schafer again for everyone.
I have been looking hard at the Genelec Aural ID. You have to record quite a detailed video of your head and they process it to give you a much better approximation of your personal HRTF. Any opinions on this Genelec offering?
Looking at the manual. They give you access to the SOFA file which is interesting. It means you can import your Aural ID measurements into most other binaural rendering plugins. Still, 490 Euro is steep. The process is very similar to what Apple is doing with their personalized spatial audio approach.
@@michaelgwagner it really is interesting! But the Genelec system seems much more accurate and even if not, allows you to tweak and adjust the settings. I am very tempted to try it! It only really costs 50 EUR to try it out and you can cancel after the first month is over. Bu you do not get the personal HRTF if you do not pay for the year. If nothing else, Dolby renderer might update their generic HRTF or other tweaks and it would change your monitoring system. With going the Genelwc rute, it seems a bit safer to change. Thank you Michael for your amazing content! Im a big fan!
This might be outside the scope of questions you'd want - but I'm interested in whether the Atmos engine in Logic Pro 10.7.5 compares with the Steinberg tools in Cubase and Nuendo.
In next weeks video I talk about a couple of topics I have not yet had a chance to make a video about. And I ask to make suggestions what I should cover next. This is one of those topics. ;)
Be great to know the difference withing the Dobly Atmos renderer, because there seems to be no difference to me, also when you bounce then one you listen to vs the one you bounce sounds different. The Logic one yes, sounds good, but what's best practive to bounce a Stereo / Binural then deliver the Atmos file to the distributor that comes out on Apple Spatial + stereo.
Good video however you said several times that binaural renders only sound good in headphone and now through regular stereo speakers. I disagree with that. To me binaural renders (from Logic Pro) sound great on stereo speakers and noticeably wider and more immersive even through stereo speakers. You can get pads, pianos etc sounding super wide which you can’t achieve in regular stereo. At least this is my experience.
I guess you could use a binaural renderer as an effect. However, if you want it to be accurate, it only works with headphones. If you play it back on speakers you are effectively adding cross feed twice, for example.
@@michaelgwagner First of all, thank you for the numerous videos on spatial audio! Is it fair to say that the following workflow would be suitable for mixing via headphones for Dolby Atmos on Cubase for example: - Setup ADM Authoring for Dolby Atmos (NOT via Setup Assistant) - Set the Downmix to binaural - Mix indiviual tracks and use the VST Multipanner accordingly - (Optional) Master using the HoRNet SAMP VST to -18 integrated LUFS - Export ADM File - Set Downmix to stereo - Perform stereo mastering to higher loudness levels (genre dependent i.e -10 LUFS) - Export Audio Mixdown on Stereo Out
That would work. I would be very careful relying on a binaural downmix for Atmos though. Binaural cannot really give you the full immersive experience.
