Binaural recordings?

[stefanmz]

 

Hey, so why does it say on these recordings that this does not reflect real life? Can I use them to make a purchase decision? Like if I listen to it in the recording, will it be the same when I buy it? 


 

[YoungBlade]

I would guess it's for the same reason that anyone selling something where color accuracy matters will have a disclaimer that the color you see on your screen may not reflect the colors you see in real life. Photo compression combined with different monitor technologies and color gamuts make it impossible for there to be a one-to-one correlation between what you see in a digital image and what you see in real life without manual calibration of all the parts in between.

 

A YouTube video recording is never going to be completely accurate to what you would hear in real life, thanks to audio compression and the speakers/headphones you're using to listen to it. And that's before we get into anything the software they used to make the video did to the audio and the quality of the sound card or DAC you're using to listen to it.

 

I would not use a video like this to make a purchase decision. I would try to find a review from a reliable outlet. Barring that, check reviews on sites like Amazon to see what users think.

[Spuriae]

The sound of any headphone (including an IEM) is partially determined by the way the wearer's body acoustically interacts with the device, and is not purely a function of the device itself. This is why frequency response curves for the same headphone taken from different test rigs often look different. This means not only that the recording from a microphone can vary from what you hear, but that different people (with different ear structures) will often hear different things from the same headphones.

 

For instance check out this measurement from Harman comparing headphone frequency responses on different people and test microphones:

Spoiler

Similarly, Crinacle has a good piece on how IEM sound is affected by the listener's ear canal: https://crinacle.com/2020/04/08/graphs-101-how-to-read-headphone-measurements/ (and that's with a standardized inner ear simulator; real humans will vary even more!).

 

Another factor: in the video, the IEM is mounted to what appears to be an IEC60318 inner ear simulator rather than directly to a microphone. This simulator is designed to mimic the frequency response of a human ear for more accurate measurements at the "eardrum" microphone; however, if you're listening to the recording on headphones, your actual ear will also have this response... in effect, the recording playback as perceived by the listener will contain the ear resonance twice, which affects the treble in large and unpredictable ways.

 

In other words, the listening demo is a good way to compare headphones, but not a good way to know in absolute terms how a headphone sounds. For instance, if you listen to a demo of a headphone you're familiar with, it shouldn't sound like it does in real life, but you can it as a reference point to better determine how a headphone you haven't listened to yet might sound, relative to that familiar headphone.

[Cocococo]

19 minutes ago, stefanmz said:

 

Hey, so why does it say on these recordings that this does not reflect real life? Can I use them to make a purchase decision? Like if I listen to it in the recording, will it be the same when I buy it? 


 

Sound demos are probably the worst way to show off what a headphone/ speaker sounds like, is the binaural mic even recording sound like a human ear does? Is the rig accurate to the human head, ear canal and outer ear? are your ears/ head the same exact shape as the rig? The answer is no and therefore the recording even before YT's heavy audio compression, the compression needed in editing and playing through your device, even if everything is perfect it's still effectively playing through 2 separate ears, heavily altering the sound that you hear. It's not remotely accurate and gives VERY false impressions to unaware audiences

[stefanmz]

got it then, 

15 minutes ago, Spuriae said:

The sound of any headphone (including an IEM) is partially determined by the way the wearer's body acoustically interacts with the device, and is not purely a function of the device itself. This is why frequency response curves for the same headphone taken from different test rigs often look different. This means not only that the recording from a microphone can vary from what you hear, but that different people (with different ear structures) will often hear different things from the same headphones.

 

For instance check out this measurement from Harman comparing headphone frequency responses on different people and test microphones:

  Reveal hidden contents

Similarly, Crinacle has a good piece on how IEM sound is affected by the listener's ear canal: https://crinacle.com/2020/04/08/graphs-101-how-to-read-headphone-measurements/ (and that's with a standardized inner ear simulator; real humans will vary even more!).

 

Another factor: in the video, the IEM is mounted to what appears to be an IEC60318 inner ear simulator rather than directly to a microphone. This simulator is designed to mimic the frequency response of a human ear for more accurate measurements at the "eardrum" microphone; however, if you're listening to the recording on headphones, your actual ear will also have this response... in effect, the recording playback as perceived by the listener will contain the ear resonance twice, which affects the treble in large and unpredictable ways.

 

In other words, the listening demo is a good way to compare headphones, but not a good way to know in absolute terms how a headphone sounds. For instance, if you listen to a demo of a headphone you're familiar with, it shouldn't sound like it does in real life, but you can it as a reference point to better determine how a headphone you haven't listened to yet might sound, relative to that familiar headphone.

can I for example listen to how a song sounds on my headphones and then compare it to the recording or should I find my headphones in the recording and then listen to that and compare the new headphone or earbuds to that and determine if they are good that way?

[Spuriae]

1 hour ago, stefanmz said:

got it then, 

can I for example listen to how a song sounds on my headphones and then compare it to the recording or should I find my headphones in the recording and then listen to that and compare the new headphone or earbuds to that and determine if they are good that way?

For an effective comparison, you would need to find a recording of your headphones and compare them to a recording of the other headphones. A comparison with listening on your headphones directly only works if you listen to the other headphones directly too.

 

Keep in mind this still isn't a perfect comparison - for instance, if your headphones have less treble than usual, they could make a recording of a headphone with too much treble sound unnaturally good - but it's much better than working off a single recording alone.

[stefanmz]

1 hour ago, Spuriae said:

For an effective comparison, you would need to find a recording of your headphones and compare them to a recording of the other headphones. A comparison with listening on your headphones directly only works if you listen to the other headphones directly too.

 

Keep in mind this still isn't a perfect comparison - for instance, if your headphones have less treble than usual, they could make a recording of a headphone with too much treble sound unnaturally good - but it's much better than working off a single recording alone.

yeah got it. thanks!