Headphone Heights

Incorrect on a number of counts.

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This Post Has Been Edited by the Author

In Reply to: RE: A good headphone sytem will "soundstage" surprisingly well... posted by Travis on July 16, 2013 at 17:39:03

Binaural is/was a completely viable technology. However, it is one that requires special recording equipment and techniques that typical recording studios have had no real use for. And, while binaural has been viewed as an "audiophile" technology, it has never had the market potential it needed to succeed in the past - partly because the typical audiophile has always owned loudspeakers and because they have eschewed headphones as a sort of second-rate way to listen to music. Also, "multi-channel" was seen by the audio industry as the most profitable new gimmick they could possibly sell. All this is now changing!
It is also a myth that binaural recordings are "not compatible" with loudspeakers. Refined binuaral recording techniques have clearly shown this, as Chesky records has demonstrated. The same binaural recordings that sound so great with headphones can work extremely well with loudspeakers too. In fact, binaural might surpass the potential for spatial realism that space-hogging multi-channel loudspeaker arrays once promised to deliver.
The time for binaural technology has finally arrived. The new crop of younger audiophiles are following (rather than fighting) mass market trends and compact audio solutions like desktop headphone systems are the rage. It is now up to the major recording studios to follow the cue and begin investing in binaural recording technology. If/when that ever happens, music lovers (of all ages) will be hard pressed to deny the "viability" of binaural recordings and headphone-based audiophile systems.

Edits: 07/17/13 07/17/13

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