Binaural recording is a technique of stereo recording which uses a "dummy head" rather than simple microphones as the transducers. A dummy head is a full-scale model of the human head, occasionally including the shoulders and torso, with microphone capsules placed inside the ear canals. Using this technique, the location information contained in the frequency, amplitude and phase responses of the left and right channels closely match the cues required by the human auditory system to localize sound sources. The term "binaural" implies that the intended playback system is a pair of stereo headphones. When the same recording is intended for stereo loudspeaker reproduction, the term "transaural" recording is used.
Internet Links
Books and Articles
Experiments with Binaural Recording
Geil, Fred G.
db (June 1979)
Binaural Auralization from a Sound System Simulation Program
Ahnert, Wolfgang
AES Preprint 3127 (C-9)
Presented at the 91st Convention (October 1991) New York