Binaural Audio

What Is Binaural Audio?

Binaural audio is a recording and rendering technique that captures sound exactly as human ears hear it, typically using microphones placed in the ears of a dummy head, so that playback on ordinary headphones recreates convincing three-dimensional space. The result places sounds above, behind and beside the listener with uncanny realism.

Binaural Audio in Practice

The technique relies on the tiny timing, level and tonal differences between our two ears that the brain uses to locate sound, differences a dummy head with in-ear microphones preserves faithfully. The demo that introduced millions to it is the Virtual Barber Shop, a QSound Labs recording in which clippers seem to circle your head so convincingly that listeners flinch. Binaural recording now powers ASMR content, immersive theatre, museum guides and the headphone rendering of spatial formats. For brands it is a low cost route to immersion: no special hardware is needed on the listener’s side, just standard headphones, which makes binaural ideal for podcasts, apps and campaign content.

Famous Example

QSound Labs’ Virtual Barber Shop demo, the binaural haircut that made listeners flinch.