Binaural set up- the practical side

[Rade]

Heys,

Just in case someone missed this question in the Recording gear forum here it is again.
I'm wondering how do you physically attach and place the mics for your binaural recordings?
I know that they should be inside your ear, facing outwards but what do you clip/tape them on to?
Do you use any headphone earpieces?

I have a pair of DPA 4060s.
Any photos or tips would be great.
Thanks a bunch!

All the best,
Rade

[Gutbucket]

Hi Rade, welcome.

True binaural places the microphones in the ear canals, to include the effect of the shape of your pina or outer ear.  I've seen people use tape, foam earplugs (makes it hard to hear) or adapted earbud with hoop style headphones to hold the mics.  Most people here don't record true binaural but use more of a quasi-binarual setup some people call HRTF (Head Related Transfer Function) that places the mics near the ears but not directly in them.  That is easy and convenient to do by attaching the mics to the arms of a pair of glasses so that they are positioned just in front of your ears.  The glasses allow you to easily don the rig and the wires run back over your ears like a cord to hang your glasses around your neck. 

The results using this method are less specific to your particular ear shape and so can sound better for a bigger number of people with different shaped ears and can sound better when played back over speakers. Try both methods and see what works best for you.

Please don't cross-post the same message in multiple places on the board.  You can delete your other post in Recording Gear other post using the buttons to the upper right of the message.

[guysonic]

BOTH in-ear and near-ear are considered HRTF methods using different tact in mic placement with different results/disadvantages/advantages. 

In-ear HRTF does give the original recordist the best realistic listening on ear-plug or closed type phones, but less good sounding with open air phones and most other persons, and not so great for speaker playback. 

Officially in front of or "near-ear" HRTF methodology was applied for patent in 1986 and a methodology patent granted to Leonard Lombardo in 1989.  This patent has gone through the 17 years term and is now in public use domain.

My tips page goes into detail about different HRTF methods found at: www.sonicstudios.com/tips.htm

[digifish_music]

Hi everyone and sorry for maybe a very basic question,

But I'm just wondering how do most of you place your mics when doing binaural recordings?
I know that they should be inside your ear, facing outwards.
Do you tape the actual mics onto headphone earpieces?
I've got a pair of DPA 4060s which I'll be using for my recordings.
Any photos or tips are more than welcome.
Thanks a bunch!

All the best,
Rade

I have mics that go in-ear (SP-TFB-2) and over ear, and (despite discussions about how the Pinna affects the sound) it makes no important difference to the sound as far as I can tell.

digifish

[Gutbucket]

^^^
Agreed, the difference is very, very subtle to my hearing too (more of a tonal issue and not worth the hassle of putting th mics in my ears), but I have found the SP-TFB-2 plastic holders don't really get the mics very close to the opening of my ears. They position them closer to even with the outside edge of them.  I and have wondered about trying the 4060's in my actual ear canal but haven't tried that.  I suspect it may make a difference though and that suspicion was indirectly reinforced after an experience at the Head-Fi CanJam event last spring.

I had a binaural measurement done for the Smyth SVS visualizer that makes a binaural headphone adjustment based on tiny knowles acoustics omnis embedded in earplugs.  They made a big deal about getting the mic capsules flush in the openings of my ears, much deeper than the SP-TFB-2 sit.  They made measuremente of sound from 5 speakers set up in the room with me sitting in the center and with various head rotations to measure my HRTF including pina response, then another measurement with headphones on over the mics to adjust for the headphone response and their pina interaction.  I asked about the mics and they said dpa 4060 S/N lead to a better response, but the knowels mic was smaller, less expensive and good enough for demo purposes, and that getting the mics flush in the ear canal was critical to a good measurement and result.

It was the most amazing headphone experience I have ever had, completely convincing that I was not listening to headphones but sound produced by external speakers in the room, despite taking the headphones off and putting them back on repeatedly.

[Len Moskowitz (Core Sound)]

I'm wondering how do you physically attach and place the mics for your binaural recordings?
I know that they should be inside your ear, facing outwards but what do you clip/tape them on to?

Actually, they needn't be in your ear canals.  The two omni mics can be placed anywhere in the acoustic shadows of your two pinnae (the outer ears), as long as they are very close to the position of the playback transducer (which may be an on-ear headphone or an in-ear monitor).

If the omni mic is placed where the playback transducer will be, you'll record the correct effects of the reflection, diffraction and absorbtion characteristics of your ears, shoulders and head.  And you'll make a fine sounding binaural recording.

If you playback using in-ear monitors (IEMs), then you should record with in-ear mics placed as closely to the position of where the IEMs will be as you can.  If you listen to a recording made with in-ear mics using on-ear headphones, you'll hear the filtering effects of the meatus (the ear canal), and that can significantly degrade the fidelity of your binaural recording.

If you want to make in-ear recordings with your 4060s, you should use a safe mounting method -- your ears' health comes first.  And consider the acoustic effect of the stuff you use.

I have a pair of DPA 4060s.

That's what we use in our High End Binaurals -- they're as good as it gets.  If you record very loud sound sources, the 4061s would be a better choice.