Reason I started this thread:
Over at the
There’s Something About Ultrasones… thread,
Contrastique, another proud owner of Proline 750's like myself, posted a bunch of binaural cuts she got at the
Benelux Meet on a CD everyone got from the sponsor of that meet,
thrillmetoo. The aiff files she posted below are from that. This got me thinking about binaural again, since I am a big fan, and even have some equipment for recording that way myself. So, inspiration set in to find more stuff!
I saw a couple threads inspired by the Ultrasone demo CD of people wanting to hear more of this binaural technique. The other threads have become discussions of binaural vs single-point recording and questions and answers about binaural itself, and listings of purchasable recordings.
This thread is just for links to freely and legally available downloads of binaurally recorded materials, but single-point recordings are fine to list, along with HRTF and DSM ones, which are finer branches of binaural.
I will update this first post with ones I find, and I'll also take your additions (as posts) and copy them up here to this first post when feasible, or will provide a link here to your post if it is lengthy, like my
post #9 (where I can be found leeching from the Ultrasone Demo Cd thread). I'll bold links to files for an easy scan, leaving other kinds as regular links.
Yes, leeching from other threads and providing links to those thread's posts is OK! For Head-fi posts, just right click on a post number in the upper right corner of the post and "copy link location" to paste it into a post here in this thread, and it will jump us over there in a new tab or window. You can also hit the "quote" button on a post, copy that entire text including the quote and /quote tags, and paste the quote whole into a post here, like I did several times in my
post #9.
Please keep this thread on-topic, listing only links to downloads, or to elegant sources of downloads, OK? Oh, and rave reviews (or otherwise) are welcomed as well, of course!
For an excellent article on "binaural" audio and what it is, its history, and more than you can shake a stick at (including some demo recordings), try
www.binaural.com, suggested by
Sovkiller:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sovkiller
Binaural is a recording in which the mikes are placed in the exact place where the ears are, so that gives you the exact way you should hear the event recorded, with the soundstage and spacial distribution of the intruments the exact real life way, instead of a simulated distribution done on the console in the recording studio....
You can find more info here... |
The Binaural Source FAQ Page
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Sonic Studios
Any headphones can be used to enjoy binaural recordings. HRTF ones even sound impressive over speakers, especially the type made using Sonic Studios' "
DSM stereo-surround HRTF" mics. (
DSM stands for 'Dimensional Stereo-surround Microphones.') Check
Sonic Studios HRTF Baffled/Headworn Ambient Stereo & Surround Microphone Systems for all you could possibly want to know about field recording and/or stealth recording using portables, check out their (
Leonardo and Debbie Lombardo's)
patented DSM mics (I own a pair!) and theory, definitely
listen to their demos, and perhaps contribute links here to some of your own recordings! I will be!
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There is a huge wealth of stuff out here on the internet for free. For instance,
Contrastique just turned me on to this fact:
In February 2007, the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra began to offer downloads of in-concert binaural recordings through its website. The link is to the samples. They also offer full albums of the symphony's recordings for only $5 as binaural mp3s via their web store.
Jahn just added this reference - an article about the Milwaukee Symphony's binaural recordings in Stereophile:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jahn
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These are the binaural cuts
Contrastique extracted and put up from a CD everyone got at the
Benelux Meet from the sponsor of that meet,
thrillmetoo:
RapidShare: 1-Click Webhosting
RapidShare: 1-Click Webhosting
RapidShare: 1-Click Webhosting
RapidShare: 1-Click Webhosting
RapidShare: 1-Click Webhosting
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mobayrasta added the IUA free loops collection location:
freesound :: home page
I noticed that this page at freesound specifically shows files tagged as "binaural"
freesound :: view tag :: binaural
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I added a bunch more in
post #9 as copies of quotes from the
Must try! Ultrasone Demo Cd thread
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krmathis suggested this Italian language site:
Quote:
Originally Posted by krmathis
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INDEED! Right from the first track you can tell the high quality of these recordings, performed using the same Neumann KU 100 head-mic that the
Milwaukee Symphony is using above. Very high quality streams here. Adjust your headband according to the first link! Eyes closed!
These collected links from TERZO ORECCHIO | mp3 below will load and play directly in your browser if you have Quicktime or another player browser helper app installed.
My favorites:
1) Carta 3D (
Alternate Link)
(A great demo - shaking some shredded paper or something all around you!)
UPDATE:
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Tolovana
TERZO ORECCHIO | mp3
This one is isn't paper, it's a sparkler. I looked through the thread, and was suprised that no one else said they recognized the sound. Knowing that it's a sparkler makes it all the more fun to listen to!
Great list!
Carol
|
Thanks Carol!
13) Toccata e fuga in re minore (
Alternate Link)
(Organ in its natural surroundings)
15) Temporale (
Alternate Link)
(A good "thunder" recording)
16) Le (povere) orecchie di Bellini (
Alternate Link)
(a very cool composite street-scene "composition" 20 minutes long!)
And the piano pieces:
2) Concerto per la mano sinistra (
Alternate Link)
3) Sonetto del Petrarca (
Alternate Link)
4) Rondò capriccioso (
Alternate Link)
I didn't choose the vocal, chorale, and opera pieces because I'm not crazy about the way these "head mic's" pick up the room acoustics in any other musical setting other than with organ performances (where the hall is part of the great instrument!) You may feel differently, of course, so visit the site and listen to the others!
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They are mentioned at the Sonic Studios website, but
AlmazovKB also mentioned here:
The Quiet American is a series of field recordings made mostly around Vietnam by a traveler, but are presented on a nice website and are good quality. I believe these use Leonard and Debbie's Sonic Studios' DSM mics throughout.
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steel102 gave this offering:
Charles Morrow Productions offers nice binaural sample trackings of Madonna's "Music", some Charles Ives, much more. Quality is not as high as in other places, but gives a good representation of the NYC experimental scene surrounding these folks.
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asmox provided this info:
Holophonic Sound -
this sample and more can be downloaded from
this multi-language research site.
You can hear this (the Cereni Holophonic) via Flash Player at the
Odeo site.
ugester found another link to apparently the same file (the matches file) that plays from a flashplayer loader.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ugester
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USER NAME: added this interesting sidenote:
Quote:
Originally Posted by USER NAME:
That was indeed a binaural recording. It was recorded by one of the pioneers of binaural recordings Hugo Zuccarelli. His stuff is amazing. There is a compilation of clips like this (just do a search) grab it if you can find it, it's rare.
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roadtonowhere08 recommends the soundtracker.com site, where you can sample the wares.
Quote:
Originally Posted by roadtonowhere08
Sound Tracker
Absolute best binaural recordings I have ever heard. I have a handful of CD's from this guy and they are out of this world. They are only nature recordings though, so keep that in mind. Nevertheless, I think even one CD from him is essential for really hearing what headphones can do.
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papy had this to add to his also suggesting The Quiet American
Quote:
Originally Posted by papy
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Here was another offering from the Ultrasone Demo CD thread, by
Dept_of_Alchemy:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dept_of_Alchemy
Listening to track 6 confirms that this is definitely a binaural compilation. Speaking of binaural recordings, check out this site: Duen Hsi Yen's Binaural Sound Page
The '2 running dogs' file is uncanny. |
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And
bonesinc there also mentioned this excellent source of field recordings, though the navigation is a little "odd" being all search-engine centered:
Quote:
Originally Posted by bonesinc
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I found the following few pages at the top of a
google search for binaural samples:
THE BINAURAL SOURCE Free Demos to Download!
And here is
Duen Hsi Yen's Binaural, 3D, Holographic Sound Page!
And
Michael Oster is an enthusiastic recordist/phonographer who has a few nice samples of sounds he's collected:
F7 Sound and Vision Field Recording/Sound Art documents
And here's a feature on
Holophonic Sound from
Interesting Thing of the Day
A couple more from
krmathis:
Quote:
Originally Posted by krmathis
|
The links below of my own offerings will load and play directly in your browser if you click them and have Quicktime or another browser-helper player app installed. Right-click and "Save Target As" (or whatever your browser's equivalent is) if you wish to download them instead!
Here we have some lovely
DSM stereo-surround HRTF recordings I made of a wonderful friend of mine, Pamela Branscum, playing a laptop mountain dulcimer and even singing on one tune by a mountain stream. These are un-processed recordings, simply raw from the
DSM-6S/M (Sonic Studios) microphones directly to a DAT. (Nothing has been done to them via EQ, etc. so you'll get to actually hear these great mics by themselves.)
DSM, by the way, stands for 'Dimensional Stereo-surround Microphones.' These go beyond the traditional "in-ear" binaural approach and present a recording that works well on headphones but also works well on speakers.
These are 256 kbps VBR .mp3 files, so they are a bit of a download.
Hold your breath - they are lovely!
Harrison Town
Scotland the Brave / My Bonnie Lass
Lady Mary - Vocal, Pamela Branscum
Endearing Young Charms
Black Rogue
Wellen
JawHarp - Original Composition by Pamela Branscum
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Response from the dulcimer recordings made with the DSM mic's was pretty positive! I have some more recordings here made with the same equipment of some street musicians performing on Trade St. in Winston-Salem, NC, which is the Art District there. These are just for fun, folks - this is just jamming with flute and percussion - yes, and that's me playing the flute, and friends Rico and Tabia and their kids are playing the fine percussion, with my friend Laura wearing the DSM mics. Years ago, I made my living as a street musician during several periods of my life, so this was a fun way for me to relive one of my favorite activities ever! This was recorded back in early autumn of 2001 for a Gallery-Hop event to help out and bring some
ambiance to the scene - it was nice and warm and southern-style night-time summery.
There is no processing on these other than running through mp3gain to take out any spikes made within the mp3. At 256 kbps VBR, the longer ones are large downloads (16 and 20 megs) - well, when the download finishes, there you'll have a nice file, so it's worth the wait for the reverbs! (On most browsers you may simply click the link and it will play in Quicktime as it downloads into your cache.) Music critics, just don't even bother! This is for the ambiance and fun of the live energy outdoors of a summer street scene! (Well, the music is enjoyable, and several folks listen to this as a CD in their car a lot, sure... but listen to this for the "vibe" - the reverb tails and sonic energy of it all!)
(BTW - Tracks prior to 6 were recorded in an earlier performance off a stage mixing console and are not binaural, so they do not qualify. And yes, the indexes on the source CD were screwed up in a couple places I never noticed before... will fix later!)
Again, musically, this is no big deal (especially the flute player!), but the experience of the street ambiance is fun! There's even a distant train whistle on the first track, and you can hear people's car radios and a distant trumpet in a couple places. The flute is quieter than the drums just like really being there it is, etc. Unplugged and raw! Enjoy!
flute_on_trade_st_track_06.mp3
flute_on_trade_st_track_07.mp3
flute_on_trade_st_track_08.mp3
flute_on_trade_st_track_09.mp3
flute_on_trade_st_track_10.mp3
flute_on_trade_st_track_11.mp3
Hopefully, some great organ tracks will be coming soon! The organist wishes to remain anonymous as these were just recorded as school demos, but in my opinion the performances are very nice and the sound is quite incredible! So, watch this space for those!
Some new stuff!
From
werdwerdus:
Quote:
Originally Posted by werdwerdus
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This is really very, very funny! Here is a direct link to the MP3 to download a copy (the above link leads to an embedded web-mediaplayer but not the file...)
(Right click on these and choose to save target)
(Mirrors courtesy of R1CH):
http://r-1.ch/VB1.mp3 (Barbershop)
Also these:
http://r-1.ch/voce.mp3 (Whispers)
http://r-1.ch/phon.mp3 (Dryer)
http://r-1.ch/cereni-holophonic.mp3 (Matches)
Those links courtesy of Mexican Samuri at "The Something Awful Forums" where he started
an extensive discussion thread all about the Virtual Haircut.
And from
kryss:
Quote:
Originally Posted by kryss
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As indicated, the following offering by
bebanovich is a "within site" search done at archive.org on the word "binaural". The site itself has much more to offer than these binaural selections.
This place has a ton of stuff! Great search result page!
Quote:
Originally Posted by bebanovich
This is simply a "binaural" search results page of one of my all-time favorite places on the web - archive.org. Audio is just the tip of the iceberg . . . it's full of public domain Films Noir, old drive-in ads, government propaganda shorts, you name it.
Internet Archive Search: binaural |
And here are a few from
jazzzy:
Quote:
Originally Posted by jazzzy
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Check this page of theirs for several demos:
BINAURAL.nl Demos
AND some more!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by jazzzy
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Thanks, jazzzy!
And
tosh1000 offers this:
Quote:
Originally Posted by tosh1000
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(Yes, all of these have been represented already here in post 1, but this is a nice alternative location to hear these, with the built-in player embedded in his blog. Thanks, Tosh1000!)
Also,
forever headphone had these to contribute from YouTube:
Quote:
Originally Posted by forever headphone
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Thanks,
forever headphone for those. There was also
a nice stereo vs binaural one there, among others at YouTube. Check out the related ones as well as the others contributed by the same person.
These three collections of 3D Sound "Holophonics" from
washijaaa at YouTube include pictures to clue you in adequately to what you are hearing, and seem to be very good recordings - higher quality than others I've heard of similar or the same material (the original matchsticks are there, but sound much clearer. And... get that paper bag off of my head!!)
The folks at
Otophonics in Japan are trying to reproduce binaural sounds in a more believable way, taking our perceptual methods into account. Their demos are fun. The seascape one in particular captures the motion of waves well by the middle. The first audio-only piece is a compilation of familiar pieces but they do sound distinctly different.
Terry 
Legally Download-able Binaural recordings links
I hope you like what you are about to hear!
Here is the Ultrasone Demo CD
Nyaah-nyaah! - I got the REAL Ultrasone CD with my Proline 750s!! 
