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Microsoft developing virtual headphone

post #1 of 11
3/26/07 at 10:03am
Thread Starter 
See here.
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post #2 of 11
3/26/07 at 10:23am
Sounds fantastic
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post #3 of 11
3/26/07 at 11:01am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jmmtn4aj View Post
Sounds fantastic
Even better if it sounds fantastic!
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post #4 of 11
3/26/07 at 1:40pm
They haven't even managed to build a set of stereo speakers into a computer monitor that sounds decent, so while I think this technology is a fascinating concept the implementation will probably suck.
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post #5 of 11
3/26/07 at 1:45pm
You could still use it with normal speakers.
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post #6 of 11
3/26/07 at 2:20pm
Sound interesting.
Remains to see (hear) how such a system will sound though..
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post #7 of 11
3/26/07 at 4:38pm

In what century? Surely not this one.

I'll file this one in my "I'll believe it when I hear it" folder. The linked article describes huge technical challenges, to put it mildly, and the research is clearly at a very preliminary stage.

I've been listening to audio since the early-70s. Since then, I have seen an endless parade of sound "enhancements" come and go. The only constants have been that they sound like absolute garbage, in a pure audio sense, while failing miserably to deliver the promised whizzy functionality.

"Electrically re-channelled for stereo?" Oh **HELL** no. Too awful to even comment on. Made buying vinyl reissues of 50s and 60s material a nightmare.

WOW? SRS? Massive distortion, wierdly unlistenable soundstage, nothing like the psycho-acoustic impact promised.

5.1 sound from a single speaker? Yeah, right. If you believe that, I've got a lightly-used bridge in Brooklyn with your name all over it. Available cheap.

My sense is that it's possible that some limited version of this "virtual headphone" functionality will be available in a couple years or so. But of such limited usefullness as to be more or less a parlor trick. And expensive. And with brutally gimmicked-up sound. I can't wait.
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post #8 of 11
3/26/07 at 4:59pm
i'm not getting my hopes up. also, i always had an idea like this in the back of my head, except i always imagined the sound waves as visible for some reason... still, this just won't work. wireless IEMs are much more practical.
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post #9 of 11
3/26/07 at 5:40pm

Way too simple

Quote:
Originally Posted by Thelonious Monk View Post
Wireless IEMs are much more practical.
I completely agree. But why settle for established tech that yields superior results when you can develop a more expensive technology that isn't as good?

Because we are Devo, D-E-V-O!!
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post #10 of 11
3/26/07 at 5:50pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Thelonious Monk View Post
i'm not getting my hopes up. also, i always had an idea like this in the back of my head, except i always imagined the sound waves as visible for some reason... still, this just won't work. wireless IEMs are much more practical.

We are the music makers, and We are the dreamers of dreams!!
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post #11 of 11
3/26/07 at 6:20pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Morph201 View Post
We are the music makers, and We are the dreamers of dreams!!
Thread crap:

Another Aphex Twin fan? ^_^;
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