[ALRAINBOW]

Does check sky do dsd recordings ?
Al

 

[kraken2109]

  Wow...thanks for the props - it's always nice to hear. Last-minute technical issues nearly scuttled the whole recording...I was sweating bullets.
 
Yep, recorded right at The Ark on October 5, 2009. I checked the other day and was really shocked to see that it had eclipsed 10,000 downloads. Did you download the flac version?
 

I agree, I'd never listened to the Cowboy Junkies before but I listened to your recording several times.

 

[immersifi]

  I agree, I'd never listened to the Cowboy Junkies before but I listened to your recording several times.

Again, thanks for the kind words. I have to say, being there in advance of the band's set up and sound check was pretty cool. I mean, after all of my gear was set up, I was kind of in coast-mode, and just sat back watching them run through a few tunes - I was one of maybe five people in there at the time. What was weird was that during the performance, I was sitting by the FOH board with my recording gear, and I was monitoring the signal from the KU 100 mannequin head in my headphones...so I had that sonic perspective, yet I was in an area of the house that sounds quite different than where the mannequin was placed. I had a similar experience when I recorded the Sumkali show there.
 
Yeah, that Junkies show...really a great night for me, and being able to hang out with the band (only a little mind you) just before and after the show was a bonus.

 

[immersifi]

   
Thanks. Is pretty weird though listening. Because the singer and instruments are not right in front of me...but a bit to either left or right.
Love the recordings. Makes me want to update all my music collection.

Yes. I alluded to that in my post (if you are speaking of the Sumkali HD video + binaural audio).
 
There are a few things going on in those video clips...
 
First, there is an FOH P.A. cabinet, which was dead ahead of the mannequin, and that was being sent a mono feed, based on the FOH mix. In other words, there is some mic'd sound from most instruments going into the mains at center. However, at the same time, not all of the instruments were mic'd with the same gain in the FOH mix; because they are primarily acoustic-radiation instruments (as opposed to things like electronic keyboards and the like), there is a 'natural' airborne path from each instrument to the mannequin, but also, because the instruments were mic'd and fed to the mains, there is a path-difference (or if you like, a time, and therefore, phase difference) between the sound emanating from each instrument and the sound of that same instrument as coming through the FOH mains.
 
Add to that the fact that the camera angles are seldom from the same perspective as the mannequin head, so there's some cognitive dissonance going on as well; the visuals don't match what your brain tells you you should be hearing from that angle.
 
An interesting thing to try is to listen to the audio only without watching the video; people seem to be mixed about it. Some prefer watching and listening, and others find its aesthetics better when only listening.
 
Ideally, if this were being done solely for recording purposes (i.e. not a live concert), and if I had full creative control, I would opt to do this without any amplification as this would preserve the relative phase of each instrument with respect to the mannequin head. However, this was a live show, and Sumkali really wanted the show presented in binaural to help convey the experience.
 
There is another video that illustrates this point in detail (from the same show).
 
Watch this very closely and pay attention to the guy playing the harmonium on the right. As he sings, you will note he moves closer to and further back from his mic, and as he does so, he also tilts his head back. When this happens (right around the 1:40 mark, but also right around the 3:51 mark), there is less of his voice in the FOH mains signal (directly head) and more of his airborne-only sound (from his voice) you will hear his voice shift slightly from center towards the right; when he is close to the mic, his voice is more at center (because his voice is stronger in the mains), but when he backs away from the mic, then you hear where he really is placed in the soundfield (because his input to the FOH signal is attenuated, leaving only his natural, un-amplified voice).
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_oumi50dy0
 
Check it out...

 

[kraken2109]

  Again, thanks for the kind words. I have to say, being there in advance of the band's set up and sound check was pretty cool. I mean, after all of my gear was set up, I was kind of in coast-mode, and just sat back watching them run through a few tunes - I was one of maybe five people in there at the time. What was weird was that during the performance, I was sitting by the FOH board with my recording gear, and I was monitoring the signal from the KU 100 mannequin head in my headphones...so I had that sonic perspective, yet I was in an area of the house that sounds quite different than where the mannequin was placed. I had a similar experience when I recorded the Sumkali show there.
 
Yeah, that Junkies show...really a great night for me, and being able to hang out with the band (only a little mind you) just before and after the show was a bonus.

Are there any other albums like this available for free? I cam across the Cowboy Junkies one in the free flac music thread, so it would be awesome if you had other stuff to post there
http://www.head-fi.org/t/644595/official-free-flac-file-music-sharing-thread

 

[immersifi]

  Are there any other albums like this available for free? I cam across the Cowboy Junkies one in the free flac music thread, so it would be awesome if you had other stuff to post there
http://www.head-fi.org/t/644595/official-free-flac-file-music-sharing-thread

Well, I posted this a while back (if you're looking for a live concert thread)...recorded at The Fillmore Detroit (MUCH bigger venue than The Ark), but here's a show by Sam Roberts Band on their Love at the End of the World tour:
 
You can download it in flac:
 
https://archive.org/details/SRB2009-11-28
 
And here's another completely different show done in binaural (also downloadable in flac):
 
This was done in the Trinity House Theater (a venue much smaller than The Ark). As the set progresses, you will hear the singers locate in different places left to right; they took turns performing songs, and they were seated in an arc. You will also hear (now and again) how the lead singer may be in one location, but the harmonies and additional accompanying instruments may be elsewhere. Also, if you listen towards the end of the first set, you will hear a downpour of rain on the roof.
 
The second set ...those tunes are all Joni Mitchell covers, while the first set are originals written and performed by the various performers.
 
https://archive.org/details/CappsDonohoeIannaceJackAndKristLiveAtTheTrinityHouseTheater
 
And again, if you want more, check out the immersifi soundcloud page. Some stuff there is binaural, some is stereo, and some is a blend of binaural and stereo.
 
PS: I just posted some of these links (and others) in the thread that you mentioned in your post...all of which are available in flac.

 

[DougD]

  Hey...Thanks so much for the post about this CD. It's great that you're helping to raise awareness of binaural recording; as someone who's been doing that for a few years now, it's always nice to see knowledgeable people give the subject some attention. I don't know that binaural is for everyone per se (some seem to love it, others, not so much), but certainly for the head-fi-ers, it's right up our proverbial alley.
 
If you want to check out some more binaural tracks from my sessions, links are shown below; some of the work is just binaural, some is hybrid (a mix of binaural and variations on conventional stereo), and some tracks are straight up conventional stereo. Howvere, please don't stream the tracks from the soundcloud site - their player transcodes content down to 128 kbps and this wreaks havoc with the imaging. However, you can download any or all of the tracks and avoid that. Some of the material has been posted in flac format, some in 320 kbps mp3 format, and some events have been posted in both formats:
 
https://soundcloud.com/immersifi
 
You can also check out (and download) a Cowboy Junkies show I recorded back in 2009 at The Ark in Ann Arbor:
 
https://archive.org/details/cj2009-10-05.ku100_at37
 
You can also audition / download a live recording of Sam Roberts Band (from back in 2009), which was recorded at The FIllmore Detroit:
 
https://archive.org/details/SRB2009-11-28
 
So...grab those 'phones and check out the various tracks. I hope you guys and gals dig my work.
 
Mark

 
I downloaded the Cowboy Junkies show this morning. I'd heard of them, but not heard them before. This is a GREAT recording, I'm really enjoying it.
 
Great job, and thanks so much for sharing. 
 
(Three times so far I've heard a noise behind me, and turned to talk to my wife. Who isn't in the room at all.)
 
d.d.

 

[immersifi]

   
I downloaded the Cowboy Junkies show this morning. I'd heard of them, but not heard them before. This is a GREAT recording, I'm really enjoying it.
 
Great job, and thanks so much for sharing. 
 
(Three times so far I've heard a noise behind me, and turned to talk to my wife. Who isn't in the room at all.)
 
d.d.

Again, THANK YOU and all others who have said such kind and gracious things about that recording. I know the 'background noise' moments of which you speak (the ones that made you think someone was behind you etc), and others have commented about that effect as well.
 
There are some spectacular moments in that show. I have been a fan of that band since "Trinity Session" was done, so to actually be able to record them in a similar fashion (Trinity Session was done, as I recall, with an Ambisonic mic, but this one was done almost entirely with a Neumann KU 100 and a quasi ORTF pair of condensors) was a sort of personal highlight for me. Bummer about the glitch in "Moonlight Mile" but that was wholly beyond my control. Still, it all worked out.
 
It's tough to say what my favorite tracks are, because I really like how Margo (Timmins) phrases as she sings (and of course, her beautiful voice), but even the covers that they have chosen (Shining Moon (Tab Benoit), Moonlight Mile (Rolling Stones), Me and the Devil Blues (Robert Johnson(?)), Lost My Driving Wheel (David Wiffen)) they really do well, and put their own kind of spin on them, which is always nice when covers are performed. Oh that's right "Don't Let it Bring You Down" is another cover (Neil Young).
 
Anyway, there are some really pretty and delicate tracks (Good Friday, Fairy Tale) as well as some powerful and soulful ones (200 More Miles); one of my personal favorite moments in the recording comes when Margo is singing "Lost my Driving Wheel" and you can hear her lightly breathing and sighing. Other times, they rock some tunes pretty hard (Dragging Hooks, Sing in My Meadow, et al), and I really liked the ebb and flow of energy in the show. I think the recording sounds best if you listen start to finish, because it gives the tracks context.
 
Yeah, all the praise from you and the others who have commented really means a lot to me; after I bought and endlessly played "Trinity Session" when it first came out, I never, ever in 1,000,000 years expected that I'd one day actually record this very same band (...and in such a small and well-suited venue - and do it in binaural no less). It took me quite a while to 'come down' after recording that show, and I distinctly remember driving home and thinking..."did that really just happen?".
 
Anyway...thanks again, and I'm so glad that you like it. I also posted some other links in the official flac download thread that you may want to check out, in particular "Puszta - Four Gypsy Dances". Totally different than the CJ recording, but another recording that I find quite listenable.

 

[UNIFi]

I've finally looked into your recordings, and WOW, some of these will have to enter into my essential headphone testing/demo tracks. I love the Cowboy Junkies!
C

 

[Soundsgoodtome]

Really enjoying this on a MA900 at the moment. Great stuff!

 

[immersifi]

  I've finally looked into your recordings, and WOW, some of these will have to enter into my essential headphone testing/demo tracks. I love the Cowboy Junkies!
C

That's great to hear (no pun intended). Seriously, it makes me feel good about having recorded something that others really enjoy listening to.
 
I'm generally adding content to the immersifi soundcloud page as time permits, so you can check there occasionally, or just 'follow' immersifi there. I'm thinking about digging out some a cappella choir stuff out of archive (really well done) and posting them up there soon. I may also have some orchestral stuff to put up there as well - we'll see.
 
I don't know if anyone would be interested in hearing binaural conversations - I have some of that kind of stuff from family histories that I have recorded for people (I got into doing that when I discovered that my dad was not going to beat cancer, so I decided to record conversations that I had with my dad (and my mom) about what it was like growing up when they did, etc). If you want to hear one of those excerpts, check out the immersifi webpage (www.immersifi.com) and go to the "Audio Samples" icon - the excerpt "wedding reception gone bad" is an excerpt of one of those conversations between my mom and dad, recorded at their kitchen table. It's pretty interesting in terms of spatial attributes, but isn't necessarily all that interesting from a musical enjoyment perspective. Anyway, if you're interested, feel free to check out that short excerpt and the other samples on that page ("Thunderstorm and Rain on Metal Roof" (on that same page) is a fun track - you have to wait to hear the rain falling on the metal awning, but it sounds pretty real).
 
Thanks again for the kind words about my recording efforts.

 

[Jorge Luna]

Always look forward to a Chesky release.

 

[Loretta]

I'll have to use that rain track every time I have a friend over to shock them with my headphones!
 
My favorite ever binaural thing is the Ultrasone Test CD which has what I believe is sound taken from a battlefield/street or something similar, really remarkable and worrying!

 

[immersifi]

  I'll have to use that rain track every time I have a friend over to shock them with my headphones!
 
My favorite ever binaural thing is the Ultrasone Test CD which has what I believe is sound taken from a battlefield/street or something similar, really remarkable and worrying!

Hmmm...now you have got me thinking...I know that somewhere in my archives, I have a pretty severe thunderstorm or two; I really should put those up on the immersifi soundcloud page so that people can download them. I'll start looking this weekend, and with luck, I may have something to post up there in flac / 320 kbps mp3 by Sunday.
 
It seems that the storms I recorded started with distant thunder, the lightning moving closer, and then a deluge.
 
Man...I have got to find those tracks... 

 

[miceblue]

Does anyone know how binaural microphones actually work? I know the super expensive ones use a special, calibrated, EQ-ed-like dummy head, but there are a handful of binaural microphones that don't have that.

3Dio is an example. I have a pair of Sound Professional Master Series binaural microphones that I use in some of my YouTube videos.

Here's a random street performance I captured with those microphones if anyone is interested (I was using a Tascam XJ2 as the preamp since these are electret microphones): https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/2816447/2013-08-14_-_UVillage_Concert.flac