So called binaural audio is a recently much discussed term, but what is actually behind it?

Our human hearing is naturally spatial: with just two ears we can distinguish wether a sound source is in front, behind, above or wherever around us. The uniquely shaped pinnae of the human ear alters the frequency response of a sound depending on it's direction of arrival. Together with other physio- and psychoacoustic effects this allows our brain to get a complex impression of the sounding environment we find ourselves in.

Today's audio processing technologies allow to create an illusion of such a natural listening environment for heaphone playback. If you don't have a three dimensional loudspeaker setup at your disposal for playing back immersive content on a Dolby Atmos or Auro-3D loudspeaker setup, this is your way of listening.

Some of our products also include a discrete binaural mix for an immersive listening experience on headphones. No special equipment other than a good pair of headphones is needed to enjoy this mix: the binaural audio is contained in a conventional stereo signal that any playback equipment can handle. On selected albums you'll find the binaural version among the Pure Audio Blu-ray streams. The Immersive Sound Art release Ha! compagnons even contains additional binaural tracks on the CD.