# Binaural Audio



## Daniel Petras (Nov 8, 2017)

Hi! Does anyone have any suggestions or plugins for simulating binaural audio inside a DAW? I've seen some features in DAWs like Logic, but I'm not sure if Reaper has it.


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## rrichard63 (Nov 8, 2017)

Are you asking about (1) preparing binaural mixes for distribution, or (2) making monitoring on headphones sound more like monitoring on speakers?

I don't know anything about (1). I do know of four plugins that claim to do (2):

Flux/IRCAM Hear 3
112dB Redline Monitor
Toneboosters Isone
Waves Nx
Hear 3 simulates various types of surround sound as well as binaural audio. Isone is available only in a bundle (although the bundle is very inexpensive for what you get). Waves Nx has a head tracking feature that attempts to simulate the effects of moving your head in relationship to the speakers; that feature requires either a webcam or a dedicated Bluetooth device marketed by Waves.


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## Daniel Petras (Nov 8, 2017)

rrichard63 said:


> Are you asking about (1) preparing binaural mixes for distribution, or (2) making monitoring on headphones sound more like monitoring on speakers?
> 
> I don't know anything about (1). I do know of four plugins that claim to do (2):
> 
> ...



Maybe I'm mistaken, but I didn't think binaural audio was meant to make headphone monitoring sound more like speakers. It's not really the surround sound in a theatrical sense that I want, but rather the effects, filtering, spatialization or what have you that are caused by the shape and location of the human ear relative to the sound. Thanks for those plugin suggestions - I'll check them out.


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## Chandler (Nov 8, 2017)

Try this https://www.auburnsounds.com/products/Panagement.html . Its free and it works well. They have a paid version that adds some features like an LFO too. I made a video a while ago going over how it works. 



Another company made one recently too, but they are charging around $120 for it. I forget the name, but if you're interested I'll try to find it.


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## jcrosby (Nov 9, 2017)

Daniel Petras said:


> Maybe I'm mistaken, but I didn't think binaural audio was meant to make headphone monitoring sound more like speakers. It's not really the surround sound in a theatrical sense that I want, but rather the effects, filtering, spatialization or what have you that are caused by the shape and location of the human ear relative to the sound. Thanks for those plugin suggestions - I'll check them out.



Panagement's pretty great for what you're after... And actually binaural panning is pretty remarkable for simulating speakers and surround in headphones. I use thing thing whenever I mix on cans and can't imagine working without it...


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## Rv5 (Nov 12, 2017)

Logic has it in-built, just change the output, works pretty well:







Huge fan of binaural recording, it's my favourite interaction with sound. Here's an old university project created recording binaurally (listen with headphones):



Also in case you're interested, my brothers did a binaural tour. They would perform in a separate room to the audience, with sound being recorded binaurally by sonic artist Dallas Simpson. The sound would then feed to the audience via headphones with visuals projected to a screen:



Here they are at a Winter Solstice performing at the Kielder Skyspace:



While we're here, that's my brother John on vocals/guitar who's guitar I sample here: https://www.waverunneraudio.com/?product=johns-guitar We're working on a sample library I'm very excited about...

And the drummer is my other brother Peter who made a sample library with those rather talented folks at Spitfire Audio: https://www.spitfireaudio.com/shop/a-z/thepetebox/

Anyway, sorry for digressing, nice to see some binaural activity on the forum!


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## Rv5 (Nov 12, 2017)

For Reaper, take a look here: http://www.ambisonictoolkit.net/documentation/reaper/

This is also pretty cool:

https://www.brucewiggins.co.uk/?p=730


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## TeamLeader (Nov 12, 2017)

dearVR Pro we are in love with here


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## emasters (Nov 12, 2017)

TeamLeader said:


> dearVR Pro we are in love with here



Also liking this.


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## wbacer (Nov 12, 2017)

dearVR demos sound great but I found this in the dearVR Pro users manual.

Ableton, Cubase, Logic, Samplitude - multichannel ambisonic outputs
Due to restrictions within theses host, no multichannel ambisonic outputs are available

I'm assuming that this means that dearVR Pro will not work with these DAWs.
Can any dearVR Pro users confirm this?
Thanks


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## mdkb (Feb 27, 2018)

wbacer said:


> dearVR demos sound great but I found this in the dearVR Pro users manual.
> 
> Ableton, Cubase, Logic, Samplitude - multichannel ambisonic outputs
> Due to restrictions within theses host, no multichannel ambisonic outputs are available
> ...



The plugin says it is for DAWS, so seems odd to put that in the manual. Maybe the Pro version is not the same as the plugin version i.e. runs on its own standalone code.
There is a 14 day demo for the plugin on the site, I am about to try it. 
here be plugin version: https://www.plugin-alliance.com/en/products/dearvr_music.html

I already have DrMS 5, and downloaded a free Siennheisser Binaural plugin but neither of those really create the 3D effect true Binaural miking would achieve. I am hoping DearVR will. if not... then the search will continue. Seems it should be easy to reverse engineer Binaural miking, but if anyone thinks they know the best binaural plugin for DAWS currently, do share (that works on basic stereo/mono tracks i.e. not recorded with Binaural microphones).


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## mdkb (Feb 27, 2018)

judging by some of the comments I think a few people dont understand the difference between DAW spatial stereo effects or surround sound, and _actual _Binaural sound spacing, or recordings which can feel like they go over your head or underneath you.

This article and video demos of Binaural recordings and ASMR may help clear it up. It is NOT depth panning or focus or field or distance, it is more than that. There are lots of examples of it being made using two mikes and the Binaural placement recording method, but not using FX or plugins alone to achieve it. Other than H3D which seems to have disappeared, there isnt much out there that seems to really do it that I can find yet. https://vimeo.com/blog/post/binaural-audio-a-fully-immersive-audio-experience


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## mdkb (Feb 27, 2018)

first impressions of this https://www.plugin-alliance.com/en/products/dearvr_music.html is its pretty good and gets close to creating the sound of Binaural miking in the way I want to use it in my DAW. but my only issue is probably due to the context I want to use it: When the plugin is on an audio signal it strips a lot of the sound out of it therefore making it of little use for me in creating 3D space for my song tracks to exist in since the sound gets pretty thin. 
There is a bass boost button but that kind of thing is going to compromise the sound quality since it is all then going through the plugin and then getting reboosted which defeats the object. maybe I am asking too much of this. 

Is anyone else using a Binaural plugin of any kind on their master bus in a DAW to create amazing 3D space for their tracks or is this just hunting for unicorns?


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## Michel Simons (Feb 27, 2018)

I haven't seen the WaveArts one being mentioned in this thread. Here is a link: http://wavearts.com/products/plugins/panorama/

I haven't tried it myself, so I don't know how good it is.


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## Josh Richman (Feb 27, 2018)

Are there any great binaural IRs? I would love to convert normal stereo to binaural HRTF with revel impulses.


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## Piano Pete (Feb 27, 2018)

Oculus has a thing that you can plug into the DAW. https://developer.oculus.com/blog/digital-audio-workstations-and-vr-audio/


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## mdkb (Feb 28, 2018)

Waves IRs, the free download for their Reverb plugins can be found on their site, and they have at least 2 called Binaural, I was going to check them out today but I think the issue really comes down to actually having the Binaural sound recordings for this to work.

I just got confirmation back from DearVR that the DearVR Music plugin is more for placement of particulars in context of space and not for mastering your track, i.e. it strips out a lot of the frequencies to achieve results, so is all but useless if you have 'phat' sounding instruments. its not for song tracks basically.

I saw the Wavearts one will have a look at that at some point, still eager to hear from anyone willing to share their secrets of creating true Binaural space on a song track.


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