Stereophonic sound

Stereophonic sound, commonly called stereo, is the reproduction of sound, using two independent audio channels, through a pair of widely separated speaker systems, in such a way as to create a pleasant and natural impression of sound heard from various directions as in natural hearing.

Binaural recording

Using a model of a human head

Engineers make a technical distinction between "binaural" and "stereophonic" recording. Of these, binaural recording is more like stereoscopic photography. In binaural recording, a pair of microphones is put inside a model of a human head which includes external ears and ear canals. Each microphone is where the eardrum would be.

Related Topics:
Binaural recording - Eardrum

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The recording is then played back through headphones, so that each channel is presented independently, without mixing or crosstalk. Thus, each of the listener's eardrums is driven with a replica of the auditory signal it would have experienced at the recording location. The result is an accurate duplication of the auditory spatiality that would have been heard by the listener placed where the microphones were. Because of the nuisance of wearing headphones, true binaural recordings have remained laboratory and audiophile curiosities.

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