David Mc McCarthy

Binaural Rock

Headphone Listening for Rock Music
This thesis involves an investigation into the Formulation of Binaural Techniques for Mixing Rock Music Based on Perceptual Experiments. The studies, at the University of Limerick (2012), demonstrate that the headphone listening experience of complex sound can be enhanced by inducing the sense of envelopment. Whilst the latter can readily be achieved through speaker placement i.e. in cinemas, headphone technology needs to evolve to make the envelopment experience mobile. The studies demonstrate that multitrack recording can now be made more enveloping through the addition of binaural postproduction processing. In the course of the studies two perceptual experiments were conducted, identifying the preference for the spatial processing.
The findings of the current studies represent a promising area for future academic and electronic industry research. The potential for a greater technological advance is considerable.