How to make a binaural ("3D") microphone

In this episode, I build a fantastic binaural ("3D") microphone and take it to Victoria Park in East London to make some test recordings! I then show you how you can make your own microphone from scratch. There are several other videos like this on KZbin but none of them really go into detail on the problems (like powering it properly, filtering out electrical/radio noise, etc.) so I really take the time to explain it in detail. This was a massive project, so I hope you enjoy it!
Did I mention you can build your own for as little as $20? :)
Support the channel if you can!
/ leomakes
Other videos mentioned in this video:
DIY IKEA Plate Reverb:
• DIY "IKEA Hack" Plate ...
Making a Paper Cup Microphone: • Making a Paper Cup Mic...
Balanced vs. Unbalanced (on the awesome CSGuitar channel)
• Balanced vs Unbalanced...

[@AlistairBrugsch]

Brilliant! It reminded me of doing pretty much the same experiment with my dad in the early 90's. He recorded trains and after hearing a load of binaural demos he decided we had to make our own cheap binaural mic. Had the same conclusion of using a wig stand poly head and some off the shelf (Tandy) lapel (electret condenser) mics. We didn't have silicone moulded ears but did try to improve on what was on the head already. The biggest problem we had to overcome was the hollowness causing echoing so we stuffed the center with foam. And yes we had great results! The head went on many train recording adventures!

[@stanst2755]

Cool

[@dcurry7287]

Feels good getting notifications from you again Leo!

[@polhomarkho5229]

That's magic! It's not exactly the same as if you were in the park, but it's more natural than a standard microphone. A build worth trying, thanks a lot!

[@make_wave]

Great video Leo! I especially liked the part where you problem solve and assemble the microphones :)

[@LeoMakes]

It's important to go into the problems, especially when there are so many of them (at least there were for me--maybe other people have had better luck). Thanks for watching and writing!

[@my4trackmachine]

Interesting project!! Awesome job. I love how detailed your development was.

[@a100user]

That is a great project. Many years ago I used to use binaural in-ear mics with a mini disk recorder. I may just have to try this. Thanks for sharing.

[@atomicpaper1]

Oh I LOVED the quality of those MiniDisc Recorders! The quality sound was nothing short of amazingly lifelike!!!!!! I actually miss those devices!!

[@RuiRex]

"not the first one to make a video about this" but probably the best one. :) I came back to this video to check the noise reduction methods!

[@jonasstenberg3574]

Way to put a smile on my face! This is awesome Leo!

[@LeoMakes]

Thanks Jonas! Good to see you on here!

[@Lalaland.001]

Impressive video. Really nice. Making one myself because of this video. I was wondering though when your part two of the eurorack series is coming, if at all...Have a magnificent day...

[@matteoricci9129]

They are so good that I heard a couple of Italian guy possibly from the north of italy complaining about the shopping beeing expansive at minute 5:23, and when the baby pass by screaming they are being a bit rude!( I'm not sure about what)

[@tomislavkefecek4443]

Really cool, dreamed of having one of these when I first saw the Neumann one back in the late 80's they sound so much like a PZM mic in that somewhat un-miked sounding way this however has the stereo built in as if each sound had its own panning. I would love to see many of these working at once like as audience members scattered throughout a room or along side a race track, runway train line etc. certainly worth trying out. Thank you

[@buckstarchaser2376]

4:08 Wow! That pissed me off, like you were crumpling stuff right in my face! I guess that means it works.

[@KRAFTWERK2K6]

Nice! I might build one as well as i have a few spare Condenser Microphone capsules laying around that i wanted to use originally to build a quadrophonic Mic. But Kunstkopf Stereophony really is pretty awesome too.

[@ShhheilaASMR]

I watched this the first time skipping the film, the second time i watched the film and tbh, totally worth it! The film is great, be a movie director! Or a writer at least!

[@hadleymanmusic]

I am so wanting to write and record rock music in surround or quad for surround systems.

[@sr3d-microphones]

This was a good watch. I've had some interference issues with bluetooth ear buds in dummy heads, tried the caps at the mic ends but still couldnt get rid of the RFI. I've not had many problems with interference with any of my other mics unless I'm using cheap lav mics which seem to pick up mains hum (DIY tube mic), I still havn't figguerd out why this happens though. I've just put a DIY dummy head kit on my website (just to see what happens), there's another DIY kit on there too but it's a tube type of mic.

[@sir_christof]

This video has THE MOST EPIC build montage music I’ve ever heard. Leo, where have you been? I’ve been rewatching your work, hope you are well.

[@peterpower2485]

Such a brilliant video man, thank you for the generosity.

[@KTHKUHNKK]

I sure am glad I stumbled upon your Channel. I was actually messing around with binaural sounds about 4 months ago. I love it. Keith Kuhn

[@foxpup]

This video compelled me to reverse the channels to my stereo speaker amplifier. Apparently white doesn't always mean left with red meaning right for SOME 1/8 inch to stereo RCA adapters. (Chinese lack of quality control strikes again.) Now the sounds of this video make a lot more sense. :-)

[@victorclaros8967]

just awesome project !!! thank you for sharing !!

[@atomicpaper1]

Just thought I would share: I have purchased all the components I need to make your microphone, in fact I bought the exact head that you used at Hobby Lobby! Only difference is that I will be using the Roland CS-10EM Binaural Microphones! Can't wait to put it together!!!

[@LeoMakes]

Awesome! Good luck with your build and hope you’re able to make some nice recordings with it!

[@dcannek]

How did it turn out? Video example?

[@atomicpaper1]

@@dcannek Sadly I have not been able to build it yet just due two regular Day activities. But I sure can't wait to do it!!!!!! I will notify you!

[@dcannek]

@@atomicpaper1, no worries. Good luck to you. If you ever complete it and feel like sharing the results, let us know! Cheers.

[@liliumbellsong8851]

I WAS LOOKING AT ASMR MICS TO BUY AND GOT RECOMMENDED THIS. THANK YOU ALGORITHM GODS.

[@yusufgaridi9523]

Yes, my friend; you're pretty handy! Bravo to you and thank you for sharing

[@OGUNite]

This is an amazing video!! I love how you explained the problems!

[@praticle]

I absolutely love this project! The only big question I don't think was addressed was whether spending a bit more on a different mic (and what that alternative would be) would have made this any easier or better sounding? It sounded great! I'm just thinking, if spending $100 would sound even better it's still a huge discount from $8k and would be worth it if you wanted to use this more long term! Thanks for the video, love your work! ✌️

[@LeoMakes]

I was trying to keep it cheap and see how far I could push things. If there's enough interest in this, I might see if I can do this whole thing a third time with pretty good components (like $100-150 range) and see what happens. It might have to wait, though, as I'm getting tired of staring at a dummy head everyday for a month :) -- I feel like I need to work on something else for a while.

[@praticle]

@@LeoMakes If you had any advice on where I would begin finding an appropriate mic, I would love to take on the project! My sister gave me a hairdressing dummy head that I was going to put an axoloti board into and make a weird synth but this is a much more "practical" application! Haha

[@LeoMakes]

@@praticle Honestly, the only difficulty I see is finding a pair of mics small enough to fit inside the head side-by-side. The average distance between the ears is about 21.5cm (according to Google) so there isn't a lot of room if you want your mics to be parallel and in the same plane. Best of luck if you take this on. And come back and share your findings if you do!

[@fotoralf]

@@LeoMakes I've built practically the same dummy head without ever having seen your video before. I'm using the capsules from a set of OKM ear mics. They fit nicely into the ear canals of the silicone ears. I am however not really happy with the results I'm getting. The localisation with the same mics in my own ears is a lot better. My suspicion is that the styrofoam head is acoustically too 'transparent'. I've tried to buy a head from a shop-window mannequin but they're quite expensive.

[@jimmyngo2191]

@fotoralf you can try aliexpress. Thay sell tons of cheap plastic mannequins' heads on the site.

[@JoshuaBlomberg]

Very neat project. I've got some mic capsules of various sorts sitting around (mostly lav mics with dead cables), so I might actually give this one a go. With the world the way it is, theatre's going to be in an odd state for a while, with all signs pointing to broadcast productions returning well before live-in-person ones. It would be good to have a few of these on hand. Thanks to the work of you and others, all I've got left to do is figure out proper component ratios for my capsules and get a proper balanced signal out (I know the theory, just not the application).

[@LeoMakes]

From my understanding, these types of mics are quite popular in radio theater productions so maybe this will be a nice tool to have on hand when things eventually go back to normal. Best of luck to you and your build!

[@mattpaul5389]

very inspiring as always. well done

[@mr.h.4501]

What a great video. I work alot with audio recording in the field as a hobbyist and binaural gear is expensive, but this I can do. Thx.

[@fadiheterjag]

Love the sound coming out of it! And the assembly part was just so cool to watch... but drilling through styrofoam... just how much cleaning did you have to do after this project?! 😬

[@LeoMakes]

Oh man, a lot! I was thinking of putting elevator muzak and showing every single time I had to stop to fire up the vacuum cleaner, but that would have made this video even longer!

[@fadiheterjag]

@@LeoMakes time for a B-roll for all your cleaning snippets 🙃

[@pipamusa]

Wow I want one. Probably most useful for film though. Or recording an orchestra in a concert hall

[@LeoMakes]

100% agreed. Binaural mics pick up all the sound so if you're not in a good sounding room/chamber/hall, you can really hear it in the headphones. With traditional condenser mics, you have a lot of directionality and control over what you record, but not as much with binaural. Plus you can't really EQ or process the sound too much in post since it tends to degrade the stereo image. I noticed this in Final Cut Pro--adding any compression or EQ made things sound less "3D" so I left it off. Thanks for watching!

[@foxpup]

It seems to me that in an ideal world, putting a resister PARALLEL to the microphone module would not change the voltage applied to it, but the world isn't ideal. When one takes into account the resistance of the microphone cable itself, there would be a resistance parallel that would get things down to a safe level but at the cost of making that resister take much more power than the microphone module itself. I would have been tempted to try using a voltage regulator, providing it doesn't add noise. They make some pretty tiny transistor sized ones. Maybe even a 7805 would cut it but it might blow up at 48V phantom power too. Maybe not or one could stack them, one with a dummy load. The way things are set up here, it seems that the microphone modules are going to be operating at different voltages depending on how good your connecting wires are. Get too much resistance in those signal wires and you would likely too low a voltage across the terminals of the microphone module. (not a biggie if you don't switch anything or switch out input devices with a different impedance. I'd really want to regulate that voltage. Maybe an appropriate resister in series and a zenor diode in parallel. Zenor diodes are NOT energy efficient voltage regulators but they can be quite useful in low power settings because they are so convenient. :-) ...oh, I almost forgot...GREAT VIDEO!!! :-)

[@underwoodblog]

Here is the correct way how to connect a 5V capsule to Phantom-Power. tombenedict.wordpress.com/2016/03/05/diy-microphone-em172-capsule-and-xlr-plug/

[@SianaGearz]

The 48V are supplied via upstream current resistors in the phantom power unit, two resistors of 6.81 kOhm. This is part of the spec and makes your 'ideal world' musing irrelevant, and explains why a resistor in parallel with the capsule works at all and does not blow up. Furthermore this comparatively high source resistance makes the cable irrelevant in comparison. The lowest noise circuit to generate stable FET supply voltage in a microphone is generally a diode shunt regulator, either a bunch of LEDs or a Zener. You can also try using TL431, but allegedly it's not such a great idea regarding noise, so well it depends how well you deal with it around it. Like, you've got to have source side series resistor, shunt regulator, capacitor in paralell with the shunt regulator, and then another series resistor to the capsule, and then you should be able to juggle the values to get the noise down well enough. You should probably read this first: sound-au.com/articles/mic-electret.htm

[@matt09ward]

So what’s the difference between this finished product and the microphones operating together without the head? The reason the consumer mics are so expensive is because they are anatomically correct ear canal that uses silicone density that represents real flesh. Without that test all this is, is two microphones with a flashy way of mounting them.

[@LeoMakes]

I'll freely that admit commercial mics are (and should be!) more thoroughly researched than this one. I'll also say that the proof is in the pudding: this cheapo DIY setup actually makes a surprisingly good binaural recording! Now if I had the means (or if I was trying to build these as a business), I'd do a Mythbusters style dummy head out of ballistics gel but sadly that would be very expensive. Thanks for watching!

[@matt09ward]

@@LeoMakes I'm not disputing the "pudding" so to speak lol. I'm questioning if the head actually did anything... if you used the same mics the same distance, level and pointing the same direction from each other without the foam head and ears would the results be the same? or are your amazon ears actually doing something to change the sound.

[@LeoMakes]

@@matt09ward Oh, sorry, I misunderstood. Absolutely the head and ears both have a huge impact on the sound. If you just hold electret capsules side by side (nothing in between) you don't get nearly as good a stereo image. The head itself casts an "acoustical shadow" from one side to the other which helps create the "3d-ness" of the sound. It physically blocks high frequency sound waves coming from one side and forces lower-frequency waves to wrap all the way around the head to reach the second capsule (instead of going straight to the second capsule, since there's nothing in the way). This very small delay results in phase differences between left and right ears and the brain is actually very good at using these differences to localize sound. The shape of the earlobe and the pinna (the little bump in front) is also super important. The outer ear is actually a filter and creates big boosts and dips at various frequencies. These boosts/dips change depending on the angle of the sound source relative to the ear itself. So if a sound object is moving and the frequency is changing, the brain can actually make sense of that and help you localize the sound very precisely. Look up "HRTF" (head related transfer function) and there's tons of really interesting info on this. Before I started filming, I simply taped capsules to the side of the head and I got some of that "3d" feeling (it sounded like well separated stereo mix) but it didn't feel truly "immersive" and life-like until the ears were there. I'm sure there's more I can do to improve the sound, but this felt good enough to share. Anyway thanks for watching!

[@MichelangeloFPV]

Interesting video .. Funny the head filming n Vicky park....I am also playing with electret mic and I have recently watched a video from DIY Perks where he also uses a de-soldering wick braid as a wire shield although I was not able to open it as shown by Matt). I find copper or aluminium tape could also work for shielding the capsule and you can solder to it. Have you tried the Primo EM272 omnidirectional capsule from micbooster ? it sounds amazing and has low self noise.,super sensitive for field recording....quite cheap too. .I will try adding another bypass cap and some shielding to my diy lavalier mic made with the em272 . When I try to connect it to a 48v phantom power source via a vxlr+ adapter is picking too much noise. when I use it with my diy ne5532 unbalanced preamp it does not pick up that noise....

[@LeoMakes]

I saw the DIY Perks video after posting this--his videos are really good! And thanks for the tip about the Primo EM272. I haven't heard about that before but I'll see if I can learn more. Thanks for watching (and subscribing!)

[@otschie]

damn, this is the first one worth trying.

[@LeoMakes]

The build itself is super-easy. It's the research/filming/editing that took forever. Thanks for watching!

[@glennleader8880]

LeoMakes I can tell a lot of work has gone into this video (as your others). Your production values are very high...Better than some I've seen on main stream TV. Victoria Park is wonderful... Cant bloody park anywhere near though ( I expect Victoria Park(ed) easily 😀) I'm tempted to make something similar for my podcasts when they relaunch in a couple of months.

[@otschie]

@@LeoMakesunlike a billion other how to's on this platform you deserve gold. thank you eventhough this isnt reddit

[@gabhoule]

It is has good has the 700$ one for real. Good job man! Awesome setup.

[@imark7777777]

For a while I was looking for good information on how to connect those types of microphones to professional equipment. Cat so annoying because nobody seems to understand the difference between plug in power 3 to 5V and 48V phantom power. Or in some cases what the heck balanced line is. Then somewhere in there a couple companies decided to put out halfway decent XLR adapters with RODE even putting out a balanced one at a decent price.

[@janTasita]

It sounds great, but I've never quite figured out what difference having the mics inside "ears" makes - surely when you listen to the recording the sound is always going through ears anyway? It seems like it would be more accurate to have the mics at about the same position as the speakers of a pair of headphones would be, but possibly I'm missing something.

[@MikeBucceroni]

the shape of your ear actually effects a sound as it reaches your eardrum. Destin over on smarter every day did a great video on the subject kzbin.info/www/bejne/hZLMaHuLptOWd6M check out the middle where he puts clay in the folds of his son's ear and it messes with his ability to place a sound in 3d space.

[@depp657]

Keep up the good work mate :)

[@underwoodblog]

Some of the RF-Noise comes from the phantom power of the zoom. You can get rid of the other noise by shielding your capsules with some copper tape. Here is a description how you connect a 5V capsule correct to phantom power without frying it: tombenedict.wordpress.com/2016/03/05/diy-microphone-em172-capsule-and-xlr-plug/ Try these EM172, or DOM3027 these are way better as these cheapo ones.

[@LeoMakes]

Good tips--thanks for sharing. If I make an updated "v2.0" of this, I'll put this into action. Thanks for watching.

[@TheFloef]

Hey Leo. I am a electrical engineering student and as far as I can tell the first resistor that you connected actually shouldn't help at all to reduce the voltage over the microphone because it is in parallel and not in series to it, which means only the current is split over the two paths but not the voltage (Kirchhoff's loop and node laws).

[@pipamusa]

Interested to hear his reply and how the capsules have survived longer with this wiring

[@teodopolous]

The phantom power is supplied through 6.8k resistors from the recording interface; by putting another 6.8k resistor to ground (in parallel with the microphone), you get a voltage divider that divides the voltage by 2. In this case this drops the voltage from 12V down to 6V. The capsule itself draws a small amount of current (around 500uA) so that drops the voltage a little bit further.

[@LeoMakes]

Good explanation. Thanks Teo!

[@TheFloef]

@@teodopolous Thanks :)

[@nrthscape]

great video! this is going to be my summer project thanks alot! one question how do you deal with the air booming the mic? deadcat earmuffs?

[@LeoMakes]

Pretty much! I think if you cover the ears with any kind of headphone “foam” material it will be enough to stop wind noise. That’s actually how Neumann does it.

[@nrthscape]

@@LeoMakes thanks will check it out.

[@seanmangan2769]

EXCELLENT video!!

[@SianaGearz]

The cheapest binaural stereo microphone you can get is not among the ones you listed, it's MiniDSP EARS for $200. It's officially a measurement rig for headphones and environments, but you just take off that silly headphone support stand, screw it on a little tripod from the bottom, and you have a USB binaural microphone, that might even work with an old Android phone you have at the bottom of your drawer if you need to record something on the go. Another possibility are little binaural real-head microphones that you insert into your actual human ears. But go on. I have actually intended to build exactly something like this, but didn't get around to, because i'm not up to spend even $200. But I want it also as a headphone measurement rig, so I wonder how to recreate the ear canal, how deep it should go, etc. And I think what any build like this ultimately needs, is a compensation measurement - half the reason you get the EARS is because they come with a calibrated individual profile that you can apply as an EQ and then you have a faithful compensated result. What I mean is, when you listen to a "flat" measuring speaker, with your own ears, it doesn't sound shouty, but when you listen to a raw recording off a head measurement rig, it does, there are resonances introduced by... stuff, the external ear shape, the ear canal, etc, because your headphones ideally are already compensated to sound more or less right with speakers as a reference. So you have to take that kind of reference measurement and compensate it out, suppress the changes that are applied by your measurement head to all sound, and have just the pure head relative transfer function remain. Mind you the response distortion applied by a measurement head is ideally the same as the one applied by your own ears, or really similar, and when you listen to true sounds coming from your environment, you don't perceive them as distorted, because your brain already compensates, but you don't want this distortion to be applied twice to the sound, just once and just of your own ears, else it sounds wrong. I know, it gets pretty complicated... uh I guess I can refer you to scientific papers and seminars by Sean Olive et al from Harman Research who have been doing headphone measurement and compensation research. Also in some regards a DIY solution must almost necessarily better than an ISO standard measurement head, because those have unrealistic ear shape and not enough ear compliance, so headphones sit on them weird and don't even measure right a lot of the time. Because the ISO head is made for measuring over-ear hearing aids, which tends to make your ears stick out a tiny bit, as opposed to headphones which flatten your ears a bit, plus it's 70s technology and materials, a basic silicone ear from AliExpress is better than that today 50 years later. I didn't really start on the project because I want to use it with 48V phantom interface and have not come up with a good solution yet that isn't quite complicated and bulky... but this psedobalance trick is wonderful, i have not seen one like this before! The FET inside the capsule is generally supposed to be K596, with breakdown voltage of 20V and optimal operating point of 10V, but puh who knows what corners were cut :D

[@LeoMakes]

Good points. I actually didn't find out about the MiniDSP EARS until after the this video was posted, but it seems like a good option at a very reasonable price. Plus you can use it to measure your headphones since it's (as you mention) calibrated against a known good reference. Thanks for watching!

[@SianaGearz]

@@LeoMakes Yeah what i meant i guess is that your binaural microphone still sounds like it needs some EQ of the similar kind like you'd have on a true measurement head, it's peaky and shouty. I bet the hardware is completely adequate and doesn't need to change, it just needs some compensation. Like, here's a fairly neutral speaker, in a fairly neutral room, and your head simulator microphone in a normal listening position, you take the response the whole system produces and EQ it in reverse. Furthermore, you can compensate it against a bare omni capsule in free air, of which you have a bunch, so whatever speaker resonances and room gain you have, you're going to see them on a bare omni measurement and can count them out. It's definitely much easier said than done because conducting good experimental setups is hard and you often get data of which you aren't quite certain how good it is and where its faults lie, it can be a pretty confusing endeavour, where you will get results that don't make sense. But it's worth trying :D

[@poolec404]

Hah I live in Victoria Park, Perth, Western Australia -- I found my slightly greyer parallel reality :)

[@KeithOlson]

That sounds *amazing!* Thanks for sharing it. (Now build an inexpensive sound field array. :grin: )

[@LeoMakes]

Ha-Some things are easier than others! Thanks for watching!

[@KeithOlson]

Yeaaahhh, true enough; they aren't exactly trivial to build right, but a LOT has happened in the last 17 years since the first was DIY'ed. There is even the open-source 'SpHEAR Project', which is used at Stanford where building SFA's is part of a course. One exciting thing about them is the ability to assign a channel to a *direction* AFTER you record. (There have been a few crowd-funded studio mics that have the musicians all just sitting in a circle, playing together, and the channels are separated after.) If you want to look deeper into it, here is everything you need to make your own: cm-gitlab.stanford.edu/ambisonics/SpHEAR/blob/master/doc/building.md (Explore the repo to find the files for everything.)

[@RetroPixel_analog]

Hi Leo, first of thanks for the Video it is a very good inspiration. My question is the following: how did you calculate a 6.8k resistor? Since the datasheet of the mic says it is running with 0,5mA (0,0005A), 1-10v (nominal circa 5v). Now if i go the classical way that i found using the formula 12V-7V=5V -> 7V/0,0005A=14.000. Would that not mean i have to use a 14k resistor? what am i doing wrong? Or did you just go down to roughly 9-10V? Sorry, i am just a beginner! Thanks for your help. Greetings.

[@buckstarchaser2376]

First off. He seemed to do a bunch of random things that were clearly not understood by him, and said incorrectly, because he didn't understand what his brother was trying to explain, or something. Later in the video, he constructs a simple voltage divider. The resistors he's using in the video code out to 3K9, for a total of 7k8, and his divider cuts the voltage supply in half. Therefore, he's running 0v down the blue wire, +6v down the shield, and +12v down the red wire. I'm guessing that the phantom power wires are decoupled from ground. The microphone is between the shield and red wire, and paralleled with one of the resistors. The maximum current draw for the microphone is 0.5 mA, which is not it's nominal draw, so it's invalid, but I'll use it for a ballpark estimate to give about 10k Ohms at 5v (E/I), but it's in parallel with one of the divider resistors. That parallel resistor assembly is then Rout = 1/(1/Rmic + 1/Rdiv), or 2k8. So, 2k8 + 3k9 = 6k7 total resistance, instead of the 7k8 if we only had the resistor network. Since the two divider resistances aren't the same anymore, we can't cut corners and say "divide by half", and the formula becomes Vout = (Vin x Rout) / (Rblue + Rout), or (12v x 2k8) / (3k9 + 2k8) = 5v. Since the actual resistance will vary with the signal from the microphone (due to varying current draw), both the blue/ground and ground/red sides will change voltages in opposite directions, giving a Differential Signal referenced to the shield wire. RF noise will hopefully be induced into the shield wire, and effect both sides of the signal pair in the same direction, making it "common" to both sides. When the differential pair goes into a differential amplifier inputs of an operational amplifier, the amplifier will output the difference between the two. Since the noise is common to both sides, it will be rejected in accordance with the amplifier's Common Mode Rejection Ratio, which is usually very high for an operational amplifier.

[@KTHKUHNKK]

I like your Zoom recorder. I actually use the h4n I'm very happy with it. As you well know most people don't like to listen anyway. But you and I do. Keith Kuhn

[@dino6080]

Noicee! Congratz 👍👍

[@nimmenn]

Some great tips on soldering/wiring/etc!!! To make this of any real use, I will need to create some kind of "headset/headhones", instead of going around with foam head... Any tips on actual capsules? Manufacturers, specs, etc?

[@LeoMakes]

I know what you mean. I got a lot of curious onlookers at Victoria Park who politely asked "Say, what's that?" If you're trying to make a video without people staring at the camera, this is not the right tool! :) There are a number of "in-ear" style mics, but I haven't tried any of those. I'm not sure how well those can work since they don't sit inside the ear canal (the mic bit usually sticks out beyond the pinna of the ear) but the recordings still sound good. You can find that here: makingmusicpro.com/what-is-the-best-binaural-microphone/ Thanks for watching!

[@nimmenn]

Indeed, good points on mic positioning, haven't thought about that much, but surely should influence recording/sound

[@TheKb117]

any info on the frequency range and response characteristics of the electrets used in this project?

[@mhigginbottom]

Great video! I'm thinking of making one. The electret capsules you used are currently unavailable. There are others, but some are unidirectional while others are omni. Which would be the right type for this project? Thanks!

[@LeoMakes]

I don’t think the polar pattern of the capsule matters much since the head itself blocks the sound except what is coming in from the ear “canal” of the dummy head. That said, I haven’t tested this so I’m not 100% sure. I say give it a go and see if you like the result. Best of luck with your build and thanks for watching!

[@ladystarlight3056]

...so what wires could you use if you didnt have the fancy equipment to plug into???

[@Ironwright]

Can you share a link for the microphone capsules? I'd prefer to use the exact same ones. This is the FIRST DIY version that I've ever heard that actually sounded good. Well done sir.

[@LeoMakes]

Thanks for the kind words. I'm honestly not sure it makes a difference (they all probably come from the same vendors in China) unless you buy the really nice Panasonic WM-61 (which I didn't use). That said here is a link to the ones I used on this project: www.kitronik.co.uk/3310-microphone-insert-pcb-mount-pack-of-5.html

[@julieftherulies]

were those outdoor scenes filmed recently? its crazy seeing so many people outside and so close to eachother!

[@yuval6354]

Hi, I just started my journey in sound recording and found this video. this is exactly what I was aiming for. B.T.W, if I connect two mics to opposite sides of the Zoom H6 will It produce the same result? I saw binaural mic (3DIO) without the dummy head so maybe it is unnecessary? thank you so much

[@LeoMakes]

Sticking two mics on opposite sides of any hard surface (ideally spacing the mics so they’re a similar distance as ears on a head) will produce a pretty good stereo image with some “pseudo” binaural effects. All this stuff about the head and ears helps give more definition and “realness” to the binaural image. But you can start simple and see if it works for your needs. You can always add the head/ears/etc later if you like. Thanks for watching.

[@kingwxl]

What are the links to buy the things to make it?

[@guilldea]

Great project man, only problem I can see with it is you are making ASMR available to the masses and I cant stand it! Lol jk, love your videos man

[@asmr-relaxwithme8268]

Great instruction, thank you! Only I cannot make it, I bought the Roland binaural mic instead ;). Was 88 EUR ... acceptable! But I will use your dummy head work to make mine. By the way it is not DÜMMKÖPF, but DUMMKOPF (in German), there is no such word as DÜMMKÖPF.

[@jimmyngo2191]

Can you give me the link so I can check it out? Thanks.

[@nikkic36]

Doesn't it work just as well using an X y stereo pair of mics

[@ASMREUPHORICSTIMULATION]

I am a new creator who has an ASMR channel, I have been wanting to make one of these for a while now and I am currently using a Fifine USB mic for my recording that I plug directly into my laptop along with my USB webcam. is there a USB Binaural mic that I can plug into my computer that will give me that 3D surround sound fee? That also does not require a recording box? So far all the DIY videos I have watched as amazing as they are non have helped me with what I am looking for they all show these Binaural earbuds plugged into either cell phones, cameras. I have yet found a DIY for people that record from a USB computer webcam.

[@mattianationalpark]

Hi Leo, Love your tutorial I will try to build the mic as well, do you rent your dammy head?

[@LeoMakes]

Thanks for watching and good luck with your build! I don’t rent this one as it’s too delicate to work reliably as a rental.

[@mkilptrick]

What is the purpose of the Styrofoam head? Could you do the same thing with a cube or ball?

[@LeoMakes]

The head stops sound from going through it and gets the mics in the right position (plus it looks funny on camera). Other materials should work too. It just needs to roughly be the size/shape of a head and dense enough to stop sound waves from going through it. It doesn't need to be perfect!

[@jimmyngo2191]

How does it work after a month? I want to do a simpler version of this with a 3.5mm cable at the end. Is that possible?

[@LeoMakes]

The mic still works fine. This design won't work with a 3.5mm connector since most audio devices don't send 48V phantom power over their 1/4" or 1/8" (3.5mm) connectors. They only send 48V phantom power over the XLR pins to avoid accidentally powering things that don't want/need power. You'll need to find some other way of bringing the phantom power to the capsules. Thanks for watching!

[@tommysedin]

16:23 Oh god, OH GOD! Cringed so hard at this. :D

[@glennleader8880]

Ah yes... Driller Killer

[@LeoMakes]

LOL--imagine how I felt!

[@foxpup]

16:34 bothered ME more. I've never been fond of knives. Why am I suddenly thinking about Saint Peter? ;-)

[@a100user]

Decided to give this a go but am struggling to find a pair of ears, eBay seems to have a left only or a different set? Do you recall where you got yours? Thanks

[@LeoMakes]

Here are the ones I got, but I seem to recall there being others (it was over a month ago when I ordered so it's hazy). Hope this helps and good luck with your build: www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00OQC22AY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[@a100user]

@@LeoMakes you are a star sir, many thanks.

[@zuke55]

Did you have to make it look like Andy Ramm?

[@melisamiamusic3317]

Hey! are you making these?

[@graynoone]

Hi I know this vid is 3 years old and sorry for being so late, (I have subscribed though :). I have an issue that I hope you can help with. I have built a binaural mic, using a polystyrene head and 2 lekato lav mics, my idea was to do headphone reviews and record the audio from the headphones using the head, now, both mics work perfectly if plugged into the phone, but even using a splitter I can't get stereo, wich is the whole point. But, what i need to do is use either my audio interface (presonus studio 24c) or my mixing Desk/interface (zoom livetrack L20) and give each mic its own channel and pan left and right. The mics are trrs and came with cables to adapt them to trs, but I can not get any sound from them using either option of interface, please please save my sanity and help me out. Thanks in advance Gray

[@LeoMakes]

Hi Gray, I have not used these Lekato mics so I’m kind of shooting in the dark here, but do they need phantom power to operate? These small condensers usually do. Be careful when applying power as those electret condensers can be pretty sensitive (some of them need way less than 48V and, as an example, my Zoom H6 has 12v and 24v options) Not sure if this helps but best of luck and hope you figure it out! And thanks for subscribing!

[@graynoone]

@@LeoMakes hi Leo, thanks for taking the time to answer so quickly, yes it looks like these need power, both my interfaces only offer 48v, but I have a boya my b1 that has its own power and works on both interfaces, so I will order another one of those and see how I get on. Thanks again for taking the time to get back to me, much appreciated.

[@xenontesla122]

I tried making an wearable earbud version of this using two cheap lav mics. Sadly, they didn't work. It might be that the wires broke.

[@LeoMakes]

I did a quick early test (before filming) where I stuck these mics to the side of the dummy head (not even in side the canals) and it still sort of worked. I didn't get the full "3D" experience but it still sort of worked. It felt more like a "good L/R stereo separation" effect instead of "full 3D" if that makes sense.

[@KTHKUHNKK]

Wow you really know your stuff. KK

[@mrnessss]

Eurorack! 👊

[@viktor6772]

4:22 I think our head isn't made of styrofoam, it maybe hasn't the damping like human head. BTW all asmr or binaural or 3D sound videps on youtube doesn't makes me the full experience. Ihear only left, right and behind me effects but not real front of me effect and no effects from floor or above my head,

[@michelrenaud4561]

bravo

[@KTHKUHNKK]

It sounded great to me when I had my headphones on. Keith

[@nikkic36]

My ears or brain just don't get binaural sound must just be me

[@waldvogelreview7755]

This is awesome BUT it’s not 3D LOL But it’s called Binaural because Bi=2 also known as a stereo mic. The difference is the delay and phasing that is involved in how sound arrives at one differently than another. This sounds drastically different than a typical stereo microphone because it is more consistent with how our brain is used to processing sound.

[@not_just_burnt]

you should convert to asmr channel then!

[@LeoMakes]

Ha! I don't know how to ASMR. I don't get that tingly feeling, unfortunately.

[@cryssalid]

@@LeoMakes what you did with the crinkly bags, that's pretty much what ASMR channels do so I guess you are one now. :D

[@KTHKUHNKK]

Can I please pay you to do a small soldering job for me. I will explain more if you are interested. Keith

[@gerbenbonsma1108]

Give the head some hair , will be even more realistic. Thumb's up

[@brionycampbell433]

Leo! Are you and Dummkopf still hanging out in Victoria Park? I'm an artist currently making a project around Regents Canal. While I was filming beside Vic park this morning it occurred to me that a binaural soundtrack would be awesome for the project. Knowing F all about how to do that I came home and You Tubed and amazingly the first hit was you locals! I'm wondering if you'd consider hiring out your services to help me with this super interesting project. It's not one that can be explained in a few words but it's about Neurodivergent people's relationships and I'm making abstracted studies of the patterns and rhythms that float in/ reflect off/ dive deep and die in Regents Canal. It's funded by UCL and will result in a beautiful installation at Mile End Lock. If I can email you more info for a conversation please let me know where. I'm not a You Tuber but check brionycampbell.com . Email best for me. Thanks!

[@LeoMakes]

That sounds interesting, Briony. I'll be in touch!

[@obisch3176]

you could save yourself £1.69 on this project and just drape the MICs over you ears and hit record... :0

[@LeoMakes]

True words! Thanks for watching.

[@obisch3176]

@@LeoMakes Thank you !! you've inspired me to try it !!

[@KTHKUHNKK]

I'm a film maker. KK Motion Pictures On KZbin Type in KK Motion Pictures promo

[@attizzoso]

the head part is interesting, the result is not: You did so much work, to then install such poor microphones ...

[@LeoMakes]

So what microphones would you use and why?

[@SianaGearz]

@@LeoMakes I have an objection to that comment. When you get a random cheap electret capsule, they're usually, with few exceptions, fairly neutral compared to the undesired response changes introduced by the microphone body as it were, or the head and ears in this case, so it shouldn't matter all that much what capsule you use, so i think that's the main reason the head sounds a bit wonky, lack of compensation. Also good interfacing to a high resolution interface or field recorder should alleviate a lot of commonly perceived issues with these, so i think you're doing better than the critics. I tend to avoid 9mm China capsules and go for 6mm instead, they just seem slightly less weird to me. The 'ideal' choice was often considered the discontinued Panasonic WM-61A capsule, frequently used as a DIY measurement microphone. Do not attempt to buy them, you will receive a fake. In absence of that, it seems Primo EM172 would be a good idea to minimise noise, while EM258 would maximise response extension and flatness. Not sure what's more important :D Even EM258 claims better S/N than Panasonic, but i'm not sure whether that's to be believed. I don't have either of these at hand and haven't tried them personally, they're all just things that have been highly regarded in the DIY mic community over the years. I only have the Chinese bags of cheap ones.