A Video Filled with Binaural Room Recordings From FLAX 2025

has anyone ever before tried this?

I don't believe anyone has ever before done this! Using the Sonic Presence binaural microphone system—it creates a "dummy head" with a microphone adjacent to each ear—I recorded the room sounds at the Florida International Audio Expo. You will experience a remarkably close facsimile of what I and other attendees heard at the show in each of the rooms.

You must wear headphones to appreciate the binaural effect and to fully hear the tonal balance. The "video" uses still shots because I had to hold my head perfectly still to produce the recordings.

It starts with the $2 million dollar Clarysis Audio/VAC/VPI room, and includes the YG Acoustics/Western Electric room, Viva, MBL, Popori, Margules, ATC, Metaxas, Perfect8, Magnepan, Albedo, Volti, Bayz, and finally Acora/VAC, where you'll hear Acora's very small bookshelf speaker filling up a huge room.

Most listeners thought the big VRC-1s were playing but it was the $8000 MRB-1s! If viewers enjoy this, I can post a few more rooms....and be sure to listen to the Vienna Acoustics binaural recording near the conclusion of the First FLAX video.

Please provide feedback. Do you want more or less of this? I think it's great!

Comments

2025-03-17 03:20:49 AM

Mark Ward wrote:

This was really great - and YES - please do more of this! One interesting thing was how much of the room we were hearing in certain clips and not in others (or rather, we were clearly hearing which room acoustics were not under control - the curse of shows). How much that was dependent on where you were sitting, do you think, or did you try to be in the absolute best position every time (of course you did)? Immediately many systems had to be discounted because of boomy rooms, alas. The ones that I found most pleasing were the Popori (sounded like the performers were right there, with minimal room interactions), the room before the Magnapan playing the Mussorgsky (I think this was the Perfect8), and the final Acora. This was really a fun watch!!!
2025-03-17 09:51:42 PM

Come on wrote:

Feedback: Really great idea generally! Just at least in my case over iPad/Airpods Pro 2 everything sounds quite the same and quite boomy. Probably that’s the way those AirPods work or are configured by default (although they sound decent for other music from the iPad). Maybe that binaural thing doesn’t really work with them or it’s me.

I can’t connect my Stax to the iPad and I’m currently too lazy to do all this from the PC.

So I hope you’ll get more positive feedback from others. I wish it worked for me!
- 2025-03-18 07:13:24 PM
  
  Michael Fremer wrote:
  
  I think it's an AirPods or config thing. Some of the recordings sounded quite good!
2025-03-18 12:29:26 AM

Bryan M. wrote:

YES! Thanks for doing this! It was just like being at a show (I go to AXPONA every year) where every room is completely different. It's an impossible ask, but it would be awesome if we could hear the same music in each room to really hear the differences in the equipment. I think this every year - it would really be cool if I could plug in my thumb drive to their streamer / whatever and really compare each setup. Alas, probably never going to be possible. But I applaud what you are doing! I could really hear the difference between rooms - unlike recording it straight to an iPhone or something. Thanks!
2025-03-18 02:14:11 AM

Sam Casanzio wrote:

The winner to my ears were those see through speakers right before the Maggies. Wow! Fantastic sound. Go ahead, Mike, break my heart. How much?
2025-03-18 02:14:15 AM

Sam Casanzio wrote:

The winner to my ears were those see through speakers right before the Maggies. Wow! Fantastic sound. Go ahead, Mike, break my heart. How much?
2025-03-18 07:15:14 PM

Michael Fremer wrote:

Also please watch the first FLAX video because near the end there's a binaural recording of that same "Pictures..." file (sourced from a 78rpm microgroove stereo Classic Records pressing) through $7000 Vienna Acoustics speakers and the sound is SPECTACULAR!
- 2025-03-19 06:23:59 PM
  
  Mark Ward wrote:
  
  I just did and the sound is incredible. Those are amazing speakers! If I was considering such a major upgrade I would seriously consider this amp/speaker combination. (I do want to upgrade my speakers at some point, and these babies go to the top of the list). 78rpm pressing? What's the story there?