Recently, I discovered the Roland CS-10EM, a binaural headset that can be used with a variety of recorders. I thought I’d give this a try because my previous binaural solution was reliant on equipment that is no longer being made. I received the CS-10EM just the other day, but, until yesterday, hadn’t really had the opportunity to test it. Last night though, while out having pizza with a friend, I realized that I had the perfect opportunity.
For anyone who has not experienced binaural audio, it’s best listened to through headphones. Binaural recording is a way of capturing audio in the way that a person would actually hear the audio meaning that spacially, sound can be heard in all directions, not just from the left and right like typical stereo. In the audio that follows, I record with the Zoom H1e, a fantastic stereo recorder in its own right, and also the Roland CS-10Em to make it possible to hear the difference. I should note that in the interest of keeping things simple, I have not edited the recording in any way. One thing you may notice is that when I switch over to the Roland, it’s actually easier to hear people at other tables than it is to hear me. This is because with binaural recording, the person making the recording is sort of in the center of everything and so from that perspective, sound coming from other directions is easier to capture.
I hope you enjoy. Also, a big shoutout and thank-you to Randi for letting me use some of our pizza time to geek out with some audio equipment.
Leave a Reply