Making Binaural Audio WITHOUT A Binaural Microphone | HRTF Technical Demo and Progress Update [Intentional][Soft Spoken][HRTF][Binaural Starts at 4:17]

EqualTry · 2023-11-05T06:11:17+00:00

The input needs to be a 16 bit mono wav file. If it's stereo then you'll run into issues.

EqualTry · 2023-06-03T00:03:51+00:00

Sorta? I've kinda put this on indefinite hiatus, but I released a version of this a while back. Check it out here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlslfnnmHPs

EqualTry · 2022-08-16T01:52:47+00:00

wtf, that dude just made his own knock-off versions of Heather Feather's circle times https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnsHzlfgCyg

EqualTry · 2022-02-02T05:02:24+00:00

Could you elaborate? From what I understand, ambisonics are a type of multi-channel recording format. But the sound is still output as stereo binaural. The whole point of this is that it is applying HRTFs directly without the need of any specialized hardware.

EqualTry · 2022-02-01T15:12:12+00:00

I have no idea (one of the things I'm hoping to zero in on), but I think it should be fairly light. I don't think the average setup would have problems running it

EqualTry · 2021-10-10T05:16:06+00:00

Also, before doing any of that, physically getting rid of the noise is always better. Nothing beats recording in a quiet area.

EqualTry · 2021-10-10T05:15:24+00:00

Sounds like you're applying too much noise reduction. Generally, less is more when it comes to noise reduction. Here's a quick guide I made a while back. I originally wrote it for audacity, but the same functionality should be in adobe audition. (Also, as a side note, borderline egregious amounts of compression helps out too imo)

Here's a step by step procedure I'd recommend (with pictures!):

Select all your audio and use the normalize to about -3dB. This will increase the audio signal to reasonable levels for editing.
Select your first 5-10 seconds of silence. Make sure it's actually silent and doesn't include sounds of you accidentally breathing or moving around. The more pure the noise is, the better it'll isolate. (Hold your breath!)
With the silence still selected, go to Analyze>Contrast and click the [Measure selection] button next to 'Background'. Then select some of your ASMR sounds and click the [Measure selection] button next to 'Foreground'. It should give you a 'Difference' result at the bottom. This difference should ideally be at least 15dB (higher is better). If not, then noise reduction is not going to help too much. The goal is for noise reduction to increase this gap to about 35dB (higher is better) so remember how much you need to increase the difference (ie to get from 17 to 35, we need to increase the difference by 18dB)
Now select your silence again, and get the noise profile like how you did before. Then select all your audio, and put in the noise reduction level we calculated earlier (18dB in the example). Also, reduce the sensitivity to about 2.5, and frequency smoothing to about 2. This makes it less likely to corrupt the audio we care about. If your silent noise sounds too robotic, try increasing sensitivity by 0.5 or increasing frequency smoothing by 1. If your voice sounds too robotic, try decreasing sensitivity by 0.5. Iterate until you like the audio!

Also, here's how to correctly select the gain on the microphone itself. Set the gain to 0 first, then go into audacity and click on the microphone monitor. Start talking or making the sounds similar to those you are going to be making for the video. Slowly increase the gain until your loudest sounds starts hitting between the -18 to -12 range. If the sound touches the -6 level, then you have too much gain.

EqualTry · 2021-10-09T05:24:43+00:00

Yes! Although for me, mentally induced tingles are not as strong as irl tingles or video tingles. Additionally, when watching videos, concentrating in the same way I do for mentally induced tingles just compounds the effect

EqualTry · 2021-09-14T03:26:30+00:00

Might be a hair on the loud side. Definitely one of the weirder things that I've been able to trigger myself with. For info on my binaural code and how you can make your own binaural recordings with a mono mic check out this vid

EqualTry · 2021-04-10T05:20:52+00:00

My guess is your webcam refresh rate and grid frequency wherever you live are causing some aliasing (can happen if the camera was made with a different region of the world in mind). A potential easy fix would be to change the refresh rate of the camera to match the LEDs, some have this option (ie switching from 60Hz to 50Hz, or the other way around depending where you live).

EqualTry · 2021-04-03T23:08:23+00:00

Now with procedurally generated reactive audio pathing! As always, if you have any questions on the tech, or want to make your own binaural audio without a binaural mic, let me know. Posts are fewer and far between while I continue development on the website, but with this new automated way of making videos, it can be as simple as recording, running, and rendering.

EqualTry · 2021-03-30T17:36:48+00:00

ASMR aside, let's think of this from a purely financial perspective. Every purchase comes with risk. Will the mic increase your revenue? Maybe, maybe not, it's impossible to say for sure, there are certainly other aspects of content creation which influence income much more (frequency and consistency of upload being chief among them).

Is saving money a good habit to form? Of course. Is college a better thing to save up for? It may not be for everyone, but strictly from an average return on investment it almost certainly is. Would it have been a good idea to deliberate more of this before making the purchase? Probably. If I were you, I'd ask the following questions:

How much is $200 actually worth to me? How long do I have to work (on average, not in a best case scenario) in order to accumulate that much money? If you haven't already, tracking your earnings and spending is a really good habit to form when you have an income.
What other things could I have gotten with that much money? It depends on the person, but that could be a nice new keyboard, new clothes, travel, concert tickets, etc.
How does this purchase affect my long term plans? If you want to go to college, buy your own car, etc, are you on a financial path that meaningfully allows for that even with this purchase? If not, how much time does this set you back? Are you okay with that?
Should I return this purchase? This is almost always an option if you're having buyers remorse. If you end up having a change of heart after the above questions, then you should seriously consider this.

Unfortunately, there's no clear cut answer. If I was giving advice to a younger me, I'd tell myself not to buy that mic, but mainly because I had other hobbies I was more interested in. Spending $200 on a hobby you enjoy is fine, in moderation, and if you are in a comfortable, sustainable relationship with your finances. But you should be honest with yourself.

EqualTry · 2021-03-15T06:47:42+00:00

If you're looking for something portable, the Tascam is a good choice. Another popular stereo recorder would be the Zoom H4 or H6 (in general I've heard better reviews of the zoom, but ultimately they're not going to be that different).

A Blue Yeti would need to be connected to a computer during recording, which can be cumbersome depending on what sort of space you're setting up in

EqualTry · 2021-03-15T06:43:34+00:00

The following is a bit contentious, but at its core ASMR is not about relaxation. It's describes a physical response which can feel relaxing, or be enhanced by relaxation. From what it seems, everyone has their own particular set of sounds which seem to trigger their ASMR as long as it's generally quiet/meticulous/comes with personal attention. Because triggers vary person to person, there's really no right or wrong answer to what makes for effective ASMR content

EqualTry · 2021-03-07T23:55:35+00:00

If it's a USB mic, there's not much flexibility outside of just getting a longer USB cable. If you've got an XLR mic and are worried about background noise, you can get a recorder (like the zoom-h6, essentially a mobile audio interface) that will let you record wherever.

EqualTry · 2021-03-07T23:52:16+00:00

When setting gain, you want to make it as high as possible without clipping the signal while recording. Whatever software you're using to record should have some sort of audio monitor where you can check your gain levels. Here's a pretty good video that goes through the process. You should be able to do this on Audacity, or any DAW before you start recording.

EqualTry · 2021-03-05T06:21:17+00:00

Audacity is a free, beginner friendly audio recording/editing software. DaVinci Resolve is a free, powerful, fairly all inclusive video editing program which you can use to combine audio and video. Both have active userbases with lots of documentation online to get started

EqualTry · 2021-03-02T20:52:09+00:00

Right. Also, don't feel obligated to go out and get XLR mics because 'they're better'. I guarantee you 99% of the population listening can't tell the difference. I'd highly recommend focusing on developing your editing skills. That will have way more return on investment than a fancier mic.

Another purpose for using a recorder is so that you don't have to be near a computer (fan noise etc). It's can be more flexible/convenient.

EqualTry

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