Just a preliminary test of the binaural microphone set up, after I found some foam to make a windshield to eliminate the wind noise. The microphone setting is AUTO. Forget about the gimbal "follow" setting.

The microphone capsules are from an old SONY Hi-8 camcorder, seems the sensitivity is quite good, even can pick up some humming noise from the factories nearby.

Hi.

Great examples, thanks for taking the time to post them.

How far away are the capsules from each other? There is definitely a spacious sound there but I'd guess that if you used a different audio recorder you'd probably hear more width in the recording.

If you can put a mass between the capsules this slows the sound down very slightly from one capsule to another and that difference in time for the sound being received by each capsule is what we use to calculate direction. This works best with higher frequency sounds. Also, the best distance between the capsules is around 6/7 inches, basically similar to our own ears. In fact, if you used a watermelon with omni mics on each side, you'd probably hear a very effective binaural sound. The ear canal and lobes obviously have a big part to play in how we perceive direction, but a mass between two omnis and a similar distance to our own ears is going to get some good effects. Although you'd need to use a proper stereo recorder.

I'll be doing a guide in a few weeks on my YouTube channel for a camera mountable mic that's quite binaural.

Here's a couple of examples below using a foam head, while this doesn't have the mass of a human head or the ear canals etc. Just having some mass between the capsules real starts getting you the effect.

Cheers,
Dave.

David_Harry Posted at 4-19 17:43
Hi.

Great examples, thanks for taking the time to post them.

The distance between the mics are 21cm, close to ears distance of human head.

The only "mass" at the set up is only a handle, and I am also thinking to put something between the mics to block them off from each another, no idea yet, because I do not to make it too bulky.

Quote "I'd guess that if you used a different audio recorder you'd probably hear more width in the recording."


I am also thinking of connect the microphone to a digital stereo recorder, and earphone output to the OP, which I did before when we discuss the "stereo alike" results of the audio adapter, which I can have a backup sound track for further editing and better results.

Oh-no Posted at 4-19 17:48
The distance between the mics are 21cm, close to ears distance of human head.

The only "mass" at the set up is only a handle, and I am also thinking to put something between the mics to block them off from each another, no idea yet, because I do not to make it too bulky.

Hi.

Nice rig.

If you go to 5 minutes in the video below I'm showing my first attempt at this binaural type mic thing with a shoe mount for attaching it to a camera.

It's basically two cheap plastic mic  bodies cut down and glued together with good capsules either end. Inside the mic bodies I fill them with hot glue that sets and adds mass between the capsules and does make a slight difference. When doing binaural there really isn't any short cut to using a dense mass similar to human head and also in physical size. Although, as soon as you use two omnis at a certain distance you are most of the way there anyway.

Cheers,
Dave.

Oh-no Posted at 4-19 17:58
Quote "I'd guess that if you used a different audio recorder you'd probably hear more width in the recording."

Hi.

If you connect exactly what you already have to proper stereo recorder, I'd be very surprised if you didn't immediately hear a difference in the stereo width compared to the Pocket.

That first stereo test I done with the Pocket and GoPro 7 clearly showed a difference in the stereo width, with the Pocket not really producing proper stereo and also being a bit dull sounding.

Cheers,
Dave.

David_Harry Posted at 4-19 18:25
Hi.

If you connect exactly what you already have to proper stereo recorder, I'd be very surprised if you didn't immediately hear a difference in the stereo width compared to the Pocket.

Dave, I knew/hear the difference, when I finished the bar and the binaural mics set up, I did test it first with the digital recorder and monitor it with earphones without OP, then I test it again with the OP without connecting the digital recorder. Kind of trial and error ......

The difference is big. I know we can never achieve real stereo result by using the OP audio adapter, but as you said before, to make the audio adapter work better and get nicer results with a minimal set up is our goal.



P.S. for serious sound recordings (especially indoors), I will use the binaural mics bar and connect it to a stereo digital recorder, though I will try to improve the mic bar a bit more. For general vlogging or for travelling/sightseeing, I will use a mono right angled lav mic plug underneath the audio adapter, if I need the width of the sound such as filming a waterfall of a national park, I will use the binaural mic bar :-)

Thanks Oh-no and Dave for the build updates. I am considering doing something similar and learning. I was wondering:

(1) Would some kind of soundproofing foam behind each capsule be better than nothing at all for the binaural effect, if wanting to avoid a full mass and bulkiness?
(2) Would hooking up a battery box to the capsules help mic performance, or would that simply just help conserve the OP's plugin power for itself?

Thank you Emmy, my DIY mic comes from an old Hi-8 camcorder, the mic capsules with a rubber seal around it, I use a ball point pen tube to accommodate it at one end, hide the connection of wirings inside and then the cable out from the other side of the tube and seal it with a noise blocking earplug which is elastic and expand after it was stuffed in and hold the cable securely, The tube then hold by a plastic U shape grip which is a for holding a power line tubing onto the wall. I put a foam ring between the grip and the mic tube to make it shock proof and isolate some noise. another piece of foam at the back to isolate further noise, of course a foam windshield at the front. This is the lightest I made so far.

The 2nd question I will leave it to David because I do not know the answer.

Oh-no Posted at 4-19 19:37
Thank you Emmy, my DIY mic comes from an old Hi-8 camcorder, the mic capsules with a rubber seal around it, I use a ball point pen tube to accommodate it at one end, hide the connection of wirings inside and then the cable out from the other side of the tube and seal it with a noise blocking earplug which is elastic and expand after it was stuffed in and hold the cable securely, The tube then hold by a plastic U shape grip which is a for holding a power line tubing onto the wall. I put a foam ring between the grip and the mic tube to make it shock proof and isolate some noise. another piece of foam at the back to isolate further noise, of course a foam windshield at the front. This is the lightest I made so far.

The 2nd question I will leave it to David because I do not know the answer.

Thanks for the additional photos.

I should have said soundproofing foam "behind each mic" [not capsule], aside from the foam to build the mics, like a kind of wall behind each mic.  

Emmy808 Posted at 4-19 20:50
Thanks for the additional photos.

I should have said soundproofing foam "behind each mic" [not capsule], aside from the foam to build the mics, like a kind of wall behind each mic.

I understand what you mean, at the moment, the sound blocking earplug foam holding the cable serve this function, and I am still thinking of put some hard polyfoam board behind the mic, but afraid that will make some noise if I touched it accidentally, even if it is small in size.

The current set up is working fine and have a width in the recording, when I came up with a new idea, I will post it.

My 13 years old daughter, she is also reading the post with me, she said: "Easy, clip microphone at each ear like my clip-on ear rings."  Kids always have some unexpected ideas :-)

Emmy808 Posted at 4-19 20:50
Thanks for the additional photos.

I should have said soundproofing foam "behind each mic" [not capsule], aside from the foam to build the mics, like a kind of wall behind each mic.

May be I should answer you in this way, provided the mic is a cardioid mic, it picks up less sound behind it. The noise blocking earplug foam at the other end of the tube behind the capsule serve two purpose, one is blocking noise , second is avoid stethoscope effect from the cable. The grey foam around the tube is for suspension.

Dave, my daughter stole your mic foam holder idea and cut this for me ... she said I can tie it with a rubber band to the messenger bag belt, so can walk around and handsfree .... :-P   She even cut an opening at the bottom for the USB-C port.

Ha ha ha ..... she has another new ideas, one is turn the binaural mic set up 90 degrees, pick up sound from front and rear instead of left and right for interview .... she is now playing it at the dining table, remotely control to flip the camera with a cable connected to hand phone, doing interview with her mother and herself ....... of course she use the digital recorder to record the sound.

2nd is buy the original Osmo pocket GoPro grip and mount the mic bar at the mounting hole to make it more handy .......