Listening to Binaural+ tracks, not sure what to think.

Agree.

 

The Chesky non-Binaural Manhattan is a better recording IMHO. There should be more interest in keeping the recordings unprocessed and for headphones only - so many people use headphones now. Trying to be a jack of all trades leaves Chesky a master of none, IMHO. The Stax Space Sound CD shows that it can sound fantastic.

 

When binaural recordings are done well they can sound fantastic on headphones and be an amazing listening experience that is unlike regular stereo or even audiophile style minimially miked recordings.

One possibility for Chesky would be to release two versions of the recording. One version in pure binaural for headphones and one version for speakers.

A problem with the Chesky Binaural+ recordings is that I'd rather listen to a recording done with just two regular microphones in regular stereo than the Binaural+. The two mike recording won't have any binaural effect, but it will have good stereo for headphone listening. The Binaural+ recording tries to get me to immerse myself in that binaural space and that's never going to happen fully because it isn't a true binaural recording. And that becomes a tease, putting out a reward that I'll never get to reach. The minimally miked recording doesn't have that problem or try to tease me like that. Yet it will still sound very neat on headphones and be a more rewarding headphone listening experience because of that.

 

I think binaural can sound better than regular stereo recordings when listening to phones--the soundstage is not as much confined to being in one's head--but, I never found it to be totally convincing. Perhaps, people were expecting too much from the hype. I heard a demo binaural recording that showed its strength and weaknesses. For me, anyway, the images in front don't sound anything like a speaker presentation; center images, in particular, are not located in front, but seem inside the head. What was surprising is how much better sounds that are supposedly from the rear are located. I could tell much more accurately when the sound was coming from behind than in front. Sound from extreme left and right were also located in those directions quite well.