Binaural Recording Technology: A Historical Review and Possible Future Developments

The facsimile or true-to-original reproduction of sound events is of great interest in acoustics and related areas and has been researched for many years. One form of achieving this is binaural technology. Many consider binaural technology a very modern technology and some even consider that it is strictly related to and was invented for sound quality research. However, binaural technology, especially recording technology, has been established for some time and, in fact, the first steps were made in around 1880. Over the decades this technology has made enormous advances, due to the dedication of many people, but some challenges related to achieving a true facsimile are still to be resolved. The most important milestones and also the remaining challenges are presented herein and the prospects for the near future are discussed.

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