Otokinoko Binaural Mic creeps us out in stereo

Look, we get what they're trying to do here. The two "ears" are meant to capture sound in stereo in the same way a human does, therefore producing a better sound picture in playback. The only problem is that your subject, be they human, inanimate or a strange hybrid, is going to be so busy being freaked out by this set of blue ears that they'll forget to make any sort of "natural sounding" noise. Oh, and there's the little problem of the price: the Binaural Recording Mic from Otokinoko retails for $3,900 -- quite a bit to spend on a blue gimmick. We want.

[Whiternoise Posted Jun 15th 2008 2:20PM]

Explain to me why you can't just wire up some hearing aid style microphones in your ears and record it that way?

[Whiternoise Posted Jun 15th 2008 2:21PM]

And does this actually produce holophonic recordings?

[(Unverified) Posted Jun 15th 2008 2:26PM]

Why didn't they encase the ears in foam, too? That way it wouldn't look so creepy, and the surrounding foam wouldn't change the binaural effect.

These should work fairly well, as the sound from the rear will be changed by the shape of he ear around the mic.

The price doesn't sound that bad for a high end mic for professional applications (You won't hear the benefits unless you listen through headphones - And they don't have to be very high end).

[retread Posted Jun 15th 2008 2:56PM]

It would probably sound better if the ears were flesh replicas, accurate in color, texture, and imperfections. Maybe some little hairs and a few freckles - perhaps a diamond stud.

I want these things to be the ears of Bruce Dickinson.

[(Unverified) Posted Jun 15th 2008 3:04PM]

The problem with binaural mics like these and the Neumann ones are that when you use them to try and record a live band in a club, drunks keep trying to talk to them.

[low tech Posted Jun 15th 2008 3:10PM]

Would I be wrong in saying this device is all ears?

[onepinksheep Posted Jun 15th 2008 3:37PM]

"My, what big ears you have!"

"The better to hear you with, my dear."

[psyclotron Posted Jun 15th 2008 4:10PM]

an extra $20 gets you the Vulcan edition

[oldmanhorton Posted Jun 15th 2008 4:38PM]

worse would be some dummy as a head mic
like say the dummy that thought of this!

[Higher Up Posted Jun 15th 2008 6:05PM]

That is one of the ugliest accessories for anything I have ever seen,

[jamesFF Posted Jun 15th 2008 6:10PM]

I think I will design a 3D camera to go with this. It would be able to change its viewpoint within its own unit, and it can adjust to different lighting.

Now I wonder what the design of this camera should look like?

[(Unverified) Posted Jun 15th 2008 6:39PM]

Does it come with q-tips for easy cleaning?

[peepeeland Posted Jun 15th 2008 8:07PM]

For binaural recording, I've just used large headphones, with the earpieces turned outwards.

The results are pretty good!

[SOOPERGOOMAN Posted Jun 16th 2008 8:35AM]

Had a dream last night that someone was beating me to death with one of these, except the thing had eyes and a mouth also. very weird indeed. stay outta my dreams engadget. It was very frightening.

[infinityPlusOne Posted Jun 16th 2008 1:56PM]

Put your headphones on and listen to this...

http://www.break.com/index/amazing-digital-surround-sound.html

[(Unverified) Posted Jun 17th 2008 2:11PM]

I don't like gadgets that look like people.... freaks me out

[(Unverified) Posted Jun 18th 2008 10:43AM]

@Tobias:
The Neumann has a setting that compensates for the problem you described - to make binaural recordings sound better on a stereo speaker playback system. Maybe they've integrated something like that.

For that money I'd want something better than 1/8 minijack as an output though. And a wooden presentation box with spare rubber ears.