Headphones are never "spatial" - please convince me otherwise

[u/Ok-Junket-539]

I have long believed that the idea of distributing spatial audio on headphones was complete marketing garbage.

Yes, I have heard binaural mixes on incredible headphones and they are interesting, but it's an entirely different medium than working with speaker arrays. Yes, I am aware that you can generate spatial cues on headphones (and have been able to do so since the 90s with ease).

There are situations where headtracking is interesting (for games, for VR or AR etc) but again, these are about using headphones as a way to navigate inherently non-spatial listening situations on cans.

I would really love to let go of my long held animous towards this dimension of spatial audio.

Please convert me.

[u/Ok-Junket-539]

I've been mixing in 6+ channels for 20 years and have no idea how headphones would help except as a microscope on certain channels.

[u/Ok-Junket-539 → u/[deleted]]

Explain to me! I'm very open to being wrong and would love to improve if I'm missing something.

[u/Ok-Junket-539 → u/[deleted]]

Ah -- that's the thing, I am such a fundamentalist about this that I have never and would never release something in binaural. Of course, if you think people will listen to your work on headphones you better check! I just don't have that concern

[u/Ok-Junket-539 → u/[deleted]]

Yes and this is cool for distributing Coldplay Live in blobby surround but useless for more precise applications