Record/Playback in 3D audio with Hooke Verse headphones

BDJohnston

Recently I came across an in-ear recording/playback device (ear bud headphones) that produces 3D audio.  Before listening to the demo I created, make certain you have your headphones in – otherwise, you won’t hear the technology.  Simply put, when we record and listen in stereo it’s not quite the same as how we hear in real life.  When we hear things, such as birds chirping or carrying on a conversation with a friend, the sound is in and around our heads – it has a very spacial context.

                               

This is where the Hooke Verse headphones come in, the first pro grade dual channel Bluetooth recording codec.  In my demo I did connect the headphones to my DAW (via my interface and with the included cable), but these headphones work wirelessly to an Android or iPhone, or can be wired to a DSLR, field recorders, GoPros and computers (as I did).  With these headphones, when you record a concert or live entertainment, rather than using the iPhone’s internal mic (for example), you are using the Hooke Verse for stunning audio that sounds just like it does in the flesh (and as it should).  For my demo, all I did was record a short sound-scape composition through my KRK Rokit 8 monitor speakers and while wearing the Hooke Verse headphones.  Whatever I heard translated to my DAW and the sound difference is obvious and ‘immersive.’  After hearing my demo, imagine recording instructional YouTube videos or even making home movies with audio that sounds like you have a high-end surround sound system and you begin to appreciate the uses for these headphones.


There are other demo videos on the Hook Verse website, as well as plenty of technical information, and so I’ll just mention some of those highlights.  The battery charges via USB and is good for 8-9 continuous hours of 3D binaural audio recording/playback.  The CD quality audio streams at 16bit 44.1kHz (120MHz frequency and 48kHz sample rate) with only .0043ms latency.  Inside each ear bud is a dynamic speaker driver and electret condenser microphone.  To customize the experience there’s also a downloadable Mobile App that allows you to adjust mic gain, monitoring level, use of sound filters and being able to share to Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and email.