ESLAB

Binaural/Stereo Compatible "Dummy-Head" Microphone

(Sphere Stereo Microphone)

• Novel, head-related stereo main microphone for Headphone and Loudspeaker reproduction
• Very good imaging and sense of depth; good localization, very natural sound
• With qualities of a dummy head when headphones are used for listening
• Superior low-frequency performance.
• Sphere Stereo microphones are distinguished by the simplicity of the recording technique and of the setup: Only two channels are required, and with the ESLAB Sphere only one microphone cable is needed. With the sphere microphone the interaural differences are similar to those occurring at the human head. This explains why a sound image quite similar to that for a listener at the microphone position is obtained, with the room (ambience) included.

In constructing the Sphere Stereo Microphone ESLAB two special pressure transducers are mounted flush on the surface of a light plastic sphere 15 cm in diameter, an acoustic baffle having especially favourable properties. Normally two omnidirectional capsules placed so close to each other would not provide a convincing stereo image. However, the sphere between the capsules creates a frequency-dependent emphasis of intensity differences, comparable to that naturally occurring at the ears of a human head.

The frequency response on the stereo main axis of the Sphere is flat when measured at the output of either channel. If a sound source moves around the sphere, the intensity in the one channel will increase by the same amount as it decreases in the other.
The frequency response of the energy sum is constant for the direct and the reverberant sound fields.

These features, combined with exceptional linearity that extends to the very lowest frequencies, are responsible for the remarkably natural impression of space, depth, and image typical of the ESLAB Sphere Microphone.

• The stereo pickup angle is about 90°.
• The ESLAB can operate into unbalanced inputs and without transformers.