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3D Headphone Startup Fails


thebes

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Some goofy startup to make something called 3d Headphones has failed leaving its crowd-sourcing backers out several mil.

 

Can't quite figure out the 3D angle, I guess some sort of teeny-tiny surround system.  If it's anything like 3d movies in the theater it's basically a gimmick at this point with hopes for better in the future.  Sonically, I gotta wonder if it's a total gimmick.  I mean if a bands playing  in front of you, the music is coming straight at you  unless you are off to the side where the music angles shift.  Yes, you certainly get some ambience from the sound bouncing off the walls etc. in an indoor venue, but if, for example, the lead singer starts shouting the lines just behind your left ear, then it's a gimmick.

 

I would also think your morning jog with various sounds coming at you from all sides, would have to throw off your balance and make you fall down a lot.  Don't know, never tried that jogging thing.

 

I'm also wondering why the various mainstream earphone companies wouldn't be developing this given the dying market for most things audio.

 

Anyways, here's what the company says are the problems they were dealing with and couldn't figure out:

 

 

"Why was this so expensive to develop?

Inventing something new while also developing complex hardware is expensive. The addition of stretch-goals to add mobile support increased the software scope from two operating systems to five, added an incredibly powerful 32-core processor onboard the headphones for processing, and required us to enter into substantial business development with mobile manufacturers to support multi-channel connectivity. It ultimately doubled the size of our development.

The unknowns that come from grounds-up development with so many new features ultimately stacked up to create delays and cost overruns.

What made this project so exciting, and ultimately ended up being its Achilles heel, was the complexity and scope. This project was complex because it had 3 large categories of development, all with new and unique elements: 1.) Hardware, 2.) Software, and 3.) Audio Ecosystem.

Hardware new/unique/different features: A typical headphone would only have 2 playback transducers, but the X has 8 playback transducers, 6 microphones, and multiple sensors. In addition to the complexity of more elements, head-tracking was a new feature, yet the trackers on the market were too slow. Thus we needed to upgrade mid-stream to achieve smooth tracking.

The software was complex because it required new algorithms to dynamically incorporate sensor information and beamform across the playback transducers. Additionally, with the stretch goals, we needed to support 5 different platforms: embedded-DSP, Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android for both UI and custom signal processing. A typical headphone has no software at all. The initial headphone units successfully incorporated custom algorithms and played back over Windows, macOS, and 3.5mm platforms. The iOS and Android app were created and were were on track to be finalized after working through the UI/UX with Beta backers on Windows and macOS.

Additionally, the audio ecosystem itself is complex as 3D audio continues to rapidly changing/developing. VR, gaming, film, and music workflows are different, with tools and formats varying across sectors, and VR/AR workflows were still being defined as we developed. 3D audio information is present in much of the media, but remained inaccessible to the user. Our goal was to ensure compatibility with as many devices as possible, and to give the best experience required ecosystem development and exploration of developer tools. To that end, developer tools including a VST plugin and FMOD Plugin were created, and released in beta to select developers."

 

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No, it's not a gimmick if it's done right. The idea is to make headphone listening sound like you're in a real room with real speakers or, ideally, with real performers. To do that requires a lot of signal processing to fool your brain into thinking that the sounds are coming from outside your head, and to steer those sounds correctly when you turn your head.

 

I was involved in a startup that tried to do the same thing. Only we didn't need an incredibly powerful 32-core processor (just a mainstream ARM), 8 playback transducers (just the normal 2), 6 microphones (none), and multiple sensors (one miniature head-tracker IMU did it for us). A lot of people were very impressed with our sound, but not enough to fund further development. I don't know how those other guys managed to get almost US$12 million, let alone spend it all; we didn't have a fraction of that. And we had prototype devices that actually worked.

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Thanks Edgar, I certainly didn't know any of that.  Gaming is an obvious choice especially first person shooters, but for music I remain skeptical that you would be hearing anything approaching the original recording.

 

However, I could be wrong, having only been wrong at least once every day of my life.

 

Any thoughts on why mainstream headphones makers don't seem to be chasing after this. At least not that I now. 

 

Also, the company said they had gotten 250 test phones out to backers shortly before their collapse.

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11 hours ago, Shiva said:

One doesn't need multi transducer headphones to create a nice surround effect. 

 

Binaural recording/playback doesn't work for everyone. I know this from personal experience.

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I found Binaural was superb but only with the proper gear, HD800 and a Good amp / DAC. It was cool and all but ultimately distracting when it came to music.  There are programs out there (Crossfeed) that are supposed to make headphones have a more believable soundstage . I never heard one that was even close to making me believe I was listening to speakers.  The most out of head experiences I had with 6+ years of headphone use was majorly dependent upon the source. 

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We were all treated to a demo of Klipsch's phones in Hope this year. First time I've had a pair on in I can't remember when. Nice but it's still not a LOUDspeaker. It is a different listening experience completely IMO.

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