binaural

American  

[bahy-nawr-uhl, bin-awr-uhl] / baɪˈnɔr əl, bɪnˈɔr əl /

adjective

1. having two ears.

2. of, with, or for both ears.

   binaural hearing; a binaural stethoscope.

3. (of sound) recorded through two separate microphones and transmitted through two separate channels to produce a stereophonic effect.

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binaural British  

/ bɪn-, baɪˈnɔːrəl /

adjective

1. relating to, having, or hearing with both ears

2. employing two separate channels for recording or transmitting sound; so creating an impression of depth

   a binaural recording

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Other Word Forms

• binaurally
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of binaural

First recorded in 1875–80; bin- + aural ¹

Example Sentences

He records them with sensitive binaural microphones, which have the ability to pick up sounds exactly the way you’d hear them if you were in that place yourself.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 4, 2026

On a recent Saturday in January, with binaural beats playing softly in the background, Simpson threaded her loom using a boat shuttle and shared how the repetitive art form has changed her life.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 23, 2025

He demonstrates this viscerally, shaking a matchbox at various points around a binaural microphone; wearing headphones, the listener can detect the clattering matches moving around in space.

From New York Times • Mar. 27, 2022

But Apogee, the company that co-developed Sennheiser’s curious and cool Ambeo 3D headphones with binaural mics, has pretty much solved all of the issues for me.

From The Verge • Apr. 4, 2019

Again, it is generally asserted that binaural hearing is of great importance for the recognition of the direction of sound.

From Criminal Psychology; a manual for judges, practitioners, and students by Gross, Hans Gustav Adolf