I want one.

March 20, 2005 5:39 PM

Explore your sense of hearing with LSD... the Leamon Sound Device, that is. The LSD is an extremely interesting audio project that I'd love to be able to listen to. [via]
posted by thebabelfish (15 comments total)

Makes me wonder, if I had 24 ears it might sound even better?
posted by alteredcarbon at 6:35 PM on March 20, 2005

A rich redneck I met in Key Largo during a Fantasy Fest weekend had about 20-30 random 8 to 15 inch speakers mounted on a wall of his otherwise beautiful waterfront home. He loved sparking up and turning it up all the way to impress visitors. Being that it was only mounted on one part of the wall (the house was cylindrical, with a walled staircase going through the middle) and only two-channel CD's were played, it showcased only how loud a song could be played instead of the depths of musical fidelity.

It's good to see someone doing it right.
posted by trinarian at 6:38 PM on March 20, 2005

Cool, but for me, it's a bit of overkill, I was only built with two microphones.

The more elegant solution is to do a binaural recording, to (at least try to) accurately record the sound as it would enter our ears.

The Monsters Inc. DVD had a binaural track, interestingly enough.
posted by cosmonaught at 7:08 PM on March 20, 2005

Another LSD post!!

That's it!! I'm digging out my stash and dropping!
posted by Balisong at 7:30 PM on March 20, 2005

Balisong: Seconded!
posted by schyler523 at 7:40 PM on March 20, 2005

I remember talking about something similar with a musician friend of mine that had an eight channel digital mixer/recorder. One day we strung up eight microphones in various spots around the room, and recorded the sounds of various things passing through. We rigged several synchronized stereo systems(our shoddy LSD) to recreate the three dimensional movement of the sounds. Our personal favorite was a "super bouncy ball."
posted by schyler523 at 7:48 PM on March 20, 2005

I've written an 8-channel tape piece and the difference really is huge just between 2 and 8 channels. Don't be deceived by the fact that we only have 2 ears... it's sophisticated equipment we have, and we actually can hear in 360 degrees, with depth. Though I must say I can't really imagine 24 channels... must be fun stuff. I'm constantly reminded that the boundaries of our senses extend a lot farther than we assume... in many dimensions we're still largely untested.
posted by speicus at 9:36 PM on March 20, 2005

Also, cosmonaught, a binaural recording wouldn't allow you to physically move through the soundscape, which is one of the big attractions of this system.
posted by speicus at 9:38 PM on March 20, 2005

this is not practical for anything.
posted by clyde at 12:23 AM on March 21, 2005

Does anyone have an MP3 of this? Heh.

Seriously though, wouldn't any texture/saturation advantage be completely overrun by the resultant phase crud? Site says "Speakers are offset from each other across the room in order to minimize phase issues," but I am not convinced.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 5:03 AM on March 21, 2005

LSD 24... falls a tad short, but I'd try it! :)
posted by LouReedsSon at 5:06 AM on March 21, 2005

Also, mic-wise, the guy uses 8 SM-58s and a Mineroff SME ATR55 shotgun electret. If you want good sound, why not spend that money on a decent (or with this kind of money, great) condenser mic?

I think it's pretty cool for what it is, but clyde is head-on.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 5:08 AM on March 21, 2005

Here's something similar in SF: audium
posted by re6smith at 8:44 AM on March 21, 2005

Good point about moving through the soundscape, not to mention that mixing something for binaural that wasn't recorded binaural must be just shy of impossible.

I guess I'm just bitter because I can afford a pair of good headphones, but not TWENTY-FOUR STUDIO MONITORS.
posted by cosmonaught at 9:33 AM on March 21, 2005

Go to any of these places and you will find a much, much more sophisticated version of this idea. It is all the shit and then some.

Not so much for home use, though, no.
posted by five fresh fish at 6:53 PM on March 21, 2005