I am inventor Anthony Mattana and my Wireless 3D Headphones Just Raised $22,000 In 1 Day

Hi can you tell me what you study in sound engineering class. Can you share an experience?

Of course! I studied sound design at Carnegie Mellon University's Drama School. It was a sound conservatory for 4 years.

Some of my classes included: Ear Training, Live Audio Engineering, Harmony, Eurhythmics, Advanced system design and Acoustic Architecture. Overall it was a solid work load of composition, real world experience/application and tech heavy engineering. I great program, I definitely recommend it!

edit: they removed my link. If anyone is interested: http://kck.st/1u5y7DI

Having formally studied Eurhythmics, do you like "Sweet Dreams" or "Here Comes the Rain Again" more?

Yes! One of my favorites is 3 to get ready by dave brubeck :-)

Fellow CMU grad. I assume you never saw the light of day while at that school.

Our heart is in the work :-)

Good stuff! What are some ideas for uses of recording 3d audio that I can use in day to day life?

-Grandparents are sick and you want to share christmas morning with them. All they need is an internet connection and a pair of headphones to feel like they're there. -a sporting event where you could rub it in your friends faces how great your seats are! -remembering a vacation in a whole new way and being able to relive it as if you were there -capturing music or outdoor concerts and really feeling apart of the experience! For any one looking to bring their audiences closer to being there, Hooke will do it :-)

I feel like you're letting out a biiiig market, videogames with true 3D audio, not just 5.1 or 7.1 could be incredible and trust me, there are a lot of us who would spend a large ammount of money in good videogame audio

That's the idea!! Glad you picked up on it :-)

You should also target the ASMR community. A high quality set of 3d head phones designed to accurately reproduce what the ASMR artists capture with their binaural 3d microphone setups would be amazing.

Edit: I'll also add that I do gear reviews for guitar amps and stuff like that and capturing what these amps sound like in the room is incredibly difficult and I use 4 mics at once (2 on the speaker cabinet and 2 in the room) to try and accurately capture a sound like what my ears are hearing and it's never right but it's not terrible. I've been eyeing the 3Dio setup but that's $500 I don't have or want to spend on something that doesn't make me any money.

I use a pair of condenser mics on one of those small mic stands that holds 2 mics right next to each other but just doesn't really sound like what those expensive binaural setups capture.

Your headphones bring a really affordable alternative to me and the rest of the youtube gear demo guys so these things are hot on my radar now.

One step ahead of ya! They're our biggest fans! https://www.reddit.com/r/asmr/comments/2hvwyx/i_love_making_asmr_recordings_but_they_can_be/

http://i.imgur.com/D3gg0.jpg

Ha, that's awesome

The video shows 360 degree pickup, but that only acts on a plane, so it's still only 2D audio. Does this system also pick up different vertical aspects of the audio?

It does! In the exact same way we as humans capture audio vertically.

Funny thing about human hearing, we are much more in tuned to the sounds to the left and right of us than above because that's where our predators came from. In the evolution of human we were not attacked from above, so our ears evolved to hear better on a ground plane. That's why when you hear a plane in the sky, you look up but don't know exactly where it is. Know what I mean? Other animals who are used to being attacked from above ears' have evolved to hear vertically better.

So Hooke will capture verticals the way our ears do, rather ambiguously :-) ha

So it looks like the answer is: not really, but it doesn't matter. I can accept that.

I guess mono is like 0 spatial dimensions to sound, stereo is 1 spatial dimension because you still get the same line no matter how you move your head, and Hooke and surround sound are 2 spatial dimensions because you can turn your head on the plane and hear different things. Is that accurate?

Sure! What's most important to remember in trying to process all of this is that hooke captures audio the way our human ears normally process it.

Hi,

May I have a free or heavily discounted pair?

Ok, serious question: is there a way to make headphone settings adapt to age? For example, headphones that would be optimal for the individual or average child vs. the individual or average 50 year old?). I understand you can already change many sound settings manually to change to what you think is the best sound seting, but I'm curious if an automatic approach based on the individual has been taken to determine the "optimal" settings. If these questions are dumb, please ignore them. Thanks!

Not yet, but that's a very interesting idea! Let me look into that...thanks!

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Of course!

Unfortunately music previously recorded will not magically become 3D when listening via Hooke.

only 3D Audio captured with Hooke and other binaural recordings will playback in 3D. Previously recorded music will not transform into 3D Audio. But the speakers are high quality AND noise canceling.

Does that clear things up? Thanks! Anthony, founder

Soooo everything I want to listen to is useless on your device. Nice.

If you see it that way then I guess Hooke isn't for you! Sorry!

In one of the other comments you said you studied at Carnegie Mellon, are you still in the Pittsburgh area?

Nope, Brooklyn now!

Aw, bummer! Well hopefully you enjoyed your time here. What was your favorite place to eat while you were at CMU?

Aw man, the on campus food was so bad ha. But the wing night special at William Penn Tavern in Shadyside is what's up!

If you get rich off this and you become a big business, how else would you evolve headphones?

Since everyone has a smartphone, multi functionality in headphones is easier than ever these days. I think headphones can be more than just speakers. If we're all wearing headphones more than ever these days, let's do more with them than just listen!

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I hear that! How about the "Hooke Hub"? I like the sound of that :-)

You call it the "Hooke-Up" and create a campaign around teens saying, "yo, listen to this new song! I got the Hooke-Up, so my phone can detect your Hooke headphones and I can send this song straight into your ears and back when you're done! Neither of us have to take off our Hooke headphones ever again!"

I like it! A friend pointed out that all people using Hooke might be referred to as "Hookers" which I can't tell if it would hurt us or help us at the moment...hahaha

Favorite book?

Favorite food?

Favorite song?

Thanks for doing this!

Thank you for contributing!

Book: The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay - Michael Chabon

Food: Sushi!

Song: Born in Chicago - Paul Butterfield Blues Band

Thanks friend!!

What invention do you wish you had the technology or engineering to create?

With Occulus and Google glass, audiences can SEE in 3D as if they were there. With Hooke audiences can HEAR in 3D as if they were there.

How about touch? I'd love to feel wind or heat as if I was there :-)

Where's your favorite place to zen?

PS: I really like the design of the headphones.

Thank you!

I live in NYC and surprisingly enough, the lobby of the Soho Grand is one of the most tranquil and peaceful spots in Manhattan. Which is very hard to find! Unfortunately I could never afford a room at this hotel ha :-)

keep marketing your product properly and maybe you will be able to afford a room there

Haha, a man can dream right? Thanks :-)

You are going to take me to lunch to try and get me to support your product: where are you taking me and what is your two sentence most convincing sales pitch?

We eat outside on a beautiful day in Central Park

I point out how sound is happening all around you. You notice the dog fetching a stick to the right of you, the couple arguing behind you and the boy laughing on the carrousel in the distance.

I then ask you, if sound occurs all around us, why don't we capture it that way?

Then you kiss

Hey, ya never know at a successful product pitch :-)

What company would you dream to buy Hooke? It seems like it is going to be hugely successful, and someone is going to snag you up.

I see this working perfectly with occulus rift, who was just purchased by Facebook. So...probably facebook

When just listening to audio, is there noise-cancelling functionality?

Yes, Hooke is noise canceling! We use the same technology found in today's noise canceling systems: Current noise cancelation technology uses small microphones that take in acoustic pressure waves and then reverses their polarity by 180 degrees, hence creating that vacuum sensation when then played through speakers. Ours just sort of naturally fell into having that ability because of the placement of our mics, lucky us :-) so yes they will be noise canceling.

Also some press we've received in just a day:

http://www.gadgetify.com/hooke-3d-audio/

http://www.gizmofusion.com/2014/10/hooke-becomes-first-pair-of-bluetooth-headphones-that-capture-and-playback-mobile-3d-audio/

http://cerebral-overload.com/2014/10/hooke-becomes-first-pair-bluetooth-headphones-capture-playback-mobile-3d-audio/

Great product, it looks really cool and I think you have a huge hit on your hands, congratulations. My question has more to do with the marketing you did prior to launch. I'm guessing the $22k wasn't all organic from Kickstarter. What did you do to get the pre launch attention to get that big of a response so quickly? Thanks and best of luck!

Thanks!

Friends and family really do wonders :-) And I followed this blog post. It was HUGE! http://fourhourworkweek.com/2012/12/18/hacking-kickstarter-how-to-raise-100000-in-10-days-includes-successful-templates-e-mails-etc/

Also, how did you come to the idea of recording 3d audio? What made you want to do this?

I've been working as a sound designer for theater for the past 5 years. There is nothing quite like hearing live theater and I wanted a way to capture that immersive quality and share it with others outside of the theater.

I then discovered binaural recording or 3D audio recording, a recording technique that would allow a user to capture audio identically to the way their ears did.

I immediately thought of how many people could benefit from a simple, easy to use and affordable product that would allow them to capture 3D audio and share it to their audiences within seconds.

Problem is, right now it's expensive and cumbersome. Hooke changes that!

Beyond ITD's and ILD's, how did you implement the spectral differences to differentiate front vs back (done naturally by the pinna)? I can imagine you have made a few HRTF's, but would love to hear about the finer details.

Done completely naturally by the pinna! It's almost like, if you block part of a microphone with a wall, you hear the difference. We hear the way we do because of the formation of our ears. So when you create a recording that incorporates those barriers, it creates a recording incredibly similar to how we hear! Make sense? It's a beautiful phenomenon!

So, it really is more about the environment being recorded, rather than say taking a normal recording and trying to apply filters to change the way it is perceived? Thanks for your time, future audiologist here. To what extent could you take a standard recording and with different filters from HRTF's create a virtual acoustic space that is perceived as a complex listening environment?

Unfortunately only 3D Audio captured with Hooke and other binaural recordings will playback in 3D. Previously recorded music will not transform into 3D Audio. Thanks for the support!

If we were to talk about less complex recordings, for instance a series of beeps recorded into one microphone, I could stager the presentation of a first beep slightly between your ears during playback, as well as make the preceding beep louder, artificially creating components of binaural hearing(really just he precedence effect that a greater perceptual weight will be applied to the first arriving and louder sound). If I also added spectral modifications, theoretically, I could also change whether the sound was perceived in front or behind the listener rather than just to the right or left. Can you speak to the limitations of taking a non-3d recording and adding queues artificially to create a 3d virtual acoustic space. Thanks for your time, sorry if I am missing the point here.

Honestly I don't feel qualified enough to talk about adding queues artificially to create a 3D acoustic space. I only know my Hooke :-/ Sounds spot on tho! I just can't confirm it.

Thank you very much for your time! I loved reading your other comments and will certainly learn more about your product in the coming days.

Thank you very much! Glad they were helpful!

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Understood! But they do work via wired connection too! Either wireless or wired, same audio quality. I made sure of it!

But said cable in a studio would be quite long and therefore noisy... What's needed is a balanced output, either dual xlr (for stereo) or two TRS, that give an unaltered low impedance mic signal ready to be amplified by the rackmount gear.

If you ever want to expand your market, binaural heads are niche but very valuable!

Agreed! Thanks for the support!

What is your favorite type of music?

Who is your favorite film score composer?

Who is your favorite classical composer?

haha, i wish :-)

I am a HUGE country blues fan (Muddy Waters, Son House, Little Walter, Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Junior Kimbrough)

Without a doubt Jon Brion. His work in Punch Drunk Love is some of my absolute favorite :-)

Richard Wagner - I love his aggressive and cinematic style. Have you seen lars von trier's melancholia? Wagner's work is great in that!

I haven't, but I'll check it out! Wagner is marvelous.

What're your thoughts on Michael Giacchino?

He's one of the best! His work on LOST is legendary!

Definitely! I adore his work on Star Trek. Enterprising Young Men is brilliant.

Right?!

Man, I wanna talk about this stuff all day, but I don't wanna take any more of your time. Thanks for the chat! Super interesting product that I'll have to try out!

Thanks so much! Yeah, clearly I could talk about it all day too :-)

Interesting concept. You mention something about reliving your favorite concerts, what do you do about distortion from ~120dB shows? What about listening to music? If that tracks are not sourced for "3D" sound wont it will still just be a L/R signal? How many High, mid, and low freq drivers will there be?

Are the earbuds inserts removable/replaceable? Will the final product come with a tool for extracting ear wax?

Recording with them seems like a solid way to generate content that is 3D audio sourced. Are there any plans in the future to push for a change in the content production industry? You mentioned that the other products for recording 3D audio run in the thousands of dollars. How can a youtube channel producer provide a 3D audio experience for their viewers? Will they have to record with hooke headphones? That seems very illogical.

Interesting idea you got. Good luck!

Yes, we've accounted for that! Users will able to operate the headset in auto-gain aka "jesus take the wheel" mode where the headsets intuitive DSP will autogain based upon your recording environment. But for the pro user you will be able to adjust your gain structure through our smartphone app OR by simply sliding your finger on the ear panel. Pretty cool huh? Concerts will be loud and we are taking every step we can to give users everything they need to prep for it :-)

Yes they are! And I don't think the product will come with a tool for extracting ear wax.

I would love to! But that's a little putting the horse before the cart. First we have to get supporters to purchase them! Then we hit lifestyle, ya know :-)

Thanks so much for the support Nexus! Really appreciate it!

Nice try... there's clearly a wire between them!

haha, you got us :-) When we say wireless we mean you're not plugging them into a device. You're tricky!

How do they charge?

Hooke is powered by a rechargeable lithium ion battery. They come with a micro USB cable which you plug in to charge over night. There's a blue LED indicator light that blinks when charging. And then glows blue when charged!

This sounds like an awesome idea. How far into development are you? (Kickstarters can scare me as they aren't very committal)

Here's what I've got in our "risks and challenges" section :-)

-We didn't want to launch this campaign until we had a functional prototype, manufacturers lined up, and a production schedule set.

-That being said, as is the case with startups (and even more frequently the case with hardware startups), errors will occur that we did not and could not have anticipated. The unknown knowns.

-What we are doing is incredibly difficult and new. No bluetooth chip currently does what Hooke's does. Because of this, we knew it was important to have a functional prototype prior to launch. From this point on, any setbacks that may occur will come from mass production manufacturing and we have given ourselves plenty of time by setting the delivery date to June 2015.

-We at Hooke want you to know that we've taken every step prior to launch to ensure a quality product, delivered to you on time. We appreciate your understanding and even more, your support, as you help us improve the way we capture audio!

I like that you guys have a prototype and I really love my wireless logitech headset, so a small version for music would be awesome. Consider yourselves backed

Thanks so much!

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Thanks so much VIRUS! Much love :-)

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We're all set at the moment but thank you!

The recording capabilities are very impressive. But I am curious about sound quality. I would imagine since they are buds, the sound quality can't be compared to on/over ear headphones like audiotechnica m50s, klipsch image one, vmoda m100, etc. But would you say they are on par with say klipsch image s4s?

Do you view other audiophile companies as competition? Or are you mainly trying to create a new and unique market?

If you are hoping to compete in the high end headphones market, do you plan on making an over ear version to allow for improved sound quality?

Agreed, I would say our audio playback quality is most similar to the Shure SE215s

We do plan on making an over the ear!

Good stuff! Keep up the good work. Hats off to you for making an awesome and unique product I wish you luck

Thank you so much! It's been quite the journey getting here! But I'm glad I've arrived :-)

I'm sure! You're living my dream. I'd love to be involved with a start up company. It's a very hard thing to do, and difficult to remain dedicated. I'm sure it has been quite an experience. Many ups and downs, but I bet it was worth it.

Sure has! Thanks for the support :-)

Totally understood. And I've just added all of these questions to our KS for future interested parties :-)

-Microphone freq range is 20Hz-20kHz. Here are the mics we are using: http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/PUI-Audio/POM-2245L-C10-R/?qs=SFtkwOqhfflRgy4936%252b%252b5w==

-I (Anthony the founder) do a ton of field recordings and battery usage is incredibly important to me as a sound designer.

It was definitely one of my biggest priorities in our parts list, it accounts for nearly half the headset cost.

I knew that this would be a flawed product if people couldn't go out and listen and record ALL DAY. They needed to be able to have that freedom. We're not confident on performance yet, but I can tell you I WILL not be happy unless we can get 8-10 hours listening and 6-9 recording time. I want people to be able to go out and listen/record ALL day.

Unfortunately no, only 3D Audio captured with Hooke and other binaural recordings will playback in 3D. Previously recorded music will not transform into 3D Audio.

Playback quality on the headphones is similar to that of Shure SE215s

Was that helpful? Thanks!

Yep freq response is the same.

And yes, it's really not easy to talk about sound, let me tell ya!

We will be including different sized tips!

What kind of shampoo do you use?

As an entrepreneur aren't I supposed to say I never sleep, never eat or bathe. Just work? ;-)

Can I have a set for free? You know, for "testing".

haha, sorry but no.

Hi Anthony. I really like this idea. You got some nice tech into a small package for a reasonable price.

Question: So lets say I'm wearing Hooke and recording me speaking. Then I play that back on Hooke. What does it sound like? Where does the voice sound like it's coming from? I was imagining doing something like Skype where I use this mic to talk to someone, but I'm not sure how weird that would be for the other person!

Thanks unassuming_username! (Ha nice name)

Totally hear what you're saying and I've tried this out, honestly it just sounds like if you were to talk into a mic right in front of you. Since your voice is almost directly in between the two mics, it's almost like talking just into one, ya know?

What is the format of the recorded audio? Say for example, in a theatrical context, I wanted to record something and play it back in a multi point surround (Qlab with 6 point 'surround' speakers) with 'mock 3D'. Can Hooke create multitrack recordings or is it just a L/R mix?

Just a two channel stereo recording! Your head when listening back creates that 3D sensation because of the original placement of the mics at time of recording

So, followup. If played back through the main L/R channels in the theatre, would it give the sensation (great word, by the way) of 3D audio?

Eh, kinnddaaa. The same way listening back to our KS video on your desktop speakers would. It's kinda there, but truly there on headphones :-)

Hi, nice product. How Hooke is any different than simply placing two microphones at the side of your head?

It seems that instead of using a HRTF, you're relying on the individual's pinnae for the recording. However, it looks like the microphones are on the outer surface of the earphone, thus negating any sound filtering from the pinna. The 3dio recorder you show in your video, for example, has microphones at the 'eardrum' of the silicone ears.

They are on the outer surface of the earbud but they are still well within the ear to utilize the ears natural form to affect the recording. The ear and it's relation to the mic is incredibly important to create that "human ear" recording and we found through experimentation that is was a great place for mic placement! all the recordins you hear in our videos were made from that placement

Hey Anthony, thanks for doing the AMA... - These seem quite similar to the Roland CS-10EM, but wireless, integrated with social media and perhaps better marketing ;) Any other major advantages? - I'd say people at home still wouldn't swap watching tv with speakers for wearing headphones, what do you think might make them change? (I know this isn't really the market you're going for...)

Hey dev084, thanks for a great question! Right, they are a bit similar to the Roland's. What's nice about Hooke is you can capture audio on a device you already own, your phone! And I think that's huge, with roland you need a field recorder and all that. Hooke are really meant to be thought of as great sounding noise canceling wireless headphones that also capture 3D audio. No extra gear, no confusing interfaces. Just using what you already have, know what I mean. Hope that helps :-) Anthony

Thanks for the reply. I do like the idea of making binaural tech more accessible for the average listener - I'm just not convinced people will always want the 'realism' aspect, and might still prefer the 'hyper-real' mixes which are usually created... you know? By the way, apologies for highlighting potential competition to people... :)

Totally hear ya but it's worth a shot! So far 266 backers and $26,000 raised in 36 hours says otherwise, but I guess we'll see.

The mission is to change the way people think about sound. So if they don't think about the way we do, we are on our way :-)

As a lecturer in audio engineering/sound design I try every day to get my students to think differently about it! :) I wish you luck with your product - maybe we'll get a pair to do some testing on ;)

Yes please! I know how difficult it is to talk about sound! You're doing the Lord's work! (though I am not religious, that phrase just seems appropriate)

The headphone (sound emitting) part is nothing unique, right? Just normal headphones.

The microphone part is the unique part, right?

If this is the case, why not just produce a microphone component on its own? It could be hand-held or an aux adapter style (a la Square).

I don't mean to sound harsh, and I'm an entrepreneur who has had this problem before, but it sounds like you came up with a solution for a problem that doesn't exist. I'm open to thinking otherwise, but I don't get it as of now.

The stand alone microphone makes sense, I just don't get the headphone part...

Totally understood. In my eyes (or ears) Hooke solves a few things.

-It improves the way we capture and share audio in our lives.

-It does this in a simple to use and portable solution.

-It doesn't add gear to your life, it enhances it. We all use headphones, so why not carry around a pair that sound really great, are noise canceling AND capture 3D audio.

Know what I mean? Hope that helped. Thanks so much for the support!

How is this different than current methods used to translate sound into "3D Audio?"

The product itself is useful, but to me it seems more like you're making up a term called 3D Audio to sell a product that is utilizing technology that has existed likely since we created stereo speakers.

It really just seems like the one actual difference here is that you're using 2 microphones as opposed to one so that you know how to properly mix the data into a recreation of 3d.

The product does seem awesome, especially with all the software you're including for it. For the price you want, it's an awesomely simple way for the average consumer to experience a new world of sound techniques.

How is the quality of the actual earbuds? Are they meant just to be a tool to utilize the effect rather than a quality source of sound?

Also a freebie recommendation, maybe add some sort of compass/gyro into the device so people have the option of hitting record and the device recording sound as if their head stays still. If you're in a concert and dancing like crazy with these on, the sound will be crazy as fuck! Could be a sweet tool for strange music, but likely an issue for those wanting a typical 3D audio experience.

Current methods are expensive, require a lot of equipment and are not very portable. Hooke changes this by incorporating all of this technology into a simple wireless headset at a price that makes sense.

3D audio can not be created without 2 mics. With on mic everything will be in the center. It's not processing that creates the 3D sensation, it's the fact that you are playing back a stereo (2 channel) recording where your speakers are at a very similar distance to where the microphones were that originally captured the recording. It's like putting some one's ears on to yours.

No, the headphones are great sounding. Seriously, that was important to me. Plus they're noise canceling!

I like that idea! Thanks!

Hopefully that clears things up :-)

Yeah I suppose having the mics right where the audio needs to be is a much simpler way to perform the task. Basically the same as how those 3d cameras work as well.

But yeah feel free to try the gyro! Since you aren't doing much processing right now that's going to be significantly more knowledge you'll need, though even if you just throw the hardware in the device you can add it in software for the future!

Definitely! Thanks!

To me, the unique aspects of your product are the mobility of the 3D recording microphone and how cheaply you've implemented it. But to be honest, I don't see why the mic needs to be put in headphone form. Why not implement the technology directly into a phone's microphone so my phone will automatically capture sound like this? Does the nature of binaural recording limit its integration into a smart phone? The money doesn't seem to be in the product itself as much as it seems to be in the cheap and portable manner you've implemented this technology.

The microphones have to be placed within the ear to capture a recording identically to how we hear.

Think about it this way, if you block part of a microphone with a wall, you hear the difference. We hear the way we do because of the formation of our ears. So when you create a recording that incorporates those barriers, it creates a recording incredibly similar to how we hear! Make sense? It's a beautiful phenomenon!

Thanks for the reply! That does make sense. You showed a few alternative 3D microphones in your video, but those don't appear to be of the headset variety like Hooke is. Do those products compensate for the "funneling" effect our ears provide? I can understand your point about Hooke's design being a good way to replicate what our ears hear - but if other products do it without utilizing the natural structure of the ear, is there a technical reason why those alternate methods wouldn't be able to be scaled down? Clearly the portability your product provides is desirable, and you mention that we already have headphones already so we might as well make them multifunctional...but we all have phones as well. Are there any technical limitations on binaural recording that would prevent it from eventually being implemented into phones?

Hopefully I'm being clear in what I'm trying to get at. I don't really have a technical background, but I'm just thinking back to when 3D video recording became a thing on camera phones and am wondering if you think we'll one day see 3D audio recording functionality in phones as well.

They do! If you notice the neumann dummy head uses well, an artificial head. The 3Dio has artificially crafted ears. The human body is important when making 3D recordings!

It would be hard to get 3D audio recording right into the phone because we hear with our ears not with our hands ya know? There may be an artificial way that we eventually create it, but this is the human way. Much more of what I am interested in :-)

It's very cool stuff, and I really appreciate the information. That all makes a lot more sense now. Best of luck with the product launch!

Thanks!

So it's 3D in the same sense you'd call any stereo pair of microphones "3D"? ...Meaning, you wouldn't.

Right you wouldn't. This is 3D in the same way your ears are 3D.

Take for instance sound playing from behind you. If captured on a stereo mic, it wouldn't sound like if you were actually there and the sound was playing behind you.

With Hooke, it will sound as if you were there and the sound was playing behind you. Make sense?

Hooke captures sound identically to the way our ears do, as stated in our KS.

No It really does not make sense to me. What in it is different than two small-diaphragm condenser mics spaced wide enough to hear a much broader difference in phase than, say, the mics on an iPhone?

Unless somehow this models reverberation, delay, and EQ - which is partially what gives our ears "behind" information. It still enters into the same diaphragm - it is merely even later and the frequency is different.

Hmmm...I'm not really sure how else to explain :-/ It captures audio identically to the way yours ear would hear an event. So the way something sounds behind you is how Hooke would capture it. Sorry for the confusion!

I'm on my phone so forgive me if this is already answered on your Kickstarter page (I skimmed as much as I could), but how much are these headphones estimated to cost?

Right now if you back the Kickstarter you can get them for $99! Our $89 super early bird backer offers are gone. But only 300 people can get them at $99!

How much are they expected to cost after the Kickstarter campaign?

They'll retail around $149!

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Heyo! I've been an active user and fan of /r/asmr for quite some time now!

Check out our Hooke thread there! https://www.reddit.com/r/asmr/comments/2hvwyx/i_love_making_asmr_recordings_but_they_can_be/

Oh don't you worry I checked it all out last night! Your product is awesome! However I think it may be lacking in the sports licensing market. I would love to buy a set that has a sports logo or a college logo. Feel free to design an Oklahoma State set. I will buy two. But I don't want to pay $1000 for a custom color. :/ Just saying, Kicker loves to make OSU themed head-phones! (This is me trying to guilt you into making an orange set.)

Ah man I know you OSU fans, you guys are legit! I totally agree, we plan to work out some custom skins in the future. Thanks for the suggestion!!

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Patent is filed! We've got our logo, slogan and title trademarked. We're set :-)

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That's the dream! We'll see after the Kickstarter! Thanks for the support :-)

I'm a little bit confused in here, but what's the difference with 7.1 Surround sound Headphones and 3D Headphones that you are developping right now?

In context they're a bit similar. When you capture a 3D recording with Hooke and playback in a 7.1 surround sound system, you'll hear it in surround.

Surround sound takes a stereo (2 channel) audio file and digitally outputs it to 8 speakers (speakers, 1 sub).

The difference here is that Hooke captures the surround sound! Think of it as your own person surround sound capturing device. Plus, you can't hear surround sound on headphones. Hooke changes that. Was that helpful?

That's amazing that you can make it to record it in 3D! I only know some 3D sound recorder and they are expensive. However, for Hooke sound player, is it using the Virtual surround?

The pricing is a bit expensive ($119 is it?), but this is my minor complain so don't take it serious because I'm living in poor regions. On the other hand, The design looks good, I'm interested to buy it but since I'm not the person who likes to share videos or photos, I will think about it, really good innovation though.

That's the idea! Make 3D Audio recording affordable and accessible!

Right now you can pre-order Hooke for $99! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/124900576/hooke-wireless-3d-audio-headphones

Thanks so much for the support Reyzuken! Anthony, founder

Did you make this thread to get more attraction to your kickstarter? Serious question.

Totally legitimate question! Thanks for asking :-) seriously.

I made this to get more attraction to my product and my idea. I feel it's the reason everyone posts to reddit, to attract attention to their ideas :-)

Thanks for answering with honesty.

I like your product, the only gripe I have is that your entire reddit submission history is about promoting this product. It's against the reddiquette, and against the spirit of reddit itself. Some would even go as far as to call this spam.

Please read this: http://www.reddit.com/wiki/selfpromotion

Have you considered buying ads on reddit? You can target specific subreddits and countries. I'm sure something like this would do very well on a reddit ad.

That's not true, I've been active on the reddit ASMR community for some time. If I was just marketing this product, I wouldn't have had this much success. This community is WAY too secure and smart for that :-)

While I do see comments to the ASMR community, a large portion of your submission history, if not all is towards marketing this product.

In the reddiquette, it states that if you want to do self promotion, it MUST be 10% of your submissions, or less. Like I said before, I like your product, you just need to start buying some ads.

Totally understood, I planned for it being 10% but I had no idea I'd receive people would love Hooke this much! It's because of the wonderful reddit community that I have this much coverage. I don't have any money at the moment (hence the Kickstarter, ha) but you better believe once we close the campaign I can contribute!

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Haha, okay thanks :-) I by no means want to step on any toes! Not my intention at all! I just want the world to care about sound!

What will be the devices RRP ? They seem quite expensive tbh

They'll retail at $149. Honestly I think that's pretty affordable given everything these guys offfer.

-The audio quality is superior. We're working with a CSR bluetooth audio chip which handles a lot of onboard DSP. The concept is to have a very flat, true response out of our microphones (ya know similar to human ear) no fancy compression or EQ, just sound as you hear it. The bluetooth chip also allows us to stream uncompress un"dumbed"down stereo audio wirelessly at either 441.K 16bit or 51kbps mp3 depending upon the user's preference. These are expensive to make, but I considered that in my pricing plan. I come from an audio background so quality is EVERYTHING for me in this product. Much higher than style. Mic freq response is definitely 20Hz-20kHz

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To an extent, yes. If you want SUPER accurate precision then yes. But if you notice like in this one where I was in Times Square, my head wasn't always locked, but the 3D sensation remained :-)http://vimeo.com/103735817

What are we looking at as far as estimates go in the way of battery life (in use) and charging time? Love this concept, what makes this different than other wireless headphones?

I do a ton of field recordings and battery usage is incredibly important to me as a sound designer. It was definitely one of my biggest priorities in our parts list, it accounts for nearly half the headset cost. I knew that this would be a flawed product if people couldn't go out and listen and record ALL DAY. They needed to be able to have that freedom. We're not confident on performance yet, but I can tell you I WILL not be happy unless we can get 8-10 hours listening and 6-9 recording time. I want people to be able to go out and listen/record ALL day.

The audio quality is superior. We're working with a CSR bluetooth audio chip which handles a lot of onboard DSP. The concept is to have a very flat, true response out of our microphones (ya know similar to human ear) no fancy compression or EQ, just sound as you hear it.

The bluetooth chip also allows us to stream uncompress un"dumbed"down stereo audio wirelessly at either 441.K 16bit or 51kbps mp3 depending upon the user's preference.

Mic freq response is definitely 20Hz-20kHz

Err... 51kbps mp3? I'm really hoping that's a typo...

hahaha, oh man yes it is. That would be the worst .mp3 ever!

512 kbps mp3**

441.K 16bit

And slight decimal misplace. That's quite a response range haha.

Ugh, I'm 0-2 here. Sorry it's been a busy couple days! My mind is racing! Had no idea we'd do this well. Thanks for keeping me on my toes!

All good! Guess this means you'll just HAVE to include the AAC audio profile now. Only way to make it up. 😁

Haha, you drive a hard bargain :-) I'll see what I can do

isnt 320kbps the max bitrate for mp3?

Also 44.1k/16bit and 320kbps (or 512 like you claim) are not mutually exclusive.. in fact they are completely different properties. 44.1k is the sample rate, 16bit is the bit depth and kbps is the bitrate

512kbps is not as common but is available. Most people find they can't tell the difference between 320 and 512.

I am completely aware they're not mutually exclusive, which is why users choose one of the two options when recording. It's important when describing audio formats outside of .mp3 like .wav and .aiff to list both sample rate and bit depth. Which is why they were listed as such.

Does that make sense?

listing them separately is not a good indication of quality. You can have 44.1khz 16bit audio at 64kbps and it will sound horrible.. whereas 44.1khz/16bit encoded at 256kbps will sound much better.

If im given 2 recording options.. one that is 44.1k/16bit and the other being 512kbps.. i am going to be confused. Its safe to assume that 512kbps is good quality because it would be pointless to use that high of a bitrate with a low samplerate and bit depth. But the 44.1k/16bit option gives me no indication on its quality.. is it 32kbps.. 128.. 256?

I understand what you're saying but the average consumer only cares about file size and space that it will take up on their phone. Thats why we offer the option to record in .wav/.aiff or .mp3 make sense? I'm not trying to have an audio codec war over here.

The bluetooth chip also allows us to stream uncompress un"dumbed"down stereo audio wirelessly at either 441.K 16bit or 51kbps mp3 depending upon the user's preference.

So you meant 44.1k/16bit wav or 512kbps mp3? okay THAT is clear then. The original wording you used was confusing

Yes, sorry for the confusion. Thanks for the clarification!

Oh my god I didn't even realize these things record in 3-D as well! I will be pledging $89 for a set!!! Good luck!!

Edit: Shit nvm those are gone, and the $99 are almost gone too! I can't pledge until Thursday, GAHHHH

You can do it! Thank you so much!