You have probably come across an 8D audio track while listening to music on Youtube or other music platforms. And you might have wondered why you were advised to listen to it with headphones on. If you have already listened to an 8D audio, you would have had a much different experience than you would normally have when listening to a regular song. You would have felt the music moving around you in a circle.
8D audio is simply an auditory illusion. It makes you hear the music moving all around you, in front of you, behind you and moving from left to right, just like you would in a concert or festival.
Are there really 8 Dimensions?
No, the name “8D” is just a gimmick to bait people into being interested in it. It’s just the same as normal audio. The only difference is that the audio is just edited and mixed to create the moving sound experience.
How does 8D Audio Work?
8D audio uses the binaural effect. This means that you need to put on headphones or earphones to get the experience. The binaural effect uses sound recorded by two microphones transmitted separately into each ear of the listener.
8D audio tracks are edited with spatial reverb and panning effects to make it seem like the sounds are moving around your head in a circle. These effects are usually applied using plugins.
Panning is the ability to make sounds feel like they are moving from left to right when mixing a song. Your earphones have two units, left and right, and you can pan sound from one ear to another at different intensities.
The reverb effect is somewhat like an echo. Reverb is created when sound occurs in a space. These sound waves reflect off the surfaces in the space just like echoes and return to the listener at varying times and amplitudes.
The combination of these effects creates the 8D moving experience.
Conclusion
8D music is now very common. Just add “8D” to the name of the song you’re looking for and you should find an 8D mix of the song.
Here is a link to my favourite song in 8D, Fly Me To The Moon: open.spotify.com/track/5hv6hCw1lQm8XPnu1uXwk4
I hope you enjoy it!