Introducing Hooke Verse Wireless Headphones; Capture Binaural 3D Audio on your iOS device

To Anthony: I would like to be part of the beta-testing team for the Hooke Audio app. I don't want to publicize my email address, so whom do I email about joining? I would like to help improve this product.

@AnthonyM:

To help you diagnose this problem, here's a sample of me talking while wearing HookeVerse, with it connected to the microphone input of my Sony PCM-M10 recorder. Yes I reset HookeVerse first, and I followed your instructions regarding connecting the USB-OTG end first, then plugging into the recorder.

I have done absolutely nothing to this - no normalization, compression, or resampling. This is just the raw WAV file from my recorder.

The noise itself is around -38dB and my voice at the loudest part is only about 14dB above the noise!

The sample is at:
https://www.sendspace.com/pro/dl/fnb2hi

(I'll post some other samples soon, such as HookeVerse on maximum gain streaming to my phone, but in a quiet closet, so prospective customers can accurately gauge the noise floor.)

@AnthonyM: I realize it's probably difficult to set a date, but is there a good chance an update to the HookeVerse app will be available by Wednesday May 31st? I'm attending a loud concert that night, and would love to try things in that environment.

Thank you, @AnthonyM, for being so responsive on this forum. Once I get a little green saved up, I plan on purchasing a Hookeverse. I first heard binaural audio on a CD when my mom got me Stephen King's, "The Mist." You talk about a great way to bring a horror story to life! I love the idea of being able to do something like that with my phone.

I have my Hooke Verse now, but I'm afraid I can't recommend it. It's simply not worth the money. I really wanted to love it. I bought it because I was really excited about bluetooth binaural audio, and pleased to see a company in this field being so dedicated to accessibility when so many other companies make inaccessible audio equipment despite it being an area of interest for many blind people.

However, having followed this thread closely and from my experience of using the product, I honestly can't imagine any situation when I would use it. I've been thinking about starting a podcast, but the audio from this is too noisy to be used for professional-quality voiceovers. The amount of noise varies wildly from one recording to the next, seemingly with no reason. Earlier today I recorded myself talking and the noise drowned out my voice, even though I was recording with airplane mode on, wi-fi off and having just restarted my phone. I've also had problems with the app losing a couple of long recordings. There are major issues with the app, but that's not quite as much of a concern for me because apps can much more easily be updated than hardware.

I had previously thought I might use it for my own personal recordings - creating memories, as the Hooke team have been suggesting, but even that wouldn't work because the headphones go right inside the ear, blocking external sound, so I wouldn't be able to experience the audio I was trying to record! If there's some way of getting this thing to monitor audio during recording, I haven't figured it out, but even that isn't the same as hearing the audio with your ears directly, when anything you'd want to produce a personal memory-type recording for would be a moment you'd want to listen to as it's happening. Making it more in the style of the Apple ear pods that come with the iPhone would've been better, as they don't block out the sound.

I can't even imagine using these to listen to music, because I generally find in-ear headphones uncomfortable, whichever size of eartips I use. For a better recording device, I might have tolerated that. I changed the eartips but found it difficult to get the new ones to fit on the earpieces and stay there; I do understand how they're meant to fit onto it and I've changed eartips on another headset without much difficulty, which is why I think it's a problem with the headset and not just the way I'm doing it.

The unit itself feels very delicate and flimsy and I worry that the wire could break. I think I already ripped the default eartips as I was taking them off even though I was being very careful.

At a lower price, I would've been more forgiving of its shortcomings, but for the amount they're asking for it really needs to meet a higher standard. Honestly I love what they're trying to do with this, and I really wanted it to work. I could've had a lot of fun making radio dramas and other audio productions with it, but the audio quality is too inconsistent. It's a shame.

Wow, reading all these comments and listening to the recordings I've heard on this forum, I think the hook verse is a great idea on paper, but the execution just isn't there quite yet. So, I believe i'll pass this initial release and wait to see if a second-generation product is released in the future sometime. I have absolutely no doubt that the hook audio folks have worked hard on the project and I applaud them for the idea, but if I am going to pay that amount of money, I don't want a pare of headphones that might break simply by touching them in the incorrect way. It just isn't ready for prime time. That doesn't mean it won't be in the future, though so i'll keep watching and see what happens with a second-generation product, if one comes out.

I hope your experiences with the product are better than some I've read here. Again, this just doesn't sound like it's ready for prime time but i'll be very happy to be proven wrong, trust me!

I'll be very interested to listen to a podcast if you do one, @djmacradio. I'd be curious to know what hardware those who are having problems with the Verse are using as far as which iPhone or iPad.

Here's a recording I made with it last night, so you can hear for yourself the amount of noise I'm getting with it:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/hdr10ykqk26gqtg/Hooke%20Sample.m4a
Not sure what's going on with the sounds from the right earpiece... it could've been something I was doing (it sounds like I might have been fiddling with the earpiece without realising it or something, maybe trying to get it to stay in) but even if you ignore that it's still a huge amount of noise. I was recording wirelessly with the Hooke to my iPhone 6.

So I don't know the answer to this question, but are there any sort of minimum hardware requirements? Much of what I've heard says that this app can be very much of a resource hog (and I don't mean that in a bad way). I'm wondering if older devices might have more issues. Just a thought.

Hello,

Another question, since I don't think this was posted, I am asking is for a friend. He isn't on here.

Is the Hookeverse noise canceling? @AnthonyM, Or someone from Hookeaudio.

Thanks.

Hi Justin, thanks for your response. That recording was made with airplane mode on, and having just restarted my phone. I have also tried adjusting the levels, but that doesn't seem to make a difference.

Hello; First off I want to thank Anthony and and those that have worked on this project for not only such a great product but the continuing dedication to users of this site in trying to assist. I waited for almost 2 years and when I finally got the product I started using it almost immediately. Sure, I did find the iPhone app tricky at first but soon got the hang of it, and it is good to see that issues addressed will be fixed in a new update. In terms of the hardware, I have only good things to say. I have already made lots of recordings in different settings without any issues. I would like to point out a few things that may be of assistance. Firstly, and maybe Anthony could comment, I found the instructions for wearing the Verse slightly confusing and in the end I found a much better way to wear it for me. Instead of the two plastic extension hanging down from your ears, I found it better to have them resting between your head and earlobe. So then you can sort of squeeze the wires to make this happen so that the buds are in your ears and the plastic bits extend behind and sit on top of your ears. I hope that makes sense. This seems to prevent weight on the ear buds and them falling out. I find that in terms of sound, it is critical to have the earbuds fit well and this makes a huge difference to the sound. You lose almost all bass if you don't have them in properly. When in properly, the sound is quite amazing. I own a pair of Shure earbuds which are over $1000, and I can honestly say that the Verse comes really close to producing the same clear and detailed effect. Of course, I realise a lot of this is subjective. So I really can't complain. My iPhone 6 even vibrates at the start and stop of recording so the issue with it not vibrating doesn't happen for me. Also, I did notice that if you are recording with the iPhone plugged into the wall, you do get noticeable hum. I therefore, really use it without plugging it in, and indeed, that would be more in line with what it was designed for.

Hi @justin T, sorry I can't quite remember exactly which podcast it was but it was on one of the links Anthony included in this thread. I believe you may have also described it as being placed near your neck or I think cheek was mentioned in one of the links. I may have misinterpreted those directions but thank you for confirming zi am now wearing them correctly. Really made a difference to the experience. I do hope to share some recordings soon. Just wondering, would it be possible to include functionality with other apps. So for example, if you had the verse connected and wanted to record binaurally from another app, could that app say interface with the Hooke app? Another issue i have is with voiceover coming through the phone speakers while recording. It would be good to have some way of having voiceover optionally coming through the Verse earbuds while recording so it stops any possibility of voiceover being picked up and recorded. Sometimes its hard to hear the controls when recording without the voiceover being picked up. Tried using a wired earpiece as well as the hooke to see if I could get voiceover output through the wired earbud. This sadly didn't work.

Wow @Skyhook, cool recording. And you even threw in some Elton John! Haha. Awesome!

Hi Anthony, Thanks for creating something so cool!
From listening to samples I am super impressed, and I love how you have a thing to place your hooke on, I have some Binaural mic/headphones but I hate wearing them because it plug right into the ears, I understand these are the same, but it's not so bad if I can put them somewhere else.

Just a few questions:
1. Do these record using other apps? I'm looking using the camera app in iOS to capture great video as well as audio, as I have working vision.
2. Will you consider to have pod-like headphones in a future product? Like I said before, I hate plugs :)
3. Sorry if questions were answered before, but I haven't read this forum, just came from a Twitter post :D
Cheers!

Hello,

I just received my Hooke verse.
but I have some problems:

I connected it over bluetooth and it works fine. VO and music is played over the hooke verse.
When I open the app I do not give permission to use the microphone.
When I start a recording, I can not monitor the sound over the hooke verse. My phone just vibrates when a recording is started and finished.

Also when i go to the gallery and start playing a recording the sound is coming through the earspeaker of my iPhone and not through the hooke verse itself.

Can someone help me with this problem?

Regards

You can't record with the cable provided, as it gives off a ton of white noise which is a hardware failure, not an issue with the device being recorded on.

Hello Applevis,
Here is a two-part recording.
I spent the weekend in California and took a tour of a museum all about trains.
Enjoy!

Train Part 1
https://www.dropbox.com/s/c72km9flp5szyt4/train%20museum%20part%20one.mp3?dl=0

Train Part 2
https://www.dropbox.com/s/7twgmv2x265vmqa/Train%20%20museum%20part%20two.mp3?dl=0