Holophonics
Binaural recording system
Holophonics is a binaural recording system created by Hugo Zuccarelli that is based on the claim that the human auditory system acts as an interferometer. It relies on phase variance, just like stereophonic sound. The sound characteristics of holophonics are most clearly heard through headphones, though they can be effectively demonstrated with two-channel stereo speakers, provided that they are phase-coherent. The word "holophonics" is related to "acoustic hologram".
History
Holophonics was created by Argentine inventor Hugo Zuccarelli in 1980, during his studies at the Politecnico di Milano university. In 1983, Zuccarelli released a recording entitled Zuccarelli Holophonics (The Matchbox Shaker) in the United Kingdom (UK) that was produced by CBS. The recording consisted entirely of short recordings of sounds designed to show off the Holophonics system. These included a shaking matchbox, haircut and blower, bees, balloon, plastic bag, birds, airplanes, fireworks, thunder and racing cars. In its early years, Holophonics was used by various artists, including Pink Floyd for The Final Cut, Roger Waters solo album, The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking and Psychic TV's Dreams Less Sweet. The system has been used in film soundtracks, popular music, television and theme parks.
Most famous sound effects were recorded in Modena at Umbi's Studios by sound engineer Maurizio Maggi.
The public source identifies “Holophonics” as binaural recording system. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Holophonics, Binaural and recording.
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Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 8, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q17072930. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1980 and 1983.
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This entry incorporates text from “Holophonics” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.