I didn't phrase that right. I think what I have in mind is the front-rear image, not binaural's capacity to do an excellent stereo image. Has anyone heard a clear front-rear presentation from binaural?
Yes. It is possible, and I've heard it as recently as twice this past weekend. I did two binaural recordings this weekend, and, both have a front-rear depth factor going on.
In the first of the recordings, I was at the end of the center aisle, at first row center. The front to rear movement came during a solo by a violinist who came from the rear corner of the ensembles on-stage
U-shaped presence.
From the audience perspective, he plays at the left bend of the U.
If you took a line and closed the U off, my mics were at the open front edge of the U, centered to the ensemble and rear center player. In a binaural recording, this would put that player at apprx. 10 o'clock, in his normal stage presence, and aural perspective.
For his solo, he came out to the center of the stage, playing while changing his position. He sang scat style, while playing his violin from this center position. He then came forward towards the mics, and was intending to go down the center aisle towards the rear of the hall. This meant that he had to pass the binaural head very closely, and, that he had to choose a side to pass it, as I was centered in/at the end of the aisle. He chose to come down the audience right of the aisle, and you can hear his perspective change from 10o'clock, to solidly at 3o'clock and then he passes to the side-rear of the head (5o'clock), and then behind it, and on to the rear of the hall. His sound became less direct, and increasingly more distant.
I was there, and I know that this happened. So the aural illusion of front to rear is perfect, in my listening.
Would a casual listener realize it?
In casual playback listening, if you didn't know of the event unfolding, probably not.
But, if you get down to really critically listening, and realize some things about microphone physical characteristics, yes, it is quite easily apparent.
With omnidirectional mics, which binaural recordings are sourced from, you get an orb of sound that is roughly 360º entering the microphone capsule. Roughly,.. nearly 360º. That off-perfect response is due to omnidirectional mics actually having directional response charateristics in the high-mids_to_high range.
Now, you take that directionality factor, and you shade the microphone from the rear, baffle the microphone, you add another layer of directionality to that omnidirectional response. The wide outer structure of your ear, and the way that your ears stick out cause a shadowing of the microphone response from the rear.
IOW... if a signal impulse is coming from in front of the listener, lets say at 2o'clock, the microphone capsule is not shadowed from the rear, and the response is less fettered. But if the response is from 5_to_6o'clock, or behind the ear, that ear with has a natural attenuation occurring, and, a different sound as a result. In critical listening, you can start to hear those artifacts.
Back to the soloist....
Because I know binaural sound, and variations of binaural, I can eassily recognize that the player passedd my position, and the sound is different.
When the soloist came closer to the head, in his return, after the solo, you can hear the violin become more clear as he approaches the 3o'clock location, and then he crosses image completely across the stereo aural field, with lots of impression that he is heading back to the rear bend of the U.