Hear360 begins shipping its ASMR-ready omni-binaural microphone, the 8ball

Magic 8-Balls have been known to hold some disappointing, trivial answers to teenage life’s

hardest questions, but one LA startup is hoping to find success in them. Hear360 has just begun

shipping pre-orders of 8ball, a souped-up binaural 360 microphone rig geared toward

professionals that are all about experimenting in new immersive mediums.

The 8ball is an “omni-binaural” microphone, meaning it captures 360 audio of a space using four

pairs of omnidirectional mics. The effect is 8 tracks of sound that envelops the listener wherever

they turn, something pretty essential for virtual reality specifically. The unique design involves a

custom clamping mechanism that means the rig can be mounted below a 360 camera and stay

out of the shot, capturing sophisticated audio invisibly as a result. Buyers of the $2,500 8ball will

get a bunch of pro plug-in tools so they can fit the product into their editing pipeline with ease.

The system is available for order here.

CEO Matt Marrin and his co-founder CTO Greg Morgenstein got together in 2016 with the idea

of a high-end microphone system that got everything right. The audio engineers bootstrapped the

company the best way they knew how, funding the project by continuing to mix records on the

side. Last year, the team closed a $1 million round of funding from creative audio agency Grayson

Matthews.