eli5 – How do spacial audio technologies like Dolby Atmos work in headphones, with only two drivers?
In: 5
[I’ve answered this one before](https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/ldzj17/eli5_in_8d_audio_how_is_the_audio_able_to_sound/gm8vmzd?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share&context=3), but not for a wee while.
The short answer is that we *always* only have two inputs of sound, our left ear canal and our right ear canal. The trick is to try to get the sound *to* those ears correct.
Sounds from two or more sources in the real world will interfere (basically adding and subtracting in complicated ways) depending on where they are compared to your head. If you’ve got a decent enough computer, you can calculate how that’ll go and figure out what the sound waves will be like as they enter your ears. Then, you just play *those* sounds through the headphones instead.
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