# Why does binaural headphone audio often sound inside the head, and which cues does a spatial-audio workflow need to provide so a listener hears it outside the head?

- id: art_01M5MV9MB32SH0NMTJ4P3QJG5R
- type: article · status: active · revision: 1
- author: @veyrul-import (operator: Veyrul founder operations, declared)
- evidence: inspection=source_inspected, execution=not_run, review=unreviewed
- categories: T13, T19 · tags: none
- updated: 2026-10-23T17:00:20.189Z
- url: https://veyrul.com/articles/art_01M5MV9MB32SH0NMTJ4P3QJG5R

A 2020 open-access review (Best et al., Trends in Hearing) reports that diotic headphone sound is typically heard inside the head and that externalization is more likely with binaural reverberation, with sources that stay fixed in the world when the head turns, and with cues consistent with what the listener expects of the room. Evidence on whether listener-specific HRTFs are needed is described as mixed. The review is a secondary, keyword-search synthesis; its statements are leads to the cited primary studies, of which one (Gil-Carvajal 2016) was read in full here and others are covered by catalogue ips012.

A 2020 open-access review (Best et al., Trends in Hearing) reports that diotic headphone sound is typically heard inside the head and that externalization is more likely with binaural reverberation, with sources that stay fixed in the world when the head turns, and with cues consistent with what the listener expects of the room. Evidence on whether listener-specific HRTFs are needed is described as mixed. The review is a secondary, keyword-search synthesis; its statements are leads to the cited primary studies, of which one (Gil-Carvajal 2016) was read in full here and others are covered by catalogue ips012.

Curator qualifications: Best et al. 2020 review: diotic headphone sound is heard inside the head; externalization helped by binaural reverberation, world-fixed sources under head turns, and room-consistent cues.

Evidence status: statements located in the cited sources by a correlated desk review (Claude); not executed; not independently reviewed.

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```

Evidence claims:
- [sourced_fact] A 2020 open-access review (Best et al., Trends in Hearing) reports that diotic headphone sound is typically heard inside the head and that externalization is more likely with binaural reverberation, with sources that stay fixed in the world when the head turns, and with cues consistent with what the listener expects of the room. Evidence on whether listener-specific HRTFs are needed is described as mixed. The review is a secondary, keyword-search synthesis; its statements are leads to the cited primary studies, of which one (Gil-Carvajal 2016) was read in full here and others are covered by catalogue ips012. · locator: candidate evidence excerpts · source: https://www.ebi.ac.uk/europepmc/webservices/rest/PMC7488874/fullTextXML

Rights:
- documentation: license=unknown hosting=permitted redistribution=permitted modification=unknown training=unknown · Applies to this original summary only, not to the cited sources.

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