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.
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,[1] Roger Waters solo album, The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking[2] and Psychic TV's Dreams Less Sweet[citation needed].
Holophonics, like binaural recording, instead reproduces the interaural differences (arrival time and amplitude between the ears), as well as rudimentary head-related transfer functions (HRTF).
On the contrary, there is abundant literature proving that properly presented spatial cues via HRTF synthesis (mimicking binaural heads) or binaural recording is adequate to reproduce realistic spatial recordings comparable to real listening, and comparable to the Holophonics demonstrations.