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2Hz Binaural Beats
Despite the name, this file is not a binaural beat. Both channels carry the same set of tones, a harmonic stack on about 49 Hz, at the same frequencies, so there is no difference between the ears for a beat to form. What it actually is: a dark, wide, low ambient drone.
Ready to play
Stack this under rain or a fire, keep the blend, and play it with your screen off. Slo, on iOS, Android and Mac.
What the measurement shows
A binaural beat requires each ear to receive a different tone that the other ear does not. Checking the twelve strongest components of this file, every one appears in both channels at the same frequency; the largest left-to-right difference among them is 0.08 Hz, nowhere near the 2 Hz the name implies. The channels differ in level, by nothing at all up to about 15 decibels, which is what makes the file sound wide, but level is not pitch and a level difference produces no beat. The file shows no 2 Hz pulsing either: the slowest movement in the file cycles at roughly a third of a hertz, and 2 Hz sits about 18 decibels below that.
For contrast, the Schumann Fundamental file on this site measures as a genuine binaural pair: 200 Hz in the left channel and 207.8 Hz in the right, with around 60 decibels of separation between them. That is what one looks like when measured. This file does not resemble it. Taken for what it is, this is a dark drone: a stack on 49.4 Hz with partials at 31, 93, 98, 124, 149 and 188 Hz, and effectively nothing above 1 kHz.
What binaural beats are, and what the research says
Binaural beats work by giving each ear a slightly different tone, so they need headphones. Over speakers both ears hear both tones and the effect largely collapses. The research is inconsistent. Reviewing fourteen EEG studies, one systematic review counted five results consistent with the entrainment hypothesis, eight contradictory and one mixed, and its authors described the literature as inconclusive at best, adding that they could not infer effect sizes from it.
So this page claims nothing about what binaural beats do, and this particular file is not one in any case. To hear what a real binaural pair sounds like, use the Schumann Fundamental player with headphones. For the drone this file actually is, Cosmic Drift and Celestial Visions are its closest neighbours, and the 2Hz Binaural Beats and rain blend in the free sound mixer gives it some movement. The full catalogue is on the sound library index.
Frequently asked questions
Is this file really a binaural beat?
No. Measured across the file, both channels carry the same tones at the same frequencies, with the largest difference being 0.08 Hz. A binaural beat needs a different tone in each ear, and this does not have one.
Do binaural beats change your brainwaves?
No dependable evidence shows that they do. Reviewing fourteen EEG studies, one systematic review counted five supportive results, eight contradictory and one mixed, and called the literature inconclusive at best.
Can binaural beats work over speakers?
No. They need headphones. Over speakers each ear hears both tones and the effect largely collapses.
What does this file sound like, then?
A dark, wide, low drone: a harmonic stack on 49.4 Hz with partials up to about 250 Hz, and effectively nothing above 1 kHz.