MOST PEOPLE..
LISTEN TO BINAURAL BEATS WRONG!
Binaural beats have been around for a while, and there’s a lot they can do. They have the ability to move your brainwaves into different states and frequencies just by listening to them!
This means you can shift your brainwave state into a FOCUSED stage, a sleepy state, dreaming etc and anything else. You can decide how to influence your brainwave state and optimise your brain functions.
It’s all very exciting stuff, but there are a lot of things people get wrong when they start using binaural beats.
In this article, I’m going to essentially break down what most people get wrong, and exactly HOW you can listen to binaural beats to get the MOST benefits. We want to get the most benefits and listen to them in the BEST way so that it actually makes a difference to us.
You’d be amazed at how many people invest their money into buying some nice headphones and binaural beats, and then just don’t know how to use them properly.
We’re going to break down the key skills and tips for using binaural beats BETTER and smarter. But first, let’s just start at the beginning, and don’t worry we’ll get onto the good stuff VERY soon.
What Are Binaural Beats?
Depending on the type of binaural beat and the ‘frequency’, you can stimulate your brain to move into different brainwave STATES. Binaural beats are special audio tones that you can play through headphones, that INFLUENCE and change your brainwave states.
Our brains operate in different states and modes, for example, your brainwave state when you’re sleeping is very different to the state of being awake, focusing, or engaging in physical activity. And these brainwave states make it easier to do the thing your brain is trying to do.
So binaural beats let you CHOOSE which brainwave state you want to be in!
They let you say ‘Right, NOW I want to focus and study, so I need my brainwave state to be a focused state’. And you can listen to specific audio tones that MAKE your brain go into that state.
It’s pretty smart, but here’s how it works:
How Do Binaural Beats Work?
Binaural beats work much like a tuning fork. When you hit a tuning fork, it resonates or vibrates at a certain frequency, and if you hold it next to ANOTHER tuning fork, eventually they’ll both vibrate at the same frequency. This is because the soundwaves travel through the air and create the same vibrations in the other tuning fork.
By resonating at a certain frequency, over time it guides your brain to resonate at the same frequency.
The way it does this is by causing the brain to create a ‘ghost frequency’.
When you play binaural beats through stereo headphones, what’s actually happening is TWO different tones are played one in each ear. They’re slightly different from each other, and because the difference is so small, the brain gets confused and ends up just trying to hear them as both being the SAME tone.
By doing this, the brain has to engage power and energy, and as a result, it becomes tuned to the DIFFERENCE between the tones, or the frequency. This takes anywhere from ten minutes to an hour, and it can have profound effects on the function of the brain during that time.
It’s an incredible tool to have in your toolbox and you can read about the MANY benefits of binaural beats along with studies showing the proof and research behind it. It’s normal to be unsure or skeptical about this sort of thing, so go and check out the studies and then come back here!
What You NEED
There are a few things you’re going to NEED in order to make the most of your binaural beats experience. This comes from a lot of experience, so here goes:
- GOOD headphones that ideally can cancel out outside noise. I’ve found that small wireless headphones you can get from Amazon are great, but if you’re after something that’s good for sleeping, try Sleep Phones (They’re super comfortable for wearing WHILE you’re sleeping)
- GOOD binaural beats: This is important too, and the quality of binaural beats varies MASSIVELY. I’ve found the best ones and researched them/compared them in my post about the best binaural beats.
- Patience: It’s important to not be annoyed if you don’t instantly get the result you’re looking for. Most of the time you just need to tweak things like the volume, the time you’re listening to them, and the track you’re trying.
5 tips for using binaural beats for maximum effectiveness
There are a few things you’ll want to make sure you do when listening to binaural beats. They’re not in any particular order, so take your time and have a look at these tips.
1: Choosing The BEST Packages
Because there are SO many binaural beats packages and companies out there, it’s very hard to know which ones work and which ones don’t. In fact, it’s easy to make your own (although unless you know what you’re doing, they won’t work).
So you can imagine how many people are just creating them for the fun of it and trying to sell them. You have to trust reviews and more than anything else, do your research. Google search for reviews of the specific binaural beats companies you’re looking at, and then make a decision.
There are lots of big names however, that have been around for a while which are legit and have lots of reviews behind them. The most common/popular ones are:
- Binaural Beats Meditation (or read our review of them)
- Ennora (Or read our review)
- I awake Technologies
- Unexplainable store (read our review of them here)
- Holosync (Or read our review!)
- HemiSync binaural beats
2: Listening at the right times
There’s no PERFECT time to listen to binaural beats.
However, it really depends on which track you’re listening to, and also what you want to do. Let’s say you want to focus or study with binaural beats.
For that, the best time to listen to them is literally AT THE TIME you’re trying to study. Pretty obvious right? In the same way, if you want lucid dreams with binaural beats, the best time to listen to them is WHILE you’re trying to lucid dream.
So think about what you’re trying to do, and listen to the binaural beats that support that brainwave state WHILE you’re trying to do it. It sounds pretty simple but I just needed to clear it up to be extra sure.
3: Getting into the right listening position
This is mainly for those of you using binaural beats in the daytime.
It’s important to sit straight, but also to be comfortable. If you’re not comfortable then your discomfort is going to distract you from the effects of the beats, and it’s not really worth doing in that case.
Make sure you’re sitting straight and comfortable and you’re able to do whatever it is you’re trying to do. For example, let’s say you’re trying to focus on something and you’re listening to Alpha wave binaural beats.
Make sure you’re sitting comfortably and your headphones are on properly, and then just get to work. Make sure you’re able to move around properly and access your desk etc.
In fact, I almost always listen to Alpha waves when I’m trying to study or focus on something and I find the best hack for this is just to get a GOOD set of wireless headphones. You’re going to want to be able to move around without worrying about a wire, so get a set of wireless headphones!
You can probably find lots of good sets of headphones online or on Amazon. Make sure you’re only looking at STEREO headphones! They only work if you listen to them through stereo headphones.
4: Choose GOOD headphones
I can’t stress enough how important it is to get a good set of headphones. Now, depending on what you’re going to be using the binaural beats for, you’ll want to consider different types of headphones.
I use binaural beats to fall asleep faster sometimes, or to support lucid dreaming and for those cases, I’ll use my sleep headphones from Sleep Phones. There are actually lots of different types of sleep headphones though, so check out our list of the best headphones for sleeping in.
If you’re just listening to them in the daytime then it doesn’t matter what headphones you use, as long as the quality is good, the bass is strong and they’re stereo. Ideally, you want noise canceling or wireless as well.
5: The Perfect Volume
When you’re listening, you want the volume to match what you’re doing. You NEVER want to listen to them too loud!
They can damage your ears like any loud noise, and because you’re going to be listening to them for long periods of time, it’s important to not have them too loud.
Also because they’re often a repetitive tone or sound it’s easy to get used to a certain volume without really realizing how loud it is, so make sure right at the START you set the volume at a good level.
Make sure you can hear the pulsing vibration of the beat, and then leave it at that. Don’t worry, they’re going to work still! I can’t stress enough how important it is to not ruin your hearing by playing them (or anything) too loud.
Being deaf is no joke, and to be honest you don’t really need to play it that loud. You’ll get the effects and benefits even playing them at a fairly low volume so rock back the volume a little bit.
How Long Should You Use Binaural Beats
Guidelines for Listening to Binaural Beats. Binaural beats are a popular audio technology used for relaxation, meditation, and improving focus.
But how long should you listen to binaural beats for the best results? Here’s a little guideline:
1. Start with Short Sessions
If you’re new to binaural beats, begin with shorter sessions. Five to ten minutes is a good starting point. This allows your mind and body to get accustomed to the experience.
2. Gradually Increase Duration
As you become more comfortable with binaural beats, you can gradually extend your listening time.
Many people find that 30 minutes to an hour is ideal for a single session, but it’s essential to listen to your body and mind. Some individuals may prefer shorter sessions, while others benefit from longer ones.
3. Set Clear Intentions
The duration can also depend on your goals. If you’re using binaural beats for a quick focus boost, a short session may suffice. But if your aim is deep meditation or sleep aid, a more extended session could be more effective.
4. Avoid Overuse
Like any tool, overusing binaural beats can lead to diminishing returns. It’s generally not recommended to listen for several hours continuously. Regular breaks are essential to prevent mental fatigue.
5. Listen Responsibly
Always prioritize your well-being. If you experience any discomfort, dizziness, or headaches during or after a binaural beats session, discontinue use and consult a healthcare professional if needed.
6. Experiment and Personalize
The ideal duration varies from person to person. What works best for you might not work for someone else. Experiment with different durations and frequencies to discover what suits your needs and goals best.
In summary, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer to how long you should listen to binaural beats. It depends on your experience, goals, and comfort level.
Start small and gradually build your way up, all while paying close attention to how your mind and body respond to these powerful auditory tools.
How to use binaural beats for studying
For studying, there are a few things you can do with binaural beats.
Firstly, make sure you’re listening to the right frequency track! For studying and focus you want to be using the following frequencies:
- Beta
- Alpha
But experiment with it and see what you can find! The other frequencies make your brainwaves slower and longer, meaning you’re less able to focus and concentrate on high-level thinking tasks.
I find it helps for studying to have a track that also has ambient noises or even nature sounds as well, as it brings a sense of calm focus to me that is much less INTENSE than just a pulsing sound over and over again.
How to use binaural beats for sleeping
For sleeping, of course, you’re going to need to listen through sleep headphones.
Don’t use pillow speakers because they’re not stereo, and although they’re great for ambient background noises, binaural won’t work unless it’s played through stereo.
The best frequencies for sleeping, dreaming, and lucid dreaming are:
- Delta
- Theta
Those are the best frequencies to listen to if you’re trying to sleep and dream. You can experiment with this though because some people find they can use binaural beats to do things they’re not designed to do as well!
How to use binaural beats to lucid dream
For lucid dreaming, I find the best frequencies are the same as sleeping, but I lean more towards Theta brainwaves for lucid dreaming.. and Gamma but mainly Theta. This is because Theta brainwaves are the state you’re in during REM sleep so they’re good to listen to to get INTO REM sleep, during a wake-back-to-bed induction of lucid dreams.
But as with anything relating to lucid dreaming, PLEASE don’t rely on one thing like a binaural beats track or a supplement, because they won’t do much for you unless you can already lucid dream and know how it works!
So try performing a wake back to bed and while you’re doing it, listen to Theta binaural beats! (We have a list below of the best providers and where to find them!)
Can Binaural Beats Make You High?
The short answer is no, they can’t make you hallucinate as such. In terms of making you high, when people say the word high in reference to this sort of thing, they normally mean like, can it create an insane sense of euphoria and make you feel really good in that sense? Yes, it can.
You know, certain types of binaural beats can do that, but it won’t be quite the same as, you know, a lot of recreational drugs and things like that, which have more of an effect.
In many ways, that’s a good thing because what a lot of these recreational things do is overload the dopamine system, to the point where if you keep doing it, you’ll develop a tolerance.
That’s bad.
In any situation where you’re increasing your tolerance to something, you need more and more of that thing, that substance, or whatever it is, to get the same or diminishing returns.
So over a long period of time, you get addicted or you build up the tolerance and it’s not good. It’s really not a good thing.
However, binaural beats usually, as far as I’m aware, have almost no side effects.
And as you have a pre-existing condition relating to your hearing or epilepsy or something like that, and they’re in many cases, free, widely available on YouTube the best quality ones usually are the ones you actually have to pay for…
Because when you upload binaural beats to YouTube, it kind of ‘down codes’ them a bit, and the quality and the effect are nowhere near what you would experience if you downloaded the track from the producer…
On the actual website, instead of just on YouTube, they can increase dopamine and endorphins, which are two of the feel-good chemicals or hormones.
You will feel euphoric.
I guess you could say you will feel really happy, intensely just blissed out, I guess you could say, I don’t really know what the right word is for that. And yes, I’ve experienced it myself.
I know a lot of people who have done the same, and it depends on the type of binaural beats. So not all of them have this effect, but if you get the right ones, you know, there are ones for literally for feeling good or feeling happy, you know, anti-depression binaural beats.
These things are all out there and you can experiment with them, yourself, even the free ones on YouTube, they do a kind of work.
They just don’t work as well as some of the paid ones in my experience.
How To Hallucinate Using Binaural Beats
You have two options. If you want to hallucinate using binaural beats, you have the first option, which is to induce kind of like a ‘Ganzfield effect’.
So for those who don’t know, the Ganzfeld experiment was when they took essentially two harms of a ping pong ball. I don’t know if that’s what they use, but that’s basically what it was to kind of semicircle spheres of plastic, put them over people’s eyes, and left them alone, to see what would happen.
And over the course of a few minutes, half an hour, one or two hours, the people in this experiment, would really vividly hallucinate, because when your mind or when your brain doesn’t have stimuli coming in, it hallucinates wildly.
It’s like everything’s white, but you can’t really focus on anything you’ll hallucinate really vividly.
And you can try this yourself.
If you have a couple of ping pong balls lying around if not, then a couple of dollars on Amazon. And this effect is really interesting. Now what some machines can do, and you’ve heard me talking in the past on this channel about mind machines, it works like this:
A mind machine is like a device which combines binaural beats with gaazfield effects. So they have these goggles that you put on. If you’ve never heard of this before, by the way, just go to my YouTube channel now and search my channel for ‘machine’.
And all of the videos I have about these things will pop up where, like I show you them show you how they work, the flashing lights and everything.
But the goggles you put on:
They have been algorithmically linked to the binaural beats so that it shows you a series of flashing colored lights, basically, and these goggles, and that can have a hallucinogenic effect.
And in many cases, especially with some of the newer ones, like the mind place of lamina. And again, I have videos going into a lot of detail on these things on my channel. They really can have an interesting hallucinogenic effect.
Now it’s nothing like a real hallucinogen.
But it’s definitely interesting, but that’s not really the reason that you would use that. Okay. I mean, you might just do it for fun.
And in that sense, they really can help you feel or perform better. So if you’re looking for binaural beats, that will make you, I guess you could say high, or, you know, will make you feel happier, less depressed, more energetic, more blissed out…
Then there are loads to choose from. I have spent a long time going through these things and testing different ones, and I’ve got a list of the best ones. I kind of reviewed them all on my website.
How to choose binaural beats
A few things. Firstly, before choosing binaural beats try and get some good headphones like we mentioned above. This means you’re already ready to use them and the headphones will last you a long time if you’ve got good quality ones.
Secondly, really think about what you’re trying to do with them, and what effect you want from them! This is important because it influences which provider you go with, and what package.
Also, make sure you’re thinking carefully about the quality of the binaural beats. There are LOTS of free binaural beats on YouTube but most of them don’t work, or at least don’t work anywhere NEAR as well as the paid versions.
Get a taste for them on YouTube by all means, but don’t rely on them. If you want the real thing, check out the suppliers we listed below. And if you want to listen to a free binaural beats track for lucid dreaming, watch the video below!
The best binaural beats
There are some very popular binaural beats you might want to consider. I’ve listed the most common ones here, you can either go to their website in a new tab, or read my review of them if I’ve written one:
- Binaural Beats Meditation (or read our review of them)
- Ennora (Or read our review)
- Iawake Technologies
- Unexplainable store (read our review of them here)
- Holosync (Or read our review!)
- HemiSync binaural beats
- BlissCoded Sound (or read our review of them)
- MP3 meditation club
- Deep zen meditation
More about binaural beats
I’ve written a few guides on how to use these, and how they can benefit you:
Learn how to use binaural beats
If you want to learn more about how to use binaural beats to do incredible things, watch this short video I made. You’ll learn how you can use them more effectively, how to KNOW if the binaural beats you’re using are real or fake, and how to DOUBLE their effectiveness.
