Can binaural recordings enhance my meditative experiences?

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I think this comes from a a common misapprehension of what meditation is and what it's supposed to do. Simply sitting down on the cushion in search of a "bliss out" experience or for the purposes of changing one's consciousness is a dead end that even the Buddha wandered down early in his spiritual career (e.g. his time with Uddaka Ramaputta and Alara Kalama).

Just changing brain waves literally disembodies your practice. It bypasses the our physical form which is perhaps our greatest ally and teacher on the path. The path meditation is a gestalt that incorporates not just changes in brain patterns, but everything from how you cope with the pain in your legs and back, the effort and resolve it takes to sit day in and day out with no immediately perceivable results, the psychological snags we have to work through etc. etc. etc. [x1,000!]

What you described may causes changes in consciousness, but these changes will ultimately prove to be superficial. They are mere vacations from our suffering and not a complete termination of their causes.

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Some sounds can help, but the purpose (the aim or intention) of practice is independence, so you must master the meditation regardless of sound.

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Some sounds can help meditation. The vibrations arising from loudly reciting Bija mantras like Om can put one's mind at rest. Binaural sounds seem to work similarly.

In Vajrayana Buddhism and Hinduism, the term bΔ«ja is used for mystical "seed syllables" contained within mantras. (source)

Likewise pressing one's tongue against the roof of the mouth calms the mind, as does yogic breathing.

They are not essential, but if we know what we are doing they can help. Conversely, by misapplication, they can also hinder.

For example, when our concentration has passed higher than the point of a specific mantra or binaural sound, using them will bring us down in my experience.

Likewise yogic breathing exercises done without expert knowledge can lead to health problems and dullness of mind.

I think given the risks, we must let this binaural audio technology evolve some more before depending on them. Pressing the tongue against the roof of the mouth, and uttering Om or other seed syllables have stood the test of time. The tongue technique is difficult to get wrong, and thus has the endors*m*nt of the Buddha.

If while he is giving attention to stilling the thought-formation of those thoughts, there still arise in him evil unwholesome thoughts connected with desire, with hate, and with delusion, then, with his teeth clenched and his tongue pressed against the roof of his mouth, he should beat down, constrain and crush mind with mind() (*).

-- Vitakkasanthāna Sutta, [Bodhi Trans.] (MN 20)

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