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Thread: Soundstage

  1. #1
    Join Date: Oct 2018

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    I'm Gary.

    Default Soundstage

    Another thread regarding people's interpretation of musicality got me thinking about the term soundstage.

    I get the principle but certain comments I've read in reviews and on forums make me wonder how much is real and how much is imagined? (obviously everything is an illusion as however our brains my interpret it differently the fact is that the music is simply coming out of the two boxes)

    Something that makes me sway towards the latter is the difference between listening to the same recording through speakers and headphones, if for example when listening through speakers an instrument sounds to be coming from beyond the left of the left speaker when listening to the same track through headphones (which are rotated 45 degrees) that same instrument would sound as though it is coming from behind your left ear.

    Any thoughts?
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  2. #2
    Join Date: Feb 2013

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    I'm Grant.

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    I suppose it's gonna depend on how your brain is coping with the aural information(assuming it's getting the info in first place) as to where anyone places instruments and voices.
    Simple things like moving sounds front left to right and back most folk will get but soundstage, a lot of folk don't.

    Echos from room can also confuse the brain as well in this department. Separation of instruments is best many will hear
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    “Nothing discloses real character like the use of power. It is easy for the weak to be gentle. Most people can bear adversity. But if you wish to know what a man really is, give him power. This is the supreme test. It is the glory of Lincoln that, having almost absolute power, he never abused it, except on the side of mercy".

    “You see these dictators on their pedestals, surrounded by the bayonets of their soldiers and the truncheons of their police ... yet in their hearts there is unspoken fear. They are afraid of words and thoughts: words spoken abroad, thoughts stirring at home -- all the more powerful because forbidden -- terrify them. A little mouse of thought appears in the room, and even the mightiest potentates are thrown into panic.”

    "You don't have free will. You have the appearance of free will.”

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  3. #3
    Join Date: Oct 2008

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    I'm Jerry.

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    Quote Originally Posted by struth View Post
    I suppose it's gonna depend on how your brain is coping with the aural information(assuming it's getting the info in first place) as to where anyone places instruments and voices.
    Simple things like moving sounds front left to right and back most folk will get but soundstage, a lot of folk don't.

    Echos from room can also confuse the brain as well in this department. Separation of instruments is best many will hear
    Naaa, dont agree with that at all. I have always found that a good system, set up properly produces a nice soundstage if its there in the recording. IMHO of course.
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  4. #4
    Join Date: Mar 2008

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    I think it depends how sensitive you are to phase changes. I have read somewhere that a certain percentage of people can’t hear a soundstage.
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  5. #5
    Join Date: Aug 2009

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    I'm Martin.

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    Headphones don't have a soundstage anyway.

    Nobody mixes and masters for headphone listening. I've never understood why anyone would voluntarily listen to music on headphones.
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  6. #6
    Join Date: Apr 2008

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    I'm Neil.

    Default Soundstage

    For me it is the speaker crossover in particular that preserves the soundstage. Phase distortion causes bits of music to hit you at different times, and smears timing, which kills the soundstage.

    The recording ultimately dictates it though, you cannot magically make a flat and harsh recording 3D and natural.

    As for defining it, for me it is about reproducing the sense of space and rhythm on the recording.

    Only binaural recordings can really have a soundstage on headphones. Slapping two mini speakers to your head in stereo gives no space for a soundstage, whereas binaural does.
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  7. #7
    Join Date: Feb 2013

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    I'm Grant.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Macca View Post
    Headphones don't have a soundstage anyway.

    Nobody mixes and masters for headphone listening. I've never understood why anyone would voluntarily listen to music on headphones.
    they do actually, especially open backed ones, its just not as obvious.
    as i said, imo soundstage and image are mostly down to speaker/room interaction along with ones brain being able to hear it. Sealed speakers will usually have good soundstages. Some think this soundstage should be behind the speaker, but i dont agree, it can start in front as well.
    Regards,
    Grant .... ؠ ......Don't be such a big girl's blouse

    I've said it before and I'll say it again: democracy simply-doesn't-work
    .... ..... ...... ...... ................... ..... ..... ..... ..... .....
    FIIO K7 BT, M11 PLUS, BTR7, KA5 - OPPO BDP-103D - PANASONIC UB450 - PANASONIC 4K ULTRA HD TV - PIXEL 6 - AVANTREE LR BLUETOOTH - 2* X600 SOUNDCORE - HEADPHONES INCLUDE, FIIO, NURAPHONES', FOCAL, OPPO, BOSE, CAMBRIDGE, BOWER & WILKINS, DEVIALET, MARSHALL, SONY, MITCHELL & JOHNSTON - 2*ZBOOK'S- MERCURY BD ROM, ROON, QOBUZ, TIDAL, PLEX, CYBERLINK, JRIVER - MULTI HDD'S -

    Oh my god! There's nothing wrong with the bidet is there?

    “Nothing discloses real character like the use of power. It is easy for the weak to be gentle. Most people can bear adversity. But if you wish to know what a man really is, give him power. This is the supreme test. It is the glory of Lincoln that, having almost absolute power, he never abused it, except on the side of mercy".

    “You see these dictators on their pedestals, surrounded by the bayonets of their soldiers and the truncheons of their police ... yet in their hearts there is unspoken fear. They are afraid of words and thoughts: words spoken abroad, thoughts stirring at home -- all the more powerful because forbidden -- terrify them. A little mouse of thought appears in the room, and even the mightiest potentates are thrown into panic.”

    "You don't have free will. You have the appearance of free will.”

    “There's a war out there, old friend. A world war. And it's not about who's got the most bullets. It's about who controls the information. What we see and hear, how we work, what we think... it's all about the information!”


    ***SMILE, BE HAPPY***

  8. #8
    Join Date: Apr 2016

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    I'm Chris.

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    On a good system you can hear Soundstage outside the speakers (width), above and below the speakers (height) and also forwards and backwards (depth), providing of course its on the recording
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  9. #9
    Join Date: Dec 2008

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    Yeah soundstage is very important for me. The imaging I currently have is way, way wider than the speakers and has a great depth in the centre. I have noticed the whole thing more with my current system though than with previous systems. My current speakers though are a pain to set up being the pickiest bloody speakers I have ever owned. Oh yeah, of course as already stated, the recording has quite a lot to do with it.

  10. #10
    Join Date: Aug 2009

    Location: Staffordshire, England

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    I'm Martin.

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    Quote Originally Posted by struth View Post
    they do actually, especially open backed ones, its just not as obvious.
    as i said, imo soundstage and image are mostly down to speaker/room interaction along with ones brain being able to hear it. Sealed speakers will usually have good soundstages. Some think this soundstage should be behind the speaker, but i dont agree, it can start in front as well.
    We'll have to disagree. Mixing for soundstage isn't done on headphones. You need speakers to create a soundstage. I don't know what phenomena/illusion you are talking about with headphones but it isn't anything created intentionally in the studio.

    Soundstage should always be behind the plane of the speakers as well. Soundstage 'in front' of the speakers is wrong, it shows that the system is not accurate.

    I'd be interested in a pointer to any psychological research that shows that some people cannot hear stereo effects (unless their hearing is damaged). That sounds very unlikely to me.
    Current Lash Up:

    TEAC VRDS 701T > Sony TAE1000ESD > Krell KSA50S > JM Labs Focal Electra 926.

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