[DoKaTSuYa]

The Eagles - Hotel California acoustic live of course

 

[GloriousLettuce]

Here are some:
 
Grimes - Vanessa
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-aWEYezEMk
 
Birdy Nam Nam - "Goin' In (Skrillex "Goin' Hard" Mix)" Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgU7XMUyAqY
 
 
Nobuo Uemats - Eyes on me (FF VIII OST)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oQv3leISYU
 
Polar - Unspoken (VOCALS!!!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEYL28yFgtE
 
 
Anything from Kalya Scintilla or Merhaba... One of the best imaged albums I've heard below (HD600 here):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktXb5gI6IrY

 

[god-bluff]

Anthony Phillips - Seventh Heaven

I haven't heard a more spacious album. A superb recording of beautiful and varied music.

 

[Jimmy Gazelle]

Anthony Phillips - Seventh Heaven

I haven't heard a more spacious album. A superb recording of beautiful and varied music.

Thanks for the recommendation great album. Great producing. Will let your headphone sing

 

[abylsit]

Yosi Horikawa - Bubbles

 

[ZCrow]

I don't think many people know what soundstage is on this board. Soundstage isn't syths ping ponging around with phase effects like on a Pink Floyd album. It's solid placement of sound in space. This is done with careful placement of a minimum of mikes. The concept is that if you close your eyes, you should be able to point directly at each instrument and know how far away it is from you. Binaural recordings are going to give you the best soundstage, along with 50s jazz and big band, which were usually recorded for natural soundstage. Multi track / hyper-produced music like Yes, Pink Floyd, Peter Gabriel, Enya and others of that ilk are the worst for soundstage.

See ya
Steve

Your definition of soundstage is too narrow. There is nothing inherit in the meaning of soundstage or imaging that would either require the source of the sound to be static nor that a live recording is superior in creating a sense of audio three dimension space and sound location. Now, it is fair, to argue that you prefer the types of recordings you described above, but that really is not the same thing is it?

Just so we can level set, let's establish some definitions.

Soundstage

Soundstage is an imaginary three-dimensional space created by high-fidelity audio equipment such a stereo speaker system, headphones or even IEMs. A soundstage creates a sound space of three dimensions, making music sound like it is coming from different sources within three dimensional space.

Imaging

It is an accurate recreation of a sound source location in the soundstage by speakers. It is imaging that helps you picture the direction of the music, the musician’s position during the recording or the position of a sound effect (sample, etc.) of the source of the sound. There must be a soundstage for imaging to take place, which explains why the two go together.

You can say you do not like the soundstage and imaging of Pink Floyd, etc. but to say it is not good soundstage or imaging because just because it was not recorded in the way that matches your personal taste, is just not accurate.

 

[eobet]

These two have a few sounds in them which are miles wide... it's what I use to judge:





(Of course, get good quality recordings of them because you can't hear it through Youtube.)

Also, Mantovani Orchestra - Elizabethan Serenade... but can't give link because it's a particular recording that's not available everywhere. But when you hear it, you're on the stage, can close your eyes and point to where each of the musicians who played their instruments sat. It's really incredible.

Oh, and anything from this particular recording (Bach: Organ Masterworks Vol V). The entire thing is just crazy!

 

[twomartinis]

Yosi Horikawa - Bubbles

Thank you for introducing me to Yosi Horikowa!

 

[Born2Cuddle]

I have the HD650 and I want a song that really shows how good they can show off the soundstage. I want something where one instrument plays after each other in a row or something. and there should be many instruments. can also be a classical music.
it should just go WOOOOW.

These are 3 that I always use to check out new headphones with (FLAC, of course).

 

[MakeshiftApe]

To show off (or simply enjoy) soundstage you'll want binaural recordings specifically, as those will give you the largest and most realistic stage, one that, if your headphones are good enough, can make you really feel like you're there next to the instruments if you close your eyes while listening.

Some of my favourite examples of this would be:









You can also just search for Chesky, as he's worked with lots of artists to make some incredible binaural recordings. The last track I posted is from the Chesky 30th Anniversary Collection and just about everything on there has an incredible stage and sounds amazing.

Anything by Yosi Horikawa is also really fun, though I find some of the spatial effects he's been able to create even better on speakers, where I've even heard sounds coming from behind me despite the fact I'm using a 2.1 setup so no rear or side speakers to speak of.

---

On the other hand, if you're looking to assess the soundstage of different headphones or speakers, you'll get a better comparison by avoiding binaural recordings, since the way they work, even headphones with almost no soundstage can sound wide and spacious. You'll just want traditional recordings that hat makes great use of space.

Some good ones:

 

[Strayngs]

Chocolate Chip Trip by Tool. Greatest soundstage especially with speakers.

 

[sajesak]

A few I've been very impressed by:

Yes - Tales from Topographic Oceans - "The Revealing Science of God - Dance of the Dawn"... this track doesn't have the most realistic soundstage in the world, but it's by-far one of the most incredible ones. It's just a cosmic experience - things are literally flying all around your head and in different angles/heights/directions etc. It's a reference track for me.

Donovan - Storytellers - "Josie" (180g Vinyl - also on SACD)... I like this track so much because the plucked bass is literally 3 feet to the left of my left speaker most of the time. That just demonstrates superior mastering engineering. A superb track for showing off the wideness of your soundstage.

Miles Davis - Get Up With It - "He Loves Him Madly"... this track has some pretty amazing keyboards/synthesizer soundstage that impresses me. At one point in the song, the keyboards go to pitches that are almost uncomfortable to listen to, and as the pitch and loudness increases, they continue to wrap around the listener's head, and then somehow they change to a completely different manner; they soar past your head and just continuously hit you with soundwaves of Marine Accessories(right before a transition, so it effectively works with the music!). And all the while, the percussionist's instrumentals are still straight in the middle, not moving from their spot.

Which tracks or albums do you recommend for testing 3D soundstage? Personally, I am specifically interested in CD tracks, as I recently acquired a CD DAC with an analog processor to improve soundstage. However, any well recorded track that cleanly places voices/instruments in width and depth should also be of general interest for checking any set up.