[Teraflame]

Please explain it to me more clearly. Is it just how well you can make out the individual instruments or something like where they are as if you're in front of the music?

 

[logwed]

the latter. IMO, the only 'real' soundstage can come from speakers, though.

 

[lucky]

It's just the perception of different elements in the music coming from different places around you. A good way to feel the difference is to A/B a pair of full-sized phones and a pair of IEMs.

 

[lastdodobird]

Is there any difference b/w soundstage and imaging?

 

[moonboy403]

Imaging is the ability to pick out where things are while soundstage is the overall picture including, but not limited to, things such as spatial cues, IMO.

 

[Duggeh]

Read this:

http://www.thismanwillkillyou.com/bi...ega2Review.pdf

 

[Uncle Erik]

Quote:

Originally Posted by logwed /img/forum/go_quote.gif the latter. IMO, the only 'real' soundstage can come from speakers, though.

Or earspeakers.

The best way to get a feel for soundstage is to go to a classical concert. Pick up a recording of the same piece and compare it to the experience of being there. Classical is best because (usually) recording techniques try to mimic the live experience, while rock (and much else) have lots of studio processing added.

 

[mbd2884]

I believe soundstage in headphones is fabricated and artificial. Speakers are the way to go for Soundstage. Granted some headphones have better "emulated" soundstage than others.

 

[intoart]

Listen for the most subjectively "distant" sound that you can make out in each direction (front/back and up/down, not just left/right.) These define the surface of a region (ideally spherical, but more often football-shaped or dumbbell-shaped.) That region is the soundstage. The larger and more spherical it is, the better.

 

[Stephen Murphy]

Most modern recordings are in panned mono. For example, one mic recording a vocal which is either panned right, left or in the center. Soundstage on these recordings is fake and mostly you end up just listening to "imaging", or instrument position.

Many older recordings, especially classical, were done in true Stereo which uses two mics to record (sometimes 3, one for the center) and requires two speakers to regenerate. These offer a spectacular soundstage with depth and positioning of players. They sound ok on headphones but the Stereo and soundstage aspects are lost since you need to hear the right speaker through the left ear (and vice versa) to get the full illusion.

The best soundstage I have heard is from headphones with binaural source material. These recordings put the mics at the ear positions of the listener and create a true "you are there" experience. They don't work over speakers, however. When done right, they can make your whole room disappear.

 

[intoart]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stephen Murphy /img/forum/go_quote.gif The best soundstage I have heard is from headphones with binaural source material. These recordings put the mics at the ear positions of the listener and create a true "you are there" experience. They don't work over speakers, however. When done right, they can make your whole room disappear.

I agree. On the other hand, if headphones are reasonably accurate, then binaural recordings are going to sound fantastic on them. This eliminates the concept of phones "having a soundstage of their own" in that context.
Unfortunately, there are very few binaural CDs available, and most of those that there are have mediocre content, as well as being rather old (I sold more than a dozen because the content made them not worth repeated listening after the initial novelty wore off.) I know of only a tiny handful of good ones, all of which I own.
What we need are a lot more new, high-quality binaural CDs by our favorite bands!

 

[Duggeh]

Quote:

Originally Posted by intoart /img/forum/go_quote.gif The larger and more spherical it is, the better.

Grossly incorrect and is up there with the "ohms dictate how hard a headphone is to drive" misunderstanding for ubiquity on this forum. There are times when music is supposed to sound close or intimate.




The Darth Nut review should be required reading material for those in the hobby. I only wish I'd read it years before I did.

 

[intoart]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Duggeh /img/forum/go_quote.gif Grossly incorrect and is up there with the "ohms dictate how hard a headphone is to drive" misunderstanding for ubiquity on this forum. There are times when music is supposed to sound close or intimate.

The region I was describing was the maximal region for a given headphone (not counting binaural sources.) I neither stated nor implied that all recordings will (or should) have a soundstage that large.

 

[boomana]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Duggeh /img/forum/go_quote.gif The Darth Nut review should be required reading material for those in the hobby. I only wish I'd read it years before I did.

X2. Someone pointed it to me shortly after I joined. I still have it on my computer as it took me a couple days to read it, and I go back to it from time to time. Whether you end up agreeing with his comments regarding O2s or not (I do agree), the obvious care he took listening, thinking about what he was hearing, and articulating it (not easy) for others really represents the best of what folks in this hobby can offer.

 

[boomana]

Quote:

Originally Posted by intoart /img/forum/go_quote.gif The region I was describing was the maximal region for a given headphone (not counting binaural sources.) I neither stated nor implied that all recordings will (or should) have a soundstage that large.

You are talking bullhooey. Stop it.