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This is really what soundstage is...
Mar 8, 2004 at 12:32 AM Post #78 of 177
Doesn't this kind of thing mean that headphones could potentially have even better sound positioning than surround systems, if there were a way to adjust in real-time (or through dials/settings I suppose) for the shape (or maybe even position) of each person's head? I guess it makes sense though since we ultimately do hear in stereo.
 
Mar 8, 2004 at 12:35 AM Post #79 of 177
Quote:

Originally posted by NightRaven
Doesn't this kind of thing mean that headphones could potentially have even better sound positioning than surround systems, if there were a way to adjust in real-time (or through dials/settings I suppose) for the shape (or maybe even position) of each person's head? I guess it makes sense though since we ultimately do hear in stereo.


Speakers again are probably better because the sound maker does not have to guess at (as you mentioned) where the head is. That is a very real problem - and the speaker setups just don't overcome this. This is not a problem because we kinda *know* that they are in fact speakers.
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Mar 8, 2004 at 1:43 AM Post #80 of 177
I disagree Xand

I think the way to go is definitely headphones.

1. Headphones have better sound quality and frequency response than any comparably priced speaker set.

2. The author knows exactly how far away the headphones are from peoples ears (1cm), wheres speakers could be laid out in various positions in a room. What's more if you're 3 people or more then it's impossible for all of your to be where the author intended. On the other hand if you where all wearing headphones this would not be an issue.

3. Adjusting for the shape of one's head makes the difference between good sound positioning and perfect sound positioning. I have heard many samples, none of which have been adapted for my head and indeed all sounded as good as, if not better, than what I have heard in movie theatres. What's more when you think about it the sound could be encoded to a default 'shape' and then optimised for everyone's individual head. Two solutions to this challenge spring to mind:

I. Everyone gets their custom head profile made and then this info is plugged into the DVD player/Sound system/Headphone.
II. Easier, simpler but not as *optimal*... a pair of headphones which measure how much you stretch them, and modifies the sound in real-time to suite your head shape
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Oh, and if you're wondering why I sound so excited about this stuff checkout the following example of what music should sound like...

http://www.sonicstudios.com/hayden.htm*
http://www.sonicstudios.com/nobanjo.htm
http://www.sonicstudios.com/bigband.htm

....and this is with a bog-standard dummy-head.

* I think they switched left and right channels on this one because it sounds like orchestra is behind you...wear your headphones the other way round for this one.
 
Mar 8, 2004 at 2:10 AM Post #85 of 177
Quote:

Originally posted by DeadTrying
I disagree Xand

I think the way to go is definitely headphones.

[snip]



Besides the first point, which i concede, provided that the speaker system is 5.1, (or more, the more the merrier) the fact is that you don't actually need such accurate positioning.

When you're watching a DVD, you have fairly good positioning - no?

And you will be able to account for *everyone* in the room at the same time, without the need for custom fitting.

For other applications, say gaming - again the problem is head movement. There are actually programs which do this sort of thing already, but they're not very good - e.g. http://www.silcom.com/~aludwig/Sound_demos.html



A "custom fitting" for speakers would also be possible, this would be to place speakers such that they are in optimal stereo positioning.

Oh. and I must say that the reason I think speakers are better overall is because of their multiple person ability, and the fact that if you actually do create a speaker system with 10.1 (positioned all around the room) it will probably be able to recreate perfect positioning. Doing the same with headphones is, afaik, not possible at the moment. (erh. a 10.1 speaker setup *is* possible, although I don't know if it has been *done*)
 
Mar 8, 2004 at 2:11 AM Post #86 of 177
Ditto on that. It looks like a nice site with some cool recordings - please PM me if a mirror shows up. BTW, if someone gets a mirror up, I can take a few too. I have a few gigs or so of bandwidth that I can spare for a few days.. Thanks!

Update: the site looks like its okay on bandwidth, it just limits download connections. I waited a bit, and was able to get a bunch of stuff. It's all great!
 
Nov 14, 2004 at 9:45 PM Post #89 of 177
Nov 14, 2004 at 9:49 PM Post #90 of 177
I want to hear the matches one. The fireworks one is pretty interesting and reinforced why recorded music sometimes doesn't sound real in headphones. Especially digital music.

In the fireworks one you can hear the sound trail off naturally. It's not just the echo I'm talking about, it's each sound trailing off into both ears at the proper moments. This linger goes a long way in convincing me the sound is real. Digitizing music with a sample rate often kills this natural trail off because the programs decide we can't hear it. Well, we can
smily_headphones1.gif
It's like pressing the pedals on the piano.

Whenever I listen to live music I always do my best to capture and imprint all the "features" of it so I can compare them to my headphones later. There's a distinct "image" with live music that I've yet to reproduce with headphones or speakers. With recorded music I get a good "image" in my head, but it never gets all the way to the front of my forehead for some reason. I dunno, probably doesn't make sense, it's hard to explain. I've thought about putting baffles in my headphone enclosures to try and make some false accoustics to attempt to replicate it. But then I think to myself, if it was a good idea, someone would have already done it
smily_headphones1.gif
 
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