With commercial music, most vocals and individual instruments were recorded close miked in mono in a studio and panned between the left and right channels. Sometimes, mostly with drum kits, a pair of overhead mikes are used to record the overall sound, then reverbs are added in to create the stereo space. Some engineers do it better, some less well but the 'soundstage' is mostly artificial. And to bind the mix together, 'glue', usually involves compressors and noise gates, is used to make it sound tight as a whole than individual instruments being banged in together loosely. Along with the loudness war, CDs are being mixed louder and louder until there are hardly any sonic dynamics left, and there goes the soundstage too, yes, you get the stereo allocation no problem, but not the sonic space unfortunately.
A good example would be Kings of Leon's Only By the Night, which was so heavily compressed and limited there were no dynamic range and hardly any sonic details at all, IMO, one of the worst contemporary CDs sonically, that didn't stop it being the best selling album in 2008. But to the record companies, it doesn't matter how it sounds, it's more important how it sells.
Lots of ppl claimed vinyl records sound better, they are not technically, but maybe the mixes are, as it's physically impossible to master a vinyl record too loud. And with a lot of analogue media, sometimes the distortions and phasing can make the music soundstage sound wider than it actually is, same with valve amps.
Again it's really hard to describe. Maybe someone can help me out. I know we are splitting hairs here but really distinct instrument separation versus great distance between hearing different parts of the music ensemble and a natural panning from left to right front to back.
I believe there is a difference but maybe I am just blowing smoke or hearing things. Anyone feel free to validate what I am saying or tell me I am talking about the same thing.
