[joshnor713]

There is no Soundstage on any headphones, there is imaging, but no real stage, it's bogus!

No soundstage on the HD800S? What? Lol

 

[SupperTime]

No soundstage on the HD800S? What? Lol

Yes just imaging, hd800s more so on an even more obvious artificial way.still in your head feeling

 

[bigshot]

Headphones can sound "open" or "closed". I think this is what people are pointing to when they talk about soundstage... but it isn't really soundstage. It's still a straight line between your ears.

 

[SupperTime]

Headphones can sound "open" or "closed". I think this is what people are pointing to when they talk about soundstage... but it isn't really soundstage. It's still a straight line between your ears.

Yes that's fine. Exactly! Well said

 

[bigshot]

Scientists are working on a new way to measure soundstage in headphones. It involves testing with a dummy head equipped with special apparatus.

 

[taffy2207]

I think a lot of Audiophiles have already been subject to that test

 

[SilverEars]

Soundstage on the Stellia is actually kinda average...

I guess there would be conflict between speaker people and headphone people on the definition of 'sound stage.'

However, in the context of headphones, it should be obvious it's not same as speakers.

With headphones, there are some differences in perception of how out of the head or inside the head the sound imaging seems.

My experience tells me that closed-backs cannot be out of the head sound, but open-backs can.

HD800 is a headphone that exemplifies how the driver is configured can create large sound stage. Driver is angled with a cone like shape sound disperser around the driver to the ear. Wondering if the FR contributes as well as the upper-mids are subdued a bit with a rise in the treble for airiness.

I think open-ness and a bit expansrive cup-room causes percpetion of more space of the sound around the head. I think a large cup roomed closed-back would create a perception as well, but there will be the 'enclosed' feel with closed due to the ear perceiving the immediate reverb from closed-cup. Issue with large cup with a dynamic driver is weak bass response.

The issue with cups versus immediately open is that the cup area will cause reverb reflection back to the ear, causing perception of constrition in the space around the ear.

When audiphiles say iems sound like a concert hall to somebody playing next to you is just very imaginative. Lol. Or a wall of text on how the sound stage is, like it's infront of you bla bla bla. It cannot because the speakers are not.

My experience also tells me that amps contributes as well. With planars, it's how it's being driven to create a more wide sounding stage, and with dynamic drivers, particular tube amps tend to expand the way sound stage is perceived.

 

[bigshot]

When I read long descriptions of headphone soundstage on internet forums, I tend to think that the amount of open space between the ears might contribute to the sound of space.

 

[SilverEars]

When I read long descriptions of headphone soundstage on internet forums, I tend to think that the amount of open space between the ears might contribute to the sound of space.

Well, there is sound. There is space. So, sound of space. Very obvious one.

 

[mhoopes]

Last time I checked, I had two ears with openings smaller than 3/4” in diameter, surrounded by some undulating cartilage, with a maximum inter-aural delay of 0.6 ms. There will eventually be a headphone experience with spatial characteristics indiscernible from speakers, provided we minimize our snake oil intake.

 

[CoryGillmore]

I think the whole idea of electronics like amps and DACs having an effect on soundtage is complete bull. I think soundstage is one of the things people invent or imagine a change in to justify spending stupid amounts of money on things they didn't need, IE: new amp or new expensive cables. "I bought these thosand dollar interconnects and while they provide no measurable difference they did improve this totally subjective thing I can't prove (soundtage), so it was money well spent" is a sentiment we see all the time on headfi.

That being said I bought Kimber Kables for a couple of my Sony headphones and in my mind they sound better. Could I pick them out blind? I don't know and I don't wanna know! LOL. The mind is a powerful thing!

 

[dazzerfong]

That being said I bought Kimber Kables for a couple of my Sony headphones and in my mind they sound better. Could I pick them out blind? I don't know and I don't wanna know! LOL. The mind is a powerful thing!

Worst comes to worst, you can use the Kimber Kable to double as a weapon. Pretty sure those wires are thick enough to choke someone out.

 

[CoryGillmore]

Worst comes to worst, you can use the Kimber Kable to double as a weapon. Pretty sure those wires are thick enough to choke someone out.

Either that or hang myself from the rafters since I spent all my money on cables LMAOOOOO

 

[gregorio]

[1] There will eventually be a headphone experience with spatial characteristics indiscernible from speakers,
[2] provided we minimize our snake oil intake.

1. I'm not sure there will. I am sure the technology will advance and will potentially provide "a headphone experience with spatial characteristics indiscernible from speakers" for more people but, not for everyone. Not even for ALL of those willing to go through the process of creating an individualised HRTF, which itself will probably be a minority.

2. Minimizing "our snake-oil intake" is always a good thing! It'll probably be very tough though, especially if the technology becomes cheaper and widespread, because it's so based on individual perception and individual perception is the foundation of nearly all snake-oil.

G

 

[daid1]

Yes just imaging, hd800s more so on an even more obvious artificial way.still in your head feeling

Headphones can sound "open" or "closed". I think this is what people are pointing to when they talk about soundstage... but it isn't really soundstage. It's still a straight line between your ears.

Usually I listen music through speakers because I prefer that way to reproduce music, beeing a spectator more than beeing "in" the music, even if I can hear more details through my headphones, but for portable use I tried to buy something I thought could achieve this kind of reproduction, so I bought a pair of Sony EX1000, and a SXFI amp, but I was naive now I know, the EX1000 still a line in my head, the SXFI amp do the feeling to have a soundstage and that is in front of me, but it messed up everything else, if this amp can make the headphones have a sort of soundstage more than an headstage, so maybe there is something that headphones can do, or maybe that amp is just adding to the sound some reverberations. Last year I went to the High End audio show in Munich trying and listening almost everything, took with me the EX1000, when I tried the OBravo Ra Cu it was really clear the difference in reproduction with the Sony, the Sony was even more a "flat line through my head" feeling while the OBravo was more a 3d space sound, and no other headphones, iems, gave me that perception, not even any of the Campfire stuff, Abyss, or Stereopravda, (just to name some high end stuff), and there are some videos on the OBravo youtube page where I see some graphs, but I don't know chinese language so I don't know about what they are