[cerspense]

But it is possible to place virtual sound sources behind the listener even with stereo speakers...

 


This might be possible with a binaural recording in an ideal environment. The problem with intentionally making things sound like they are coming from behind you is that we mostly sense this from distortion resulting from the shape of our ears. There is a lot of software that is able to do this pretty well with headphones but it is a lot trickier with speakers.

 

[Baxide]

I have little/no interest in products aimed specifically at extreme audiophiles or in what extreme audiophiles use as a reference. I am interested in the quality and pleasure of the recording/reproduction of the sound and music itself, not in the sound of audiophile equipment.

That may or may not be an honest reflection of your principles. One has only your word on that. But if it is accepted as a get out clause, you should then refrain from making statements about the ability of the equipment that others own, such as the projection of a good 3D soundstage.

 

[gregorio]

  That may or may not be an honest reflection of your principles. One has only your word on that. But if it is accepted as a get out clause, you should then refrain from making statements about the ability of the equipment that others own, such as the projection of a good 3D soundstage.

 
Hearing sounds coming from behind you from stereo speakers when that effect is neither in the audio files themselves nor the intention of those who created the audio files is patently NOT the "projection of a good 3D soundstage", it's obviously a poor/inaccurate projection of the soundstage!
 
Questioning the honesty of my stated principles or impugning them as a "get out clause" is a particularly weak attempt to defend your apparently defective speaker arrangement. And, this is not the cables forum or one of the other forums administered by extremist audiophiles, where statements refuting extremist audiophile beliefs are routinely banned/removed, so I am entirely free to make statements about the ability of equipment or it's setup.
 
If you like a stereo system which locates sounds all over the place, even outside of the intended stereo sound-field, that's entirely up to you but, this is the science forum and you're going to have to do a great deal better than a few weak insults to convince people here that poor/inaccurate stereo-image reproduction is actually "good"!
 
G

 

[Frozenhaze]

Do any of you know how the optimal distance between the ear and the driver is usually defined in headphones and how that affects the soundstage?
 
There are many models out there with different pad thicknesses, so are there also many different design factors that make it possible to design thicker and more comfortable pads without sacrifising the sound quality (for example Audeze etc)?

 

[headdict]

   
Hearing sounds coming from behind you from stereo speakers when that effect is neither in the audio files themselves nor the intention of those who created the audio files is patently NOT the "projection of a good 3D soundstage", it's obviously a poor/inaccurate projection of the soundstage!

I guess @Baxide was referring to binaural recordings by Chesky without explicitly mentioning the binaural part. In that specific context - although not very related to the normal music listening experience - his statement makes more sense. Or maybe I got it wrong and he's just trolling...

 

[castleofargh]

  Do any of you know how the optimal distance between the ear and the driver is usually defined in headphones and how that affects the soundstage?
 
There are many models out there with different pad thicknesses, so are there also many different design factors that make it possible to design thicker and more comfortable pads without sacrifising the sound quality (for example Audeze etc)?

trying to find a winning formula by looking only at one parameter can't possibly work. what counts is the resulting sound at the eardrum, and no single variable making the headphone will tell you what makes the best result.

 

[Joe Bloggs]

I'm pretty sure that Voodoo Chile (slight return) by Jimi Hendrix was meant to have a guitar swirling around your head at the start, including, yes, behind your head...

 

[headdict]

I'm pretty sure that Voodoo Chile (slight return) by Jimi Hendrix was meant to have a guitar swirling around your head at the start, including, yes, behind your head...

I thought that swirl around your head used to be induced by some audiophile drugs that you were supposed to use back then.

 

[RRod]

 
I thought that swirl around your head used to be induced by some audiophile drugs that you were supposed to use back then.

 
You can still get placebo on the cheap.