[chicolom]

Does "imaging" mean basically the same thing as positioning? 
 
It thought it meant how a headphone sort of visually "draws" and outlines an image of an object in a 3d space (the soundstage).  For example I'm using the word imaging to say say headphone A "images" the acoustic bass (like in a jazz quartet) to be taller/larger and have more weight/mass to it than headphone B which "images" the bass to be shorter and lighter/hollow.
 
If that's not correct, what term do you all use for the above ^?

 

[Austin Morrow]

For me, there are two types of imaging. How real the soundstage is to what genre of music your playing, and how realistic the instruments and vocalist sounds. So, like the HD800 for example, it has great imaging because it sounds like the real thing, simple as that. Also, IMO, the HD800 renders instruments very close to the real thing. So, in basic terms, imaging is how well a headphone or speaker can sound to the real things thats' being played live or spread out on a real stage.

 

[fabio-fi]

Taken from the Glossary of terms:
 
Imaging - The sense that a voice or instrument is in a particular place in the room.
 
If you check this section, im sure it will make things clear. 
 

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

Quote:

Taken from the Glossary of terms:
 
Imaging - The sense that a voice or instrument is in a particular place in the room.
 
If you check this section, im sure it will make things clear. 
 

^ At least this is what I refer to with imaging (or positioning which is an easier word to understand). So basicly how clear it positions different instruments/vocals/whatever in the percieved soundstage.
 

 

[chicolom]

Quote:

Taken from the Glossary of terms:
 
Imaging - The sense that a voice or instrument is in a particular place in the room.
 
If you check this section, im sure it will make things clear. 
 

Thanks, I've already read that though and the definition makes it sound the same as "positioning" - which is why I asked if they were the same or different terms in my first post.
 
So what would be the correct term for what I'm trying to describe in my first post?  Say two headphones have the same size soundstage, but one headphone makes the object seem larger when you visualize it, or one headphone makes the object seem more etched out or sharpened visually, or one headphone gives the object more mass in the soundstage....etc. 
 
Is there a word for that ^?
 

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

Quote:

Quote:


Thanks, I've already read that though and the definition makes it sound the same as "positioning" - which is why I asked if they were the same or different terms in my first post.
 
So what would be the correct term for what I'm trying to describe in my first post??

Not quite, imaging/positioning is just about the position, what you described sounded a little different. Oh well I suppose if it truly has two meanings which I wasn't familiar of then you might be correct with one of the meanings. But I've personally never read about any1 using it other in terms of positioning.
 
Should be easier to understand terms used IMO which is more describing such as simply "accurate" if it truly sounds like the real thing, positioning instead of imaging etc.

 

[Hangling]

The gold standard for the sound quality of headphones is the perfect loudspeaker setup in the perfect room by any perfect means.

That is, you ultimately want your headsets to have a speaker-like soundstage, and to give a sense that the music is happening out in front of your room and not in the vacuum in your head.

Based on this context, I examined the differences between headsets and loudspeakers in terms of spatial properties and localization.

Imaging establishes how wide, how far, and where each object must be in the stereo image. In this case, best headphones imaging controls the stereo balance, transparency, and location of objects as envisioned by the sound source.

So, headphones imaging refers to localization as well as spatial cues integral to the sound content your headsets have to regenerate instead of create.

 

[PointyFox]

Yeah, soundstage is how big the "sound field" appears to be, and imaging is how well positional audio sounds to be in the correct position within the sound field.

 

[SonyFan121]

One word: Ultrasone.

 

[Mhog55]

Yeah, soundstage is how big the "sound field" appears to be, and imaging is how well positional audio sounds to be in the correct position within the sound field.

Can you elaborate on correct position within the sound field? How do we know where that correct position is? Is that based on user preference, or is there an exact? What exactly is the sound field? Are we talking about some instruments should sound closer or farther away than others, or some sort of certain arrangement if we were listening live?

 

[Richtofen]

Does "imaging" mean basically the same thing as positioning?

It thought it meant how a headphone sort of visually "draws" and outlines an image of an object in a 3d space (the soundstage). For example I'm using the word imaging to say say headphone A "images" the acoustic bass (like in a jazz quartet) to be taller/larger and have more weight/mass to it than headphone B which "images" the bass to be shorter and lighter/hollow.

If that's not correct, what term do you all use for the above ^?

So far as I've ever known, imaging is the direction in a circle around you you hear things coming from

 

[Richtofen]

So far as I've ever known, imaging is the direction in a circle around you you hear things coming from

wait a second this thread is from 2012 wut

 

[Mhog55]

wait a second this thread is from 2012 wut

Haha. I just noticed that as well

 

[Richtofen]

Haha. I just noticed that as well

welcome from the future

 

[PointyFox]

Can you elaborate on correct position within the sound field? How do we know where that correct position is? Is that based on user preference, or is there an exact? What exactly is the sound field? Are we talking about some instruments should sound closer or farther away than others, or some sort of certain arrangement if we were listening live?

For instance imagine you are listening to a video game and there is a character coming down stairs behind you. You should be able to tell where they are based on footstep sounds. A few things can be used to enhance this information such as recording the sound with a fake head with microphones in the ears (binaural recordings), applying signal processing to the sound when position information is known like in the case of many video games, and using headphones or speakers that can play certain directional audio formats (surround sound).