[Azure]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dissembled /img/forum/go_quote.gif Sometimes there's a subtle bell, whistle, ring in a song.Confused, you look up to see if the ring came from the telephone across the room. That's soundstage.

For the record, this has never happened to me (and I'm still amazed every time I read about it happening to others here). I would definitely like to listen to this music that apparently is so convincing in its soundstaging capabilities that somebody listening with a pair of headphones is actually under the impression that the sound is not coming from the drivers sitting 1 inch next to the ear, but rather from a much more distant source that is so realistic that it causes the listener to think for a second that the sound is actually occurring outside of the music and causes the listener to search for that sound. I can see this happening with speakers, but it's hard to believe that such a thing actually occurs with headphones.

Of course, it seems that just about everybody here over-exaggerates in their posts what they hear, so that just may be the case.

 

[b0dhi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Azure /img/forum/go_quote.gif For the record, this has never happened to me (and I'm still amazed every time I read about it happening to others here). I would definitely like to listen to this music that apparently is so convincing in its soundstaging capabilities that somebody listening with a pair of headphones is actually under the impression that the sound is not coming from the drivers sitting 1 inch next to the ear, but rather from a much more distant source that is so realistic that it causes the listener to think for a second that the sound is actually occurring outside of the music and causes the listener to search for that sound. I can see this happening with speakers, but it's hard to believe that such a thing actually occurs with headphones. Of course, it seems that just about everybody here over-exaggerates in their posts what they hear, so that just may be the case.

For me it happens in little pockets of sound every now and then. One that's always stood out is 0:33 and 0:44 into Fear Factory - Zero Signal. It sounds exactly like my window curtain is slamming sideways into the wall directly 3m in front of me. Before I realised where the sound was coming from, I had to take off my headphones and check the window wasn't open at least 3 times because of that bit. Something like that has only come up a handful of times for me though.

 

[ClieOS]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Azure /img/forum/go_quote.gif For the record, this has never happened to me (and I'm still amazed every time I read about it happening to others here). I would definitely like to listen to this music that apparently is so convincing in its soundstaging capabilities that somebody listening with a pair of headphones is actually under the impression that the sound is not coming from the drivers sitting 1 inch next to the ear, but rather from a much more distant source that is so realistic that it causes the listener to think for a second that the sound is actually occurring outside of the music and causes the listener to search for that sound. I can see this happening with speakers, but it's hard to believe that such a thing actually occurs with headphones. Of course, it seems that just about everybody here over-exaggerates in their posts what they hear, so that just may be the case.

This happens to me a couple of times recently (and only recently) after I find my own golden combination of 'phone, amp, and source. The first time was late at night (and really quiet) when I was listening to some New Age music, than I heard sound from my back (or should I say music?) at the beginning of the song (you know those intro with gradually increasing volume?), and I have heard the same music hundred of times with out noticing any thing.... It is actually a little scary in the beginning cause I was wondering where the sound was from, than a few second later I realize I just listened to something only read from other people's review, that is a really one of the best moment I have with my gear.

 

[theBigD]

ive had this happen a few times lately. since i modded my xfi soundcard and using akg 701s the seperation of instruments is much more defined with the soundcard mod. akg has widest soundstage of any headphone ive used so far. ive always been dissapointed by iems in terms of expansive presentation of music. open headphones create a more natural and believable soundstage.

 

[HFat]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Azure /img/forum/go_quote.gif ... the sound is not coming from the drivers sitting 1 inch next to the ear, but rather from a much more distant source that is so realistic that it causes the listener to think for a second that the sound is actually occurring outside of the music and causes the listener to search for that sound. I can see this happening with speakers, but it's hard to believe that such a thing actually occurs with headphones.

Happens to me all the time (never with speakers though).
Binaural recordings do that beautifully. Other than that, it's mostly noises as opposed to the main instruments that I hear as coming from far away. Maybe I've got too many fried brain cells.

 

[Hi-Finthen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HFat /img/forum/go_quote.gif Happens to me all the time (never with speakers though). Binaural recordings do that beautifully. Other than that, it's mostly noises as opposed to the main instruments that I hear as coming from far away. Maybe I've got too many fried brain cells.

Absolutely agree, that most of our high resolution headphones which are known for their soundstaging have that ability, and as always the amp and source must be able to pass along these cues which MUST be on the recordings. BTW, what i believe i know about hip Hop and electronica music isn't concerned with recording these audiophile cues, in my opinion, of course.

 

[katsmiles]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Azure /img/forum/go_quote.gif I would definitely like to listen to this music that is so realistic that it causes the listener to think for a second that the sound is actually occurring outside of the music and causes the listener to search for that sound. I can see this happening with speakers, but it's hard to believe that such a thing actually occurs with headphones.

I agree it sounds hard to believe, because, as you say, the sound is coming from so close to the ears. But it's happened to me (only twice so far, but it did happen). . .

Tracks concerned were both from Pink Floyd's 'The Division Bell'.

The first 40 seconds of 'High Hopes' had me 'searching' frantically outside the headphone to kill the wasp (!!) - and the first 15 seconds of 'Lost for Words' had me freak out for a nano-second when I thought someone had broken into the house and was marching back and forth upstairs!!

Although the effect was really brief, it was quite amazing - though I can't say I enjoyed it because it jolted me out of my private little world with a horrible shock. I guess different headphones are going to produce different soundstages anyway, but that's what I experienced with the E4G and E500. Even though the E4 has a much more restricted soundstage that almost anything I've used before - the effect is still very prominent on those tracks.

Anyone else care to mention tracks that contain stuff happening 'outside' the headphones?

 

[HFat]

Just about anything binaural for starters. Try that famous track from the Stax demo CD (I think) where Sabine and the doctor demonstrate the Kunstkopf for instance. Music, by nature, is going to be less striking as far as soundstage is concerned. There's lots of binaural stuff linked in the Music section but I'm sure it's not exhaustive.

 

[2deadeyes]

Quote:

Originally Posted by b0dhi /img/forum/go_quote.gif For me it happens in little pockets of sound every now and then. One that's always stood out is 0:33 and 0:44 into Fear Factory - Zero Signal. It sounds exactly like my window curtain is slamming sideways into the wall directly 3m in front of me. Before I realised where the sound was coming from, I had to take off my headphones and check the window wasn't open at least 3 times because of that bit. Something like that has only come up a handful of times for me though.

This has happened to me occasionally as well (telephone/door bell). I was also thinking maybe it's because our brains are attributing the sound from our headphones to sounds that we're familiar with in our environment? What would happen if we weren't able to associate those cues to sounds in our environment?

 

[terriblepaulz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Azure /img/forum/go_quote.gif For the record, this has never happened to me (and I'm still amazed every time I read about it happening to others here). I would definitely like to listen to this music that apparently is so convincing in its soundstaging capabilities that somebody listening with a pair of headphones is actually under the impression that the sound is not coming from the drivers sitting 1 inch next to the ear, but rather from a much more distant source that is so realistic that it causes the listener to think for a second that the sound is actually occurring outside of the music and causes the listener to search for that sound. I can see this happening with speakers, but it's hard to believe that such a thing actually occurs with headphones. Of course, it seems that just about everybody here over-exaggerates in their posts what they hear, so that just may be the case.

I don't know if this is the exact same phenomenon, but with my open headphones and unfamiliar music, I sometimes think parts of a recording are sounds I am hearing from somewhere around me, through the open 'phones. I don't know if it's the nature of the particular sound (that it's incongruous with the music?), or some quality of "soundstage" which places that sound somehow apart in my brain, or whether I am just paranoid about someone sneaking up on me while I wear headphones, but I have definitely had an involuntary, instinctual reaction to something I heard in recorded music because I perceived it as not coming from the headphone itself. It's never been something obvious like the sound of a telephone, or thinking the sound of X was actually X. I can't think of a specific example, and it has only happened 5 or 6 times. I just chalked it up to some weird irregularity in the recording.

 

[katsmiles]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2deadeyes /img/forum/go_quote.gif This has happened to me occasionally as well (telephone/door bell). I was also thinking maybe it's because our brains are attributing the sound from our headphones to sounds that we're familiar with in our environment? What would happen if we weren't able to associate those cues to sounds in our environment?

Very good point - like for me, the wasp and the footsteps are sounds I'm familiar with - if I wasn't, would they stand out so much?

 

[dissembled]

Actually. this phenomenon happens to me whenever I play a certain Interpol song with my 75's. (Forgot which.) There's a very faint ringing in the background and I always think it's the phone outside my room ringing. Just after it, I always feel guilty of being too lazy & ignoring it.

I keep forgetting what song it it's in so this ALWAYS happens.

Of course one can say that 75's have no soundstage whatsoever. Maybe it's just the faintness of it that results to my making that mistake. That coupled w. its similarity to a phone ringing....

 

[Gurra1980]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Azure /img/forum/go_quote.gif For the record, this has never happened to me (and I'm still amazed every time I read about it happening to others here). I would definitely like to listen to this music that apparently is so convincing in its soundstaging capabilities that somebody listening with a pair of headphones is actually under the impression that the sound is not coming from the drivers sitting 1 inch next to the ear, but rather from a much more distant source that is so realistic that it causes the listener to think for a second that the sound is actually occurring outside of the music and causes the listener to search for that sound. I can see this happening with speakers, but it's hard to believe that such a thing actually occurs with headphones. Of course, it seems that just about everybody here over-exaggerates in their posts what they hear, so that just may be the case.

Happens to me very often. It has to do with the recording, source, amp, headphone, brain. When I'm listening to classical with my 650, the soundstage goes from in my head to something like 2m from me.

Try to connect your Dt990 to the tv and look at some films, then this will happen often. Also the more you listen to headphones insted of speakers the more your brain will compensate for the loss of soudstage and crate one for you, quite impressive don't you think.

 

[mdarnton]

I've had this happen a number of times, but it's interesting to note that for me, as with most of the people who've reported so far, what appears to be actually present isn't the music itself, but some extraneous noise like a bell or footsteps. I've never heard the music to actually be there, but musicians' accidental vocalizations and noises often seem to be right there with me, and I will look up to see who's in the room. I think we already "know" the music isn't really there, so we don't hear it there, but the unexpected stuff is quite a surprise, sometimes.

I also agree that binural recordings are good at this. If you want a strange experience, walk around your house and yard recording with a tiny mic tucked over each ear, then listen back through phones wih your eyes closed. You don't need good mics or recorder to extract a really spooky effect! It's like taking the walk all over again, and very real, expecially, again, if there are accidental sounds present, like a ringing phone or neighbors talking.

 

[Hancoque]

While I searched the forums for some interesting discussions about the Grado SR325i I stumbled across a term that has been used a lot to describe what these headphones reportedly don't have: a "wide soundstage". After investigating further what all the people mean with the word "soundstage" I finally found this topic and another one that describes it pretty well. I would assume that all the headphones with a "wide soundstage" do some kind of speaker simulation to create the effect. But what if I don't want such a built-in effect because I would use a DSP for this particular purpose? Would the SR325i be perfect then?