[ShibeSuchBass]

I've been hearing the term soundstage being thrown around a lot here and as an audio noob, it gets confusing. So I was reading this review on the M Audio Q40 ( http://www.head-fi.org/t/586251/picked-up-m-audio-q40-wow ) which I plan on trying and probably owning soon. I am a big bass head, I live to feel the bass; I want deep good bass, but I also need clear mids and highs and overall good audio, I'm trying to get at that I can't stand muffled sound and feeling, which happens a lot on many bass heavy headphones. Anyways, he says they are less "in your face soundstage." What does that mean? And what is soundstage in general? I have a feeling it won't be a problem to me since I listen to mainly dubstep, hip hop, etc., bass/ sub bass heavy music, because I think soundstage is mainly on classical music and stuff, but I'm sure I'm wrong. So please help me out, any help will be greatly appreciated. Excuse my noobiness, I'm new to this, but I am getting my way around. Thanks!

 

[Claritas]

Soundstage is the imaginary 3D sense of what happened on the actual stage and your position relative to it. If you were toward the front at a concert, and the singer was in center front of the stage, headphones with accurate soundstage would convey that (among other things).
 
See also http://www.head-fi.org/t/220770/describing-sound-a-glossary.
 
I find it much more important for orchestral music and other large ensembles, but some listeners are more into soundstage than I.

 

[ShibeSuchBass]

Soundstage is the imaginary 3D sense of what happened on the actual stage and your position relative to it. If you were toward the front at a concert, and the singer was in center front of the stage, headphones with accurate soundstage would convey that (among other things).

See also http://www.head-fi.org/t/220770/describing-sound-a-glossary.

I find it much more important for orchestral music and other large ensembles, but some listeners are more into soundstage than I.

So would soundstage not really be important for music like hip hop, dubstep, electro, etc. the way you described soundstage seems that it is only present a d this important in orchestral music like classical, etc., music that actually is played on a big stage for all the instruments. Am I right?

 

[Claritas]

So would soundstage not really be important for music like hip hop, dubstep, electro, etc. the way you described soundstage seems that it is only present a d this important in orchestral music like classical, etc., music that actually is played on a big stage for all the instruments. Am I right?

The smaller the ensemble gets, the less it matters to me. I don't need it for metal. Many who listen to hard rock and metal are very satisfied with the Grado SR series, which has poor soundstage. But it's a matter of preference.