[b0dhi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ken36 /img/forum/go_quote.gif It must be me, because I've never experienced the kind of soundstage and headstage the "experts" continue discussing at length here and in the learned articles. No one has ever been able to hypnotize me either. I've had a lot to gear too. My goal has always been to experience clear, detailed music with lots of channel separation and PRAT.

Same here. The best soundstage I've ever heard has been from earbuds (gasp). It probably is just a matter of different anatomy.

Also, this is way OT, but if you've tried to be hypnotised but it hasn't worked, all that implies is a lack of participation on your end

Hypnotism isn't something the hypnotist does to you, it's something you allow yourself to do.

 

[Romis]

I think it`s very much dependant on stereo factor, more wide stereo also affects "distance" to players. Of course, it`s dependant on source, amp, phones - the soundstage with my HD600 is absolutely different from my IEM`s, for example.

 

[jinx20001]

ive not heard too many full size cans so i havent experienced what some would call real soundstage, but in my experiences i have heard sound that can be distant and surrounding and certainly from behind.

i think its a lot down to recordings but its always nice when you realise the soundstage is certainly opened up with the right recording

 

[Televator]

I tape concerts all the time with MD and stereo mics clipped to my glasses positioned near my ears (I tape tape-friendly bands only so no need to hide them really). This is pretty close to binaural without actually putting the mics inside my ears (such mics are sold as well see www.soundprofessionals.com).

Played back, these recordings do create spatial images over any headphone you use (even my bad Panasonic RP-JE50 canalphones). Real spatial info isn't as much a factor of the hardware used to play the recording back, but of the hardware and placement used to record

Soundstage (as I've always understood it to be: a 3-D imaging in the brain based on the stereo info in a standard recording so not with binaural-like effects) should IMHO be kinda flat 2-D reaching from side to side (but not too much or it'll sound fake and disturbing) and it could be that I place it 'in front of me' more by practice/self-suggestion than anything else. With the A900 everything is wider to the sides so that would explain why my brain puts it further in front of me as well.

Though energy levels (or something else) do make me feel like I'm sitting on the musician's lap with a grado and in the audience (with the curtains still drawn ... just kidding!

) with sennheisers

Off-topic, just that this thread seems to show it nicely again and please don't take this personally: @ jinx20001 and a few others... don't you think your signatures are a bit ridiculously long (often x times longer than your post/content itself)? Perhaps a smaller font and/or better organized horizontal lists or even moving some stuff to the profile (that's what it is there for, not?)

 

[Schalldampfer]

I get just about no soundstaging with any of my headphones... I blame it on my lack of a good source, but even then, I should have at least some sensation of directionality...

 

[mapstec]

At the moment it seems we have four rather distinct experiences:

- no "soundstage" at all
- just a 2dimensional left to right (or of course vice versa) interpretation
- 3 dimensions giving separate depth either just in front (or back)
- real surround e.g. with binaural like recordings of things happening in front as well as in back

Strange, I was intellectually aware that everyone (regardless of equipment) experiences the same music different, but this really brings it home...

And it shows that enjoying music is not too much dependant on the equipment as well...

So, to sum it up: Rock On

 

[jcn3]

i haven't ever experienced a significant left-right soundstage -- i mostly hear up. so when the vocals or instruments are centered, they sound like they're on top of my head, not in it. like many, i've also heard lots of things that sounded way behind me. never heard anything that sounds in front of me.

 

[F107plus5]

I really didn't listen to cans before I recieved my MS-1 about a year and a half ago; and the first impression I got was that I was near the front of the stage with the performers, but that I was sitting on the stage facing the audience with the performers close behind and around me.

The center channel lead is generally centered and slightly behind and above me but the rest of the performers are from the left to the right as I expect they should be, extending from right behind me to actually forward of the plane of my ears.

I have since been able to "train" myself to imagine the center stuff slightly in front of me, but it takes conscious concentration to maintain that positioning.

If I look out into the room I have better luck getting the image farther forward than if I'm looking at the computer screen close up. Looking at the screen; the lead performer is singing to my forehead....from the inside, just forward of my ears.

Instrument separation is no problem at all if the recording allows it. Sometimes I hear three-blob music, other times it's a fluid transition from left to center to right. Depends on the recording. Senns, Alessandro, Koss; no major difference in surround effects presentation. MS-1 is closer to the performers, MS2i puts them further out and HD600 farther yet.

 

[RasmusseN]

the soundstage I perceive is fairly close inside and outside of my head. voices usually sound like it's from the inside of my head and above. highs extend a few inches from outside my ears straight out. bass is behind my ears and below and it can be pretty directional.

it really does depend on the track I just described "Anniversary of an Uninteresting Event" by Deftones

I also think low quality audio tracks sound a lot closer than high quality they don't extend nearly as much.

 

[Mink]

Using ATH A500's plugged into the phones output of Marantz CD6000KI I get (I guess I have a very rich imagination):

Left stage - behind, front and above
right stage - behind, front and above
middle (front stage) in front but mostly above

Instruments in the front-stage are generally placed higher than the ones I receive around the left and right channel.

I do get a sound-stage for sure, but I would'nt call it a natural one, maybe it is comparable with an AV receiver's surround sound or the imprecise sound-stage of Bose speakers.

 

[smeggy]

I think a lot of it has to do with how analytical our brains are at dissecting known info. I have a hard time with sci-fi visually in that if there's any error in blue/green screening or physics errors in movement etc I'm aware of it instantly and it throws me out of the moment. Same with audio. Our brains throw up a 'shenanigans' flag and the illusion collapses. My wife suffers far less from this than me.

With this in mind I try not to bother about soundstage with phones as it invariably leads to disappointment. Phones just can't do it convincingly for me. Really good binaural can but they are few and far between and sometimes I'll get a glimpse when I'm not really listening but otherwise.... and it's not even headphone style or transducer dependent. I've had orthodynamic, electret, electrostatic, dynamic, closed, open, iem and others.

Some recordings can sometimes escape the 3 blob impression with a little up/down/front/back but it's never much beyond a few inches and that is so insignificant it's not worth worrying about for me. Real soundstage is for good speakers in open space, not something strapped to your ears. If other can convince themselves they get a 'huge' audioscape from headphones good for them, I've never been able to fool myself of that and none of my headphones have ever come close to convincing me. Pity as I'd like to experience it.

I happily accept phones for what they are, limitations and warts an' all. I don't mind them not having a soundscape and I don't mind that they don't rattle my insides with deep bass. I do love the detail, intimacy and in my face presentation (literally in my face) so it's a good trade-off. Lets face it, music designed for speakers is rarely going to sound right on headphones *shrug*

 

[Henmyr]

Three albums which I found good for soundstage is Morphine - Cure for pain (the voice especially, the sax is hard though because it does not play exactly the same in left and right channel) and Damien Rice - O (I can't really say if this is a true stereo recording or if it has binural in it because of how real it sounds sometimes) and Eric Clapton Unplugged.

 

[murfy]

I nearly always hear things behind me, perhaps just ever so slightly behind my ears but left and right I have no problem with. I can tell where instruments in an orchestra are situated but I never feel as if they are any distance in front of me.

 

[Nachtschicht]

I locate the notes in a curved line, with the peak a little bit over the root of my nose, from ear to ear. Within over the full length. Except for a marginal difference between plugs and headphones, I have not experienced, that equipment could make a wider soundstage.

 

[deathklok]

I seem to have the classic left to right, with little front and rear soundstage with one glaring exception in my regular listening routine. Opeth's The Drapery Falls opening instrumental passage seems absolutely huge. The guitars are very intimate, but the whole recording seems very deep, the guitars, drums, and bass are almost visceral, but still delicate and detailed. Every time I listen, I find my eyes closed. One of a very few song which on the right 'phones sends a shiver down my spine every time.