Is soundstage DEPTH a myth?
Ok, help me out fellas. Is it a myth or what?
I’m a good listener, I listen deep into the music, and I feel like I have good ears. But I can’t confirm that I can hear soundstage depth. I can hear 1 instrument is louder, but this doesn’t help me to tell if something is more forward or more behind. Even in real life and 2 people are talking, I can’t honestly say I know which one is in front.
The one behind will sound less loud, but is that all there is to soundstage depth? I think the answer I’m looking for has to do with something I read recently. Something about depth exist only in the center in most system, the good systems has depth all around the soundstage.
This has been an interesting read. A lot of ‘Interesting’ responses. In my system, in my room, Playing ‘Money for Nothing’ I can hear that Sting is behind Mark Knopfler and just to the right. - I cannot make that out on most systems - This is from the 80’s and is a (Rock - sort of) track. So, yes, depth is real and it depends on the recording and primarily the sound engineer’s skills. |
@gotolondon2 I agree. Many great answers here. More revelatory than I initially expected. I have a BMC amp and 1 reviewer stated it sounds very flat, he thought that was just how the amp sounded. But when connected with other BMC components the way the amp were designed, soundstage started "shooting out in all directions". I’ve been saving for the BMC ultradac and will be buying it to try soon. @hypoman I agree, the listening area around the speakers should be ideally empty. One time I had a center channel in the center and just the mere existence of it there degraded the sound. I thought something was sounding weird until I move the center out and realized that was the problem. About soundstage, I've owned TOTL headphone and I still couldn't notice soundstage. I've clearly sense what's in front of me from front left to front right. I've also heard things up close to my side left and side right. This kinda qualifies as soundstage depth. But when it comes to the front depth, that I haven't clearly heard. |
"About soundstage, I've owned TOTL headphone and I still couldn't notice soundstage. I've clearly sense what's in front of me from front left to front right. I've also heard things up close to my side left and side right. This kinda qualifies as soundstage depth. But when it comes to the front depth, that I haven't clearly heard."
If we agree that soundstage and imaging are at least partially the result of the engineer using constructive and destructive interference to create "peaks and nulls" across the room to create the illusion of a soundstage, wouldn't this be expected of headphones where there can be no interference between the channels let alone some predetermined distance between the speakers that the engineer was listening at? |
@gosta I would be happy to list some recordings that have good depth but these only scratch the surface. At audio shows the tracks they play nearly always have great depth because that is one of the things they are trying to demonstrate. Here are a few of my favorites. Dee Dee Bridgewater - Live in Paris Regarding my studio recordings, the bands were local to the Portland area and unfortunately none of them made it to the big time. Some of them were very talented though. If you want to hear a few of these tracks you are welcome to PM me with your email address and I'll share a folder with some of my favorite songs. |
