Unable to hear back of the head sound effects

I think this effect is unique to only a few recordings. The first time I noticed this was listening to a Dead Can Dance CD (I don't recall which, or which song) and there's a whip cracking that happens behind you.  It freaked me out! This is on a Stereo system. It's very distinct and happens every time I play it.  I've since noticed it on a couple of other recordings, but only those few recordings.  I always wondered how it was engineered into the stereo recording.

If not using multichannel, then there should be some resonance in two channel.  It’s probably room acoustics 

The way the brain locates the source of a sound is very complex and involves comparing what comes in to both ears.  The brain considers the timing difference between the sound reaching the two ears, the amplitude difference, and the spectral difference (how the balance of frequencies) of sound predominantly hitting one side of the face vs. the sound reach the opposite ear by diffracting around the head.  A sound emanating from the left speaker is located there by such comparison of volume, timing, and frequency shift.

There are recording mixing algorithms that create fake cues to fool the brain to locate sound well outside of the speaker, and sometimes behind the listener.  This is a pretty complex operation that includes sending out of phase signals from one speaker to cancel the sound from the other to achieve the desired manipulation of timing, volume, and frequency shift.  A commercial product called QSound was used in a number of releases that had remarkably wide soundstages.  My favorite example is Roger Waters’ “Amused to Death.”

Sometimes I will hear something well outside the speakers and even behind me for a brief moment, like the whipcrack mentioned above.  I suspect it is a case of such false cues being accidentally generated by room reflections and the recording.

Technically, you need:

(1) Headphone + binaural recording.

(2) Crosstalk cancellation DSP like BACCH in a stereo system; (not Qsound that someone mentions)

(3) Multichannel speakers with multichannel recording.

Without these, the widest soundstage I have experienced from my 1st rig (or any other systems) is the vertical plane field up to my ears.

Yeah, way more info needed.