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Is soundstaging emblematic of reality?

Now that finally I have a system that soundstages excellently, I’m wondering if it’s actually  a vital component of a real concert experience.  In most genres of music, unless you’re sitting very close to the action, you don’t get the kind of precise imaging revealed in a good stereo setup.  That’s because microphones are usually (with some rare exceptions) placed close up. If you’re sitting in the middle to back section of an audience (which most people do) you certainly don’t hear anything close to holographic imaging, or even what most people accept as satisfactory imaging. 
Granted, it’s loads of fun to hear this soundstaging. And I certainly love it.  Some people might consider it the ideal music experience. But is it an essential component of musical enjoyment?


128x128rvpiano
gs5556
1,234 posts
 
I would say it's not essential. There are many of us who prefer a classic performance, say a Furtwangler Beethoven or a Horenstein Mahler, in scratchy mono over a poor interpretation on a recording with acoustic gymnastics.

But it is an essential part of enjoying the concert experience, which is the reason why the San Francisco Symphony places the musicians further apart during recordings rather than in their concert positions. Makes it easier for the engineers to do their thing to fool us with the interaural time difference in our hearing.
wlutke
725 posts
 
I’ll leave necessary or not up to the listener. I do know that as a beginner I lost sight of satisfaction and got trapped into upgrading into what soundstaged and imaged better. It’s a pitfall so beginner beware. I feel now satisfaction first, imaging second. If you have both, great!
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Get the soundstage right and the rest will follow. - Audiophile axiom

An ordinary man has no means of deliverance. - Audiophile axiom 
simao's avatar
simao
1,819 posts
 
I don't go to live shows for the sonic experience solely. I mean, most venues have crap sound anyhow, and the idea of a live show nowadays is so much more than just the sound of it. So whether I'm sitting at the front table are the yellow jackets gig at a jazz club, I whether I am right behind the sound guy at a Phish show in an arena, I'm not trying to see if this is the best sound I can get.

At home I can explore the whole holographic idea of sound, but unless it's a beautifully mic-ed live performance, I'm not going to equate the two schemas at all.
nonoise's avatar
nonoise
10,843 posts
 
You're actually asking two different questions re: reality (in the title) and enjoyment (your concluding question), but the answer is basically the same. 

It can be a recreation of reality if recorded properly, and, getting enjoyment out of a manufactured sound stage most certainly depends on the mix and the illusion it creates and the abilities of the recording engineer to pull it off in a convincing manner. 

Either way it's a win-win when done well.

All the best,
Nonoise
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