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is the 1990s "WIDE MODE" setting the 'soundstage' of today, and a gimmick?

Hi All,

My family had a small boombox in the 1990s, and it had a switch with 3 settings:

1. Mono

2. Stereo

3. Wide

When i flipped it to wide mode, I was suddenly enveloped in the music being played.  The music was coming from all around me and i could not identify its source, even though I knew it was from the boombox.  This was of course gimmicky, and i’m not sure what the other audio trade-offs must have been if any (e.g. dynamics, instrument separation etc.), but it sure was a wonderful experience. But it was of course not rocket-science and a manufacturer could implement it into cheap equipment.

 

Fast forward to today. When i read reviews of someone swapping in a new device, and is experiencing a new breathtaking soundstage, i always wonder if the manufacturer of that device has implemented a degree of the old "Wide Mode" to captivate the listener?

What do you all think about the old Wide Mode? And if it is being currently implemented into audio gear?

128x128fai_v
ebm
9,311 posts
 

Dream on.

erik_squires
16,122 posts
 

There were a couple of versions of this. Some used comb filters, others simply blended in the anti-signal from the other side, and some reversed polarity completely. 

 

When i read reviews of someone swapping in a new device, and is experiencing a new breathtaking soundstage,

I literally had a thread devoted to the topic of reviewers claiming that the new device is so revolutionary they have to listen to their entire music collection all over again, and IMHO it's bullocks.  Just the reviewer trying to justify their existence.

coralkong's avatar
coralkong
664 posts
 

I had an EQ that had an "Expander" button, or some such thing on it.

Sounded awful then, and I'm sure it still sounds awful.

:)

 

ghdprentice
7,039 posts
 

Implementing a processed signal to imitate a big sound field as you point out is not new. It has been done on low FI stuff for a long time. Actually the iPad does an amazing job of creating a big sound stage.

‘But a new high fidelity piece of equipment has to do it by great fidelity. Fooling sound with the signal always creates fundamental sonic problems.

One piece of effective tech that created nearly a 360 degree sound field is Q Sound. But this is processing done in the recording. Roger Waters, Banco de Gaja and a few others have used it. In Amused To Death you can hear a dog bark behind you… among other amazing tricks. This technology allows you to keep fidelity. In some of the Banco da Gaia… Maya (I think)… the strongly low frequency music moves out from the the sound stage all the way to one’s side. Amazing really.

 

You can google Q Sound Recordings to get a list of albums using it.

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