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.

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Since 99.99% of commercial recordings were made with little or no consideration for sound quality, let alone soundstage depth, it could be considered more than a little irresponsible to advocate upgrading in pursuit of this elusive soundstage depth.

I've heard 1000s of recordings and hardly any of them could be considered as being up to audiophile standards.

None of the Beatles recordings were anything above average recording quality. Some of the Kinks albums, esp their often remastered masterpiece The Kinks are the Village Green Preservation Society album have bloody awful sound quality. Small, squashed, zero bandwidth, no depth.

It's kind of ironic that one the best recorded albums in my collection is the 1959/63 collaboration between Vera Lynn and Kenneth McKellar, The Wonderful World of Nursery Rhymes.

It's one of those rare ones that has real stage presence, you can easily picture the performers before you.

On any system regardless of price.

Upgrading can certainly give you more bandwidth, more precision, more separation, more detail, but it cannot give you what was never there in the first place.

Not unless you're into analysing exactly what the producers were doing with their 24 track mixing desks to a degree that no one ever intended you to. One that's liable to also induce a headache due to it being so unnatural.

We should remember that one of the very best recorded albums of recent history was also one of the most simplest. Mostly for its exquisite sonics, due more to serendipity rather than intent I suspect, the Cowboy Junkies Trinity Session album recorded on a portable machine in a church has subsequently gone down in audiophile legend.

There are also some very good reasons why the demonstration music used at shows regularly features the likes of Pink Floyd's DSOTM, Steely Dan and tinkly jazz. Engineers and producers operating in a cut throat business are usually far far too busy trying to make money than worry about what a few audiophiles might think about. Bands and artists generally don't seem to care much about anything other than commercial success either.

Selling, not sound quality is the main game in town.

So let's not kid anyone, out of the millions of commercial recordings there's probably less than a 100 that could be said to be of audiophile standard and possessing genuine soundstage depth.

Encouraging folks to engage in an everlasting search for things that do not exist can only do our hobby ultimate harm.

 

https://www.discogs.com/release/4351624-Vera-Lynn-Kenneth-McKellar-The-Wonderful-World-Of-Nursery-Rhymes

@asctim ive only seen the opposite...over and over and over and over. the more perceptive people really enjoy what a god hifi has to offer, as they can actually hear what theyre listening to, or they are able to listen to what theyre hearing.

the rest cant tell the difference and cant pay good enough attention.

you see, having a poor sense of taste and doesnt help you enjoy food better. 

No problem with depth in my set up. Not always there, but when it's there it's there, if that makes sense.

"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"

@toddalin I made some obvious errors in my statement. Soundstage and imaging are definitely a thing. With that being said, I don't quite understand your question 

"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?"

Are you saying depth is a result of sound bouncing off the physical room? And since there's nothing to bounce with in a headphone, there is no depth? I'm sorry for not understanding.