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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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cd318
2,636 posts
 

There are some who believe that even with the very best of recordings, the best loudspeakers with the quietest cabinets, the best rooms acoustically speaking, 2 channel audio is at best only able to give limited amount of realism/soundstage depth.

Some, like the physicist/audiophile Dr Edgar Choueri, argue that spatial audio could be the best way forward when it comes to sonically reproduced realism.

After hearing him speak on the Audioholics YouTube channel, I'm tending to agree with him.

kirk9
48 posts
 

Absolutely. But, like in the real world it's defined by the environment around the source and the volume (relative to other sounds) of the source. So, those are the parameters that must be in the original recording or at least engineered to sound that way.  

kirk9
48 posts
 

cd318 - I have the software version of Dr. Choueri's BAACH and that certainly helps in locating the source in the soundstage. I've been intrigued with this concept and have used a Carver Sonic Hologram for many years before the BAACH technology.

loganfan
29 posts
 

Hello,

 If you want to hear depth in the soundstage, you can download a speaker set up CD from PS Audio. The female singers, sing from 3 feet, 6 feet and 9 feet from the mic. If your speakers are set up properly, you can clearly hear the difference.

cd318
2,636 posts
 

@kirk9 

It has been years on the making but it would now appear as if the revolution in audio for decades is soon about to happen right under our noses.

To think that we might soon be able to experience some of the spatial audio sensations Dr Choueiri talks about, eg the bird that flies towards us and perches itself on our right or left shoulder.

Is this the future of Hi-Fi as we know it?

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