Since most recordings are made in a studio, the imaging heard in live performances (if any) has little to do with how most LP’s, CD’s, etc. "should" image. Studio recording engineers are for the most part not attempting to create a realistic, lifelike sound stage. Like it or not, live and recorded music are two different things. In Pop, the difference is absolute. Mixing consoles are used to place each separately-recorded instrument or vocalist somewhere between left and right speaker, an artificially created illusion, a card trick.
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?
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?