The Stereophile test CD 2 is my personal favorite because the booklet that accompanies it has pictures of the performers on location, as viewed by the microphones. This way you can listen and compare with the pictures to see if your imaging is indeed good. They used minimal mics so that you don't have to account for mixing and they tell you about the room so you know how much reverb to expect. Really cool. Arthur
Moving from mid-fi to hi-fi -- Imaging questions
Hi. I am in the processing fine tuning the placement of my Magnepan 3.6's. I am new to the kind of detailed imaging these magnificent speakers provide. A few questions arise ...
What does it mean when I have excellent imaging but the instruments are in the wrong place? For example, I can pinpoint the high-hat cymbals and the snare drum but they are like 6 feet apart. I know from playing drums that that is just not possible. Also on drums, the distance when between tom toms is unrealistic -- like on the out edges of all the other instruments.
Sometimes voices are right on top of each other when I feel sure one is actually standing on the left and one on the right. Other times, the voices are clearly side by side.
I have a wide variety of cds, many considered audiophile grade. I am wondering if these are differences in the way the recording and or mixing is done. Overall, the music sounds great and imaging is exquisite but I want to get the most these speakers offer. Do I need to keep working my placement or am I reaching the limit of the source material?
As a side question: Is there any difference in the quality of manufactured CDs? I read once that some cds (BMG for example) were lower quality. I always buy my music used. Is there any difference in brands of cds? And down side to buying used cds?
Thanks all.
What does it mean when I have excellent imaging but the instruments are in the wrong place? For example, I can pinpoint the high-hat cymbals and the snare drum but they are like 6 feet apart. I know from playing drums that that is just not possible. Also on drums, the distance when between tom toms is unrealistic -- like on the out edges of all the other instruments.
Sometimes voices are right on top of each other when I feel sure one is actually standing on the left and one on the right. Other times, the voices are clearly side by side.
I have a wide variety of cds, many considered audiophile grade. I am wondering if these are differences in the way the recording and or mixing is done. Overall, the music sounds great and imaging is exquisite but I want to get the most these speakers offer. Do I need to keep working my placement or am I reaching the limit of the source material?
As a side question: Is there any difference in the quality of manufactured CDs? I read once that some cds (BMG for example) were lower quality. I always buy my music used. Is there any difference in brands of cds? And down side to buying used cds?
Thanks all.