What is nearfield listening?


I had someone "in the industry" who some of you have bought products from tell me that nearfield listening doesn't have to do with actual distance from the speakers, that it refers to whether you are sitting inside or outside a 60 degree angle from the speakers.

Secondly, what are the drawbacks to sitting close to your speakers? I figure that there are advantages like being able to pull your speakers far out from back and side walls and also that the listening seat can also be far from the back wall.
b_limo

Showing 3 responses by csontos

The time alignments required to make that happen are not possible imo because it would need a precise and particular room dimension, would it not? I think reflected sound is actually a hindrance. Sit outside on a really humid day with a big system(because that's what it would probably need) and you'd rock the house!
But how can a recording incorporate sound not yet in existence? Has the reflected sound deliberately been eliminated during mixing in order to reintegrate it during playback? How does speaker response and an-echoic specs relate to this? How do you 'engineer' sound?
Okay, I'm a little confused now. On the one hand you stated they don't normally eliminate reflected sound, and then that they use near field techniques to take room acoustics out of the picture.