Whatever happened to sound quality? by Siegfried Linkwitz

It would seem that STW can’t handle apostrophes in URLs!

It’s got the stereo imaging out of alignment.

http://www.linkwitzlab.com/ALMA%2714/Sound_quality.htm

In the end we have 2 ears, so you only need two channels to reproduce every sound that is possible

Apparently what makes reproducing this complex is that the way we sound decode 3D sound is unique to us as individuals

I wasted alot of time wondering how we differentiate sound in front from sound behind. Given that both ears will hear the sound at the same volume and at the same time

The answers is the its our Pinna that makes the difference. Sound from behind is diffracted around our pinna and this changes the sound relative to sound from the front. As we all have different shaped heads we all hear in 3D slightly differently.

I did hear a demo based on an average Pinna and it was staggeringly different to normal earphones. Apprenltey the commercial idea was to scan peoples ears and then create an audio model that could be applied to the recording as it was played. Please note Turner Guy that the demonstrator said that its much easier to convince people of the effect if there is a visual element

That of course leaves hifi with a problem as stereo really can’t do sound behind. But in my experience it seems to reproduce sound in front of you in at least 2D very well

That of course leaves hifi with a problem as stereo really can’t do sound behind

So you can’t do everything with 2 channels?

Please note Turner Guy that the demonstrator said that its much easier to convince people of the effect if there is a visual element

this is my problem with surround sound at home – the visual clues you get from a small screen in front are too divorced from the attempt to create sound all around you.

Slowoldman

Obliviously you can do it all with 2 channels as we only have 2 ears

But you need to feed 1 channel into each ear and record it via microphones placed in a model of your ear. Or process it to sound like that’s what you did

As that’s not what a Hi Fi does it can’t do behind you

Yes I know about dummy heads and binaural. Yawn.

What if I want to use loudspeakers?

I really like my sound system.

It’s only got 2.1 speakers.

If I listen to Nine Inch Nails, considering it never passed through a microphone, where should the soundstage be?

Ghosts 1-4. FLAC. Loud.

I went to listen to these yesterday and, for their size and price, they are by far and away the best speakers I’ve heard

TurnerGuy – Member
Please note Turner Guy that the demonstrator said that its much easier to convince people of the effect if there is a visual element
this is my problem with surround sound at home – the visual clues you get from a small screen in front are too divorced from the attempt to create sound all around you.

I have a Yamaha A/V amp, which is 5.1, and has a whole bunch of DSP profiles for (supposedly) reproducing the authentic acoustic for various halls, clubs, stadia, etc, and I never use any when listening to music, I switch the effects off, except if I’m playing a 5.1 remastered DVD-A or SACD, and even then I don’t add any sound processing, it just sounds false.
I’m not a fan of trying to recreate a ‘live’ acoustic or soundstage in a home environment anyway; in most live situations the sound is crap unless you’re going to stand at the back, because there’s no focus for the singer at the front centre, although I have been to a couple of concerts where a couple of foldback monitors in the centre have been turned to face the audience, allowing people at the front centre to actually hear what the singer is singing. This is so rare, though, and unnecessarily so, and it makes a huge difference.
Whenever I read about someone trying to recreate the live experience in home audio, I honestly think, ‘you really don’t get out much, do you’; and if they have been to the occasional live concert, it clearly hasn’t been somewhere like The Scala, in London.
I’d be fascinated to hear this whizzy new speaker playing a variety of music which I’m familiar with, but im not going to travel miles to do so.

Having read all four pages I’m still not sure what is actually being discussed, however if it’s a music system it needs: a) one button to turn it on and off. b) easy to program station preset. c) does not require a smartphone. d) sounds like my gran’s valve radio.
That’s all.

Old curmudgeonly cynic and doubting Thomas I may be, but I bet it sounds better than your gran’s valve radio.

Just not as good as my ATCs.