Here listen to this. It's a binaural demo of my open baffle speaker.
I don't have any sound deadening....not even carpet.
It sounds completely natural to me because I am sitting in the room it was recorded in.
Now, it will not sound right to you because it is not your room.
If i made this recording with very directional horns or the like, it would probably be no different than listening to the track straight through the headphones.
Hence, reflections add spaciousness but you have to be acclimated to the sound signature of the room.
Binaural demo of ambiophonics. - YouTube
Please don't judge on the basis of the quality of the recording. I used a pocket recorder and well...it's youtube.
I don't have any sound deadening....not even carpet.
It sounds completely natural to me because I am sitting in the room it was recorded in.
Now, it will not sound right to you because it is not your room.
If i made this recording with very directional horns or the like, it would probably be no different than listening to the track straight through the headphones.
Hence, reflections add spaciousness but you have to be acclimated to the sound signature of the room.
Binaural demo of ambiophonics. - YouTube
Please don't judge on the basis of the quality of the recording. I used a pocket recorder and well...it's youtube.
It is, please see Blauert, "Spatial Hearing".
True but they do it in different ways.
All reflections in acoustically small rooms are "close in time". The statement is too general to be of much value.
Stereo is not a wavefield reconstruction technique. What makes you think it could recreate the original event? Does it even need to? Do most mixing engineers even try to achieve realism?
True, but I'd wager that your listening room isn't several hundred square meters with stone floor, roof and walls so it probably doesn't sound like that anyway
I've choosen an extreme example but it illustrates that not every environment is equally well suited for reproducing a specific sound event. Just like omnis aren't suited for reproducing a specific sound event within every listening room.
mmm.. take that book again Markus. You know, that one from Toole.. Detrimental effect on clarity, timbre? Are you for real?
sections 7 til 12..
I would be VERY interested in hearing a Danley combo in such a setup just out of curiosity, but one has to differentiate and remember what's a recreational music listening space, HT requirements, and a professional working environnment. I cannot see a space and setup scoring 100 on all front. You HAVE to make a choice. I prefer the holographic rendering od close up dipoles. Will try omnis soon.
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Well, I guess you musn't go very offen to these strange places that shift phase and timbre considerably.. You know, auditoriums and halls..
Well, I guess you musn't go very offen to these strange places that shift phase and timbre considerably.. You know, auditoriums and halls..
Actually I do. Tonhalle Zurich is in walking distance. Again, such a hall is optimized for a certain kind of music. There are many others.
nice one! We here have the Nice opera house built by Garnier but the local orchestra is not up the level. Then there is the Monte Carlo opera house, also built by Garnier, the production is usually good, unfortunately the seats are only for the priviledged few of this planet.. That said I don't go often anymore..
As you can make a comparison, do you feel totally satisfied with the presentation your speaker give? I am talking symphonic work, real acoustical spaces, chorals and such and "simple" miking, not HT artificial stuff..
As you can make a comparison, do you feel totally satisfied with the presentation your speaker give? I am talking symphonic work, real acoustical spaces, chorals and such and "simple" miking, not HT artificial stuff..
My experience:
At least in my room strong early lateral reflections mess up the stereo scene. They keep me from "listening through my room acoustics" and hearing the room/hall acoustics of the recording environment. I need to keep the first 15 ms free from those reflections to get a solid and structured impression of a large orchestra recording for instance.
Could it be that (too) many people mistake the "spaciousness" generated by early reflections in their room for the hall acoustics of the recording?
At least in my room strong early lateral reflections mess up the stereo scene. They keep me from "listening through my room acoustics" and hearing the room/hall acoustics of the recording environment. I need to keep the first 15 ms free from those reflections to get a solid and structured impression of a large orchestra recording for instance.
Could it be that (too) many people mistake the "spaciousness" generated by early reflections in their room for the hall acoustics of the recording?
Not sure what you're asking. Am I satisfied with reproduction using high directivity speakers and near field subs? Yes, I am. Does it sound exactly like sitting in a concert hall? No. It can't. There are some reflections missing. Those should be filled in by additional speakers. I'm currently testing different approaches to get there.
I believe they do. On the other hand the sensation of spaciousness isn't linked to a specific room size.
that's basically the HT setup Toole is recommending.. 30 degrees dispersion for the front, 180 degrees for the surrounds.. I have tried it with dipoles on front and various tilts + omnidirectionnal surrounds, various delays from matrix preamp, you can definitely override the room acoustics somwhat with this, and go too far.
The difference would then only be 30 degrees more dispersion on the front speakers.. and the little source broadening as a result, but this is often a pleasant effect, as long as the source size is kept constant vs distance.
I was rather thinking about wides at ±60° and heights. I found these directions to be most effective for adding spaciousness and depth while keeping the direct signal clean. Omnis/dipoles "trigger" those reflections too but they do it in an uncontrolled way and send to much energy in other directions.
If the room is very live, probably so. But with less then 0.5s RT I doubt it. Even with little speaker toe in it is suprisingly easy to identify each recording own acoustics. Ideally, with a dipole you want a very large room, with at least 1.5m from every surface, I wouldn't be scared to try even 2.5-3m if I could to get 10ms+ gap, but space in EU is limited as you know.. I did have the Orions in a highly furnished 18m2 room before, they never sounded right, and yes, then I had strong imaging and timbral issues.
it's actually the opposite, as long as they are CD, whatever the polar radiation . The difference will first of all be the much shorter critical listening distance with the omnis for the same room. What we don't want, it's a CD all over the place, then we have a real problem. The rest is also probably a matter of taste and habits.
A confession: if space and money were not an issue, I could well think of a touch button variable acoustic space going from 300 to 500 ms in one click and a set of Danley type speakers/good dipoles on a switch, depending on the material.
If directivity would be of no concern then you wouldn't need to vary listening distance...
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