** Update: I have been advised that the above samples are not of sufficient quality to test. I will be using CDs and Hi-res downloads for the tests
I think the expectation of what a pair of stereo loudspeaker could do needs to be set realistically. There is an inherent problem which the above would never happen.
Imagine watching a 3d movie without one of those polarised glasses. This is what happen to a typical stereo setup. ie. crosstalk.
The best we could achieve with in-room stereo is some sort of illusion.
Speakers would never be able to do this simple demonstration using a pair of headphone (unless extreme care is applied such as princeton 3d3a research)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUDTlvagjJA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecOrBqQAuXg
"Gainphile"
I have heard of binaural recordings some time in the distant past, but never encountered one until I listened to the tracks on my headphones.
The illusion of location is quite real. One comment about the barber shop, though, although the bakcground voice made me turn and look, the main voice was unconvincing as it lacked bass reverberations somehow.
Mechanical noises are reproduced almost perfectly, as far as I could tell.
With the second musical track, itelf a beautiful piece of music, and I could place the players in their locations.
I can use these to test my speakers, however will the effect be the same?
Is it possible to process a recording electronically to produce a binaural or stereo effect as required?
I have heard of binaural recordings some time in the distant past, but never encountered one until I listened to the tracks on my headphones.
The illusion of location is quite real. One comment about the barber shop, though, although the bakcground voice made me turn and look, the main voice was unconvincing as it lacked bass reverberations somehow.
Mechanical noises are reproduced almost perfectly, as far as I could tell.
With the second musical track, itelf a beautiful piece of music, and I could place the players in their locations.
I can use these to test my speakers, however will the effect be the same?
Is it possible to process a recording electronically to produce a binaural or stereo effect as required?
Sorry but Shopenauer's over
Errating from the term Maya can bring to the japanese mean of Ukiyo
which means "fluctuating world"
This Wikipedia article on transmission Line also has a link to http://www.directacoustics.com/lexicon.pdf
Thatarticle is getting better.
I do note that they put the apostrope back into my name that dissapeared when my grandfather hit Ellis Island.
dave
In a typical stereo system, unfortunately no.
There are people trying, yes it might take a rocket scientist to do that.
https://www.princeton.edu/3D3A/Choueiri.html
Plasma physics - is this the future of audio?
...He was able to solve this problem mathematically..
From the link...
"An avid audiophile, acoustician and classical music recordist, his decades-long passion for perfecting the realism of music reproduction has led him to work on the the difficult fundamental problem of designing advanced digital filters that allow the natural 3D audio to be extracted from stereo sound played through two loudspeakers, without adding any spectral coloration to the sound (i.e. without changing its tonal character). He was able to solve this problem mathematically by applying analytical and mathematical tools he uses in his plasma physics research."
...He was able to solve this problem mathematically..
From the link...
"An avid audiophile, acoustician and classical music recordist, his decades-long passion for perfecting the realism of music reproduction has led him to work on the the difficult fundamental problem of designing advanced digital filters that allow the natural 3D audio to be extracted from stereo sound played through two loudspeakers, without adding any spectral coloration to the sound (i.e. without changing its tonal character). He was able to solve this problem mathematically by applying analytical and mathematical tools he uses in his plasma physics research."
Dolby ProLogic II (Music) does pseudo-3D from 2ch stereo fairly well. I is a feature in practically every AV receiver/amplifier. The user can adjust the effect a little. The effect is very different for every recording.
THX 5-7.1 or Dolby 5-7.1 and Dolby Atmos recordings are genuine "3D or even 4D" per nature. But again, recordings are made in studios by the sound engineer/mixer and represent his/her personal taste and preference.
Binaural recording with a dummy head, listened with good headphones is a rational approach. And there actually are some recordings available for consumers! Even for free here https://www.reddit.com/r/BinauralMusic/
THX 5-7.1 or Dolby 5-7.1 and Dolby Atmos recordings are genuine "3D or even 4D" per nature. But again, recordings are made in studios by the sound engineer/mixer and represent his/her personal taste and preference.
Binaural recording with a dummy head, listened with good headphones is a rational approach. And there actually are some recordings available for consumers! Even for free here https://www.reddit.com/r/BinauralMusic/
The requirements actually is very simple: make sure Left ear hears from left speakers only, and the same for the Right side. Just like how 3D movie works with the eyes + glasses.
But in reality it is a very difficult issue to tackle. Room reflections, crosstalk, etc. That's why headphones are a very simple solution.
Another way to play with that would be Linkwitz's Watson project...
WATSON-Stereo_Expansion_Loudspeakers
WATSON-Stereo_Expansion_Loudspeakers
^ If I remember right ProLogic makes L-R differential singnal for rear speakers, adds delay and attenuates volume. Alas physical positioning changes (height too) and L/R reversing for effect speakers makes nice effects too
Ah, my logic was cut... corrected:
With physical positioning changes (height too) and L/R reversing for effect speakers makes nice effects too
With physical positioning changes (height too) and L/R reversing for effect speakers makes nice effects too
OK, but one thing I never could get from all I have read is whether you need to be planted in a chair for proper Hi-Fi listening: you can't turn your head or walk around?
It's an obvious question, but a question of degree to which your experience is marred by movement. We have not yet had the advent of an audio-experience exo-skeleton to hold the head and body of the listener in place to experience true stereo.
Update: I stand corrected.
"CES 2016 saw the official launch of the world’s first hifi listening chair, from Danish Gamut Audio. The chair is designed to control the sound reflections that reach your ear, allowing you to hear a more precise and natural soundstage. Specifically, it shields the ear from reflections emanating from behind the listening position, while at the same time preventing the sound from reflecting on the forward-facing areas of the headrest that flank the listener’s head."
Gamut's Audiophile Chair | Hifi Pig
".. the speakers disappear"
http://www.gamutaudio.com/en-GB/News.aspx?PID=3&M=NewsV2&Action=1&NewsId=124
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I have a (listening) chair that is much like the Gamut one. Not recommended! It is a wonderful seat for rest, but "giant earlobes" make funny acoustic tricks that are not natural.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
The Over - Arching Importance of Bass
We all agreed the music was good. Streaming YouTube on the Stan Getz playlist and the afternoon was filled with relaxing music, changing the entire atmosphere of the living room we were in. Room temperature was about 30 degrees C.
Another playlist featuring Acker Bilk followed. The latter adopted a more popular, easy -listening repetoire, still, all of it was music, all of it.
This from You Tube streaming through and Android phone, connected to a low-end satellite subwoofer system. Comments were made as to how we do not have a working stereo system in our home.
The subwoofer consisted of a box 20 cm on each side at least, and a port that extended deep into the cabinet. Two speakers that produced the higher frequency sounds, when held close to the ear, showed off what I call 'howling resonance' a set of plasticky echoes not suitable for human consumption.
What made the system sound so good? No doubt it was the careful matching of the satellites to the subwoofer, and the bass, which I now know had to extend to 60 HZ at least for good effect. The existing roll of on my experimental systems go down to 135 hz or higher, not good.
So the was speakers work is they produce a frequency response from 50 Hz to 12k or higher, but if the bass is lacking, everything is lacking. Distortion is a lesser consideration.
We all agreed the music was good. Streaming YouTube on the Stan Getz playlist and the afternoon was filled with relaxing music, changing the entire atmosphere of the living room we were in. Room temperature was about 30 degrees C.
Another playlist featuring Acker Bilk followed. The latter adopted a more popular, easy -listening repetoire, still, all of it was music, all of it.
This from You Tube streaming through and Android phone, connected to a low-end satellite subwoofer system. Comments were made as to how we do not have a working stereo system in our home.
The subwoofer consisted of a box 20 cm on each side at least, and a port that extended deep into the cabinet. Two speakers that produced the higher frequency sounds, when held close to the ear, showed off what I call 'howling resonance' a set of plasticky echoes not suitable for human consumption.
What made the system sound so good? No doubt it was the careful matching of the satellites to the subwoofer, and the bass, which I now know had to extend to 60 HZ at least for good effect. The existing roll of on my experimental systems go down to 135 hz or higher, not good.
So the was speakers work is they produce a frequency response from 50 Hz to 12k or higher, but if the bass is lacking, everything is lacking. Distortion is a lesser consideration.
Testing speakers using Audacity
Close to completion of my bass-reflex bookshelf speakers based on the Fostex design, using a 3 inch computer speaker, I am ready to think of testing.
Installed Audacity, and opened a sample FLAC file in the window. Audacity enables playback and analysis of the file in terms of waveform and spectrum as well. The grapphic shows a spectral analysis using a high resolution and a logarithmic scale.
Incidentally, only the first few seconds of the recording were uploaded by the software, due to some limitations.
The plan is to record the output from the speakers and compare it to the waveform of the original. The microphone will introduce inaccuracies into the process, no doubt but perhaps something useful can be learned.
First a pink-noise signal will be run through the speakers and analysed. At least it will depict the limits of speaker response.
Close to completion of my bass-reflex bookshelf speakers based on the Fostex design, using a 3 inch computer speaker, I am ready to think of testing.
Installed Audacity, and opened a sample FLAC file in the window. Audacity enables playback and analysis of the file in terms of waveform and spectrum as well. The grapphic shows a spectral analysis using a high resolution and a logarithmic scale.
Incidentally, only the first few seconds of the recording were uploaded by the software, due to some limitations.
The plan is to record the output from the speakers and compare it to the waveform of the original. The microphone will introduce inaccuracies into the process, no doubt but perhaps something useful can be learned.
First a pink-noise signal will be run through the speakers and analysed. At least it will depict the limits of speaker response.
Attachments
Testing speakers in the old days
Methods of testing speakers:
I came across this archive article: search for "testing loudspeakers popular science" and you will come across this write up from 1924. The speakers they are testing look like mechanical horns rather than electromechanical loudspeakers.
The criteria given makes sense even today. Of course we have the computers and software now.
Methods of testing speakers:
I came across this archive article: search for "testing loudspeakers popular science" and you will come across this write up from 1924. The speakers they are testing look like mechanical horns rather than electromechanical loudspeakers.
The criteria given makes sense even today. Of course we have the computers and software now.