Soundstage

[fastfwd]

I've moved my system into a new, bigger room and since then I've had trouble
"seeing" my soundstage (right terminology?) with some of the recordings that
I've listened to and tried to see/hear it. I popped in Patsy Cline last
night (after a few fine Oktoberfest brews and a build up of other well liked
artists) and boom - it was like looking at one of those 3d pictures that you
have to nearly cross your eyes to see and then it's right there. I didn't
listen to any other recordings while I was at it and I wonder if maybe those
old recordings were exaggerated as opposed to some of the current recordings
that are out? I've read somewhere that some newer recordings are sometimes
compressed to sound better for radio play or something. I love Michelle
Branch's new disc Hotel Paper, but I've been having trouble seeing the depth
with it like that Patsy Cline disc was producing.

--
A sickened mind and spirit
The mirror tells me lies
Could I mistake myself for someone
Who lives behind my eyes
Will he escape my soul
Or will he live in me
Is he tryin' to get out or tryin' to enter me

THX 1138

[MiNE 109]

In article >,
"fastfwd" > wrote:

> I've moved my system into a new, bigger room and since then I've had trouble
> "seeing" my soundstage (right terminology?) with some of the recordings that
> I've listened to and tried to see/hear it. I popped in Patsy Cline last
> night (after a few fine Oktoberfest brews and a build up of other well liked
> artists) and boom - it was like looking at one of those 3d pictures that you
> have to nearly cross your eyes to see and then it's right there. I didn't
> listen to any other recordings while I was at it and I wonder if maybe those
> old recordings were exaggerated as opposed to some of the current recordings
> that are out? I've read somewhere that some newer recordings are sometimes
> compressed to sound better for radio play or something. I love Michelle
> Branch's new disc Hotel Paper, but I've been having trouble seeing the depth
> with it like that Patsy Cline disc was producing.

I haven't heard the new disc, but it is possible it wasn't produced to
have that kind of soundstage. Newer pop recordings do tend to be
overcompressed, but even a highly compressed recording can have a
soundstage.

You could compare your speaker placement to those suggested by Cardas or
Audio Physic:

http://www.mhsoft.nl/SpeakerPlacing.asp

http://www.immediasound.com/Speakersetup.html

or the J-10 version of the latter:

http://www.stereophile.com/showarchives.cgi?179

Or you could find more recordings with big soundstages. If you like
Patsy Cline, you might enjoy "Shadowland" by kd lang (produced by Owen
Bradley) or Roy Orbison's Monument stuff. These are well-known, so
apologies if you're a step or two ahead of me on this.

Stephen

[fastfwd]

> I haven't heard the new disc, but it is possible it wasn't produced to
> have that kind of soundstage. Newer pop recordings do tend to be
> overcompressed, but even a highly compressed recording can have a
> soundstage.
>
> You could compare your speaker placement to those suggested by Cardas or
> Audio Physic:
>
> http://www.mhsoft.nl/SpeakerPlacing.asp
>
> http://www.immediasound.com/Speakersetup.html
>
> or the J-10 version of the latter:
>
> http://www.stereophile.com/showarchives.cgi?179
>
> Or you could find more recordings with big soundstages. If you like
> Patsy Cline, you might enjoy "Shadowland" by kd lang (produced by Owen
> Bradley) or Roy Orbison's Monument stuff. These are well-known, so
> apologies if you're a step or two ahead of me on this.
>
> Stephen

I was mistaken with my terminology. I believe what I was referring to is
the imaging - not necessarily the width and placement of the soundstage, but
the depth of the sound. I've honestly just been hammering my system lately
and not doing much critical listening with the lights off and all. Imaging
may not be the correct terminology either, feel free to correct me.

I was mistaken with compression effects as well - I've actually used Vegas
4.0 to compress a sound clip for a website, so this was extra dumb. I
haven't really listened to the Hotel Paper disc while thinking about it
being compressed - I really don't think it is. I actually really enjoy the
sound of it, but I just haven't heard it with the depth of that Patsy Cline
disc. Maybe it's just me not concentrating on hearing it enough. I
actually did listen to the new Dido material in mp3 later last night and
while I was a bit tipsy it did seem to have some depth to it even in mp3.
I'd love to hear the cd.


--
A sickened mind and spirit
The mirror tells me lies
Could I mistake myself for someone
Who lives behind my eyes
Will he escape my soul
Or will he live in me
Is he tryin' to get out or tryin' to enter me

THX 1138