headphones
Frank Stearns wrote:
Frank Stearns wrote:
What do you hear with a mono source equally driving both the L and R elements of
your phones? A sound blob left and a sound blob right? Something vaguely in the
middle? Razor sharp in the middle? Just a big puddle?
In the center, it sounds like it's in the center, but as soon as you pan to
the side a little it moves way to the side. It's very much got a "hole in
the center" kind of effect for me.
So this isn't the difference in how the pan circuit or software is implemented,
you're saying this happens consistently with phones for you?
Right. I hear a hole in the center with the phones.
And to clarify - are you saying that it's just about impossible to get, say,
something placed center left or center right with phones, that things tend to snap
way out left or right?
Yes.
I get a bit of that, but it seems to vary with the pan circuit.
If a recording has been panned so it gives a realistic image on speakers, it
will have a hole in the center with the headphones.
The issue is the difference between speakers and headphones, not necessarily
the pan law.
And while my monitoring is good (LEDE room with soffit-mounted Tannoy SGM10Bs, known
for great imaging because of the dual-concentric point source), I still find it
easier to clearly identify precise pan placement with phones.
It's different with phones than speakers, though.
For stuff that is stereo miked with appreciable phase imaging, the effect is
even more pronounced.
I'm not sure I follow this... Do you mean that with a stereo image source on phones,
say a proper ORTF or perhaps the Jecklin, you really don't get a center image like
you do on speakers?
No, with a stereo image source where there is phase imaging going on (and
therefore you get imaging of lower frequencies, like you do with ORTF or
Jecklin but not with XY or widely spaced omni triads), that low frequency
imaging is even more wildly exaggerated on headphones.
Anyway. Highly interesting discussion. I'd never realized there seemed to be this
much variability with how phones were perceived. My biggest gripes with most of them
had always been an awful, awful "plastic-like" high mid, with I attributed to driver
resonance with crap materials. I still sense that from many phones, though my
particular Sonys much less so.
I have head headphones with good tonality (and that includes the Staxes),
but the hole in the middle and the lack of added room ambience changes the
overall presentation completely for me.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
|