Soundstage

[Shadow_Ferret]

From Audioholics Glossary:

Sound Stage - the sound systems ability recreate an imaginary stage. A good speaker will faithfully make the stage seem close to the actual height, width and depth of the actual performance stage where recorded. Imaging is similar, but the speaker must be able to place each instrument or voice in the correct location on the soundstage. The reproduction of the way the music would sound if you were actually watching the musicians play in front of you. The stage should always appear to be in front of you, with a proper "image" of where each musician is playing on the imaginary soundstage.

OK. Why should the stage always appear in front of you? Doesn't that sort of defeat the purpose of having "surround?" Wouldn't the preferable soundstage be where you feel surrounded by the muscians, as if you are in the middle of the stage with them?

Otherwise what is the point of having the 5.1, 6.1, 7.1 system?

 

[anamorphic96]

5.1, 6.1, 7.1 are all based terms that mainly apply to HT.

The sound stage should be in front of you. This is traditionally how you attend a concert and listen to music. With the performers playing on stage. Youre trying to create the live event which is being performed in front of you.

Surround sound on music is meant to expand on the soundstage and try to fully create the envirement around you. This is done in a subtle way with the use of the surround channels creating some of the sounds you hear in the halls and venues. When done right your not gonna hear the drummer behind you or around you. It will be in front of you. As if your viewing the concert. This is the way I see soundstage and its application to surround.

 

[jbracing24]

With modern multichannel discs, the remix can put the sound stage around you. It all depends on the one doing the remix, how he wants the soundtrack to present. A recent article in S&V showed how Telarc microphoned a concert theater for a classical presentation that, in the original work, wrote in a singer in the balcony behind. The possibilites are endless depending on the producer.
However, the traditional soundstage, like a theater, puts the main action at the front. The surrounds and rear surrounds put the ambience around you. TV and DVD dialogue must appear to come from the speaker on the screen, hence why the center channel is place above or below. Voices or sounds off center stage go left or right. I was quite happy with the soundstage of my Technics 5.1 until I replace it with the Denon 2805 and two rear surrounds. I played my first DD 7.1 (The Incredibles) last week. Now that's a sound stage!