Most people love music, right? Whether rock or pop, listening to music is a favorite pastime for everyone! Some might prefer listening to bands, others prefer individual artists, and others prefer both. Talking about music, concerts and music shows are common these days, and as much as people love going there, it is also important that people enjoy and take the music with them while leaving an outstanding show!
But have you ever imagined how you could feel the performance while they are not even present live when the singer is performing? The answer is Soundstaging.
Soundstaging is a process that lets you visually “see” the music while you are not present physically. It is also known as a speaker image. It enables you to perceive where an instrument is located and the depth of the sound by just listening to the music. You can achieve this with the help of good quality headphones/earbuds that have been sound staged adequately to create a surreal music listening experience.
Not many people know the word “Soundstaging” and what it does. In this article, I will provide detailed information about how Soundstaging is done and why it is crucial.
What Is Meant By Soundstaging In Headphones?
To explain it with the help of a simple example, suppose you are watching a movie with high-quality audio-visuals. Soundstaging helps you to feel as if you are present in the movie physically.
It is like the 3D movie experience that makes you see the visuals in front of yourself more clearly. Similarly, if you are playing a highly graphic video game, Soundstaging will help you identify where your enemies are and at what distance behind your back. You can determine whether the enemy is approaching you from the right or left. It is probably, for this reason, gamers prefer these soundstage headphones.
These headphones are no doubt a costly thing to possess because of their superior built quality. To sum up, Soundstaging in headphones is a process that creates an image of the situations displayed in front of you so that people can feel it as if they are present physically. It is restricted to movies, music shows, and other activities like gaming.
Open-back headphones allow more air to pass and thus produce lesser resonance. The result is that the sound is more clear and more natural, creating a better soundstage effect. They have a good spatial sound image.
What Is Meant By Soundstaging In The Earbuds?
Earbuds are a new invention that enables users to listen to music without wires and cables. They are connected with the help of Bluetooth and are bud-like devices.
Technically speaking, Soundstaging in headphones and Soundstaging in earbuds are the same. There is hardly any difference between the two. They provide the listener or user with a piece of better music and sound experience.
Soundstaging in earbuds is difficult to achieve. That is why many prefer using overhead headphones to get better sound clarity.
How Do Sound Engineers Create An Excellent Soundstage?
Soundstaging is indeed an art and is not for everyone. It is impossible to create the perfect soundstage in one day, it requires quite a few attempts to master it.
A few factors affect Soundstaging quality and determine the depth of the music or sound.
Recording device
Soundstaging mainly depends on how the original sound is recorded. If the recording instruments are not top-notch, then the soundstage quality will not be as good as you expect it to be. For a better quality Soundstage, ensure that the original piece is recorded with good equipment. The recording process adds to the 3D atmosphere of the audio. Toning and panning the soundtrack also enhances the 3D image of the sound.
Room effects
The room also plays a huge role in Soundstaging. It helps people to locate where the sound is coming from. Room effects here mean the location of the speakers and headphones. For speakers, you can visualize whether the sound is coming from behind, left, or right. For headphones, the room environment is the ears. The sounds playing at various distances can be affected by the headphones one uses.
Position of the speakers and sound source
Soundstaging also depends on the position of the speakers and their placement. The speaker’s distance from the walls, the type of the stereo set, etc, is all important.
Amplifier and speaker
Amplifier and driver materials used in the speakers also affect the quality of the Soundstaging. Crossover components, cabinet designs, and speaker size are some other materials that affect the creation of a soundstage. It is best if bipolar and dipolar speakers are used. Bipolar speakers diffuse sound the best when they are close to the wall. Experts suggest it is best to use these speakers.
Why Is Soundstaging Important?
This is subjective and might vary from person to person. Low-quality headphones and earbuds don’t have soundstage done to them, but most people still use them, as it is difficult for the general audience to distinguish between low and high-quality music. Most of them prefer tweaking equalizer settings to improve sound in their headphones. However, if you are an audiophile, a gamer, or anyone who has anything to do with 3D noise, you should do Soundstaging, and it will be worth it for you.
If you want to enjoy a movie not only with 3D visuals but also with 3D sound, then Soundstaging might be useful for you. According to Audioengine, soundstaging only becomes important when the listener believes it should. It also helps to listen to those sounds and beats that by ordinary headphones, get overshadowed.
Everyone craves loud and clear music when listening to songs, right? You would definitely want to feel which side the beats of the drums are coming from and which side the guitar is being played on. This is the power of Soundstaging.
The sound and beats of the music become so clear that one feels that he or she is physically present. Obviously, you would prefer listening to music as if you are on the stage or as if you are listening on a tape. The former, right? There lies the importance of Soundstaging.
What is the difference between Soundstaging and Imaging?
To some people who have some knowledge about sound and its properties, sound staging and imaging may seem to be the same thing. However, they are not, and there is a significant difference between them.
A soundstage is the depth, width, and height of audio that is being played, and it makes you feel as if you are present on the stage. It is more like a 3-dimensional audio experience, similar to the 3-dimensional visual cinema experience.
However, Imaging is the ability of the speakers to project the sound which is coming from the soundstage. It is said that if you can practically see the singer and the music performance live in front of the eyes, the imaging is perfect, and if you feel the spaciousness of the stage, then it is said to be excellent! Overall, imaging is thus said to be a part of the whole process of sound staging.
Different types of headphones –
Wide Soundstage Open-Back Headphones
Open-back headphones are considered to be the best that offer soundstage facilities. It is perfect for gamers, as they will never miss a single sound.
Good Soundstage With Closed-Back Headphones
While closed-back headphones reduce the noise, they offer a good soundstage too. There will be resonance in this type of headphones, but the sound will be crisper, and noise from the outside will be blocked. Closed-back headphones can be bass-heavy.
Conclusion
To sum up, the whole thing, if you are someone who loves listening to hiphop music on headphones, then you should consider sound staging in order to get an incredible musical experience.
However, not everybody will require sound staging. Soundstaging makes the audio more natural and real, while normally, it is plain and boring. Most people around us, surprisingly, are habituated to normal music only.
Soundstaging is a costly process, and thus the soundstage headphones cost you more. Speakers and headphones with soundstage features are definitely high-end models, requiring you to spend more for a better experience.
A music lover, a gamer, an orchestra lover, or someone who does work related to high-level audio and videos would definitely require sound staging. Hope this article was helpful to someone seeking knowledge about soundstage.