As a corollary to an interesting discussion thread on the illusive nature of the so-called soundstage (as it appears during audio reproduction), I'd like to pose a more general question: what is an 'illusion' in audio reproduction?
Let's assume, for a moment, that we reach a near-consensual agreement that the experience of soundstage during the reproduction is a complete illusion, something entirely constructed by our brains, who get fooled by some 'cues' during the playback. Now, starting from that premise, can we say what is definitely not an illusion in the sound reproduction? Let me elaborate with an example. If I play a stereo track while sitting in the sweet spot, I will experience different instruments playing in different spots along the soundstage. Suppose I'm now aware that this spatial positioning is an illusion that my brain creates after being fooled by the tricks planted by recording and mixing engineers. If I then get up and go upstairs, I will continue hearing the playback. Only now I will lose all information about the spatial positioning of the instruments/voices. But while staying upstairs, I will still be able to discern the piano from the drums from the saxophone from Ella Fitzgerald's voice. The question is: is that ability to hear and discern various instruments an illusion? Is it something that our brains get tricked into fabricating in our head (similar to how they get tricked into fabricating the spatial positioning of the instruments), or is it a real sound of the piano etc. that we hear? -- magiccarpetride ------------------------------------------------------------------------ magiccarpetride's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=37863 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=93105 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
