On 2014-03-07, Timothy Schmele wrote:
A large space coming out of a mono speaker sounds like a large space coming out of a mono speaker.
It does. But with a proper mono recording -- instead of just a stereo fold down -- and a proper speaker -- e.g. an omni in a relatively dead room -- even mono can be spectacular. Especially with some practice, like we've all had with the stereo pair and its abject phasing, pulling and whatnot.
Few people on this list would willingly go down to mono, given a chance. Of course. But few of us have actually heard professional quality mono playback either. So I'd argue we tend to overestimate the benefits of stereo, especially since for most music out there relies on center panned vocals, melody, drums etc. which mono actually does much more solidly than phantom stereo, because most of the important envelopment cues can be substituted for by a lively room (cf. Ralph Glascal's Ambiophonics work), and because every other system besides mono *too* is an acquired and practiced habit.
Just monitor your own reactions when you next hear dialogue coming from a hard center, with the actor on screen actually appearing at the middle. With the right movie and the right theatre, that's pretty much as close you get to proper mono. And it really can be spectacular: at low amplitudes, closing your eyes, it can sometimes sound fully transparent, like there was an actual person there. But then in general you probably won't like it with your eyes open. Why? Because most of us, me included, have already ruined our ears with stereo-the-so-called-solid. The fiction it presents us with by now sounds more normal and lifelike than even the physically more accurate mono dialogue or lead voice.
I'm not too sure that is a good thing. -- Sampo Syreeni, aka decoy - de...@iki.fi, http://decoy.iki.fi/front +358-40-3255353, 025E D175 ABE5 027C 9494 EEB0 E090 8BA9 0509 85C2 _______________________________________________ Sursound mailing list Sursound@music.vt.edu https://mail.music.vt.edu/mailman/listinfo/sursound
