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Stereo imaging and visual localization

Opening my eyes to my "sound stage" is a bit disorienting.. because the drummer seems to be stuck between the floor and far wall like some video game glitch and the pianist is perched atop a platform over everyone else.. voice does seem to hover center, at times, which can be delightfully haunting eyes open or closed.. I'm sure my room just needs tuning.. as soon as I get my p.c. or laptop running again I'll use that excel spreadsheet pinned somehwere around these forums..
 
Looking at the video of the McGurk effect, when I first see his lips pronounce Bah, I hear Bah with my eyes either open or closed.

However, when I see his lips move as if to say Fah I hear Fah. With my eyes closed, I hear Bah.

But when I see his lips moving to say Fah but concentrate on listening, I hear Bah in the audio.

Fascinating illusion.
 
budgetnudist said:
Opening my eyes to my "sound stage" is a bit disorienting.. because the drummer seems to be stuck between the floor and far wall like some video game glitch and the pianist is perched atop a platform over everyone else.. voice does seem to hover center, at times, which can be delightfully haunting eyes open or closed.. I'm sure my room just needs tuning.. as soon as I get my p.c. or laptop running again I'll use that excel spreadsheet pinned somehwere around these forums..
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Please post the spreadsheet here. Ive yet to see it and it could be relevant to the discussion.
 
Im going to spend the next 15 mins listening to my setup with my eyes closed.. If i dont fall asleep i will report back here and attempt to describe what happens.
 
PROJECT 2501 said:
Whenever the topic of stereo imaging and soundstages are discussed you'll often hear people claim to be able to pick out and identify the locations of where each instrument is being played by the musician as if they were on stage in front of them... this of course is very much true and my favorite part of the hifi audio experience. What I dont understand is that a good number of these people that claim as such, is that they claim to do it while sitting back in their seat with their eyes closed....

Closing my eyes is stereo imaging kryptonite.... personally speaking...
I NEED to be looking at space between my speakers to "physically see" the audio. And when I say "physically see.. its "almost" in the literal sense.. if that actually makes sense..
My brain can not locate these phantom audio sources without looking in the direction of where they are supposed to be. Looking away and closing my eyes prohibits detection and visualization of the sound.... is this a phenomenon that is exclusive to me? Or do any of you share my experiences and must use your sense of sight to pick up on spacial audio cues like I've described?
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IMO its just ones perception. It don't matter if my eyes is closed or open or if the light are on or off or if I am watching (with volume off and closed captions on) TV while listening to music my ears will hear it. What doesn't change is what your system can or cannot really do as some speakers do not image well some speakers don't have huge soundstages, some recordings are better then others. I can play my fluence speakers and they sound like 2 dimensional when compared to my DML panels that sound like 3 dimensional with 3d like sound where the instruments are all around me while the vocalist is smack dead in the center as if she is singing only to me. lol
 
pch300 said:
Looking at the video of the McGurk effect, when I first see his lips pronounce Bah, I hear Bah with my eyes either open or closed.

However, when I see his lips move as if to say Fah I hear Fah. With my eyes closed, I hear Bah.

But when I see his lips moving to say Fah but concentrate on listening, I hear Bah in the audio.

Fascinating illusion.
Click to expand...

That sort of thing would probably matter more in my listening life if I were to actually listen to what they're saying. More times than not, vocals are just another instrument in the great symphony of life ...

Kinda like Charlie Brown, eh ... <G>

 
my daughter's music teacher (Eisenhart) had a good stereo in the room and would hold listening sessions in the dark. a great exercise for the musician.
 
pch300 said:
I noticed only recently that the late conductor Herbert von Karajan conducted with his eyes closed.
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I've noticed that quite a few blind people are able to discern a good soundstage and are quite good at localizing the sounds whether they are live or Memorex (recorded.) :smoke:
 
When seriously listening (most always), my eyes are closed and my glasses are removed. When I open my eyes, the image collapses to the space between the two speakers rather than well beyond them.
 
toddalin said:
When seriously listening (most always), my eyes are closed and my glasses are removed. When I open my eyes, the image collapses to the space between the two speakers rather than well beyond them.
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Same with me. Eyes open with low light I can sometimes hear the placement of different instruments but eyes closed, it comes together much easier.
 
With your eyes closed there is less distraction from visual cues. Go anywhere and/or do anything. Then close your eyes and do it again. You will automatically pay more attention to what you're hearing when your eyes are closed.
 
JoeESP9 said:
With your eyes closed there is less distraction from visual cues.
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Wifey and I attended the symphony Saturday night. I always spend some time with eyes closed to help maintain a good sonic reference of a live source.

There's not so much *pinpoint* imaging for most instruments - just a remarkably open presence where some instruments seem to "float" above the orchestra.
 
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back in the days of Disco just before the CD became the preferred choice LP's could be a little short of providing the sound of choice for big Discos, especially in Mexico where there were no limits on the size of the systems. We always installed a 3BX to expand the dynamic range and if the system had an exceptionally strong bass capability the DBX sub harmonic generator. Then we installed UREI peak limiters to keep the DJ's from over driving everything if we were not using Mcintosh amps with Power Guard to protect the speakers. Of course the speakers had to be able to handle the continuous 130 %+ power ability of the Mac amps. So if you were using MC 2205 the speakers had to be able to handle 300 watts RMS 24/7. The MC 2500's and 2600's were real brutes. The 2600 could put out 850 to 900 watts all night long. We used them to drive either two JBL or ALtec 18 inch drivers per channel. Bigger discos used 4 double boxes. Klipsch with their double MWM boxes couldn't handle much power so we installed slightly trimmed Altec 3156 drivers . Double boxes with Klipsch woofers could barely handle a 2255 or 2250 with original drivers and 32 HZ High pass filters had to be installed. When CD's came along they didn't always sound right with the bass synthetic generator so a by pass switch was installed. Upon first listening to CD's the Club owners who used the 3 bx and the sub generator heard very little difference if at all from the single cut 45 rpm 12 inch records. Those clubs that had vast amounts of money invested in large libraries of Lp's were very reluctant to switch to CD until the sources of LP's and single 45 rpm records started to be come pricey and availability dropped. Pioneer and Denon came up with some good players for clubs and Pioneer made players you could use for tricks like dJ's did with records. By the 90's only new clubs were being installed in Mexico and disco was dead in the US. With issues with Gangs, killings, and drugs in Mexico I stopped crossing the river in 95 or 6. Club owners would bring pieces over for repair and to have speakers re-coned and to buy replacement diaphragms. They understood my reservations about going to Mexico and never asked. I haven't been back in almost 24 years and I drive within a couple hundred feet of the Rio Grande and Old Mexico weekly on our new Border Highway. Back in the 70's and 80's I spent over 180 days a year in Mexico and Central America installing system both commercial and residential.. My favorite home system was in San Miguel Allende.
 
Some people can close their eyes and touch their nose, others whack themselves in the face, or touch their lips. Some people can walk through a familiar room in the dark, other stub their toes and fall over things.

Seems about the same thing to me.

Different abilities at spatial recognition.
 
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