In order to know what those cues are, we need to analyze the way sound is affected as it travels from one loudspeaker to each ear. Then we would need to add directional cues to the headphone signals so that the brain understands where the sound is coming from.įigure 2: Response at the ear canal openings of both ears for a speaker placed at 30 degrees relative to the listener (LL=left speaker to left ear, LR=left speaker to right ear). Let’s say we want to simulate a normal speaker setup, as shown in Figure 1a. In this post I will focus on the objective of obtaining the highest possible sound quality for stereo sound recordings, achieving a natural headphone sound without simulating a room. However, adding artificial reverb to the sound always introduces some form of coloration. A typical application would be to simulate a surround sound setup with virtual speakers placed around the listener. There are several products on the market that do this, and most try to simulate the experience of listening in a room by adding room reflections to the sound. The way to achieve this is by implementing what is commonly known as cross-feed, i.e., some of the left channel is fed to the right ear and some of the right channel is fed to the left ear. It is possible to make headphone listening a lot more similar to loudspeaker listening, however. But most listeners will probably prefer something between the loudspeaker and the headphone experience, maintaining the best of both worlds-low coloration, and a big coherent sound stage right in front of you. You can even simulate a normal stereo speaker setup. You can simulate virtual sound sources anywhere. Having direct access to the ear signals, as you have with headphone listening, gives a lot of freedom when it comes to applying digital filters to shape the sound. When you use headphones, you get rid of all the room coloration and you tend to get a very big sound stage-even though it’s basically inside your head.
Many people like the sound of headphones, and many even prefer it to speakers. But it’s possible to think one step further than this.Ĭross-feed: Loudspeaker simulation using headphones Whereas with headphones, we usually just send the left channel to the left ear and the right channel to the right ear for the simple reason that we have two audio channels and two ears. The fundamental difference between loudspeaker and headphone playback is that with loudspeakers, the sound from one channel reaches both ears (as you can see in Figure 1a below). When you sit in the sweet spot, the loudspeakers are typically 45–60 degrees apart in a normal stereo setup. In loudspeaker playback, the sound stage is naturally rendered between the loudspeakers. And when an instrument is playing only in one channel, you get the uncomfortable sensation that the instrument is playing just next to your ear. When you listen to music using headphones, you will notice that sound can generally be perceived as coming from inside your head.
Why headphones are incompatible with stereo
#Dirac live headphones upgrade
In this post, I’ll be examining why music sounds different on headphones, and look into a technology that can upgrade headphone sound quality by several notches. Otherwise we wouldn’t be seeing the boom in headphone sales that we’ve been seeing the past few years (although it’s worth pointing out that some retail stores keep mirrors next to the headphone displays for customers who care more about looks than sound). That isn’t to say you can’t still get great sound from headphones. Have you ever wondered why music sounds so different on headphones compared to loudspeakers? It’s because, by design, headphones are not technically compatible with the stereophonic system.
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