And once that happened, the recording art changed, entirely. ![]() That being the case, it didn’t take engineers long to figure out that the singer didn’t even need to be present for the orchestral recording session, but could be added later. That, as originally just 3 channels, allowed recording engineers to record (for example) the orchestra on two stereo channels and a singer on a third “center” channel, so that orchestral/vocal relative volume or tonal balance could be changed or adjusted or the tracks individually edited even after the recording was long finished. Sometimes this has gotten out of hand, and we’ve all seen pictures of recording sessions where there seemed to be one mic per performer or as many as five mics on just a single drum set.īy the 1950s, and ’60s, this practice finally got so complicated and so difficult to edit or mix that multi-track recording was developed to improve, and ultimately replace it. Another thing that has been done quite commonly is to use “spot” mics on individual performers, to set them more properly in perspective or to bring a player far back in the orchestra up to “center stage, front” for a solo and then move him/her back into the group by just changing that mic’s volume on a mixing board. That may sound more accurate, but, for stereo, it necessarily presents a different-from-normal “image”. To counter that, a number of things have been tried: One is just to rearrange the group so the “balance” will be better. That kind of recording, where the mics are spaced differently than your ears and the playback is through speakers, also spaced differently than your ears (and probably even differently than the microphones) creates, as I described in earlier parts of this series, problems of arrival time and phase that make it impossible for stereo to truly duplicate the original experience.Īnother problem that stereo has is that differing distances from the microphones to the artists and instruments in a large group – a symphony orchestra, for example, perhaps with a solo vocalist (the fat lady in the Viking helmet and armor, if it’s an operatic recording) – can result in significant differences in relative level (how loud everything is) that can result in some performers appearing more or less prominent in the recording than they actually were in the actual performance. ![]() The original stereo recordings, as I’ve mentioned earlier, were done very simply, usually with an “A-B” mic array (two mics, usually “omnis”, spaced from a couple of feet to about eight feet apart). It’s not just that binaural is all that good it’s that stereo has problems that binaural will. For sheer reality, though – for the seemingly palpable duplication of a real musical or sonic experience – headphones, providing that they’re playing a binaural source, have no equal. In terms of a pleasant background or even serious listening experience, speakers, IMHO, are the champs. ![]() ![]() (That seems always to happen just as I’m settling-in to really enjoy the music, and it always reminds that I’m listening to a recording, and not the real thing) Finally, at least in stereo, although I’ve been told that there’s software available that can make it otherwise, I don’t like the way headphones (even my Stax Sigmas and the AKG K1000s, which were specifically designed to counter it) image inside my head, instead of in front of me, as speakers do. (Even with 15 foot extension cords, I still feel spatially constrained.) For another, I don’t like the fact that, when I’m wearing headphones of any kind, if I move my head, the whole orchestra moves with me. I’ve tried the latest and greatest of every style of ‘phone at Shows and I own three sets of Stax electrostatics (Lambda Pro, Sigma, and SR-80 Pro) and both of the top-of-the line earbud models (3 driver and the yummy new 4 driver) from 1More, and for me, despite how great the headphones’ sound may be, for most background or other uncommitted listening, speakers still offer a number of advantages that I find important: For one thing, I’m not on a leash when I listen to them. Quite frankly, I like speakers a whole lot more than headphones. Twitter Facebook Email Print LinkedIn Pinterest SMS WhatsApp
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