Holographic depth soundstage and 3d impression 2025

[Bartez2000]

The subject of holography is probably misunderstood by many. This is where the misunderstandings and jokes come from. However, anyone who experiences this tangible sound, which as if you could touch it with your own hand, will not pass by indifferently. You hear a vocalist who sings a meter away from you at arm's length when the speakers are 2 meters away and the strings are 3 meters behind him, that if you were to touch them you would have to go there but it is... behind the wall. This type of holography, so very tangible, will be appreciated by everyone.

 

[Doodski]

The subject of holography is probably misunderstood by many. This is where the misunderstandings and jokes come from. However, anyone who experiences this tangible sound, which as if you could touch it with your own hand, will not pass by indifferently. You hear a vocalist who sings a meter away from you at arm's length when the speakers are 2 meters away and the strings are 3 meters behind him, that if you were to touch them you would have to go there but it is... behind the wall. This type of holography, so very tangible, will be appreciated by everyone.

Can you give examples of music that contains this?

 

[MatrixS2000]

SPL BIG This is what I mentioned, mid/side controller. Nothing special, music producers know that is a tricky spatial effect. Make side louder/mid quieter.

BiG is not a mid/side processor. From the manual:

In BiG a difference-signal derived from the stereo input is processed by an analog filter network before mixed back to the original signal in a special mixing stage. This is not M/S processing but a completely different and new way of stereo-processing.

 

[Bartez2000]

Can you give examples of music that contains this

Yes, maybe someone tell me "nothing special" but it was popular pop song
Weeknd - Blinding lights (and was played from youtube). Some speakers make magic.

 

[Doodski]

Yes, maybe someone tell me "nothing special" but it was popular pop sing
Weeknd - Blunding lights (and was played from youtube). Some speakers make magic.

 

[Doodski]

I am using headphones presently but there is a center seemingly forward presence. Very wide bass. The forward presence should not be there.

 

[Selkirks]

Write here your speakers models that create holographic depth, describe your experiences

In my extensive speaker experience/ownership I find the room and speaker interaction to be the main factor. From placement, to space from boundaries, and listening height. Nothing specific to a brand and model name. Different designs require different placement to achieve the same goal. The source material is just as important.

 

[majingotan]

The subject of holography is probably misunderstood by many. This is where the misunderstandings and jokes come from. However, anyone who experiences this tangible sound, which as if you could touch it with your own hand, will not pass by indifferently. You hear a vocalist who sings a meter away from you at arm's length when the speakers are 2 meters away and the strings are 3 meters behind him, that if you were to touch them you would have to go there but it is... behind the wall. This type of holography, so very tangible, will be appreciated by everyone.

Uh huh. Most tracks heck even those recorded on iPhone cameras on YouTube sound holographic to me (no I'm not using the surround virtualization DSP). Front to back depth, believable spatial imaging, instrument harmonic sound real life off of most transducers out there (be it headphones or speakers). Just watch a lot of AS(M)R stuff on YT and get impressive spatial audio reproduction from any speakers or headphones out there

 

[theREALdotnet]

1. Holography is a feature of speakers, not amplifiers, not rooms. A speaker either has it or it doesn't.

I would have to disagree. Great holographic soundstage depends on recording, speaker and room/placement. Any one of those three done badly can ruin it.

2. The room and positioning settings can help bring out holography but don't create it.

I would say, they can preserve (rather than destroy) it. As can the speaker.

4. Depth is not the mix's fault, if the speaker can't push the dry vocals in front of the speakers, the speaker doesn't have this feature.

There definitely are flat recording and deep, holographic recordings. The best speaker cannot make a flat recording holographic. It can place the sound at the some distance behind the speaker place (towards the front wall). In fact, great speakers do that even with mono material. But it cannot place instruments and voices in different spots at different distances, if that isn't already in the recording.

 

[MattHooper]

They certainly are a very unique speaker. Why did you give them up?

I owned them for 10 years so I had a lot of fun listening to them.

I wanted to settle on a pair of speakers, and the MBLs were the smaller stand mounts (121). I’d already decided I didn’t want to use subwoofers so I was looking for a pair of floorstanding speakers to replace them, that would go deeper in the bass, and produce some larger scale.

I found that the Joseph audio speakers had a very similar tonality to the MBL which I loved, but they also brought more depth and punch and scale. And they also do a beautiful job of disappearing and imaging.

There are ways in which the MBLs exceeded the Joseph speakers, but in the end I’m happy with the choice. Interestingly, I know a couple other people who moved from MBL, thinking they’d never be able to replace them, to Joseph audio speakers.

 

[ppataki]

In my experience (many DIY projects, all documented here on ASR) holographic presentation is linked to the speaker being point source
If your speaker is point source or appears to be point source (drivers fully aligned) then the holographic soundstage will appear: phantom center will move forward and you will have depth and even height more pronounced
Full range and coaxial speakers do this the best way - but again, this is just my personal experience

 

[Sokel]

Its most room/placement and then speakers and recording.
I asked specifically about it when my room was treated.

A dead-ish front wall and ceiling helps a lot,both at depth and height.

(it's not ridiculed at all unless you assign it to DAC s,amps,etc. )

 

[boxerfan88]

Write here your speakers models that create holographic depth, describe your experiences. I felt the vocals 0.5 meters from my face as if there was a physically real person there and it remained there even though I was walking in different directions, the human voice seemed to hang in the air. The rest of the sounds were behind the speakers.

I had experience holographic depth on one particular setup.
Harberth M30, speakers pulled quite far into the room. MLP I would consider nearfield.
I could hear quite a bit of depth (3D effect), but the soundstage width was a little small for my taste (the speakers were about 1.5-2m apart).

Interesting? Yes.
Did I like it? Not really.

I think I still prefer my 2d wall of sound
My guess is that space between the back of speaker to front wall may have had something to do with the depth.

 

[ppataki]

My guess is that space between the back of speaker to front wall may have had something to do with the depth.

+1
Yes, fully agreed

Interesting? Yes.
Did I like it? Not really.

I think I still prefer my 2d wall of sound

This is where the subjective part comes into the picture - I am all for the depth
And that is totally fine

 

[JeremyFife]

1. Holography is a feature of speakers, not amplifiers, not rooms. A speaker either has it or it doesn't.

2. The room and positioning settings can help bring out holography but don't create it.

3. A wide setting that loses the central image is not spatiality but the advantage of the side volume over the mid.

4. Depth is not the mix's fault, if the speaker can't push the dry vocals in front of the speakers, the speaker doesn't have this feature.

5. The central vocal image is always in the front. The mix can enhance the effect but only in speakers that have the ability to create holography.

6. When music is a wall of sound in the speaker plane, it's awful 2d. Why do so few people talk about it here. I'd rather have resonance that I cut out than flat speakers without THD that play 2d.

Best regards brothers

How does that work?

I get that interaction between speakers in a room can produce the illusion of depth and soundstage. I don't understand what a speaker itself contributes.

Interested

 

[Bartez2000]

How does that work?

I get that interaction between speakers in a room can produce the illusion of depth and soundstage. I don't understand what a speaker itself contributes.

Interested

It is often said that it is the room, but it is some feature of the speakers without which the room itself and the position of the speakers will not create holography. It is also said that it is the equal phase of the speakers or drivers, but phase equalization using e.g. dirac does not guarantee holography either. Some speakers can do it, others unfortunately cannot. If someone has noticed this in their speakers, it would be very nice if they shared it with us and wrote which speakers gave this unique effect.

 

[kemmler3D]

So, one point of order for this thread, technically "holography" is recording interference patterns to recreate the 3D wave later, and unfortunately this is not how audio recording as we know it works.

Pedantry aside we all know what is meant in this thread.

To have a good discussion about this, I think we need to start with psychoacoustics and how aural depth perception works, then we can identify aspects of speaker performance that are relevant. Unfortunately I don't know that stuff off the top of my head.

 

[MaxwellsEq]

Write here your speakers models that create holographic depth, describe your experiences

BBC LS3/5A speakers in a very damped control cubicle. Image depth and width were very stable and consistent.

 

[Duke]

It [holographic soundstage depth] is a physical, tangible impression of the presence of the voice/instrument.

I agree.

Imo there are two aspects, at least perceptually. One might be called "presence", and that would be the "physical, tangible impression of the presence of the voice/instrument".

The other aspect might be called "envelopment", and is the sense of being immersed in a much larger acoustic space than the playback room.

In some ways these two aspects may compete, but ime they can also be simultaneously present.

Holographic ability is a feature of a speaker, which loses it due to bad positioning in the room.

It is often said that it is the room, but it is some feature of the speakers without which the room itself and the position of the speakers will not create holography.

That's pretty much what my experience has been. I assume we are talking about unprocessed two-channel, rather than multi-channel and/or cross-talk cancelling.

If someone has noticed this in their speakers, it would be very nice if they shared it with us...

Well, here's one story:

I was helping with an exhibit room at an audio show one morning before the show opened. A professional musician was in the room. His back was turned to the system when someone first turned it on and started playing music. The first song was an acapella cover of Simon & Garfunkle's "The Boxer" performed by The Kings Singers. The musician immediately whirled around because he believed he was hearing live voices, and in that split second he was wondering how they had sneaked past him. He had a moment of cognitive dissonance when he looked in the direction of the voices and there was no one there.

I felt the vocals 0.5 meters from my face as if there was a physically real person there and it remained there even though I was walking in different directions, the human voice seemed to hang in the air. The rest of the sounds were behind the speakers.

Which speakers were those? And, can you describe how they were set up?

 

[Bartez2000]

I agree.

Imo there are two aspects, at least perceptually. One might be called "presence", and that would be the "physical, tangible impression of the presence of the voice/instrument".

The other aspect might be called "envelopment", and is the sense of being immersed in a much larger acoustic space than the playback room.

In some ways these to aspects may compete, but ime they can also be simultaneously present.





That's pretty much what my experience has been. I assume we are talking about unprocessed two-channel, rather than multi-channel and/or cross-talk cancelling.



Well, here's one story:

I was helping with an exhibit room at an audio show one morning before the show opened. A professional musician was in the room. His back was turned to the system when someone first turned it on and started playing music. The first song was an acapella cover of Simon & Garfunkle's "The Boxer" performed by The Kings Singers. The musician immediately whirled around because he believed he was hearing live voices, and in that split second he was wondering how they had sneaked past him. He had a moment of cognitive dissonance when he looked in the direction of the voices and there was no one there.



Which speakers were those? And, can you describe how they were set up?

They were studio monitors that someone accidentally set up in a music room. There were four pairs of popular speakers, but only one created such an amazing sound image. I don't think I want to mention the name of the model, because I'm afraid I'll be accused of advertising, although their production has already ended and they are no longer for sale - I myself hunt for them on the secondary market, but they are nowhere to be found. The least popular of the four, but the most expensive and definitely played in a different league than the rest. Unfortunately, when I came back after a few days, someone set them up differently and the magic disappeared. Which does not change the fact that they were able to do it. They were set wide apart, and not symmetrically in the room, so everything outlived "logic". That magic setup - very wide, toed in standing on other speakers which didn't play good in similar position.