Pretty new to stereo and my version of mid-fi consists of an Onkyo HT receiver, forget the model number, and a pair of M22 with the Onkyo subwoofer. Sounds decent enough for now but I'm bit by the bug for sure.
Hope I can make sense of this question but I read a lot about the 'sound stage' and totally understand the idea and have 'seen' and heard it before how instruments and performers are placed on the stage and how it is a good thing if that image stays focused.
What I don't get is the idea that the separation should or could represent a live performance. I have been to many a live show and just because a performer is standing on the right hand side of the stage doesn't mean the sound coming from them or their instrument is coming from the right hand side of the stage.
It is most likely coming from a huge bank of speaker/amps placed wherever the sound guy thinks it will sound best in a particular venue. May be on the right, may be across the back, but not necessarily where the guy is standing in relationship to the stage.
In the studio most everything is miked separately so if there are 3 acoustic guitars there are 3 or more mikes each getting its own track. If you are there for the live performance then you might be able to position the players on the stage but doesn't most of the 'stage' get created in the engineers mind and skills in mixing?
The engineer will take the sax track and pan it left, center the drums and set them in back, maybe bring the snare forward for the intro then send it back for the remainder, bring the vocals forward centered left or right, make sure the orchestra stays in the rear through panning and mixing tricks.
Voila - a sound stage - but perhaps not one that represents a live stage at all - just the engineers idea of getting the tracks placed in the mix in a pleasing manner which of course looks like separation of the instruments but isn't it true that the stage is a creation in the mixing studio and not necessarily a representation of a the actual performance stage?
Hope this question isn't to elementary. What do you think?
