I love music.

I write about the music I like and have purchased for the benefit of better understanding it and sharing my preferences with others.

Near-field Listening

Near-field Listening

Biberfan
music appreciation, audio

There are basically, as I see it, three ways to listen to music for high-fidelity results with stereophonic recordings: Sitting away from the speakers, allowing the room’s reflections to play into the effect of re-creating three-dimensional sound, wearing headphones, and sitting close enough to the speakers that diminishes the impact of room reflections. This last method is called near field.

I came across a picture this weekend online of a person who claimed “this is the best sound I’ve ever experienced.” The small speakers were set up upon a desk, and the understanding would be that this person would be positioned relatively closely, having the two speakers feeding the music at both ears nearly directly.

When we think about speakers, especially so those that use traditional drivers, we might imagine that the sound is coming out of those drivers in a straight line, wherever we are pointing the speakers. This however is not true. The front of the speaker helps to project the sound, but sound goes in all directions. This makes sense if you walk around speakers, of course you can hear the music as you walk around them.

For my setup, I have my two floor-standing speakers about eight feet apart. They are towed in about 10-13°, and I get a good stereo image sitting in my sofa. But with all that space in between, and the depth of my room? I can put a chair much closer to the speakers. I am currently about 4 feet from the front of my speakers. For me this provides a good near field experience. The effect is that I’ve stepped into the room where the music is being made. The illusion of a singer in the center, singing over me, is surreal.

Why not listen this way all the time? While it does provide a deep immersion into the music, the effect is less realistic than a concert experience; yet the effect is interesting enough to indulge upon as an alternative method of enjoying music, especially so, for deeper listening.

Is it true that I’m not hearing the effects of my room? No. It’s about timing. The sound coming directly from the speakers themselves seem to outweigh to some degree the reflected sound. You can even sit in between your speakers and hear some interesting effects, too, although I prefer to still be out in front of the speakers.

If you, like the person who posted a picture, have speakers on your desktop, you may already be fully aware of the near field experience. The only downside is that many small desktop speakers don’t provide the full frequency range that floorstanders can provide.

Tracks to try out with near field:

  • Baba Drame, from the album Valentine by Bill Frisell
  • Billie Jean, from the album FrauContraBass by the group Frau Contrabass
  • Prayer, from the album A Humdrum Star by GoGoPenguin
  • Rio After Dark from the album Rio After Dark by Ana Caram
  • Anna from the album Heartplay by Charlie Haden and Antonio Forcione
  • Biber’s Mystery Sonatas by Alice Piérot and Les Veilleurs de Nuit

The Bach Effect