Tests / 06 — Stereo imaging
Stereo imaging test
Good headphones don’t just do “left” and “right” — they draw a continuous stage between your ears. Fire noise bursts at five positions, then let the auto-pan glide across and listen for gaps or jumps.
Each burst should appear exactly where the dot sits — half-left should be clearly distinct from both “far left” and “center”.
What to listen for
- Five distinct positions. If half-left sounds the same as far-left, the in-between of your stereo field is collapsing.
- A smooth glide. During auto-pan the noise should travel continuously, not hop between three spots.
- A stable center. The centered burst should be a compact point between your ears, not a wide smear. A vague center often points to a phase problem.
Why it matters
Imaging is what lets you find footsteps in a game, place instruments in a mix, and hear a soundstage instead of “stuff in both ears”. It depends on channel matching — two drivers with identical loudness and frequency response. Well-matched pairs image precisely; loosely matched ones smear.
We use noise bursts rather than tones because your brain localizes broadband sounds far better — that’s also why footsteps (broadband) are easy to place and a pure sine hum is nearly impossible.