Is it possible with standard stereo to hear sounds behind you?

[_JL_]

Interesting topic. It's definitely possible but uncommon in normal recordings as few have instruments/voices intended to be behind the listener.

 

One good demo is from one of the Chesky audiophile sampler discs (forgot which one) where David beat a tom-tom while running around the mic. It also has another track with the tom-tom positioned electronically. Interestingly, I found the electronic version even more convincing than the real acoustic version.

 

In yet another disc I think is from one of Stereophile's demo discs where there is a track where a bunch of musicians making sounds while running around the mic. The effect is also very real when played in just stereo.

 

So subjectively it is possible to reproduce sounds that appear to be coming from behind using just a pair of speakers. How that can happen is another matter altogether as human auditory perception is far from fully decoded.

 

What is even more difficult to reproduce in stereo, IME, is height. Outside of very specific demo tracks, I have not encountered any tracks that can exhibit acoustically recorded height.

 

 

[_JL_]

Correction: The second demo track where a bunch of "musicians" run around is not from Stereophile. It's from Chesky Records' "Best of Chesky Jazz and More Audiophile Tests Vol.2", in a track called "General Image and Resolution Test".