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Does playing vocals, instruments and bass in different speakers at the same time give a better experience to the listener or does playing it whole as a song in multiple speakers??

I recently got curious about the stems of the music and had this thought, whether we can have a better experience when played in different speakers which do a good job in a particular task like bass, vocals, etc. I would love to know what others think about this idea!!!

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    How many speakers do you want? Two speakers for stereo sound? 4 speakers for that quadraphonic surround sound experience? How much do you like the same instrument playing in both speakers but at different volume levels (i.e. not-completely-shifted panning)?
    – Dekkadeci
    Commented Nov 18, 2022 at 17:08
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    Define "better". If you go see a small gig, that's what you will find. A large gig & the onstage sound will be buried beneath the overall front of house sound, in narrow stereo.
    – Tetsujin
    Commented Nov 18, 2022 at 17:23
  • In theory it probably would be slightly better, for sound and also direction. But it would be rather room dependant also. In a blind test, I'd defy most folk to tell a lot of difference. And how could it all be set up?
    – Tim
    Commented Nov 18, 2022 at 17:35
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    This might be a better fit at sound.stackexchange.com: You've basically discovered the art of mixing! If "whole as a song in multiple speakers" means "having the same mix in every speaker," then no, I think most sound engineers alter the mix a bit for various speakers, panning some sources to different speakers, maybe using notch filters to fight odd room acoustics, etc. It's certainly not a given that the same mix would be in every speaker. But it's also rarely true that you "hard-pan" an individual instrument entirely into one speaker, unless you want a strong directional sense
    – Andy Bonner
    Commented Nov 18, 2022 at 17:48
  • It depends on other factors whether more speakers are better or worse
    – Todd Wilcox
    Commented Nov 18, 2022 at 19:50

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whether if we can have a better experience when played in different speakers which do a good job in a particular task like bass, vocals..etc. I would love to know what others think about this idea!!!

The most complete "good job" discrimination is done by frequency crossovers and is bog standard in sound reproduction: the vast majority of full-range speakers have multiple drivers for different frequency ranges.

There is quadrophony, surround sound, various subwoofer setups and so on that again discriminate according to frequency and locatability.

Separating sound sources for various instrument types is obviously done in every symphonic orchestra concert (that doesn't have an "FOH", front of house public address system like pop concerts). It turns out that the aural transparency that this per-instrument constant-phase sound source location offers differs a lot according to the entry price you are willing to pay: the best (and most expensive) listening locations are actually comparatively few compared to the total number of available seats.

In reasonable vicinity and central placing, the transparency beats what most recordings can offer.

In theory, a band setup with front-pointing stage amps can offer a similar experience. However, compared to an acoustical instrument, a stage amp tends to have quite higher directivity in general and particularly so at higher frequencies.

That makes it somewhat tricky to provide for a really transparent auditory soundscape given only stage amplification: a sweet listening spot giving justice to all instrument groups and their respective frequencies is going to be rather hard to find.

High directivity means rather confined areas good for listening, low directivity implies high levels of reverberation. Also not good for listening.

So in practice, it's hard enough to work with a good "front of house" sound system without inviting dead spots.

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    "the best (and most expensive) listening locations are actually comparatively few compared to the total number of available seats" —In a few hours I'm about to head off to a rehearsal in a cathedral (well, a small one, a chapel really). I always recommend to concertgoers that they sit in the first 10 rows so that they actually hear individual notes instead of a blurry wash of reverb. (As it happens the concert is free and general admission, but the point stands: 5% of this venue is "good seats.")
    – Andy Bonner
    Commented Nov 18, 2022 at 18:57
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    Though it's always worth checking out empirically, in case you have an odd room or a bad engineer - for a smallish pop/rock gig, the place to stand is right behind the mixing board ;))
    – Tetsujin
    Commented Nov 18, 2022 at 19:08

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