Want some new headphones? Have a think about soundstage and imaging before you buy your next pair of cans

Finding the ‘right’ anything takes time, research, and some commitment, but especially so for headphones: in-ear, over-ear, on-ear, and even bone conduction – all of these options being popular in 2025.

Over the years, I’ve owned pretty much every type of headphone out there and, until recently, I thought the main things to look for were comfort, noise cancellation, battery life, and whether the bass hits hard enough (note: it almost always does with all popular commercial cans).

Then I stumbled across two terms I’d barely noticed before: soundstage and imaging. They kept cropping up in reviews, and I realised they described something I’d been hearing without knowing its name.

A major factor in your headphones creating the best soundstage is whether they use an open or closed back design. Models like the audiophile open-back Sennheiser HD 550s are a good example, placing instruments cleanly and clearly in the mix.

To find out more, I delved deep on soundstages and imaging, seeking to understand how they can make a big difference to how natural and immersive your audio feels across gaming, music, and video.

What is soundstage and imaging?

The simplest way I’ve come to understand soundstage is to think of it as the shape of the music. With some (closed) headphones, everything seems pressed into the middle of your head. With others, the performance spreads out, giving a sense of width.

A convincing soundstage can make a small acoustic recording feel as though it is happening right there in front of you, rather than piped straight into your ears. If that sounds strange, try out an open-back pair of headphones to see what I mean.

Imaging, meanwhile, relates to how precisely each sound is placed within that stage. The name is a little confusing at first glance, but describes how clearly headphones “map” – or image – sounds in space, like building a sonic picture.

When imaging is poor, instruments and voices can smear together, making it hard to separate what you’re hearing. When it’s good, you can identify exactly where a sound comes from. Open-back headphones also contribute to this.

Neither imaging or soundstage actually changes the music itself, and a bad mix is still a bad mix, but both affect how your brain interprets it.

No longer the preserve of hardcore audiophiles, soundstage and imaging are important concepts to understand how to get the best listening experience.

Open-back, closed-back, driver and ANC

Once I started comparing different headphones, I realised soundstage and imaging aren’t just down to the recording: design plays a huge part, and the biggest factor is whether headphones are open-back or closed-back.

Open-back models like the Sennheiser HD 550s allow air and sound to pass through the ear cups, which reduces reflections and makes the stage feel more spacious, albeit while letting in more sound from your environment.

On the other hand, closed-back headphones, like my Kef M7 headphones, isolate you better, which is ideal for travel or recording, but the sealed design can trap sound inside the cup and make everything feel closer and more confined.

Driver design also matters. Some headphones angle the drivers so that sound reaches your ears more like it would from speakers in a room, while ear-cup size, pad materials, and even how tightly the headband clamps your ears can all shift how natural the stage feels.

Active noise cancellation, or ANC, adds another complication as it relies on processing and a sealed fit to block external noise. While this is great on a train or plane, the tradeoff is that many ANC models collapse the stage, giving the effect of it being inside your head.

In short, the difference isn’t just marketing. Design choices – from ear-cup shape to electronic processing – directly influence whether headphones can create an engaging space, or leave everything sounding flat and congested.

Should I care about soundstage and imaging?

Not everyone needs to chase wide soundstage or laser-sharp imaging, but for some listeners these qualities can make a huge difference, and you’re likely to be among them having made it this far.

For gamers, accurate imaging isn’t just about immersion – it can also be a competitive advantage. In a fast-paced shooter, being able to tell whether footsteps are behind you, or slightly off to one side, can save precious seconds.

Players of open-world titles benefit too, with ambient sounds placed around you in a way that makes the environment feel more convincing.

Video editors and anyone working with audio should also care. Clear imaging makes it easier to spot when dialogue is centred properly, or when sound effects sit awkwardly in a mix. A realistic stage helps when checking how ambience plays against voices, or when testing whether a stereo track will fold down cleanly to mono.

But it’s music fans that have the most to gain.

A strong soundstage gives live albums, classical pieces, and acoustic recordings extra depth, while accurate imaging means you can pick apart layers in dense mixes without everything blurring together.

If you mostly listen while commuting or in other noisy environments, closed-back or ANC headphones will still serve you well, but in the quiet of your home an open-back pair can change how familiar tracks feel.

Ultimately, soundstage and imaging are about matching your headphones to your priorities.

If you want more detail, realism, or positional awareness, it’s worth paying attention to them. If you mainly need portability, isolation, or maximum bass, they might be less important – but once you notice them, it’s difficult not to keep listening out.