When practicing at home, is it better to study orchestral excerpts with your headphones or with speakers? Let’s explore the pros and cons and find the best solution for you
If you have downloaded the Maponos app and have started trying out the free excerpts, you may have already noticed one of its features: two different audio formats to choose from while practicing. Stereo audio and immersive audio (also called binaural audio).
The most innovative feature that Maponos offers is immersive audio. It’s what allows you to study an orchestral excerpt as if you were sitting in your actual seat in the orchestra: precise sound perspective, and excellent audio quality.
But that’s not the only option. We believe every musician should be able to choose what they prefer, so they can focus on the score.
Let’s take a closer look at how these two options can support your practice sessions of the orchestral repertoire. Whenever you like.
- Practicing with headphones: immersive audio
- What headphones do I need for immersive audio?
- Practicing with speakers: stereo audio
- What’s the best solution for you?
- Final thoughts
Practicing with headphones: immersive audio
conceived Maponos, our first goal was to give classical music students a reliable, effective way to practice orchestral excerpts: no more makeshift solutions. We wanted to make it easy to understand the full orchestral context: what happens around you when you play your part? While you’re tackling those rapid bars on your violin, what are the brass doing? And what about the violas next to you?
That’s where immersive (or binaural) audio comes in. It recreates the exact sound experience you would have from your seat in the orchestra. If you’re a percussionist, you’ll hear the strings in front of you, and the brass as well. However, their sounds will come from different sides of the stage, and even different heights. That’s exactly what you’ll perceive through headphones. If you’re a violinist, you’ll hear the double basses ahead and slightly elevated. And so on.
Pretty amazing, right? If you haven’t tried it yet, give it a go: we offer two free excerpts for every instrument in our catalog so you can experience the sound quality firsthand.
What headphones do I need for immersive audio?
Let’s be clear: using Maponos immersive audio without headphones doesn’t make much sense. If you don’t want to use headphones, we recommend to switch to stereo audio.
But if you want to dive into binaural sound for a more realistic and score-focused experience, grab your headphones.
You might be thinking: “But I need to hear my own instrument first and foremost!”
Of course. That’s why we recommend semi-open over-ear headphones. They let you hear both the immersive audio and your own playing. No need to go the expensive way if you don’t want to: a budget-friendly pair of semi-open headphones (often under €30) is already a great start.
And what about earbuds? Well, if that’s your only option, go with it. But honestly, we’d suggest switching to stereo audio in that case.
Practicing with speakers: stereo audio
During the beta phase, we gathered a lot of feedback from classical musicians, teachers, and students. Many of them asked for solutions that work well in group settings, especially for lessons.
That’s why we also developed a solution tailored for music classrooms, conservatory ensembles, and anyone who prefers using speakers (or just doesn’t like headphones).
We simply call it stereo audio. In this case, the sound perspective is frontal and direct, reflecting what the conductor would hear. It provides a clear sense of the orchestral context, just as it would be perceived from the podium.
Maponos stereo audio is an ideal solution for:
- instrument teachers who want to enhance in-class lessons
- groups of students who want to practice together
- musicians who want to work on excerpts collaboratively
More generally, having stereo audio is one more option available for you: Maponos wants to make life easier to those working on orchestral excerpts for auditions or exams. We know: the best practice is the one where you can focus on the music.
What’s the best solution for you?
As you can guess, it’s up to you and how you want to customize your practice.
To sum things up, here are our recommendations:
Use Maponos stereo audio if you:
- want to make classroom lessons more effective
- plan to practice orchestral excerpts with colleagues
- prefer to practice without headphones
- want to hear the orchestra from the conductor’s perspective
Use Maponos immersive (binaural) audio if you:
- want the exact sound perspective you’d have from your orchestra seat
- need a more precise context
- want to understand what’s happening around you during performance
- have to a pair of headphones (ideally semi-open over-ear, even budget ones)
Final thoughts
No matter what instrument you play – tuba, percussion, trombone, viola… – when using Maponos, choose the audio format that suits you best. Either way, you’ll still enjoy all the other valuable features the app offers:
- add or mute the metronome
- play or mute each orchestra section with a single tap
- practice at your own speed
- use the Loop button to repeat any passage as often as needed
- printable sheet music and full scores
- our constantly updated catalog of orchestral excerpts
At Maponos, we know how challenging the life of a musician can be. If you want to focus on your excerpts and don’t have an orchestra at hand, this app was made just for you.
