what are your favourite monitors?

[eeoo]

Concerning headphone mixing I've always found that when i mix in cans and then listen back on monitors I'm surprised at how far off I am but when I mix on monitors and listen back in my cans it's what I expect to hear. Personally, it would take a lot of practice for me to use headphones as my primary mix reference. That said i do use two different sets to reference my mixes. As far as monitors, the important thing is to get to know whatever you use as well as you can, they're like playing your favorite guitar (or whatever instrument you play), know them instinctively.

eo

[Paulie]

I tend to use reference mixes a lot because of hearing problems. So, I would think that results would be consistent whether or not you use headphones or speakers? Headphones give you direct sound and eliminate any room issues. Also, from what I've seen, the final test is how it sounds in your car.

[funsongs]

I tend to use reference mixes a lot because of hearing problems. So, I would think that results would be consistent whether or not you use headphones or speakers? Headphones give you direct sound and eliminate any room issues. Also, from what I've seen, the final test is how it sounds in your car.

hmmm.. what about monitors designed for your vehicle-listening?
but, seriously - back to the topic/question, and the point you're making: seems like part of the answer would be another question:
how faithful is the mix/sound from them at low volume?
(following this thread purely out of curiosity).
I looked up those bad boys Andy mentioned: on Sweetwater,
the left ones are just as expensive as the right ones! Yeeoowzah!

[eeoo]

Yeah, of course if it sounds good it is good and it doesn't matter how you got there. I guess the main point is to know your tools well.

[johnlewitt]

Yeah, by checking my mixes in my car and on my sonos system I've figured out how my monitors react to my recording/mixing space. That approach works in the end, but I do wonder how much better my mixes would be if I wasn't compensating for my room's deficiencies. So I'm on the quest to find out!

John

[andygabrys]

Headphones give you direct sound and eliminate any room issues.

true.....but I think that's why there are headphone amps like http://spl.info/index.php?id=3012&L=1

that have a kind of cross-feed from ear to ear possibility replicating the panning feel of using monitors. And that is a big deal that people struggle with - panning cause headphones make everything sound more extreme and discrete that it really is.

Headphones for me are most useful for

1) tracking
2) checking for noise in tracks when mixing.

If headphones are the only thing that works for you check out the SPL boxes or the http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/apr11/a ... vrmbox.htm


Room issues as they present themselves in many small studios are overcome by three things:

1) monitoring low. Like really low. hear yourself breath over the music low. Almost zero bass issues at that level. And I am totally happy to have 8" drivers at that level cause they give a little more bottom end information (not hyped, just present).
2) 4" thick fiberglas or similar bass traps help even things out tremendously
3) reference mixes - I will trust my monitors and a ref mix implicitly - but I don't trust my car as the ultimate reference. I know my car has some bass issues, and it exacerbates sibilance (probably a built in smiley-face eq on even the default setting). So I will play it is in the car vs. stuff off the local radio station for those two things, and bring it back and make changes.

[lesmac]

Hi Andy, I see that a lot of famous mix engineers ala CLA mix at very low volume.
If its good enough for the pros thats what I'll do too.
Ive got nothing against 8" drivers its just that my studio in the container is ridiculously small, not much wider than 2 meters BEFORE 8" of OC703 all round the room, 30cm of lighter stuff for the ceiling and a big wedge above the monitors about 1 meter deep!! Its serious padded cell stuff...!!!
The floor is reflective and there are timber slats around the room to put some life back.

Ive noted that many crank it up a little bit to check the bass re the Fletcher Munson curve.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGQh5bwm_8s

It seems logical that reference mixes help to deal with room issues.
I wonder when people check mixes in the car are they actually driving and if they are, if the mix competes above the engine/road noise then its a good mix?

I respect the opinion of someone like you and others on the forum who have knowledge born of experience. Im afraid Im all theory at the moment.


I have bookmarked your link for the sample magic AB plugin...Ahhh....retail therapy

[JAMRecording]

I have a love hate relationship with my monitors. I'm using an original pair of Mackie HR824's. I really had issues with them until I installed a sub and used an outboard crossover. That and tuning the room/speakers made all the difference in the world. I'm currently in the market for new monitors but haven't found any that I like...that I can afford. Monitors are tricky. You want to have a good representation of the sound, but I don't want it so clean and precise that no one else listening to the final product will be hearing that type of fidelity. On the other side, you don't want to be compensating in your mix for frequencies that you know your monitors are missing or boosting. Also, trying out new monitors is a pain as well. Going to guitar center and trying out speakers in a crappy room is a no go. They never sound the same as they would in your space.

As far as headphones, I never mix on headphones. Like it was mentioned above, I only use them to listen for issues. The panning in headphones doesn't translate the same as it does wight speakers.

Also, mixing at low volumes is a solid way to go. Another trick I use is to playback and a decent level and go into another room. If you can still hear everything, your mix is on the right track.

[eeoo]

+1 on listening from another room, very revealing in surprising ways.

eo

[andygabrys]

+1 on listening from another room, very revealing in surprising ways.

eo

+1 from me too.


funny thing about listening in your car:

so if you have spent $500+ on room treatment, and probably $500+ on monitors in your actual production room, and your room is fairly quiet to begin with, would you trust your car over that?

I have a stock car stereo, and I already know its not a good reference. There is no treatment. its just what it is. Maybe if I had an aftermarket stereo and treatment.....

And if you are driving while checking your mix, its for me more a test of how compressed the mix is rather than how good it sounds. I.e. a more compressed mix is going to sound more uniformly present over road noise. If it rocks in the car, that is a good sign (likely) but if its not rocking in the car, I cannot trust what i hear there as absolute. I just know it likely needs work.