What's In Your Studio?

[jeffe]

For me it's most definitely Sennheiser. I've bought many different ones and that make sails above the rest (in my opinion)

[stick]

Ugh... I hate those Sonys. I know they're "the standard", but to me they're just like NS-10s.. rip your head off after a while. I bought Ultrasone ProLine 650s. They're excellent... I've had to mix records on them. Not recommended, but possible. As far as the gear list: I'm your basic ProTools HD3 Accel room. Older G5 Dual 2.0, Mackie Control, Genelec 1031As (about to sell to get Focal Solo 6s), StudioComm 50/51 for monitor control, Millennia HV-3D 8 channel pre, Neumann U-89 and various other cheaper mics, old Roland RD-1000 for a controller. Plenty of software instruments... LogicPro and ProTools. This is the spot.Agreed... it's a lot more about the ears than the gear. But, there sure is a lot more gear I NEED!

[mazz]

Quote:Ugh... I hate those Sonys. I know they're "the standard", but to me they're just like NS-10s.. rip your head off after a while. I bought Ultrasone ProLine 650s. They're excellent... I've had to mix records on them. Not recommended, but possible. Agreed... it's a lot more about the ears than the gear. But, there sure is a lot more gear I NEED!Yeah Stick,Just picked up the 650s on your recommendation and they are pretty darn smooth and easy on the ears. The highs are very sparkly. IGY from the Nightfly (OK, I'm old) sounds really great, I can hear way in to the mix, I can hear the reverb on the lead vocal and lead synth with the long pre-delay working back there!.Maybe we need a gear-freak 12 step program? Mazz

[stick]

Cool... yeah I like them a lot, as headphones go. I bought them when I had the rig set up in a virtually square back bedroom that sounded way worse than horrible and is right night to the room where my boys sleep, so no mixing after bedtime. Hence the records I had to do that way. And being closed, they've got nice isolation too, for tracking quiet acoustic guitars or vocals to a click.

[sgs4u]

This is what I was hoping for. thx Stick & Mazz. I knew there'd eventually be the nugget I was watching for. I've owned and blown up 3 pairs of Sony's. Yes they sound great, but they do add a lot of extra low and high end IMHO. and they blow up quite easily! I'm looking for flatter sound, not flattery of sound. I like the Sennhieser's as well, but for different reasons. I'll call a couple of music stores around here to see if I can find the 650's around here. Stick, do those headphones have an automatic off switch when you take them off your head? It seems to me, mixing is all about knowing your sound environment. Your explanation of why we shouldn't mix with headphones is a little too old school/status quo for me, but what do I know? You even mention there are so many people listening to Ipods now... and an awful lot of people now have pretty big sound rigs to listen to DVD's and TV shows. So from my personal experience, I can't really trust my tired old Tannoy Reveal speakers, but I can trust my headphones. So yes, it'd be nice to re-work my entire room acoustics, but reliable headphones are a lot cheaper... Stick, your studio looks beautiful, man. I especially like the pic, "from the back of the control room." It looks like a pretty painting.and extra thanks to:Rock, songwriter, Traveling Ed, allends, Nick, grandy long face, spariam, Jeffe and Vikki for taking the time to throw in your 2 cents about your own headphone choices.

[stick]

Steve,No auto switch on the 650s, and yes they're pretty un-hyped. The problem with mixing in headphones is a matter of level balancing. You can get stuff to sound really good and clear and balanced in the cans and then take it out to your car and be shocked at how low the vocals are, or there's no bass, or the image is very narrow or whatever. But that said, when I have to do mastering, I'll often use them to check EQ compared to other commercial records because it's easy to hear the differences. So, cans are good for surgery, but not so good for a big picture that translates well to iPods and cars and little TV speakers and fancy home stereos. Thanks for the studio compliments... I know the painter... I talked her into sleeping with me on a regular basis a number of years ago. She accepts commisions...

[drcolossus02]

All I use is:A MacbookLogic Pro 7Ableton LiveTwo AKG condensor micsAlesis MonitorsTascam interfaceWorks absolutely fine for me. Other stuff (mixers ect) are definitely more convienient but also more expensive.

[emusic]

Running a pure songwriting studio with...Mac Power PC 2.5 Dual 2.5 GB RamGlyphQ 250 GB Firewire 800 external dedicated sound recording discsAKG C 414 B XL II mic.Mackie Onyx 400F Rackmounted interface with Mackie Onyx Mic PreampsFostex PM-1 studio monitors (soon a pair of ADAMs A7)Korg TrinitySony MDR 7506AKG K271 Studio2 LCD 19" widescreen computer monitorsLogic Pro 7 with for my recording/mixing needs with some plugs...BFDEZ DrummerVirtual Guitarist 2Motu MX4Akoustik PianoAU<-> VST wrapper....................................................(stuff in the closet-list)Mackie 1202 mixerAlesis SR-16Lexicon ALEX reverbBunch of older micsThats it.

[emusic]

Quote:My SONY MDR-7506 phones are lovely and easy to wear for long periods--I have them on too much.True they are easy to wear, especially compared to my AKG K271 wich literally "destroy" my ears after an hour. I have them both. But since I do a lot of "premixing on headset" I find the Sonys to have too much presence and top, ending up in premixes that needs a lot of tweeking in the high end when I go to my monitors.I find it much better to premix on my K271a.Im gonna get 2 pairs of a diff. headset that combines the natural sound from the K271 with the easy-to-wear functionality from the MDR. I´m actually thinking of getting 2 pairs of Beringers. o_O

[nomiyah]

Quote:Running a pure songwriting studio with...Mac Power PC 2.5 Dual 2.5 GB RamGlyphQ 250 GB Firewire 800 external pro rcording discsAKG C 414 B XL II mic (and some others wich I never use)Mackie Onyx 400F Rackmounted interface with Mackie Onyx Mic PreampsFostex PM-1 studio monitors (soon a pair of ADAMs A7)Korg Trinity as keyboard input (sometimes I get sounds from it too)Logic Pro 7 with for my recording/mixing needs with some plugs...BFDEZ DrummerVirtual Guitarist 2Motu MX4Akoustik PianoAU<-> VST wrapperSony MDR 7506AKG K271 Studio2 LCD 19" widescreen computer monitors....................................................(stuff in the closet-list)Alesis SR-16Lexicon ALEX reverbBunch of older micsThats it.Do you have a preference for BFD or EZ Drum?