Studio Monitors Options

[Cosmin Lupu]

Hey guys! A little bit of advice I would ask from everyone which has experience with studio monitors - I am building up my studio and I need a pair of good monitors so I would like a good recommendation based on the following aspects:

- what would be more appropriate 5',6' or 8' speakers?
- does the size and form of the mixing room influence the monitor type I should have?
- my budget is about 400-500 euros

What other important aspects should be taken into consideration?

Looking forward to your advice mates! Thank ye!

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[Saoirse O'Shea]

Awesome info everyone. Tony, you mentioned that untreated foam is a fire hazard. What about those blue curtains?
Also, you said that positioning your monitors to either side of the mixer/pc wasn't a good choice. The picture you have shows speakers on stands - about how far apart from either side of the mixer/pc, from the back wall and your ears would you say is ideal placement?

Thanks bunches!!!!
I'm gonna print this thread out and study it

Chris!

Hi Chris,
With foam the risk is that it burns at quite a high temperature and retains heat but also that it can produce poisionous fumes. Curtain material will of course burn but unlike foam it doesn't potentially produce poisonous fumes.

Our speakers are about 1.5 meters away from the rear and side walls. (We've also removed the stereo unit that was between them so there is now nothing between the monitors. It lived there temprarily whilst we repainted out house.)

The 'mastering seat' is about 2 meters back from the monitors and the desk that holds our mastering equipment is to the side of this chair and runs parallel to the side wall and is mainly behind the chair. Most of the equpiment is set so it's to the side of the engineer and slightly behind him/her. We do this so that there is nothing directly in the way of the monitors and the engineer and to reduce comb filtering from odd reflections to a minimum.

The room itself is about 8 meters long - the monitors fire down the length - 8 meters length is about the minimum you need to reproduce stereo accurately. The listening position/mastering chair is about 1/3 from the front wall where the monitors are and 2/3 from the rear wall. That's pretty much an ideal ratio and works for our particular room and monitors but a ratio like this depends on the actual room you have.

Mixing studios tend to have the engineer sitting close to the monitors, which are also usually mounted on the console's meter bridge and set close to the wall. I've seen some mix engineers who end up sitting less than 1 meter away. None of that will produce good enough stereo for accurate mastering but it's done for pragmatic reasons for a mixing studio because of space and the historic need for the engineer to be hands on at a large split or in line console.

It's also worth remembering that the monitors used in most mix studios are smallish 2 way ported designs that are designed to be placed close to a wall as the wall will reflect and so 'help' with perceived bass. Monitors for mastering like ours are much bigger and are 3 way unported. They don't rely on reflections to artificially reprodice bass and are designed to be mounted clear from any wall.

So for a mixing environment using 2 way ported you need to put them close to a back wall. They should fire down the length - not the width - of the room. Try to get them at least 1.5 meters apart and with you mid way between to form an equilateral triangle (so you'd sit just under 1.5 meters away). If you can you should be seated 1/3 in to the room so there should be 2/3s of the length behind you. Many mix studios though just don't have the space to do this.

On a 2 way the tweeter/small speaker should be in line with your ears. Most 2 ways are designed so that the tweeter is above the bass driver i.e. they are not meant to put on their sides.

You'll probably have to put your console/desk in front of the monitors to help with the ergonomics of mixing. The above distances may mean that you can sit the monitors on the bridge. Regardless of where you put them anything in front and below - including the surface of the desk and the console - can produce reflections and comb filtering so try to minimise it. You might find moving the monitors to the edge of the desk/bridge may help reduce this. If you can put hardware in a floor mounted rack and the pc on the floor.

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This post has been edited by tonymiro: Apr 13 2012, 11:26 AM

[SirJamsalot]

Thanks! Great info as always!!!!

Hi Chris,
With foam the risk is that it burns at quite a high temperature and retains heat but also that it can produce poisionous fumes. Curtain material will of course burn but unlike foam it doesn't potentially produce poisonous fumes.

Our speakers are about 1.5 meters away from the rear and side walls. (We've also removed the stereo unit that was between them so there is now nothing between the monitors. It lived there temprarily whilst we repainted out house.)

The 'mastering seat' is about 2 meters back from the monitors and the desk that holds our mastering equipment is to the side of this chair and runs parallel to the side wall and is mainly behind the chair. Most of the equpiment is set so it's to the side of the engineer and slightly behind him/her. We do this so that there is nothing directly in the way of the monitors and the engineer and to reduce comb filtering from odd reflections to a minimum.

The room itself is about 8 meters long - the monitors fire down the length - 8 meters length is about the minimum you need to reproduce stereo accurately. The listening position/mastering chair is about 1/3 from the front wall where the monitors are and 2/3 from the rear wall. That's pretty much an ideal ratio and works for our particular room and monitors but a ratio like this depends on the actual room you have.

Mixing studios tend to have the engineer sitting close to the monitors, which are also usually mounted on the console's meter bridge and set close to the wall. I've seen some mix engineers who end up sitting less than 1 meter away. None of that will produce good enough stereo for accurate mastering but it's done for pragmatic reasons for a mixing studio because of space and the historic need for the engineer to be hands on at a large split or in line console.

It's also worth remembering that the monitors used in most mix studios are smallish 2 way ported designs that are designed to be placed close to a wall as the wall will reflect and so 'help' with perceived bass. Monitors for mastering like ours are much bigger and are 3 way unported. They don't rely on reflections to artificially reprodice bass and are designed to be mounted clear from any wall.

So for a mixing environment using 2 way ported you need to put them close to a back wall. They should fire down the length - not the width - of the room. Try to get them at least 1.5 meters apart and with you mid way between to form an equilateral triangle (so you'd sit just under 1.5 meters away). If you can you should be seated 1/3 in to the room so there should be 2/3s of the length behind you. Many mix studios though just don't have the space to do this.

On a 2 way the tweeter/small speaker should be in line with your ears. Most 2 ways are designed so that the tweeter is above the bass driver i.e. they are not meant to put on their sides.

You'll probably have to put your console/desk in front of the monitors to help with the ergonomics of mixing. The above distances may mean that you can sit the monitors on the bridge. Regardless of where you put them anything in front and below - including the surface of the desk and the console - can produce reflections and comb filtering so try to minimise it. You might find moving the monitors to the edge of the desk/bridge may help reduce this. If you can put hardware in a floor mounted rack and the pc on the floor.

You are at GuitarMasterClass.net

Don't miss today's free lick. Plus all our lessons are packed with free content!

Don't miss today's free blues, jazz & country licks. Plus all our lessons are packed with free content!