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  #1  
Old 06-21-2005, 09:48 PM
worldsend worldsend is offline
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Default OT (?) : PRO TOOLS and Auratone Speakers

Hello everybody.

Since switching to PT (and reading some books about mixing i recently discovered) my mixes, the sound of my recorded audio and my mixes of it got THAT much better that i decided to get a second pair of speakers again in addition to my Event PS 8. the point is i read a lot about Auratone Speakers and found some interesting offers for smaller ones online which were surprisingly not as expensive as i first thought. so what i would like to know does anyone of you have experiences with those auratones and their sound? since living in germany its not very easy to get them here and i would have to buy them in the usa which will make it kinda hard to give them back if you know what i mean. Hope to read from you.

Greetz.
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  #2  
Old 06-22-2005, 05:15 AM
proxy proxy is offline
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Default Re: OT (?) : PRO TOOLS and Auratone Speakers

The Auratones were the standard crappy-speaker-in-mono test. With one small cone for pushing out the sound, the "horror-tones" were the far end of the scale to check how the mix translates. I'm sure there are other subtleties about that particular brand that people liked, but I believe as long as you take the principal of listening to your mixes on a small, less-than-average source, you can acheive similar mix protection. I think the idea of checking your mixes on something else - anything extra is always a good idea anyway.

Hope that is helpful,

- proxy
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  #3  
Old 06-22-2005, 06:17 AM
Lee Blaske Lee Blaske is offline
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Default Re: OT (?) : PRO TOOLS and Auratone Speakers

Quote:
so what i would like to know does anyone of you have experiences with those auratones and their sound?
I think that the use of Auratones was a lot more valid in the seventies and eighties back when lots of consumer electronic devices (portable radios, TV's, car radios, etc.) had trashy speakers. Back then, it was more of a standard. Today, people are generally listening using speakers that are much better than Auratones. I still have a pair of them myself, but I'm just keeping them around as a collector's item. The previous poster was right regarding checking mixes on more than one set of speakers, but these days, I don't think Auratones are the way to go. I also don't think that any of us who used Auratones back in the day were using them to make subtle mix changes. In my experience, Auratones were primarily used to confirm (for the client's peace of mind) that the announcer's voice in radio and TV commercials could be adequately heard above the music in the mix on the marginal speakers most people had.

Lee Blaske
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Old 06-22-2005, 07:25 AM
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jimlongo jimlongo is offline
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Default Re: OT (?) : PRO TOOLS and Auratone Speakers

Sadly, Auratones are still a lot better speaker than half of the world is listening to.

In a studio they're really good for checking general overall balance.
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Old 06-22-2005, 08:16 AM
Sonny Keyes Sonny Keyes is offline
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Default Re: OT (?) : PRO TOOLS and Auratone Speakers

I agree that they're great for checking the overall balance of a mix. The 'good' speakers make everything sound good, to the point that it's impossible to tell whether the subtleties are too subtle.

I had to build a new studio 3 months ago and couldn't find Auratones (they don't make them any more) so I bought a pair of Triple-P Pyramid speakers, which have proved a delightful replacement.

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Old 06-22-2005, 01:04 PM
worldsend worldsend is offline
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Default Re: OT (?) : PRO TOOLS and Auratone Speakers

Hello.

Thanks for all your input. I thought the Auratones were some pro-like stuff. Hehe. I sold my NS 10Ms some time ago cause i couldn´t mix on them and buying speakers more 'worst case' than those is kinda unimaginable for me. I wanted them to check my mixes in mono and even mix a lot of the stuff in mono first place - the monitors i am using now (Event PS 8) seem to be no good solution for this as i feel uncomfortable with them when switched to mono. Do you have any suggestions which speakers i could use? A friend of mine said i should try some Dynaudio High End-Speakers - but since they are more coming from the hi-fi field i don´t know if they will fit.

Until soon.
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Old 06-22-2005, 01:12 PM
iamstudios iamstudios is offline
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Default Re: OT (?) : PRO TOOLS and Auratone Speakers

Dynaudio (professional series) is a great brand. I absolutely adore the BM6A's in our studio, they sound warm and very natural and you can listen to them for a long time...

I believe you can buy a pair from about 1300 dollars at Bayviewproaudio.com

good luck!
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Old 06-22-2005, 01:39 PM
ryan de topanga ryan de topanga is offline
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Default Re: OT (?) : PRO TOOLS and Auratone Speakers

Just want to put in a quick bit of praise for Auratones. My mixing speakers include ATC 50's for "Super Hi-Fi", Yamaha MSP 10's for "Mid-Fi", and good old Auratones for "Lo-Fi". I've been mixing on Auratones for over 25 years, and they are still essential to me, for several reasons:

1) Auratones allow you to hear relationships between instruments in a mix that you might not hear on "the big boys". You will know how well your mid range elements are balanced, without the hype of a lot of hi and low end. Auratones will naturally put out more mid range than the big speakers, so vocals and guitars will sound louder, but you will also learn over time just how much low end you need to hear for a mix to be "right". If the bass dissapears completely on Auratones, then there is something wrong.

2) You can listen to them very quietly, and make subjective decisions about the quality of a musician's performance (especially vocals) without all the hype of "good" sounding speakers. They are the "harsh light of reality". If it's good on Auratones, it's good. Also, if you do a lot of pitch correction, I think you can hear intonation a lot better on Auratones.

3) Although I do not recommend that you get your sounds using Auratones, once you have, it is a lot easier to monitor on them, as you can listen quieter, and the lack of hi end makes it far less fatiguing to listen for extended periods. It's always great to go back up to the big speakers after the Auratones and hear how good it sounds!

(What a sales pitch! Maybe I should buy the design from the boys in Coronado and start production again ;-)

-Ryan
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Old 06-22-2005, 03:21 PM
Monte McGuire Monte McGuire is offline
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Default Re: OT (?) : PRO TOOLS and Auratone Speakers

Auratones give you a 'bandwidth reduced' way of hearing your mix. They don't have much low end and not much high end, so what you hear will be the balance of the mix elements in the midrange, such as vocals, guitars or whatever. You can also use them to see if some elements like a kick drum or a bass sound for example will survive on a system that has no real low end information.

It's not just about high or low fidelity, it's about hearing mostly just the midband information and making mix decisions based on that.

Regards,

-monte-
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  #10  
Old 06-22-2005, 09:51 PM
worldsend worldsend is offline
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Default Re: OT (?) : PRO TOOLS and Auratone Speakers

What i am asking myself if it is SOOO needed to get this bandwidth reduced lo-fi sound with the Auratones. To get the worst case i can also take my car, the stereo of my grandmother or a boombox. looking at the Dynaudios made my mouth water somehow. so what do you think for doing what i mostly wanted to do with the auratones, namely mixing in mono is fitting besides the dynaudio. when reading the specs from the dynaudios it comes more and more to my mind that it would be a pity using just one of those speakers for mono-checking.

By the way : since i am from germany and a lot of my 'colleagues' are somewhat not what they want to be (pros) i was pretty much given the [bleep] for saying that i mix in mono. do you guys also think its 'weird' or not worth all the work? after doing it for quite some time ui really start to hear a lot of things going on in mono, especially when listening on levels lower than a normal conversation. do you have any experiences made with mixing in mono and are there some tips or tricks? i can´t find that much more intensive information on this topic.

Thanks. until soon.
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