Piece of gear, piece of advice....

[Dorian Green]

I've read that even pro well designed studios use some "Monitors Correction Hardware".Are we talking about stuff like DBX Driverack, KRK ERGO...

I know there is the IK Multimedia ARC System but I'm not really into using a software, I'd rather use a hardware solution.
Any of you use one of that kind?
I also know Driverack system is designed for PA system but can it be safely applied on a project studio acoustic solution?

Thanx in advance.

If you know some dedicated brands, let me know.

Cheers

[Craig F]

what IK is licensing http://www.audyssey.com/

I agree that software plug is a bad way to correct a room (except for a portable demo system, the software makes sense)

[albee1952]

The first step needs to be done with acoustic treatment. All the electronics in the world can only do so much. I would wager that most "pro" studios do their tuning without electronic gadgetry as many EQ's induce phase shifts(just how they work). In the digital domain, they CAN control phase and units like the DriveRack can make some compensations, but consider; if the room is canceling a frequency due to room dimensions, no EQ can ever restore it. And if the room is causing a peak of +14(I have measured this much) using an EQ filter to kill the peak will only correct it for that position in the room. The point I am making is to have realistic expectations and to be aware of what is happening. In my case, I had a major dip at 50Hz in my mix position, but the couch behind me was balanced nicely. I tuned my sub(with a digital crossover) to correct the mix position, but I turn it off when I have a producer on the couch so they hear the correct balance. BTW, I agree with your assessment re software "solutions" and don't care for the ARC setup. ERGO and JBL's MC-1 both work quite well as long as they aren't trying to make up for a horrible room. I assume you have access to some high-rez analysis system for tuning? Without SMAART, SpectrFoo or similar, it would be a total crap shoot.

[Dorian Green]

Thank you guys for all the infos.
I reckon you're right, acoustic treatment should be done first, then electronics for fine tuning.
The problem is that the place I have my project studio in is not mine so I can't do proper working in it.I'm gonna try to tweak the dip switch on my Tannoys, trusting my ears with some reference music.Tannoy has a calibration software but it's a real pain in the arse to use with my 002R.

Waiting to move to my own place, I thank you again.

[albee1952]

Check out John Slayer and Ethan Whiner(google them) as they have some great ideas and plans for bass traps that you can take with you when you move to your own place(and can be hung like pictures in the place you have now).

[DrFord]

Well a "real" studio usually pays someone to come in for a few hours who is an audio tech and brings a spectrograph and phase monitor, and generates signal and measures the response. A high end stereo graphic equalizer is placed before the amp or powered monitor and used to correct room EQ issues. The softwares do this, but in my experience with ARC, they induce phasing issues. Now that being said, I have found great success with ARC as I use it as a tool. I turn it on when I want to check the mix, turn it off again to both save DSP and to listen normally. What ARC did teach me was that I should roll off the bass on my powered nearfields, as I have a bump around 120 hz. I have since done that roll off and don't use ARC as much any more. I have also learned to mix things sounding a bit "woofy" in my studio as they translate normal in other environments.

Also, get a really crappy set of speakers and use them as a B speaker. It is much cheaper than a $500 room correction softwre and fun to have speakers to switch too.

GL