Calibration in a small room...

[joeyk]

I recently setup a 5.1 genelec 1029a system in probably the smallest room ever And calibrated for 79db because I am sitting about 3 feet from the LCR moniters hehe and it is still very loud. Does anyone think going down to 77 would be bad? I am trying to mix a student film in my 2nd bedroom =).....

[minister]

hiya,

79 at the mix position is 79 at the mix position whether you are in a big room or small room.

where are your levels peaking? if they are at -6, -4, -2...--> then it will be LOUD! if your dialogue levels are peaking and, of course, averaging, below that you may be ok.

but, yes, you are a little close. but what can you do, right? the first "film" i "mixed" was in DECK about 3 feet from some lousy JBL's with a postage-sized Quicktime and 4 tracks in a noisy room with computer fans skinny (maybe 9" wide) hallway/room --> mono 16mm optical. hmmm...love that analogue sound! we recorded SFX & foley with a digital 8MM camera, then transferred! do what you can do, learn, work, have fun. (better than hand-syncing 2 4-tracks -- ready....and...go! -- and feading it other signals from other tape decks, a microphone and an M1 sequncing keyboard.)

just check your mix in an auditrium, theater, larger room somehow of you can... see if you can bring a DVD into one of the schools big rooms. or, see if you can check it at a larger facility.

[joeyk]

hehe i love hearing stories about mixers first attempts at doing a project they are always classic! Yeah I dont know its just very loud and I'm afraid of mixing too low because I am so close to the speakers. I do have access to a calibrated room and am going to hear how it sounds in there. Also what if I take a mix that was done in a calibrated room and adjust the spl level to make the mix sound good in my tiny room. I have a printmaster that I loaded and even at 77spl it is very loud. If I set it to 75 the stem sounds perfect. You think that would be ok? thanks!

[minister]

so your surrounds are 3 feet from you too?

you know, it depends. how well mixed is the stem that was made in a calibrated 85SPL room?

my concern is that your mix will be too low in the 85SPL room. i would do a test.

also, you know your biggest problem will be RT60 and not bass. so, careful of too much reverb and excessive panning. but, bass in a room like that with a setup like your might be hard to judge too. one of the biggest problems with early mixes in not so ideal rooms are low end translations.

you definitely want to make use of that big room.

...actually my first film track was music recorded on 8 track 1" and then mixed and transfered to mag. recorded over dubs and foley on a rented nagra. and sunc it up on a steenbeck myself. then had it "mixed" by the only "film" mixer in town who made the (canned) SFX so LOUD they drowned out some of my sung vocal lines. pretty sure the guys hearing stopped around 10 or 11k!! but, hey, it was a hand drawn (wobbly) cel animated short shot on 16MM color.