"Flat monitors."

[Ben Jenssen]

Does anybody have them.
Even remotely?
Is it even desirable?

When changing, or rearranging my control room, I get the habit of sending a sweep sinus tone thru the system to get a feel for the "flatness", or lack thereof.

I dont have ANY academic background in this field, measuring, calibrating.

Now, I dont think my setup sounds too bad, but when I hear the sweep 20-20k, its like a jo-jo!

I would very much like to hear the same tone on a pro studio. Cant really believe that they get it perfect either.(?)

I improve it the best that I can by moving listening positions and filling the room with furniture to make it less resonant. I can actually improve it quyite a bit, always checking with the sweep. The trouble is, I cant move the walls and ceiling. And they’re the biggest problem.

How does a sweep tone sound on YOUR system???

[CCash]

A "jo-jo"? What the frucks a jo-jo?... Aw, just kidding, I know what you mean. But what's a yo-yo sound like anyway... Aw, just kidding, I know what you mean.

As for "is it even desirable": If you're used to studio monitors, then yes, very desirable. But if you're used to the sound of consumer stereos and car stereos, it could just mess you up.

I made a very gradual transition in my early twenties. "Flat" studio monitors just didn't sound right to me, especially when as a teenager I always turned up the bass and treble controls. When I first heard NS-10's, I was like "what the **** is this?!"

Now I actually prefer studio monitors... and all my consumer stuff is usually as flat as I can get it... an acquired taste, I guess. But I still think it's extremely important to run your mix through a hyped hi-fi system, because that's how lots of people will listen to it.

Sorry to go off on that tangent... as for what I hear in my room? I use the Digi Signal Generator and start sweeping, very slowly, from the bottom up. I have a huge bump at 140Hz. I know why I have it and I have decided to live with it. I just need to remind myself about it. It's a handicap but I can still get stuff done. This is just my home setup, so I don't worry too much about it.

The highs are less of a big deal. It's lows that'll really mess with you and are expensive to fix. The highs can be dealt with by trial and error with simple sound-absorbing materials like curtains, foam, etc.

Sounds like you're doing all you can. Beyond this, you'd need to bring in a pro with and analyze the room. Then they would have to know how to actually fix the problems. Other than doing this, I think you can deal with any less-than-perfect situation by just getting to know your monitors very, very well in your room, listening to songs you know well... and studying how it translates to other systems. Sure you know most of this. Just typing here.

[doorknocker]

Originally posted by CCash:
[QB] I use the Digi Signal Generator and start sweeping, very slowly, from the bottom up. I have a huge bump at 140Hz. /QB]

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Would you please explain this, how do you know the bump is in the room and not the speakers or do I get this totally wrong?

Andi

[CCash]

Well I first starting noticing that on certain songs, certain bass notes would jump out at me... I was wondering how the mixer could screw up so bad (the person, not the board). When I kept hearing it, I started thinking it was my room. I analyzed a song with a spectragraph, and every time that bass note jumped out, it was 140Hz.

When I sweep with the signal generator, sure enough, 140Hz is MUCH louder than 120 or 150, for example. I know it's not my monitors because I went crazy trying to track it down. This is a little embarrassing...

See, I built a custom desk that holds my mixer and computer keyboard (flush with the tabletop, looks really trick), has a built-in armrest, gives me writing surface and a place to put gear. The only problem is... the damn thing is one big 140Hz resonating chamber!! When I remove the table, bass is nice and smooth. I had to make a really difficult decision to either remove this thing that I spent a lot of time and money making, or keep it and deal with it.

My decision for now is to deal with it. So there ya go... more than you needed to know!

[Dean G]

CCash, Thanks for sharing.

Innot sure everyone is so forthcomong about mistakes.

Old Timer

[vonbleak101]

You need the flattest monitors you can get in order for your mixes to translate well to other speaker. When i was still putting my studio together a year or so ago i did a few personal project using what i thought were good quality Hi-Fi speaker (i was saving for studio monitors) and while i thought the mixes sounded good, and indeed they did sound good, but when i played them on different speakers, sometimes it sounded better sometimes worse.

This is why the frequency response of your monitors is important.

[Ben Jenssen]

So, vonbleak, how does a sweep from 20 to say 4000 Hz sound on your system now?
Flat?

[where02190]

the only wat to ensure the response iof your room is flat is to do an analysis. We did extensive TEF analysis and treatment to our control room to ensure the least amount of inflections. Result: mixes translating to the real world perfectly.

Don't guess, know.

[Stone Knife]

Does anybody have them.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">The 624's that I bought included a graph of each one's output -and in their rated range they are smooth within 2-3 dB's, so yes, I have some.
It's a good thing.

[[Benjamin]]

I am fortunate enough to have a well-functioning listening environment. Up til three years ago everything was just shades of hell, then I finally understood what it's all about - Understanding what you hear and knowing how this will translate to various listening situations.

What that really implies is a big deal and I'm not going there tonight. Anyone?

Ben