Studio Monitors Position

[bryced87]

It is really important to have my Studio Audio Monitors turned towards me? I have heard some people face the monitors with both their sides facing each other. Some say you need both the tweeters facing your ears. I've tried it both ways and don't notice any difference.

[albee1952]

Yes, the face of the speakers should point straight at the side of your head(plus or minus a few degrees). I tend to point mine out just a hair so they present a decent stereo field to the couch behind me, but if I roll my chair back a foot, they point right at my ears. Most monitors have a "sweet spot" and to get an accurate "picture", you should be in the sweet spot of BOTH sides. Having said that, I will also listen while sitting on the couch, and from the next room as those give another perspective that I find helpful in finalizing my mixes.

Also, when it comes to nearfield speakers(what most of us work on), they SHOULD be the same distance apart, as they are from your head(so your head and the speakers form an equilateral triangle)

But wait,,,there's MORE You DON'T want your speakers pointing straight at any wall, as the reflections will bounce straight back at the speaker and magnify any acoustic issues of your room(and most rooms have issues, both great and small). So, you may not hear a difference when you sit in your "usual spot", but if you move around the room, you will hear all sorts of changes, assuming your ears are trained to any degree

As you research and gain more experience, you will discover the myriad of ways that sound gets messed up, and the many little details that have an effect, such as; how close the wall behind the speakers, how close the wall beside, how big your desktop is(console or furniture, they both are reflective surfaces) and on and on.....

I suggest a little experiment. Create a blank session with 1 mono AUX track(pull the fader down). Insert the signal generator plugin and select the sine wave. Start with the frequency at 500Hz and bring the volume up to a comfortable level. Get acclimated to the volume for several seconds, then start slowly moving the frequency slider down in small increments. I bet you will be a bot shocked when you hear the volume change drastically at several points....

[Michael Zull]

The most commonly advised setup is an equilateral triangle.



Like Albee, mine are spread a little further apart than aiming directly at my head. I tend to lean back in my chair and a bit away from my desk when doing critical listening so it works out perfectly for me. Start with the equilateral triangle and experiment from there.

[JFreak]

More important factor here is placing your monitors far enough from the walls. Angling them helps in removing standing waves, but not having walls too near the speaker helps much much more.

My nearfield Genelec 8040's are one foot from side wall and two feet from back wall, and I think I would like more space around them (therefore I need a bigger room...)

[CME]

I know of one exception to the rule. The MAudio ex66. They recommend you face the straight out with no angle in. So probably worth reading the manual. But that's the only exception I've seen.

[JFreak]

Do they say how far the walls should be?

[Bob Olhsson]

Sealed, non-ported speakers can work better against the wall. Ported speakers are designed for a specific relationship to the wall. I've never found an equilateral triangle to make that much of a difference.

[JFreak]

YMMV

[anothercolour]

Originally Posted by albee1952

I suggest a little experiment. Create a blank session with 1 mono AUX track(pull the fader down). Insert the signal generator plugin and select the sine wave. Start with the frequency at 500Hz and bring the volume up to a comfortable level. Get acclimated to the volume for several seconds, then start slowly moving the frequency slider down in small increments. I bet you will be a bot shocked when you hear the volume change drastically at several points....

Excellent advice as usual Albee. But, we have to allow that the perception of loudness is psychological. As per the findings of experiments with equal-loudness contours (Fletcher-Munson curves), even if the room was acoustically “perfect,” our ears would perceive different frequencies at different volumes. For example, the human auditory system is very sensitive between 2 and 5 kHz. Sweeping frequencies might tell us more about psychological perception than it would about the room.
Not trying to split hairs here—set up your monitors in an equilateral triangle, acoustically treat the room to the best of your ability, be mindful of frequency hot-spots, compare your work to the work of others that you like, and you’re good to go!

[musicman691]

Originally Posted by Bob Olhsson

Sealed, non-ported speakers can work better against the wall. Ported speakers are designed for a specific relationship to the wall. I've never found an equilateral triangle to make that much of a difference.

I've found that the equilateral triangle thing can make a difference in balance between the two channels. More apparent to me in the high freqs than the lows. And if you're working with some specific panning for soundstage reasons it's even more critical.