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Q)Would you recommend one of those
isolation booths (e.g. vocalbooth.com)
for mixing in? I'm thinking that this would help keep sounds
out/in, while "tightening up" the overall sound at the mix
position. -Jeff
In terms of a room-inside-a-room, it's a cool way to go if
you don't own your digs... that way you can take it with you
at move-out time. You'll get less noise from the outside
(good for concentration), and less sound going out into
other rooms, but the stock interior acoustics aren't
ideal.
The product made by Vocalbooth appears to be all foam
inside, which is far too absorptive, even for vocals. If I
purchased the box for mixing, I would be installing wood
over 50 to 60% of the inside surfaces, distributed all
around. For vocals, I'd add about 20% more reflective stuff
inside the box... and I'd be sure that LOTS of cool air
could get in there.
I'm also not totally sure that bottom end for mixing would
be optimum in the vocalbooth room because the panels are
made with material that isn't super dense - so bottom
escapes. This is fine for vocals, percussion or guitars, but
not best for mixing. The boundary for good bottom end
depends on lots of density, namely drywall, plywood, or
concrete board to keep the low end in the room. With good
density (which also helps keeps lows from travelling into
the next room) and good trapping, you'll get a tighter
sound.
If I was going to spend $7,400 (suggested price for their 8
x 12 Producers Special) on your mixing room, I would just go
to standard framing/drywall techniques and then trap the
room. Start by putting up a layer of 1/2" or thicker plywood
first, nailed to the wall studs. After that, you can put up
drywall or anything else and nail anywhere into the plywood.
If you're renting or leasing, be sure it's ok with the
landlord or home association. Have liability insurance if
you're hiring construction help, allow for overages in
budget and timetables. Going over budget is normal.
If your conditions are livable as-is and you have that
extra $7,400, my vote is still to get a high-end audiophile
listening system, get your console 4 - 8' back from the
speakers, and do some basic trapping in the room. $10,000
worth of construction and so-so monitors can still give you
potential mix headaches.
Q) Why do some of my studio clients
tell me that my Pro Tools mixes are too hot? -Tom
Boy is this a good question. I have gotten stuff from
Pro Tools that people said looked fine on the computer, and
showed up WAY too hot.... in fact, when transferring their
cd into the Sonic, there were digital overs all over the
place, and that would mean a good chance that the cd plant
would reject their cdr if left uncorrected. So, yes, I
agree, there are some meter discrepancies out there.
I use vu meters to really gauge what's going on. It's very
important... much more than digital peak meters. I've found
the Sonic Solution meters to be right on target for peaks,
but there is just nothing like vu's which match the musical
volume level...
2) You seemed to make a remark
somewhere on your site that I took as a shot to powered
speakers like the Genelecs. I must say, I had a pair of the
smaller ones, the 1030s, and they were the best speaker I
ever mixed on.
Gens are pretty nice I agree - they are closer to the
audiophile sound I like. Not everyone can afford Gens, so my
comment was aimed slightly more toward some of the cheaper
models. Even then, I had a client who had state of the art
gear including Gelelecs.... and there were mid-range
anomalies that created big problems. Was it the monitor's
fault? I doubt it. This guy was a talented musician, but he
just overlooked a monitoring issue that was blatant to me.
Heck, I did a session with engineers (from one of the
world's top corporate cartoon production companies) who
couldn't hear that they had hooked up the speakers out of
phase!
Powered speakers also have one problem as I see it... the
power amp's electronics are being bombarded by vibration
every minute they're in use. I've done listening tests to
power amps, and they sound better if they are isolated off
the floor away from any vibrations. Same thing with cd
players. You might want to try getting 3 little "squished
glass marbles"... ya know, like the ones you see in the
bottom of vases used as weight or in fish tanks... and set
them underneath your speakers (assuming they're on stands or
a table) and listen to the clarity that occurs when the
speaker is isolated from the stands. Perhaps you've seen
speaker isolators like this at audiophile stores that get
the subs off the ground. I have some that use concrete,
granite and rubber to isolate the speakers... and I love the
results.
It's a case of whatever works for you. Some people get great
results mixing on NS10's, which have never worked for me. If
you're getting the results you want, that's the most
important thing. I come from a background of classical
violin, and I've played everywhere from the Dorothy Chandler
Pavilion in LA to the sleaziest night clubs you can imagine
when I was in a rock band. I've just always looked for that
clear audio experience coming from a speaker, and after
using the audiophile stuff, I just hear certain things like
the "panel" in a soffit-mounted speaker, and the "cone" in
some other brands, and "ringing" and "false peaks" in other
systems, and slowness in others.
I'm a former audiophile too (used to
have Levinson and Audio Research stuff, Quads, Martin
Logans, the whole bit.)
I used Quads for a while, and they couldn't handle
the power, but I did get good results... Martin Logans I
heard at the time needed a better sub, and I used Dhalquists
in the studio for years and loved them... I like the bottom
on the Mirage's, and after some time I'm sure I'll be
getting something more exotic and more expensive!
Bottom line... do what works! There are no rules. If the
customer's happy, and you give them lots of info for how to
evaluate what they've got, things should be cool.
Q) If I have a subwoofer, isn't that
going to make me think I have more bass on the mix than I
really have?
Moderation is the key. Some car subwoofers knock down
buildings. That's not the effect we're looking for here. We
want to reveal the low frequency information that's there in
as correct as possible proportions. The sub isn't supposed
to enlarge the bass, it's supposed to balance it so that big
lows sound big, and tight lows sound tight, and tubby lows
sound tubby. It's supposed to be a better "lens". If your
speakers don't reveal 32hz, how are you supposed to know if
there's too much or too little going on down there?
How many people in their cars, or at
home, are listening with subs??
Some... however, there is more and more hype (both in
the high's and the lows) in boom boxes, "mega bass"
headphones, "can crushers" (that's what I call the cars with
6 woofers and a 2,000 watt amp in the trunk)... and living
rooms can have big standing waves without even trying.
Corner placement also is a low-end horn technique that is
often used by unknowing consumers. Hey, it can sound good.
Also, couches and things that suck up highs actually seem to
add to the low end without a sub being there, so to some
extent, we must allow for these cases. I do that by having
subs, and then listening to a lot of different
CDs to tune the room so that I hear all the differences
that I know are there. Also, if there is non-usable low end
information that will occupy some of the home speaker's
energy, it's best to roll that off so that more efficiency
is available to the component.
Regardless of your monitors or room acoustics, having a
top-notch monitor controller or analog summing mixer that
has level-matching A-B capabilities can help improve your
mixes. I've said it over and over on this site, but whenever
you really listen to commercial CDs (the level-matching
keeps it from becoming a volume contest) next to your mix,
you'll get insights that can make a huge difference in the
way your sound translates to consumer systems. Give it a
real try!
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