Confused about speaker suggestion

[Brandon203113]

A friend of mine who has been really busy suggested I use auratone brand speakers for a good perception of how my music will sound on shitty speakers worldwide but the way he worded it, it sounded like he was suggesting only using 1 speaker but I might’ve misunderstood him.. is that a thing? Using one speaker directly in front of you or am I supposed to buy 2 of them and place them like nearfields????

[BertKoor]

Yes, that's a thing. Checking your mix on a tiny mono speaker stems from the sixties, Motown practiced it.

https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/behringer-c5a-c50a

[nix808]

dude, you're only mono -is the mono in style?
Sub6(psy-trance artist)


hi! check it on headphones(good and bad),
check it on a PA-
-check it on monitors, check it on a hi-fi, check it in a car

..and check it in mono(and 7.1)


in all honesty they say to get stereo reference monitors and get used to them,
flat frequency response ones for ur room

[Winstontaneous]

I use a single Auratone-like Radio Shack Minimus speaker to check things in mono. The other benefits of this kind of speaker are improved time-domain response (sealed cabinet) and single driver (no phase issues from crossover/multiple drivers). So it's also a sanity check for common inexpensive ported studio monitors.

[enroe]

You know: The speaker of the White House is
replaced frequently!

And that is my recommendation: Use many different speakers!

[Passing Bye]

They are sold as pair, so use them like that, they are excellent stereo reference speakers, Bruce Swedien referenced Michael Jackson's famous album "Thriller" on them and he used them in stereo, you can use them in mono too of course.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d55JylAHqDI

[imrae]

Mix cubes aren't "shitty" speakers, but they make some significant and different trade-offs compared to typical multi-driver studio monitors. They should give a very good mid-range at the expense of the lows and highs.

Lots of people save some money by combining the "mixcube test" and "mono test" and just buying one. If you're planning to use mixcubes for a lot of your mixing time than you should probably get a stereo pair.

Auratone sell passive speakers in this style, and Avantone sell an active version. It's possible to buy individuals or pairs.

There's a good thread here on SOS: https://www.soundonsound.com/forum/view ... 16&t=64859

[Hermetech Mastering]

The idea is to get your whole mix coming through a single mono point source/single driver. Often shows up imbalances in the mix you might not hear otherwise (similar to listening to it from another room). Just a reality check really. Mono is important as it'll show up phase problems very quickly.

[original flipper]

Hi

Auratone's are ridiculously expensive for what they are IMO, although if spending $/£3-400+ does not phase you then good luck.
People listen to music in the most diverse situations over similarly diverse equipment that you are never going to get any real idea of how your music will sound by just using 1 or 2 setups to listen back on.
But isn't the whole point of mastering to get things in the 'ball park' of sounding right?
I just happened to try out my grandson's headphones which he uses for his XBox and was amazed at how full on and bass heavy they were - I don't use headphones much, but these sounded like they were heavily EQ'd and powered - they were energetic!
I listen to music on PC monitors which have hardly any bass, in my car the standard set up is reasonably balanced unless you push the volume hard - my kitchen radio sounds 'tinny'.... do you get the drift?
I wouldn't particularly concern myself with Auratone's - although if you do then with various other listening experiences you can use them as a reference - ultimately they will only reflect what you put in them (in their own way) as will any monitoring system.

[lfm]

You can check out the waterfall graphs in this document(many brands listed, almost last)
https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/as ... /ns10m.pdf

This shows how speakers respond both in frequency domain and in time domain. Time domain is pretty much as cone goes back after signal is gone which is important.

You can see some monitors that takes a real long time to settle in certain frequency range after signal is gone, which means it affects other frequencies as well as cone is moving.

So having high pressure inside, resistance for cone, closed box, helps in doing this. If cone move forward it also build a vacuum behind it, to help restore it when signal is gone. If open and ported style this takes longer. But this one take to explain it.

Other ways are that each harmonic of a signal like from a guitar or violin is in phase with fundamental. So both time domain and frequency domain are important to make it sound as true as original as possible.

Normal frequency response curve do one sweep over the frequencies, one at a time, in audible range. It tells nothing how it responds when music is there in a dynamic way.

These are the two important factors for mixing monitors, as I read up in an article.

And the same for microphones also - how they respond in both frequency and time domain - will make them sound accurate. Speech and music is dynamic with many frequencies at the same time.

NS10 by many sounded shitty as hifi goes, but when you got it sounding as good as it gets - it translates very well to any listening device. All as I read about it.

Look at Auratone waterfall and see they are really good in this mixing sense. You see almost flat over the entire frequency range - this is time domain being consistent.

It's misconception that mixing monitors must sound hifi good, and why some reject some brands and models.

But as I see it speaker elements for monitors can be too good also.

When I listen in my hifi speakers, those tweeters are distorting earlier than my mixing monitors(having really high end elements). So going to the edge of what the best quality tweeters do can end up sounding rather bad in many listening devices, if pushing everything to the limit. Just my own reflection on this. I bought many albums where I felt this was the case, driving it all to the edge on those $5000 monitors of mastering engineer and I have to keep volume low or it does not sound that good in my ears.

Having monitors that translate well - saves a lot, and I mean a lot of time not having to redo final mixes endless amount of times. When you are listening in various places and feel
- crap this does not sound right
- I have to adjust this a bit

In the end you get fed up in doing this, for every mix.

When I made my choice of mixing monitors - it was actually hifi monitors as such. But a review made me think this is exactly what they should do.

The review said - he heard real big difference in quality of the various recording he had. So some recordings he felt sounded shitty among his records.

And this is what I felt was good for mixing - they reveal what is there - that may be unpleasent things.

Hifi speakers in general boost bass and many ways try to cover up to make anything sound decent. It's not about revealing weaknesses.

[Passing Bye]

Auratone's are worth every penny for what they are and for what they bring on the table, there's great info posted about them so far, mastering can't fix what is inherently flawed and Auratone's will help you to make better mixes across the board, people are spending hundreds on gear in hope to make their mixes sound better, so getting industry standard reference speakers should be no less than priority in that pursuit.

[andymcbain]

I use a single Auratone-like Radio Shack Minimus speaker to check things in mono. The other benefits of this kind of speaker are improved time-domain response (sealed cabinet) and single driver (no phase issues from crossover/multiple drivers). So it's also a sanity check for common inexpensive ported studio monitors.

Exactly this and what Hermetech said.

In my less than ideal room, usually balancing a vocal or lead instrument in the "cube" gets me where I need to be pretty quickly.

[Unaspected]

The idea is to get your whole mix coming through a single mono point source/single driver. Often shows up imbalances in the mix you might not hear otherwise (similar to listening to it from another room). Just a reality check really. Mono is important as it'll show up phase problems very quickly.

There's alway the - turning your head 90 degrees to the side - trick. Though I think that unless something really weird was overlooked, phase issues are unlikely. Checking phase in mono is advisable though I'll do it in the mixer: So I tend to solo overheads and then adjust phase until it sounds right. And, of course, not using stereo widening plugins to falsely increase width - favouring saturating the sides or some such method. You know all this, of course - just writing in reply but to those who are still learning.

I use a third monitor for tracking guitar - so I have a 'real' cab to play with. Though you can use mid boosts with guitar amp emulations to create feedback effects, it's nice to feel some level of interaction whilst performing a take. Well. I say I use a third monitor but I'm currently looking to replace it as it has failed in a way that is beyond my current skill set to repair. Probably going to buy a cheap Presonus speaker for the job. Doesn't really matter how "good" they sound for this application.

I definitely favour my ears over meters when it comes to checking phase though I don't think a separate speaker is required for this. However, having more speakers to test your mix through can be a good thing. Personally, I think that a car speakers and headphones are enough. Some people check on laptops but I never worry about inferior systems. If your sounds have enough harmonic content and are balanced then they should be present when reproduced using a laptop.

[clipnotic]

If you want, that your music sounds good on every / many speakers, you simply have to test it on different speakers! I'm mixing my music on a really old Hifi system, because it brings all frequencies, but I also listen to my music on headphones, in the car, on the smartphone, send it friends and so on

[lfm]

If you want, that your music sounds good on every / many speakers, you simply have to test it on different speakers! I'm mixing my music on a really old Hifi system, because it brings all frequencies, but I also listen to my music on headphones, in the car, on the smartphone, send it friends and so on

And adjust and redo the testing on all these devices, like 20 or more times?
Each mix, like that.
Very time consuming, not to say boring and cumbersome.

Even if you listen in your car, other cars will not sound the same.
Even if your friends smartphone accept it as good, that is not the earphones that everybody has - nor is it your judgement what to listen for.

Or instead get a good revealing monitor pair that translates well to do it once, and then done.
And makes the fun of finalizing a mix still there. I just hate redoing what I felt was done.

I think if the Auratone works to test or mix on - very cheap way to stain sain and love the process of finalizing mixes. Really interested to get them as second pair to check out.