KVR Audio

canadianlight · Post by **canadianlight** » Thu Jan 25, 2018 7:06 am

Are there studio monitors out there that are designed to be setup agnostic? I'm basically trying to find stuff that minimizes the hit to its sound from no room treatment and poor positioning.

planetearth · Post by **planetearth** » Thu Jan 25, 2018 7:21 am

canadianlight wrote:Are there studio monitors out there that are designed to be setup agnostic? I'm basically trying to find stuff that minimizes the hit to its sound from no room treatment and poor positioning.

Nope. Short of mixing in an anechoic chamber, you can't escape the effect of audio waves interacting with objects in a room. And many people begin to lose their mind after about 10 minutes in an anechoic chamber, so that's probably not too practical.

You could monitor your mixes in headphones if your room is that bad, but you'll want to get headphones that are as flat as possible. You'll also want to keep in mind that the stereo field and the amount of reverb in a headphone mix won't translate well to the "real" world, where people play the mix over speakers in a room.

Steve

BertKoor · Post by **BertKoor** » Thu Jan 25, 2018 8:15 am

Oh yeah, we call them "Near Field Studio Monitors". But bad positioning and really bad room acoustics will always render bad results from them.

canadianlight · Post by **canadianlight** » Thu Jan 25, 2018 9:58 am

planetearth wrote: Nope.

BertKoor wrote:Oh yeah, we call them "Near Field Studio Monitors". But bad positioning and really bad room acoustics will always render bad results from them.

I was actually thinking of speakers that ignore room acoustics AND where you sit. Something like those one piece surround speakers.

BertKoor · Post by **BertKoor** » Thu Jan 25, 2018 11:29 am

Oh you'll hear something with those alright, but far less than ideal. If you don't care at all about how your tracks will sound on other systems, then go ahead and hook up any random boom box.

Better educate yourself a bit and read up on why positioning your monitors is so important.
First google hit on the subject:
https://ehomerecordingstudio.com/studio ... sitioning/

I'll add to that that in the typical bedroom studio the positioning is more important than room acoustics. If your room is filled with bookcases, some furniture and maybe a carpet on the floor, then it won't sound that apauling.

planetearth · Post by **planetearth** » Thu Jan 25, 2018 11:40 am

canadianlight wrote:
planetearth wrote: Nope.

BertKoor wrote:Oh yeah, we call them "Near Field Studio Monitors". But bad positioning and really bad room acoustics will always render bad results from them.
I was actually thinking of speakers that ignore room acoustics AND where you sit. Something like those one piece surround speakers.

No loudspeaker can "ignore room acoustics" and/or sound the same, regardless of where you sit. It's a matter of physics and geometry, and despite what a "surround-sound" loudspeaker manufacturer might claim, these are immutable laws.

You also wouldn't want to mix on these types of speakers, because they are rarely "flat" as far as EQ, and your audience almost certainly won't be using these to hear your work. There's a reason loudspeakers like these aren't used in mixing or mastering studios: they're simply not accurate.

Steve

whyterabbyt · Post by **whyterabbyt** » Thu Jan 25, 2018 11:46 am

canadianlight wrote:I was actually thinking of speakers that ignore room acoustics AND where you sit.

What, like those lights whch ignore the colour of objects in the room?

canadianlight · Post by **canadianlight** » Thu Jan 25, 2018 11:48 am

This says it's 'portable', so I guess they made it so it would sound ok in many different environments?

https://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/iloud/

tehlord · Post by **tehlord** » Thu Jan 25, 2018 11:54 am

They're called headphones.

Otherwise, physics.

recursive one · Post by **recursive one** » Thu Jan 25, 2018 12:37 pm

canadianlight wrote:This says it's 'portable', so I guess they made it so it would sound ok in many different environments?

https://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/iloud/

"Portable" means that you can put it into your bag and bring it to another room.

What you are looking for simply can't exist.

You may want to read this article. In particular it explains why every room has own impact on acoustic image, which means that speakers avoiding this phenomenon simply can't be made.

http://www.masteringmastering.co.uk/che ... ixing.html

canadianlight · Post by **canadianlight** » Thu Jan 25, 2018 8:36 pm

recursive one wrote: "Portable" means that you can put it into your bag and bring it to another room.

Obviously what I was saying was I believe they treated the speakers in a way that mitigates less than stellar acoustics in the environment.

Winstontaneous · Post by **Winstontaneous** » Thu Jan 25, 2018 8:49 pm

canadianlight wrote:Are there studio monitors out there that are designed to be setup agnostic? I'm basically trying to find stuff that minimizes the hit to its sound from no room treatment and poor positioning.

Go for a sealed monitor with limited bass response. Still, as others mentioned every monitor will interact with its surroundings. I highly recommend Mike Senior's "Mixing Secrets for the Small Studio."

Setup independent montiors?