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Guitarfreak 27 July 2009

OK, well I've been doing some research lately and naturally my overactive brain has formulated some discrepancies.

Monitors are supposed to be flat response (or as close to it as technically possible). The human ear hears frequencies at 1kHz best and higher and lower frequencies less. So if you have a monitor that is %100 flat response, you would still hear the mids more clearly than the bass and treble. Do monitor manufacturers take this into consideration when designing their products, i.e. do they craft the curve with a slight V centered on 1kHz so that you truly 'hear' all of the frequencies at the same audible level? Then wouldn't a monitor made with this in mind be a better EQ editing tool tool than a flat one because it was engineered so that you hear all frequencies at an equally perceptible level. And then you would switch to a flatter monitor for mixing and setting the levels right and so on.

All of the intricacies are mind boggling @_@

Comments

Cucco Mon, 07/27/2009 - 13:37

GF -
If your monitors notch at our peak perceived frequency (which, btw, is variable amongst all living beings), then we would make up for this while mixing.

Think about it - if we normally hear a guitar that hasn't been notched, but our monitors fail to portray it exactly as it sounds in nature, then our ears will try to compensate and we'll reach for the wrong EQs.

No, our monitors try to be as truthful as possible to make sure that what we hear in nature is what we hear eminating from their cones or other surfaces.

Cheers-
J.

djmukilteo Mon, 07/27/2009 - 18:43

FYI
Here is a link to Mackie showing the frequency response graphs for their HR824 MK2's.
Spec's state +/- 1.5db from 37Hz to 20Khz.
(Acoustic Space switch set at "C" flat).
Compare those specs with some of your other monitor choices and see how they compare...numbers don't lie....
Well maybe....but those would be people who lie about how they test they're products!

http://www.mackie.com/products/hrmk2series/downloads/HR824MK2_Specs.pdf

Guitarfreak Mon, 07/27/2009 - 19:42

TheJackAttack wrote: {whispers...}see the wild and feral KRK's creaping across the Sonora desert in search of javalina. Finding no sign the sharp tongued KRK's stop at Starbucks instead for a mocha java.

Tune in next week for the new episode: When Tannoys Trumpet!

Jack, I don't know what your post has to do with the thread, but I'm dying over here! :lol:

RemyRAD Tue, 07/28/2009 - 11:41

They try to make speakers flat because our hearing varies with level. That's why you need to monitor at different volume levels. If it sounds good at loud levels it may not sound good at low levels. If it sounds good at low levels, chances are it will sound good at high levels. If you want an accurate monitor, purchase electrostatic panels. But don't turn them up to far. You need more than one pair of monitors if you can't afford electrostatic panels. I don't know any studio that uses electrostatic panels. Flat speakers give you a reference point to start with. Fletcher & Munson & others plotted our hearing response and as you noted, it's not flat. Doesn't need to be. No point in it. It's called hearing. You can't see ultraviolet You can't see infrared. You can't see microwaves. You can't see radio waves. But they really are all the same as our optical vision. It just falls outside the frequency response of our optical vision. Are you missing anything by not seeing that stuff? Of course. Is it important to see that stuff? Sometimes. That's what bugs, birds, law-enforcement use to see certain things that we can't. Can we live without it? Sure can. You don't need to see everything otherwise you would be like the Predator in that movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger. I think it would be great to have thermal vision just so I could see all of these people who are dead and don't know it yet. So many are. Especially recording engineers.

Not dead yet
Mx. Remy Ann David

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