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Do pro studios use subwoofers in their monitoring?

If not, why not?

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anonymous Sun, 02/15/2009 - 07:39

Some do and some don't.

Mostly a sub is only needed if you're doing surround stuff like 5.1 or 7.1, things like that.

If you have good enough monitors with at least 10" woofers you can get a pretty good idea of how the bass is sounding.

When you add a sub to a stereo monitor situation you run the risk of creating a boat load of nodal interference and mud in your room. A lot of acoustic testing and treatment and setup is required if you want to make your sub work for you in a positive way.

That being said, a sub is good to have to reference against. Doing most of your mixing on stereo monitors then referencing on a system with a good sub always helps.

The 135W RMS mono block which feeds the 12" in a custom ported enclosure in the boot of my car which is ported into the cabin is what I use. I'm a bass head, I love hyped phat huge bass but I wouldn't mix in my car because it would translate into crap anywhere else.

Subs rule for enjoying, they can be a pain for critical listening.

soapfloats Sun, 02/15/2009 - 19:35

I'm not running a pro studio by any means, but I do have a sub running w/ my main nearfield monitors (I have another pair for reference).

The only time I turn it on is when a client "needs" to hear more bass - or to check the bottom end on a song that calls for more of a dance feel.

Basically, almost never.
And I still have issues w/ too much bass on the sandwich.