On Sat, 19 Apr 2003 10:54:20 -0400, "Damian Bradley" <dbradley@kingston.net> wrote:

>Just a few follow up questions for you. Thanks for responding!

>> >3) Buy a pair of 5" active monitors (M-audio BX5) and suppliment this

>with a

>> >second 'entertainment' / subwoofer system such as Klipsch Promedia 2.1

>> This WILL result in poor bass...

>Where in the chain would the fault be caused? This idea actually came from

>you, from the last thread:

>"one can (and should) check the results of the mix on other good systems,

>including ones with very good bass quality and extension..."

This is not the same...! ;-) If you place a couple of small

speakers well for near-field monitoring, there is likely

no proper place to put a smallish woofer (with high

crossover point) for good integration, no matter how clever

and complex the crossover design is. And, as I pointed out,

small subs contribute little range anyway, so you are

essentially trying to blend a peaky bass unit with main

speakers with phase-relationships changing radically

with slight listening position changes, resulting in

rough and unpredictable bass response. Better to listen

to the main speaker at a lower level and EQ a bit more bass

in, if needed... With large "serious" systems that are also

not "near-field", it is FAR easier (though still difficult)

to integrate subwoofers well with the main speakers...

>Now you use a pair of PSB Alpha's....I mean you're not using 8" monitors to

>mix the bass. The mix wouldn't be done on the Klipsch system, just use it

>as a 'check' so see how such a system would handle the mix from the BX5's.

>The BX5's are still active, tuned-to-be-linear speakers, just less woofer

>and less volme (level and cubic) and somewhat less cash, ($525 vs $789 cdn)

>than the BX8.

See above. The little Alphas, BTW, have fairly good low-end

extension when used near-field (I EQ a bit for overall balance,

though...). There are MUCH better monitoring speakers,

though, for a price...;-)

>I guess one could debate that the Klipsch system doesn't give 'good bass

>qualiy and extension'...? I can see that if one mixes on a system with too

>little bass (adding bass to the mix so it sounds good on the monitors) and

>then proof's the mix on a system that accentuates the lows (making it sound

>like there is too much bass in the mix), it could be hard to figure out a

>middle-of-the-road solution.

Oddly, you generally do not see this with commercial

recordings (there ARE exceptions!), though the monitors

used for mixing often do not have good low bass (rarer

now than a few years ago...). Check your results on wide-range

systems. Do not mix for the monitors you have, but instead

learn their "errors" and mix for your monitors plus their

"error corrections"...

>> >Incidentally, these things are WAY louder than is necessary...or safe for

>> >that matter, especially if you're three feet away.

>> Turn them down...;-)

>That's what I told the salesman when my ears started bleeding ;)

I've known people who mix at painfully high sound levels,

and some who mix at very moderate levels. I suspect that the

better the monitoring speaker (and system, including the

set-up and room), the less desire there is for high sound

"volume"...;-)

> Thanks David,

>Good advice as always.

>Damian

Good luck. We all would prefer to monitor with speakers

that are perfectly flat and smooth from 14-25k in our

environments, but this is not possible. We use what we

have the best we can... $25 can buy a useable pair of

monitoring speakers; $100,000 can buy a better system

(but even it will not be perfect...;-).