Choosing 2nd reference monitors for good club translation

[Chrisc_o]

Your question is regarding mix translation, which is a very interesting and often discussed topic.

I suggest finding the monitoring system that works best for you and not trying to emulate or reproduce a particular environment.

Think about it: every club is going to have a different system, different dimensions, different acoustics.... they may all give you a similar impression when listening to music but there are far too many variables between them to use any one environment as a point of reference. This is the exact same thing that needs to be considered for any mixer working in any style of music intended to to played back through any reproduction chain.

The answer is always to get the most accurate monitor system possible in your mix environment and practice. A balanced mix in a good mix environment will sound very good anywhere it's played. A mix that only sounds good in a specific environment will probably never sound close to good anywhere else.

Aim for accuracy in your mix environment. Practice. That's all.

[marvingain]

Thanks for your reply chris!

What you're writing is ofcourse very true, however i do find from experience that most clubs have a few things in common...

One thing is that you can't pack a lot sounds into the soundfield and expect to hear every sound clearly in a club.
You need to keep the sounds and frequency ranges of the sounds clearly separated (from experience more separated than in a mix expected to be played in a home Hi-Fi).
Listening to monitor speakers that reveal a lot of information (width, depth and sound separation), you can allow yourself to pack a lot more sounds into the mix, sounds that will disappear on a big club rig due to all kinds of interference (room acoustics, speakers, cabinet resonance etc.).

With that said, a pair of reference speakers that "fill up" quickly with few sounds would be ideal for me

And yeah, another thing is, as written in my last post, harsh hi-mids. In almost every clubs using metal compression hi-freq drivers (not the Funktion-One speakers), the sibilance hi-mids sounds ear-piercing if mixed wrong. Many monitor speakers i've listened to has got a "kind" attitude towards playing the harsh hi-mids around 6-8k, probably to avoid listening fatigue. I want a pair that hurts at loud volumes if it's bad.