Theory of low-end, bedroom monitoring setup(?)

[NeoHippy]

Hi,

You can experiment with the position of Monitors/objects in your room/your ears.
(An open cabinet with much clothes inside can absorb and diffuse more than you'd think)

Then you could measure the freq-spec of the room and try to EQ a bit.

You could use acoustic panels that don't look like it:
-Nightstand-basstraps
-Decoration-Diffusors (some can look really nice, maybe be used as shelf or so)
-Poly-diffusors your GF can paint on/or stick a poster on and hang'em up the ceiling.
-built in second skewed walls, helps a lot.

cheers

[dergit]

Moreover, monitoring at lower volumes reduces the impact your room has (be aware of loudness curves, however). With speakers that work well at lower volumes and some clever positioning you can get it to work. It's not going to be optimal and headphones will be valuable tools in your situation.

[mr jkn]

All good points! (however, what is a nightstand basstrap )

I did some measurments and not to my surprise the freq spectrum was all over the place - for eg a dip at 60hz and boost at 100 that were like the himalayas.

I intend to buy some horrotone type speakers to check mix balances, and use the headphones for checking overall spectral balance.

I will compare two different mixes - one made with my gennies and one made with horrortone/headphones - and post em here. Stay tuned for that.

[chk23]

Originally Posted by mr jkn

All good points! (however, what is a nightstand basstrap )

I did some measurments and not to my surprise the freq spectrum was all over the place - for eg a dip at 60hz and boost at 100 that were like the himalayas.

I intend to buy some horrotone type speakers to check mix balances, and use the headphones for checking overall spectral balance.

I will compare two different mixes - one made with my gennies and one made with horrortone/headphones - and post em here. Stay tuned for that.

Or you could try something like IK multimedias ARC (measurement mic plus auto EQ): ARC System 2

[NeoHippy]

Originally Posted by mr jkn

All good points! (however, what is a nightstand basstrap )

Its a basstrap which looks like a nightstand (also can be used as one)

cheers

[vanderblast]

looks like you don't like listening to music in your bedroom.
I've been in a similar situation, and i would second the first point of Neohippy : experiment different positionning, another wall, another corner, and find a good distance. Leave some space behind the monitors, so they are not stick (sticked?) to the wall.

Despite he probably never mixed in a bedroom, Sweiden wrote somewhere in this forum that you should be able to have a conversation with no effort when you mix. It gave me a valuable indication of a good monitoring level, witch is pretty low. t should help under "more than average" acoustic conditions.

[Unclenny]

I have been mixing in bedrooms for many years now. I knew I was in trouble from the start so I got myself a good set of headphones and never looked back.

I know...heresy.

Works for me, though. It's all about consistency in any monitoring environment....and checking to see how it translates in as many other environments as possible.

[3rd Degree]

The only thing that really makes sense if you are going to use monitors is trying to position them as best you can. If you are unwilling to do anything else, that's really all that is left, and that may be problematic if you don't have much room to move things around.

My solution was to con my parents into letting me keep my studio at their place until I bought a house lol.

I think a VRM box is pretty decent when I am making music out of town, in an apartment, etc. It's not something I feel is the nail in the coffin, it actually makes mixing take much longer but if it sounds good on more than a few settings, you are most of the way there.

I think some good headphones, paired with a VRM box, and what you have, a lot of referencing, and a ton of patience could work out. How much of what you do is creative, and how much is mixing? You could always pay a friend to mix at their place or just pay someone you know to mix as well. I think that would be a better solution than the 50 hour mix, if that's what you end up having to do each song.