Dave, your monitoring?

[jazzius II]

What bigs do you like?

What smalls do you use?

What is your average listening level?

Do you listen much in mono?

Anything else interesting we should know about your monitoring?

Cheers!

[jazzius II]

[Dave Pensado]

Bigs--Ausberger Tad system tuned by Bob Hodas. I tune them like big NS10's

Smalls--Old tweater NS10's

I also use the 3" speaker (mono) on the Studer 2track, as well as Auratones

I try to monitor at varying levels during the day. I also like to move around the room some. I also change the lighting a lot during the day.

I use a lot of CD's that I like the vibe (not the sound) of. For example, there are some songs I like where the snare is placed in the mix, so I play that. Some songs I like the hi end on the vocal, some the lo end on the backgrounds, so I play them while I'm initially starting the mix. Once I get into the mix, I don't like to hear anything else. I never reference with my own mixes.

I do listen in mono. One thing I like to do is listen for bottom on little speakers. That keeps you honest.

[elementsound]

I dont own a pair of "Bigs" But I do use NS10s. What would you suggest to a guy like me when dealing with the bass? Do you ever use a sub with the NS10s? I have been wondering if that would be a good idea. If so any paticular sub?


Thanks!
james

[mesmer]

I mixed a song in the room where Dave works, on one of the few days Dave hadn't booked it, and I must say the Hodas/Ausberger/Tads were the best monitors I'd ever heard. I haven't been able to get back in because Dave's allways got it booked.
Peter

[jazzius II]

Originally posted by mesmer
I mixed a song in the room where Dave works, on one of the few days Dave hadn't booked it, and I must say the Hodas/Ausberger/Tads were the best monitors I'd ever heard. I haven't been able to get back in because Dave's allways got it booked.
Peter

cheers, Dave!

[Geert van den Berg]

I mixed a song in the room where Dave works

And which room is that Peter? Or is that top secret, Dave?

[mesmer]

Daves room is at Enterprise. I think it was studio-c? maybe B. I spent a lot of time on the mains.
Peter

[remo]

Dave, how important is the actual monitoring environment (acoustic design, diffusors, traps, etc) to your mixing? Are all us home guys justs shooting in the dark because our mix (bed)rooms are acoustically terrible?

I wish I could pull a better sound than what I can at the moment, my monitors (Adam P22-A's) are pretty good but I know my room acoustics are all over the place. I feel I know what I want to hear from my music. I'm wondering if its possible my room will never let me achive what I want to hear.

Would you recommend people put more funding and investigation into their monitoring environment before they lay down cash on more outboard, new monitors, etc?

thanks,
Guy

[thethrillfactor]

Originally posted by remo

Would you recommend people put more funding and investigation into their monitoring environment before they lay down cash on more outboard, new monitors, etc?

thanks,
Guy

How about instead of using the money to try to upgrade the home enviroment, using the money for booking time at a great studio in town.

You will have access to the gear, a console if you choose, plus the monitoring enviroment.

Also you will build a relationship with a studio which you can use in the future if you have a bigger project that you want to do there.

Also if you show you have talent and a great attitude, i am pretty sure they will have your name on call and would have no problem recommending you to a good client on a smaller budget.

Trust me this works!!!(well it did for me for years when i was starting out).

Its a win-win situation all around.

You get to refine your mixing skills in the best enviroment possible and the good studios in the area get to keep their doors open.

Just an opinion.

[e-cue]

Originally posted by mesmer
Daves room is at Enterprise. I think it was studio-c? maybe B. I spent a lot of time on the mains.
Peter

Studio C. B has the same montiors but also has those monster subs, which I suggest you promptly turn off if you are mixing, but are great for tracking cause it's such a big room. I miss Studio J across the street which was my favorite room in mix in besides Dave's room.

[pentajigga]

after my house was thankfully not blown away by hurricane ivan, i will be completing renovations of my attic pretty soon and am thinking about making an upgrade from my mackie hr824s (mix the sub, that i engage occassionally while programming, rather than while mixing).

the room is about 250 sq ft. i make and mix instrumental electronic music (drumNbass, downbeat, hiphop, tetc) with the occasional vocal mixed in on top.

i have been considering: dynaudio bm15a, pmc aml-1, genelec 1032, genelec 8050 .

i will treat the room as best i can.
any other suggestions, or comments on these models?

much thanks

[Matt Pneumatic]

I'm currently looking into new speakers as well. I work on projects such as classical and rock (mostly classical though). And I've been considering similar models as pentajigga as follows:

Genelec 1031
Genelec 8050
PMC AML-1
ProAc S100

What are the kids saying on the streets these days about these models??

I am going out to AES San Fran and look forward to listening to them all, but I need personal input from a lot of people before I drop $4,000 to $5,000 on a pair of audiophile bookshelf speakers.

[Bob Olhsson]

Originally posted by thethrillfactor
How about instead of using the money to try to upgrade the home enviroment, using the money for booking time at a great studio in town.
...
...if you show you have talent and a great attitude, i am pretty sure they will have your name on call and would have no problem recommending you to a good client...

This is sage advice. The single biggest career mistake I EVER made was letting myself get sucked into the project studio thing after I quit Motown. I had lots of fun but making the relationships I needed took many years longer than it needed to because I didn't have a relationship with any studios.

[djui5]

Originally posted by e-cue
Studio C. B has the same montiors but also has those monster subs, which I suggest you promptly turn off if you are mixing, but are great for tracking cause it's such a big room. I miss Studio J across the street which was my favorite room in mix in besides Dave's room.

Nice place.....

The J room closed?....that's a big a$$ live room....

[remo]

Originally posted by thethrillfactor
How about instead of using the money to try to upgrade the home enviroment, using the money for booking time at a great studio in town....

You get to refine your mixing skills in the best enviroment possible and the good studios in the area get to keep their doors open.

Just an opinion.

top idea t-factor, I like it... will definitly do so on next mix project.