adequate location monitors?

[mslim]

Hi,

I am looking to put together a location recording rig targeted at local community college recitals and jazz ensemble live recordings. I will use a Yamaha AW4416 and a Sytek outboard preamp which gives me 12 tracks simultaneously.

What are your thoughts and suggestions on a set of powered monitors to ensure clean tracking on location? Also, in these types of locations, what length of snake do you run to isolate yourself from the acoustical sound so that you can judge the sound going to the recorder? Is 50' or 100' enough?

[John Willett]

I use Klein + Hummel O110D monitors for my location work. KTS made me a great padded bag for carrying them around without damaging them.

Control is via a Grace m902 - though that may be a bit OTT for you.

I hope this helps.

[sonare]

I use Tannoy 800A-- not currently made but easily found on ebay for about $1k/pair. From 75Hz up they are similar to my B&W 801 Matrix III.

I carry them in British duffel bags (how appropriate) that have solid bottoms.

Rich

[LX3]

Genelec 8030s here. Excellent for mobile applications in a lot of ways - portability, mounting options, general indestructibility.

[sonare]

If you are thinking about the Genelecs, listen before you buy. I do not recall the model (but they were NOT ribbon tweeters) but 2 of the most miserable days I can remember were doing a surround orchestral mix in a studio with a surround Genelec system.

Probably fine for many things, but I did not enjoy classical source material on those speakers.

Rich

[John Willett]

Originally Posted by sonare

If you are thinking about the Genelecs, listen before you buy. .............................Probably fine for many things, but I did not enjoy classical source material on those speakers.

I spent ages looking for the best location monitors for classical before I bought my K+H O110Ds (the O110 are just as good, though - the same without the digital input).

[LX3]

Have heard some good Genelecs and some not so good ones. I generally like the sound of the 80XX series. Not so keen on the older ones.

Might be a bit more fun for rock/pop than classical. Just a feeling, I haven't done any careful comparisons, there's just something extremely punchy about the low end on them. But I love the practicality and build quality of the Genelecs, and for me, that counts for a lot on the road.

(What do you guys mount your monitors on when you're out and about?)

I find that the "sound" of the room I'm working in can tend to overpower any desirable characteristics of the monitors. You don't have much control over your monitoring environment when you're working on location.

Re snake length, I think 100ft will suffice 95% of the time. But you need some isolation, distance alone won't do it. If you haven't got a separate room, you should be on headphones IMO. You can use monitors for playback of course, but I find I'm in record most of the day, there isn't much time for hearing things back.

[nickolo]

The small pmc tb1s might be worth checking out....?