can 824's be eq'd to simulate auratones?

[norman]

i have read in so many posts people raving about the virtues of mixing on auratones. it has been said that without all the highs and lows one can focus on the critical midrange frequencies, this all to me makes a lot of sense.

considering my mackie hr824's have all of that unneccessary spectrum can't i run a high and low pass on my mix buss to simulate the auratone?

can someone recommend shelving points and q for this? better yet can someone make a preset for, say, a waves renn 2 band? that would be fantastic. i have never listened on auratones so have no idea where i would start. and if this works how about an eq curve for an ns-10? thank you so much,
norman

[theblue1]

No reason you can't set up a number of EQ curves to simulate different listening situations and switch back and forth. It won't give you the whole sense of using crappy little speakers but it can go a ways.


One easy trick I learned back in the day was simply checking the mix at different levels over the main monitors. As Fletcher and Munson demonstrated, the ear's response curve changes rather dramatically at different listening levels. Turning the level way down can let you quickly check what your mix will sound like with little bass and not much treble.

A lot of engineers like to calibrate their CR levels using a SPL meter, and/or often setting a 'standard' listening level on their CR level control. It's way too easy for the ear to be fooled by changing levels while mixing (hence the SPL meter to keep things real-world consistent).

[seaneldon]

Auratones sound the way they do because of their physical size, the fact that there's only one driver, the material that makes up that driver, etc.

We're not talking about equalization here. If you want to listen to an Auratone, buy one.

[theblue1]

Originally Posted by seaneldon

Auratones sound the way they do because of their physical size, the fact that there's only one driver, the material that makes up that driver, etc.

We're not talking about equalization here. If you want to listen to an Auratone, buy one.

Sure... if the goal is to mix so that your tracks sound good on Auratones -- well, there's only one good way to do that.

But, for most folks, the point of Auratones or the more expensive Auratone-wannabes that have come out since the heyday of "horrortones" is a quick/easy way of checking against a typical crappy consumer speaker. That said, some folks felt the peculiar frequency response, transient response, etc, of Auratones made them particularly well suited and worth the $100/pair (back in 1984 when a hundred bucks was worth a little more than double what it is today).

Me... having worked with Auratones fairly often back in the day (always with some 'decent' main monitors, of course), I'll go without, thanks.

[seaneldon]

I'm not implying that Auratones are the path to good mixes. I'm just saying if the guy wants to listen to an Auratone, buy an Auratone. They're cheap enough.

If you want your mixes to be better, solve some issues in your room and get speakers that don't sound like Mackie HR824's.

[norman]

thanks everyone for reponding. i guess i thought a simple eq curve might get my mackies in the ballpark of some of these other "less than full range" alternatives. but maybe there is more to it than that. i feel like if i had both set up, i could eq one to sound like the other. so if anyone does have both and some time and the inclination, shoot me some numbers. thanks

[seaneldon]

Why not find and do things that work for YOU rather than reading about how someone else used Auratones however many moons ago? Do you really think an Auratone is the answer to your problems?

If all you want to do is cut low frequency and high frequency information from your monitoring system () then do exactly that...but instead of waiting for people to post magic frequency points that don't exist, why not sweep them yourself? Perhaps you could just realize that Auratones were popular (around the same time as cocaine, mind you) because they gave you an idea of what the mix would sound like on a shitty playback system. Got a shitty playback system kicking around? Try that and don't put EQ on your monitors that sound EQ'd to begin with.

Sometimes I don't understand this place...

[u b k]

i'm with sean, a huge part of why these speakers sound the way they do is their transient response. auratones don't just sound tinny, they have a special bite to the front edge of sounds. likewise, ns10's have an incredible ability to pop and crack, making it dead easy to dial in things like parallel compression on drums.

that aside, you might still find an eq curve that helps you dial in your mids better. try 18/db octave rolling off everything below 400 and everything above 6k, see where that gets you.


gregoire
del
ubk
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[Volodia]

One very strong point on the auratones is that they have only ONE driver which means no crossover . You can't emulate that with EQ .

[dafe]

@Sean: good fun and right you are. Thx!
To add: the "average crappy speaker" as the realworld reference has much changed since, and not to his advantage, I have to add. If you deign to looking around yourself in busses (not, erm, popular in the US, I know...) it's often enough warped into the "average crappy earphones". Ouch. I have some of these, and an active x-over to play around with, a 50 bux-stereo of my older son...

[theblue1]

Originally Posted by seaneldon

Why not find and do things that work for YOU rather than reading about how someone else used Auratones however many moons ago? Do you really think an Auratone is the answer to your problems?

If all you want to do is cut low frequency and high frequency information from your monitoring system () then do exactly that...but instead of waiting for people to post magic frequency points that don't exist, why not sweep them yourself? Perhaps you could just realize that Auratones were popular (around the same time as cocaine, mind you) because they gave you an idea of what the mix would sound like on a shitty playback system. Got a shitty playback system kicking around? Try that and don't put EQ on your monitors that sound EQ'd to begin with.

Sometimes I don't understand this place...

101% on all but the last bit... I'm afraid I understand this place... scarier still. (Nah... on balance, it's a great place.)

Great point on the simultaneity of cocaine and Auratone popularity... though the actual causal link remains obscure... but, unfortunately for a new generation, coke has made new inroads with folks who think they're hip. Maybe this accounts for renewed interest in Auratones?

[theblue1]

Originally Posted by Volodia

One very strong point on the auratones is that they have only ONE driver which means no crossover . You can't emulate that with EQ .

An interesting point...

It makes me wonder... has anyone resurrected the "whizzer cone" that used to be affixed around the dome of cheap "full range" loudspeaker drivers?

It could be the next big thing in retrotech...