monitors for my room - some advice needed

[Unknown soldier]

I'll be mixing in a square room about 14' by 13'. The monitors will be against one wall in the middle of the room. I'll be very close to the monitors - about three feet back, in the center of course. My room is treated with 2" foam on the walls in which the monitors will be facing, across the room. There is also foam on the wall in which the monitors are against, and other foam in various placs throughout the room.

I can't change this situation, due to space and equipment constraints. It may be less than ideal, but I'm looking for monitors that will work best. You can recommend some, but of course it's subjective. I want to hear the bass and lower mids, as I think this is where the mud lies and is the most trickiest to mix...

I think it would be pointless to get 15 inch speakers, for this size room....so 6" or 8"? get a sub?

thanks for any advise...!

[Ethan Winer]

> I'll be mixing in a square room about 14' by 13' ... My room is treated with 2" foam <

You need more than 2-inch foam to tame the severe bass problems in a small square room like that.

> I want to hear the bass and lower mids, as I think this is where the mud lies and is the most trickiest to mix... <

You are correct that bass is the most difficult region to mix. Unless your current monitors are really lame, what you need more than new monitors is bass traps. The more traps you have, the flatter and tighter the low end will be. It's that simple.

What speakers do you have now?

--Ethan

[SRS]

As Ethan said... Trap the bass, trap the bass, trap the bass. This will ounce for ounce clear up your room mode/cancellation issues the best in that size of room. Good luck. I too would like to know the monitors you have...

[Unknown soldier]

I'm using midiman BX5 monitors - no bass really, and they probably flatter the sound to well to be considered accurate monitors. Obviously I can do better...

I usually mix at low volumes - would this still present a problem with room acoustics? At what volume level does the room become a serious factor?

[SRS]

Unfortunately I am not familiar with those particular monitors. The room however comes into play at all volume levels, from softest of the soft to louder levels. Of couse, the loder you monitor, the more the reflections and absorption and diffusion will come into play. Don't fool yourself into thinking just because you monitor at low volume that the room is no longer a factor. There are cheap alternatives you can use. Shipping blankets for example are good for keeping those first reflections out of your ears while at the mix position. Use the mirror on the wall trick to see where you need the first reflection treatment. Sit in the mix position and have another person move a mirro flat on all serfaces. Where you can see the monitors is twhere you need treatment. This goes a long way to helping with getting a cleaner sound to your ears while at the mix pos. The bass trapping is the key though. If your budget affords, get some thick Owens Corning 703 and cover it with a pourous material. Double it up in the corners for better low freq absorption. I have done extensive treatments in my room, and it has worked wonders for the acoustics. I put the OC 703 in the cornners with R-30 insulation behind the pannels. They have been paramount in trapping the low end that will muddy up and cancel out in the room.