COOLCAT said:
1) how is the outboard EQ different than the internal EQ settings on active monitors?
Outboard EQ is optional, internal EQ is not (unless the monitor happens to have a bypass filter.)
The bandpass EQ switches on some monitors are marketing ideas more than engineering solutions.
Can they make the monitor sound "better"? Yes.
Do they make the monitor's response any "flatter"? No.
Are they effective in flattening anamolies in room response? No.
Do they help one make better mixes? Only in the fact that if they "sound better" they may not fatigue one's ears as quickly. Other than that, no, not if the engineer has good ears.
COOLCAT said:
2) what if your just eqing the mix-seat? is it 'slightly more acceptable" to use the EQ to even things out?
It's no different. Two big reasons for this:
1.) Graphic EQs do not have the resolution to correct room acoustics and parametric EQs do not have enough bands to plug all the holes.
2.) The phase and coloration issues are still there regardless of whether one is EQing for the whole room or for one cubic foot of that room.
But all this talk misses the main point: Monitor flatness is not required for good mixing. If it were, there'd be no such thing as good mixing because there's no such thing as flat monitors.
Ear training and the ability to translate are what's important. If your ears happen to like a bit of, say, 2k boost in your monitor and your mixes do not wind up deficient around 2k when played back on another system, then who cares that there's a bump in your monitor or room response at 2k?
The idea of acheiving or approaching "flatness" does come in handy if one is an engineer who works in more than one studio. Knowing what to expect from the foreign monitor chain and not having to learn and adapt to the local coloration for every desk he sits at is a good thing.
But if one is running their own rig in their own home and they are the only one driving it, then worry about one's ears and translation skills. If the monitors and/or the room are so bad as to make good relaible translation impossible or just too difficult, or it gives one a headache after a half hour of mixing, then those problems will definitely need addressing with new monitor placement, acoustical treatment, or new monitors. But beyond that, forget the flatness chase.
G.