Speaker tuning

rob aylestone said:
speaker - enclosure, semantics! Sure we can agree that we are tuning the enclosure for the specific driver, but most people happily use the term to denote the gadget that produces sound. The whole thing, described by all the manufacturers I can think of, as a Loudspeaker.

Not worth fighting over.
Click to expand...

The one thing you need to avoid confusion is semantics. Thats why Science defines terms and qualifies them.

The OP came here because he had had a fight over it. I pointed out why.
 
Tuning a PA system to the room it is in works because the room is where the end listener is. If you do this in a control room, it will affect how you mix the music and won't necessarily translate very well to the end user, who is not listening through your speakers in your room.
 
I can say with 100% certainty that studio monitors are able to be tuned and often are.

I worked for Sennheiser for a number of years where we originally sold and serviced Klein+Hummel monitors, and now Neumann monitors. When a pair of monitors is returned for service (always return the pair, you'll understand why in a moment) we would always repair the offending monitor, and then after the repair we would do a frequency sweep into a chamber. We'd then plot the frequency response to determine whether or not the frequency response was within factory specs. If it was within a certain percentage but not where we'd like it we would then tune the output of the monitor using a hidden parametric eq that is located behind the name plate on the back of the monitor. We would then sweep the monitors against each other and make adjustments (when necessary) to ensure the closest possible match between the two monitors.

So yes, monitors (Klein+Hummel and Neumann, anyway) are indeed tunable.
 
Hi,
I haven't been here in a long time. I found this thread interesting. I have notice on some studio monitors having knobs on the back adjusting frequencies. Would that be for tuning their monitors? I have also heard of some studios using an RTA and using EQ's to flatting the listing spot because it would take to much money to tune the room. Mind you they were home studios. Is that bad? I have even seen digital multitrackers with white noise generators and built in RTA's to do the same. Is their something wrong with this approach?
 
For what it's worth, I bumped into my sound engineer friend last night at a jam I go to and asked him about what specifically they are trying to accomplish. Basically he/they are looking for a speaker box with linear response (so if the room has EQ issues they aren't compounded by a speaker box that may be adding to that frequency range/problem). Passive speakers occasionally need some tweaking (in his words usually due to porting issues that can reduce the drivers performance) and active speakers usually require tweaking to the built in crossovers/EQ/electronics. In his words, most new name brand active speakers are more like powered home stereo speakers and less like PA speakers of old. They have very exaggerated low end that when the box is pushed goes straight into "mush" territory. He typically uses Technomad's (tweaked out) and Wharfdale's for most gigs but also has a huge line array (which doesn't require physical tweaking to box) for really big gigs. I go see lots of bands, I run sound for my own band and others and I know a lot of pro audio guys. When I tell you that this guy knows his shit, I'm not kidding. I'm in the process of upgrading my own live system and I was hell bent on either an EV active high pack and sub set up or a QSC set up. After some real world demonstrations it looks like I'm going with these ProMaxX 14a » FBT USA instead. Once I add in the new Mackie 32 channel rack mount mixer my gear footprint is reduced by more than half (compared to what I have to bring now).

Bill L
 
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