Monitors. A 101 Question

[BenignVanilla]

When mixing our first EP, the band wanted to hang out in the rehearsal studio and just listen to the rough mix on the PA. I wanted them in my "studio", or at least my car. They asked..."The PA is for music. Why can't we listen here?"

I said something about fidelity and frequency response, and PA cabinets aren't for listening to music like this...and then offered them beers and they forgot the question.

What's the better answer? Why is a nice set of small speakers good for mixing, but a big set of PA speakers are not but the PA speakers are good for live music?

[Richard Monroe]

Yo Benign! The short form of the answer is some audio systems are designed to sound good, and others are designed to tell the truth. Home audio systems and PA's are designed to minimize hum, hiss, and annoying needless detail. If you see a centerfold, it may be that you like her with makeup on, airbrushed, with her hair done up carefully, with the lighting designed to catch her good side. If you are a surgeon, you want her well washed, no makeup, no nail polish, no jewelry. Studio monitors are designed to reproduce everything that is on a recording, including that which sucks. If you can't hear what sucks, how can you get rid of it? Sometimes you want flattery, and sometimes, the cold truth is better.

That said, I try to remember that most folks don't listen to music on a $30,000 stereo. And also, certain recordings sound great in stereo, but suck in mono. This is a problem if they play your music on an AM radio station, which will be mono. I'm proud to say that a couple of my recordings have been played on AM radio. I always listen to a mix on the studio monitors, in mono, on a cheap boom box, a good home stereo, in the car, through good studio headphones, and through a cheap set of ear buds. If it sounds good on all of those, it's probably a good mix.

[Seafroggys]

Originally Posted by Richard Monroe

And also, certain recordings sound great in stereo, but suck in mono. This is a problem if they play your music on an AM radio station, which will be mono.

Oh yes, this is a real issue these days. Most people I know listen on AM. This stereo stuff, geez, people just aren't catching on.

[gecko zzed]

Originally Posted by BenignVanilla

When mixing our first EP, the band wanted to hang out in the rehearsal studio and just listen to the rough mix on the PA. I wanted them in my "studio", or at least my car. They asked..."The PA is for music. Why can't we listen here?"

I said something about fidelity and frequency response, and PA cabinets aren't for listening to music like this...and then offered them beers and they forgot the question.

What's the better answer? Why is a nice set of small speakers good for mixing, but a big set of PA speakers are not but the PA speakers are good for live music?

There's actually quite a lot to unravel in here, part of which has been addressed by Richard.

The point of well-designed monitors is to reproduce as accurately as possible what you've recorded. Interestingly, that is also the goal of well-designed stereo speakers, including PA speakers. The extent to which any do this depends on the level of engineering in the design and the quality of components.

The conclusion you can draw from that is that, all things be equal, there is nothing intrinsically 'bad' about listening to a mix on PA speakers. However, given the comparative outputs of monitors and PA systems, the power required to drive each and the cost of delivering that power accurately, it is more than likely that the monitors are going to deliver the mix more faithfully than your average PA.

But I can understand a desire to listen to material through a PA. There is that psychoacoustic excitement when listening to things loud. The danger, though, is that this excitement can disguise flaws and make things sound better than they actually are.

There is no harm in listening to mixes on lots of different systems. But there is a drawback. What happens if it sounds good in the car, but not through a boombox (or vice versa)? If the studio monitors are reputable, and you trust the ears of whoever is doing the mixing, then you should be able to discount having to test it elsewhere. Every listening environment is different, and trying to deal with the variations in these by listening within those environments, then going back and adjusting in the mixing environment, is a quick path to frustration.

If the monitors are just ok, and you are not sure how well the person doing the mixing is coping, then checks on other systems are worthwhile, in that they may reveal a systemic flaw in the mix (e.g. universal too much bass, or too much treble, or vocals too soft).