Monitors - distance from wall?

I think optimum is to have your mixing station and monitors about 1/3 of the way into the room. (give or take, I don't remember the exact number)
 
Superhuman said:
How far should monitor speakers be set from the wall (on studio desk)? Is there an optimal distance?
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I'm not sure I've ever read a number that was all that precise, and I do know that I have read a bit of disagreement on this subject, but I think a fair number to start the discussion with is around 18" to 2' minimum.

Important to remember in the whole equation is that you want your monitors to form an equilateral triangle with your head at the mixing position; i.e. the distance from you head to each monitor should be about the same as the distance between the two monitors.

When you add that factor to the idea that the theoretical ideal position for the listening position in any room is 38% of the total length of the room, that can - if the room is large enough - determine the monitor position right there.

For example, let's say you are setting up in a room where the distance from the front wall to the rear wall is 15 feet. Theoretically (real-world things like furniture placement and whatnot can mess with this a bit) this means that the ideal listening position for your head would be 38% of 15', or about 5'9" from the front wall. If the sides of your triangle are, say 5', a little geometry would show that the monitors would wind up being about 1'5" from the wall. Not bad. Maybe moving the whole thing back a couple of inches, or shorting the triangle sides a bit would be best for your monitors and still keep your head close enough to the 38% rule of thumb to be optimal, but either way, you'd probably be in the ballpark.

G.
 
Ethan Winer reckons your ears should be 38% of the way into the room. I guess you position the monitors on the other two corners of whatever size equilateral triangle you pick.

Edit: Beat me to it! :D
 
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