Behringer 2030A Truths or 2031A

[OneRoomStudios]

manning1 - What happens when someone wants to play something you've mixed on a decent pair of speakers? Seems to me if you mix on a bad pair of speakers that probably hype the highs and lows, then if someone wants to listen to it on a good pair of speakers, it'll sound mid-y and well...crappy. The point of using good monitors is that the mix sounds good period - if you play it on a crappy boom box, it may not sound so great...you know why? Because you're playing it on a crappy boom box. If the listener really cares about the quality of sound enough to notice the hyped highs/lows, they can go out and buy a decent pair of speakers and listen to it as it was mixed on good speakers. If it's mixed on a crappy boom box, it'll never sound better than it does on a crappy boom box....and that would be a shame.

 

[grinder]

all monitors are a joke imho. just another marketing ploy to get people to
waste their money. the fallacies are endless....
one example - not everyone in the world uses the monitor you mix on.
not everyone who buys your cd will have wharfedales or truths or ....
thats where it all breaks down. ive found mixing on a boom box probably better because thats probly what most people are using or computer speakers or a home hi fi.
just my opinion.

Have you ever mixed on a good pair of studio monitors, in a treated room? Doesn't sound like it.

 

[BlindCowboy]

all monitors are a joke imho. just another marketing ploy to get people to
waste their money. the fallacies are endless....

I'd love to hear the fallacies.

I'll tell you what. I'm as cheap as they come. What I did, before I got the Truths, was run 3 pairs of speakers through my studio. The speakers ranged from high end stereo speakers, computer speakers w/ a cheesy sub, and bookshelf speakers.

Ya know what I got? An increase in the highs with not enough focus in the midrange and no monitoring what so ever in the bass response leaving me with some tracks that got washed out by a very deep bass drum. Ya know how I know? I ran my mixes through the Truths. Even then, they sounded good on the other speakers, and that's what most people listen to.

Sent my mix out to several friends of mine. Response? "Highs are killing me. Mixes are washed out from the kick drum. Where's your midrange and vocals?"

Various people, various listening environment, same responses.

Mixed w/ the Truth monitors, and most of my problems that were pointed out have been eliminated. Maybe you're right. But, i'll stick with the monitors and take my own chances.

 

[therage!]

Mixed w/ the Truth monitors, and most of my problems that were pointed out have been eliminated. Maybe you're right. But, i'll stick with the monitors and take my own chances.

I think a good point to make here is the importance of getting to know your monitors and the environment your working in. But if you have a crappy room why spend big money until you treat the room? I would love to get a pair of Adam’s but my environment needs work long before I go that route. People don’t seem to pay enough attention to the room environment they are mixing in. I’ll stay with cheaper monitors until I get my environment better, not to mention my hearing.

 

[manning1]

grinder fyi - i HAVE mixed on the high end monitors. costing 5k and up !
in BIG studios with great engineers. ive also had extensive discussions on this topics with audio engineering profs and folks who know way way more than i will ever do. including lots of coffees with expert folks at AES meets.
where a lot of top engrs hang out. as a result of talking to these people over many years (who in fact disagree amongst themselves !! - NO CONSENSUS) i stand by my stement. there is no perfect solution.
just for a laugh once i started mixing thru my grandads ancient radiogram made in the 50's and i was getting better results than on anything else when playing back between different systems.
grinder - i'm just relaying my own experiences thats all.
sure i could be way way wrong ...but i dont think so from the many experiened folk ive talked to including electronics designers, profs etc etc.

 

[OneRoomStudios]

Well hell, if it gives me credibility - I'm a member of the Audio Engineering Society and have spoken with professor and expert engineers too, but I still disagree. Not that I'm saying you're totally wrong or anything - it's an interesting idea. I just think it doesn't translate to real world situations where people are listing to recordings on all sorts of different speakers. If the mix is right, it'll sound right, if it's not, it's only going to sound right on the "right" speakers.

On another note, are you going to AES in San Francisco?

 

[manning1]

i wish i was going to aes now one room. met some incredible people at AES shows. just cant afford it. ive been through a serries of family deaths (old age) and helping elders financially in my family.
priorities you know.
peace and enjoy yourself.

 

[theapex]

I've always thought the main point of Studio Monitors was to be able to hear the entire frequency as evenly as possible (Hence the desire to have a studio monitor as flat as possible). This means, you won't be stuck in a sitution where once you are done and finalizing a project, you have frequencies that YOU personally didn't hear on your specific NON-flat speakers. In this case, someone with a different set of speakers (Both higher-end ones or lower) may hear them loud and clear.

Again, you (with the nice and flat studio monitors) can hear the entier spectrum right off the bat and can get the perfect mix accross the entire spectrum. Hence, once played elsewhereit should translate well in all situations.

Basically, if you mix on consumer level speakers (Boom box, 2-inch kitchen radio speakers, car system, etc) you will as mentioned, mix for THAT particular speaker type and THAT respective frequency response.

I'm no pro here by any means, but the "If the mix is right, it'll sound right, if it's not, it's only going to sound right on the right speakers" saying pretty much sums this all up.

As an audio engineer, you are required to hear EVERYTHING and not just what the standard consumer level speakers provide. This is because you have to cater to ALL of those consumer level speakers in the world.

Hmm, I guess I'm saying the same thing over and over again. Anyway, if I'm wrong here, then someone correct me. I'm just joining this thread because I'm about to spend a lot of money on studio monitors myself and I definitely feel I understand the reason for having them.

As an added note, I definitely know what it's like to have recorded something only to have it sound completely crappy in a car stereo - washed out, bass-heavy, bland highs, etc. I know it would be easier to work with monitors instead of my computer Speakers

But from the other side, I guess it is completely true to state "once you learn your speakers (monitors or not) you can mix well on them". This could be true I suppose and be what you are talking about, Manning1. So then at any rate, having studio monitors DOES make things easier in the least, no?