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Phyl
Guest
I'm thinking about adding a sub to my monitoring set up. Any recommendations for a reasonable priced sub, preferably under $400?
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dodgeaspen
New member
Take a look at www.sweetwater.com they might have what your looking for. I've had excellent luck with the sales engineers and the products.
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Phyl
Guest
Should have added this question to my original querry - does it make sense to buy an 8" sub when you already have an 8" speaker in your monitors? The Mackies are supposed to be flat down to ~39Hz.
The reason I'm thinking about a sub is that we I took a CD done in my studio to a professional studio in Salt Lake City for mastering. The mastering engineer mentioned that all my mixes seemed to be be bass light. My monitoring set up is pretty good, and I've spent significant time/money treating my monitoring space, so I'm wondering if a sub is the thing to do. Could also be that my taste in bass levels is different that the mastering engineer's, but I have to say I liked the bottom end much better when he was done with it.
BTW, this was my first experience getting something mastered, and I'm sold of the process. It really opened my eyes to the importance of a separate set of ears. Great learning experience too since he let me sit in on the session.
The reason I'm thinking about a sub is that we I took a CD done in my studio to a professional studio in Salt Lake City for mastering. The mastering engineer mentioned that all my mixes seemed to be be bass light. My monitoring set up is pretty good, and I've spent significant time/money treating my monitoring space, so I'm wondering if a sub is the thing to do. Could also be that my taste in bass levels is different that the mastering engineer's, but I have to say I liked the bottom end much better when he was done with it.
BTW, this was my first experience getting something mastered, and I'm sold of the process. It really opened my eyes to the importance of a separate set of ears. Great learning experience too since he let me sit in on the session.
mattr
Resident moody teenager
If you're mixes are "bass light" then that would suggest the low end of your monitoring setup is too strong, resulting you in compensating by mixing it with less in the low end. Adding a sub might result in you mixing even less bass.
It really depends on the room, but the 824s should pump out enough bass for most situations. In a small room then they should be all you need, and adding a sub would just be a pointless and daft exercise, probably creating more problems. If there seems to be a lack of bass in your room then you may be sitting in the null of some wave superposition.
In any case its probably worth spending the money you would've spent on a sub on room treatment instead. Start at the low end with bass traps and get that under control (as this wil be where the problems lie in the average-sized home studio room) then work from there - see how much money you have left over to invest in broadband absorption.
But for the meanwhile just get your ears trained to your setup as much as possible. Whilst a flat response is sought as being most ideal, it shouldn't matter what your setup sounds like so long as you know how things should sound on it. Listen through your music collection until you just know where your low-end should sit when mixing.
It really depends on the room, but the 824s should pump out enough bass for most situations. In a small room then they should be all you need, and adding a sub would just be a pointless and daft exercise, probably creating more problems. If there seems to be a lack of bass in your room then you may be sitting in the null of some wave superposition.
In any case its probably worth spending the money you would've spent on a sub on room treatment instead. Start at the low end with bass traps and get that under control (as this wil be where the problems lie in the average-sized home studio room) then work from there - see how much money you have left over to invest in broadband absorption.
But for the meanwhile just get your ears trained to your setup as much as possible. Whilst a flat response is sought as being most ideal, it shouldn't matter what your setup sounds like so long as you know how things should sound on it. Listen through your music collection until you just know where your low-end should sit when mixing.
Shadow_7
New member
Most mics seem to be bass light IMO. If you're some purest who deems EQ a mortal sin, you might consider mics with better low end? Otherwise I think the hint at having too much bass in your monitoring causing you to compensate by mixing the bass down might hold true.
My mics are little bass light. I've migrated towards a +3dB bump on the low end for those mics (contemplating a +2dB comprimise). Tapered gently down to +0dB at 5kHz. Which works well for me. But I've just got a simple audience perspective stereo setup. And I didn't start doing the EQ thing until I recorded a brass band, and it never quite sounded right / good to me. Until I bumped the low end. I kept going, that's not how it sounded live. It's an unfamiliar genre, but this sounds downright annoying to me. Bumping the low end smoothed it out for so it sounded semi-good. (I still need better mics with better low end, but still)
On the flip side, my soundcard tends to hype the low side. Which doesn't translate well. And if I play back the same track on my field recorder on the same signal chain, the basic EQ setup is completely different. So it might be your soundcard, and not your monitors or mics. 8" should be plenty for low end rumble. Unless you like to feel that low end. My BX8's which are considered worse than the 824's, are a bit bass hefty IMO. To the point of sounding muddy without high end converters (field recorder) to make it sound EQ'd okay. IMO. Not to say that it's not the monitors, but you might not solve the issue with a sub.
My mics are little bass light. I've migrated towards a +3dB bump on the low end for those mics (contemplating a +2dB comprimise). Tapered gently down to +0dB at 5kHz. Which works well for me. But I've just got a simple audience perspective stereo setup. And I didn't start doing the EQ thing until I recorded a brass band, and it never quite sounded right / good to me. Until I bumped the low end. I kept going, that's not how it sounded live. It's an unfamiliar genre, but this sounds downright annoying to me. Bumping the low end smoothed it out for so it sounded semi-good. (I still need better mics with better low end, but still)
On the flip side, my soundcard tends to hype the low side. Which doesn't translate well. And if I play back the same track on my field recorder on the same signal chain, the basic EQ setup is completely different. So it might be your soundcard, and not your monitors or mics. 8" should be plenty for low end rumble. Unless you like to feel that low end. My BX8's which are considered worse than the 824's, are a bit bass hefty IMO. To the point of sounding muddy without high end converters (field recorder) to make it sound EQ'd okay. IMO. Not to say that it's not the monitors, but you might not solve the issue with a sub.