Can you recommend a low cost Spectrum Analyzer for EQ

[tonyoci]

Southside, you make some decent points but lets focus on a few details here.

Firstly, I am no major player on this forum, I don't have the first clue who you or Bear are, I have never knowingly encountered you before. Reread Blue's original post and you will see there is nothing in there that gives any indication of that.

It comes across as, what I believe to be something of a problem with this forum, another snotty comment from a self appointed expert. My response was a simple "That doesn't answer my question", which his post did not. Yours and his later one's certainly made some much clearer points but his original one was the typical passive-agressive "expert" crap we have to deal with all the time here.

You are correct that getting advice from experts is a good thing, but I repeat that since I don't know you, your posts read as opinionated opinions with little tolerance for a different point of view. Truth is I still don't know you and have no reason to think your answers are "good", when compared to someone I do know who uses this technique, as one of many.

Personally I'm an investigator, music is a hobby and I computer savvy. Spending a while looking at how this stuff all fits together is interesting, maybe it will be useful maybe it won't.

The real truth is that an "Expert" mixer is doing exactly the same thing as I would do with an SA tool, difference is they don't need the SA tool, beginners who are not in this for the long haul, can benefit greatly from the shortcuts and software tools etc.

I think the people who are experts here need to be a little more conscious of the motivations and interests of the others.

 

[kylen]

tonyoci - I thought we made some progress in here - why don't we call it a day?

If someone in a forum gives you some response you don't like or don't understand then push them a little, or harder for clarification. That way you get past the - well you don't need to do that answer that someone gives after talking about the same thing 500 times...more viewpoints can be found in internet searches of other forums also...Haha there I go giving you advice - don't forget to look both ways when you cross the street too!

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

You are correct that getting advice from experts is a good thing, but I repeat that since I don't know you, your posts read as opinionated opinions with little tolerance for a different point of view. Truth is I still don't know you and have no reason to think your answers are "good", when compared to someone I do know who uses this technique, as one of many.

Maybe it's my fault for tending to long, detailed posts that poeple don't actually read what I'm saying or loose the point of what I'm saying. But I would have at least hoped that the few thousand wors I put in towards this subject went at least some distance to actually *explain* in detail the reasoning, the science and the technique behind the position, and that they weren't just some yahoo spouting an uneducated opinion.

beginners who are not in this for the long haul, can benefit greatly from the shortcuts and software tools etc.

That statement alone is proof positive that my posts were not actually read...multiple times. I'm done repeating myself.

Just remember this twenty years from now when you're in my position and every hotshot young'un with a gun and a cowboy hat who couldn't hit the side of a barn comes along wanting to be a gunslinger. When they are asking about how to chrome plate their revolver instead of how to shoot straight, and you *sigh* and wind up saying, "go ahead kid, get yourself killed, see what I care", think of me.

Buenas tardes, muchachito!
G.

 

[tonyoci]

Given my age, chances are I won't be here in 20 years

 

[tonyoci]

By coincidence I was sent this quote that seems quite fitting to me and recording.

If you can't do something well, learn to enjoy doing it poorly

 

[fraserhutch]

By coincidence I was sent this quote that seems quite fitting to me and recording.

If you can't do something well, learn to enjoy doing it poorly

Was it sent as a reply to your posts here?

 

[kylen]

By coincidence I was sent this quote that seems quite fitting to me and recording.

If you can't do something well, learn to enjoy doing it poorly

That coulda been from scruffy Charlie - me an him had to run off some of them dad blasted claim jumpin sprecktron analyzers back in the summer of ought and five. Them scoundrels was ever-ware showing up at this and that place wrecking general havoc with a capital "KMA" as in - if you don't like Hank Williams if'n ya follow my scent!

 

[sucram]

i can't believe i made it to the end of this thread.

The free VST-wrapper program that Glen mentioned is from Spin Audio I believe, and yeah, you can use one plug in with it, but i think you can use that one plug in multiple instances. I'm with Kylen regarding SPAN from Voxengo, and have read flattering remarks about their Gliss EQ. Sound Forge 8's analyzer is pretty nice i think, but i'm not sure if it does averaging which is helpful.

I use RTAs all the time (for better or worse). My room is crap, my monitors are crap, and my judgement is crap after working on something for extended periods. The RTA can be used to verify things, or point out what i'm missing. I find it indispensible for bass frequencies which aren't very present in my monitors. Could i mix without it? Of course. Do I mix solely using it? Of course not. But I know I can't always trust what I hear since ears adjust quickly, and that piercing synth lead may not be as piercing after a few minutes, so I know i can no longer trust my ears. If i could, I wouldn't need to worry about translation at all. Acoustic shortcomings alone are enough for me to consider it useful to have around for when i'm second guessing myself.

Another point to be considered is that different styles of music may have different attributes regarding frequencies, levels, and masking. Why not take advantage of an unbiased measuring device? Surely, it will prove itself useful or not in time. You can always not look at it. Hell, do a mix using it and one not and compare them to see for yourself.

good luck,
marcus

 

[Blue Bear Sound]

Another point to be considered is that different styles of music may have different attributes regarding frequencies, levels, and masking.

Perfect! So tell me what a Jazz song looks like...............

 

[kylen]

Perfect! So tell me what a Jazz song looks like...............

To those interesting in adding spectroscopy to their set of metering tools you can always start with samples of vairious instruments available to get a feel for the frequency visuals, combinging samples together to loop in time gives an idea of how to set the rta decay so the spectrum metering dances to the pulse of the music much like a VU meter might - except now instead of a single meter for all freqs you can see them all broken out to whatever resolution you like. Finally by the time you get to a complex mix the frequency and dynamics density and depth becomes apparant and you can discern space and get an idea of an arrangement. If that type of metering doesn't appeal, or if you use the wrong kind or don't believe in them then nothing will ever be apparant - that's ok too! I never said it's better for the entire world - just that I use it and like it.

Without knowing a particular song I could guess a Jazz song from a Rock song watching an rta but I don't use them that way, never have, and never tried to give advice concerning that use - we're listening at the same time so it is unnecessary for one thing. With SPAN I can set a bandpass or LP/HP and judge the dynamics using the rms metering. If I want to borrow a particular sound from a commercial recording it's pretty easy to set a low pass and see what Bob Ludwig did down there and try to make sure my bass dynamic range, stereo field, and balance are similar to get that same feel.

The spectrum of an rta has to live and breath for it to be useful to me - it's not a single snapshot of an entire song - is that what you anti-rta guys think? It's some pretty hefty organic metering in my world. Just part of the digital toolkit...we used to use them to balance RF amps too but that's another story!

 

[Hi_Flyer]

wow, this is a touchy subject... for what its worth, I think SPAN has been helping me a little, but southsideGlen said, it has only been with extreme EQ problems...

What is wrong with using a spectrum analyzer to help TRAIN your ears to hear things?

When I first started playing the guitar, I couldn't tune the damn thing. Now I can hit fairly close to 440 out of nowhere after a fresh string change, without a tuner or reference pitch. And I still look at my fingers sometimes when I play.