Conflicting Monitor Placement Advice

[ap]

An article in Homerecording Mag July 2001 says put monitors along the long wall in a small space, and keep them 1 or 2 feet away from the back wall to avoid early reflections.

Same magazine June 2000 says put 'em on the short wall, and in large print says "The thing to avoid is having a small space between the wall and the speaker. Put the speakers either well away form the wall or right on it." It also explains that 3 feet is the minimum distance if not right on the wall.

What do you think, and is there any way to reconcile the two apparently contradictory ideas.

 

[jbodner246]

monitor advice

Your best bet is to go by what it sayd in your monitor manual. there should be a section on placement in there that tells you how to place them to avoid conflicts, early reflections etc. I would thin that the monitor company itself would know what is best for those particular monitors, rather than just a generic article on monitor placement

 

[ap]

Event 20/20's. Manual says nothing about using in different rooms.

 

[sonusman]

Short wall. Treat side walls with stuff to avoid early reflections. Not that hard to do really.

3 feet away from the wall is not such a bad idea, BUT, you still need to treat the corners of the room (yes, even behind the speakers) and it is a good idea to have a nice absorber between the speakers. Really, soffit mounting is best to do, but unpractical for most....Oh well.

John Sayers down in the Studio Display forum is the best guy around these parts for explaining acoustic stuff in rooms. He has build some very impressive studios in Australia, and is a good guy anyway! You will probably find MANY threads in that forum that deal with monitor placement, and possible room treatments that will have you hearing things fairly good without spending a fortune to do it.

Good luck.

Ed

 

[sacredhill]

monitor placement

Question: My control room is quite small, 7 feet deep by 9 feet wide by 6 foot 4 inches high. The ceiling is carpeted, the floor is vinyl tile, and all walls are Auralex wedge foam from the ceiling down 2 feet. The walls from the foam to the floor are birch paneling. The space constraints forced me to mount my main monitors (Audix Studio 3A's) to the wall, and my secondary monitors (Yamaha MSP5's) are on small stands on each side of the console. The speakers angles seem to be fine. There are additional Auralex panels on the rear wall and door.

My problem is a lack of depth to my mixes. I have had people tell me my room is too small to add diffusors, and I've had others say adding diffusors to the ceiling both above the main speakers and at the rear of the room would help me in this area. What do I need to do? HELP!!!

Micslut

 

[ap]

Thanks, Sonusman. I've been spending alot of time in the 'building' forum so I'm aware of everything you mentioned. I just wanted to see if anyone could make any sense of that conflicing advice. It helps to hear what you think is best. I've never seen control room diagrams/plans that call for the monitors on the long wall!

sacredhill: Where walls meet wall, and walls meet ceiling, you need the most bass treatment. All the treatment you've mentioned only controls higher frequencies and does virtually nothing for bass. Perhaps you are compensating by adding to much treble/reducing too much bass?

How do commercially produced CD's that you like sound in your room?

I'm no expert, just trying to help.