Is this speaker arrangement a problem?

M

Mistral

RyosaMusic
Yesterday I got me a hold of a pair of TASCAM VL-X5 monitors, that's right, the model that has been discontinued since last summer, hehe.. well anyway I have pretty limited space on my desk for speakers and figured I'd stack the old Sonys on top so I could use them as a "bad reference". This is how it is set up:

studio1.jpg


studio2.jpg


The speakers are seperated by plastic feet, virtually zero surface area is shared between them. I don't hear any difference with them on or removed.. but who knows if I am missing something.

The only potential disadvantage I can think of is that the Sonys aren't at ear level.. but they're not that far off either when I move my chair up to full height.

Would putting the Sonys on the same level (on the outsides) be better or worse? I don't really want to squeeze the TASCAMs closer together than they already are.
 
Presumably the sonys are hifi speakers that you're using to reference what it might sound like on an end user system.

If you think about it, most people don't have their hifi speakers in anywhere near the ideal position for listening - on the floor, uneven distribution, behind the couch etc.

Personally I would optimise the setup of your monitors and not care too much where the other speakers are as long as they aren't in your way. I don't use any referencing at my console, rather go to another room/the car and have a listen there.

Thats my two bits anyway...
 
That's true, but that is a worst case scenario. And I don't have a car at the moment. The reason I have it like this is because I want to be able to quickly A/B between the studio monitors and consumer speakers - which a certain Winamp plugin enables me to do. It's quite convenient.
 
This one:

http://www.winamp.com/plugins/details/146921

Ignore the reviews, those people are just dopes. If you right click your taskbar tray and set "hide inactive icons" as unchecked then that problem doesn't occur.

The only problem that occurs for me is that when switching back and forth between 2 devices the song will skip a second or two.. but for mix comparing intents this isn't really a deal breaker.
 
not sure that calling other reviewers dopes cause it didn't work for them is smart.... in fact pretty much makes you the dope for ignoring the data.... IMO
 
Whoa - were you one of the reviewers or something.
I'd have to agree w/ Mistral - it's pretty dopey to complain about something being wrong when you don't spend the time to figure out how it works - which is the case in many many reviews of products. People are not patient and cant be bothered with doing a little work to figure something out - its much easier to give up on it and call it a problem w/ the product.
And if your taking peoples reviews of products as scripture then, in my opinion, your the dope. I'm not trying to offend you but c'mon - anonymous reviews can hardly be consider cold hard data on a product. Sure it can be used to get an idea about what you may potentially purchase but thats about it.
There are tons of reviews by dopes out there.
 
We're talking about a winamp plugin here right? And it was given a poor rating because of their own ineptitude in Windows.. Not sure what "data" you think I'm missing.
 
oDD said:
Whoa - were you one of the reviewers or something.
I'd have to agree w/ Mistral - it's pretty dopey to complain about something being wrong when you don't spend the time to figure out how it works - which is the case in many many reviews of products. People are not patient and cant be bothered with doing a little work to figure something out - its much easier to give up on it and call it a problem w/ the product.
And if your taking peoples reviews of products as scripture then, in my opinion, your the dope. I'm not trying to offend you but c'mon - anonymous reviews can hardly be consider cold hard data on a product. Sure it can be used to get an idea about what you may potentially purchase but thats about it.
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Thank you that was exactly my point, and I didn't exactly mean to be harsh, people will get their pants in a wad over anything these days. I think it's a great plugin and I wanted to communicate that it was worth using especially for studio owners who want to see how their mixes sound over multiple sets of speakers very easily. And yeah, it's free as with all the other plugins on that site.
 
The only problem I see right off is the right side being so close to a corner. It's going to get the early reflections and be a factor in balancing the mix.
 
really? I think the photo might give a skewed perception of the distance to the corner.. it's well over a meter. Shouldn't that be enough? If not I can probably drag the desk about a foot to the left without any problem..
 
Moving it would be a good thing IMHO and since no one else is mentioning it, you need to sound treat the room, add some bass traps etc...
 
Mistral said:
really? I think the photo might give a skewed perception of the distance to the corner.. it's well over a meter. Shouldn't that be enough? If not I can probably drag the desk about a foot to the left without any problem..
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The VL-X5s have dip switches that allow you to re-configure them for "less than ideal" placements (see manual).

I also have a pair and very nice they are too!
 
That's a good idea with the switches, I noticed them but didn't feel confident messing with them, based on what I read in the manual I figured I was "close enough". or rather, far enough. But perhaps it's worth checking further into that as well. After making an investment in good monitoring I guess there is no point half-assing it.

Nice to see another VLX5'er, haven't heard of anyone who didn't like em, that's why I bought them!
 
The amount of adjustment is quite subtle but it did help me eliminate a bit of boomy low end most likely caused by my speakers being a little bit closer than I would like to the back wall (small room)

I have to say I was extremely impressed with the amount of detail these monitors revealed - I played CDs through them that I'd owned for 10+ years and knew like the back of my hand and I heard things I had never heard before.
 
Okay. They sound quite fine to my ears already, so maybe there is not even any problem. The bass end is very well controlled (well, all of it is, really).
 
time to grow up junior... noi'm not a reviewer... and i take all reviews with a BOX of salt... but to say check it out but oh by the way dont bother with the reviews they are dopes... is well moronic.... IMO...
 
I agree with the comment about moving the speakers out of the corner.

You also might want to tilt up the rear of the Sony's so they are pointing at your head, not over your head.
 
dementedchord said:
time to grow up junior... noi'm not a reviewer... and i take all reviews with a BOX of salt... but to say check it out but oh by the way dont bother with the reviews they are dopes... is well moronic.... IMO...
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You sure seem bent out of shape about this... gramps.
 
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