Monitors - how to setup

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mattkw80

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Can somebody point me in the right direction, send me a link, or tell me how to properly place studio monitors ?

Ie: How far apart, how far from my ears, how far from the wall... etc.

I have little Edirol MA-10D Digital Reference Monitors right now.
 
I wouldn't mind hearing a few opinions on this myself.

To add, how about: whether the speaker should be facing the listener directly, or face forward to create a sweetspot where the 60 degree angles meet.

I've seen professional studios with monitors set up both ways. Does it depend on which monitor? Let's say for instance Yamaha NS-10s and Genelec 1029s.
 
i went mainly to Ethan Winer links...several times. ;)

here's my current setup. i highly recommend a RTA and SPL, or maybe borrow one. Once you get things to your satisfaction.... get back to recording.
 

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The basic idea is that you want to create a triangle, with your head being the point at one side of the triangle. So the monitors will be aimed in slightly to create that triangle with your ears.

The inside edges of my monitors are a little under three feet apart. It all depends on how big your room is though and how far from the monitors you are sitting. For me, that distance works well.
 
Thanks Sonic Albert !


That is pretty much the general advice I am getting, So I'll see If I can't angle my monitors in a bit, and get them up a little higher.

Thanks again.
 
There seems to be a quesion and a reply for everything already! Thanks, thats what I wanted to know too.
 
To be even a little more granular about it; place the monitors so that the intersection of two straight lines eminating from the center of each tweeter occurs at the center of your head, on the center of an imaginary line drawn between your two eardrums. That will give you the most accurate imaging, it is said. It certainly works with my setup, anyway.. :)
 
That's interesting. So you're supposed to place studio monitors differently from home theatre mains? I've always read that you place the front speakers in home theatre facing straight (NOT directed at the listening area), and spaced so that the cones hit the listening area from a 30 degree angle.

From the diagrams above, I get the impression that the Speakers should still be at the 30 degree angle, but directly facing the listening area.

How close should nearfields be? I had planned on keeping mine 3 feet from the listening area. Does that sound good, or should they be closer?
 
Three feet is really close. I don't think any closer than that would be advisable.
 
Not even for near-fields? I mean...they're NEAR fields, right?
 
One - of a few - of the problems with getting closer than that is that it can mess with the stereo image. Unless your nearfields are less than 3 feet apart, much closer than 3 feet from them and your imaging will suffer.

General (very general) rule #1027: set your monitors up to form an equilateral triangle with your head. Many folks - including myself - do put our nominal listening position just a few inches inside that triangle, but you really don't want to squash it much more than that.

G.
 
SouthSIDE Glen said:
General (very general) rule #1027: set your monitors up to form an equilateral triangle with your head. Many folks - including myself - do put our nominal listening position just a few inches inside that triangle, but you really don't want to squash it much more than that.

G.
Click to expand...

Right. You don't want the point of the triangle (the sound) to hit you between the eyes. Move your head within that point so that your ears are touching the 'lines' on either side.
 
SouthSIDE Glen said:
One - of a few - of the problems with getting closer than that is that it can mess with the stereo image. Unless your nearfields are less than 3 feet apart, much closer than 3 feet from them and your imaging will suffer.

General (very general) rule #1027: set your monitors up to form an equilateral triangle with your head. Many folks - including myself - do put our nominal listening position just a few inches inside that triangle, but you really don't want to squash it much more than that.

G.
Click to expand...

I agree with you about the equilateral triangle . Also it's best to keep the speakers several feet away from the wall behind the speakers. The very best placement would be in mid air not close to any reflective surface. This might not be possible in most situations. Several years ago I went to Las Vegas to visit Chips Davis (one of the original designers of the LEDE control room)(live end dead end). All walls, ceiling, and floor have sound absorbing material in the front half of your room and completely live in the rear. When sound comes out of the speaker, it arrives to your ears without any reflections from the room thus what you hear is closer to what your ears would hear when standing next to the source in your live room. Since that visit, I've designed approx. 20 rooms for clients and in which I used many of the basics from the LEDE design. Simply, it just works.

Also, I just installed a Parasound power amp to drive my Toby passive speakers in my control room. Listening on this system now is totally different. The mids & highs are absolutely clear and precise. Oh what a difference.

When installing speakers in a home theater, you would face the left, center, & right speakers straight out so all listeners would be covered. In a mixing environment, the left & right speakers would need to be turned in approx. 30 degrees. Point the tweeters so the sound will cross right behind your head when the left & right and your head is making up the equilateral triangle.
 
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