PA speakers for mixing and monitoring....

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gamer2046

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hi there,

i am a total new guy in mixing and recording.........and i want to set up my personal recording studio,

i had a query whether i can use PA speakers for mixing and monitoring.

please clear up this query of mine.


regards
 
gamer2046 said:
hi there,

i am a total new guy in mixing and recording.........and i want to set up my personal recording studio,

i had a query whether i can use PA speakers for mixing and monitoring.

please clear up this query of mine.


regards
Click to expand...

Be specific about what brand/model of speaker you are talking about. Since you are new to recording and new here we don't know if you even know what you mean by, "PA Speakers."
 
generally, nope.

not designed for the task.

you need near field design
 
You can. Whether you should or not is another question. To the extent that they are relatively flat and clean they should be fine. PA speakers are usually built to project and disperse further and with a bit differently than typical near field monitors, not to mention that they'll generally be louder than necessary. You'll probably need a pretty big room so you can get far enough away from them. And of course the room still needs to be treated properly. In fact, it might need more/different treatment since part of the point of near - and even mid - fields is that they help take the room out of the picture to an extent.

So, if you've got a mix room that's like 25 x 30 with all the bass trapping and reflection control necessary (and nobody to complain about the noise), it would probably be cool. Else, you should get some good near fields to do your critical listening and set up the PA as the bad ass LOUD reference system.
 
yes you can. provided that it is of good quality. I run a pair of JBL sr4722's with a pair of jbl sr4719's biamped. also I still use my ns-10's to dail in my mids. consider getting some small speakers too like some advantone's to fine tune the mids.

but you should get a spl meter and be aware of your sound pressure levels.
 
try to find out how many professional sound mixers use pa gear to mix on.


also, listen to some of the mixes these folks are doing on PA speakers, and ask yourself if it's working.
 
Real Studios almost all have big soffit mounted full field monitors were are not a whole lot different from really good PA speakers. Real Studios are also designed specifically for full field listening, and are treated properly to handle it.

Sorry to say, but a mix room that has nothing but near fields with some bass trapping and an RFZ in a too small space (less than 24 feet in the short direction) is not a Real Studio. Yes, it's the norm now. Yes, people can and do get great results in these situations. Near field monitoring is, however, a compromise more often than not.
 
ashcat_lt said:
Near field monitoring is, however, a compromise more often than not.
Click to expand...

Nearfield monitoring is pure genius and is anything but a compromise. for the last couple decades most of the larger studios, when there were still large studios, kept the soffit mounted speakers in place for show, but did the serious critical mixing in the nearfield. Nearfield mixing and mastering was widely accepted because the room is less critical. Many freelance mix engineers carried their own preferred nearfield monitors with them, from studio to studio.

But anyway, I'm still waiting for the OP to clarify what he means. Without that, we're just talking to hear ourselves talk. And I'm getting to the point that I won't answer these one-post new members anymore until they show up a second time and clarify like we ask them to. They're starting to look like alts with these vague queries. The smart thing to do is ask for clarification and wait. I tried to set the thread in that direction, but... oh well...
 
Beck, you kinda made my point. A carefully designed, well constructed mix, money is no object mix room doesn't need to be taken out of the picture. Most of the world can't afford to even step into those very few remaining decent mix rooms, so we compromise with near fields.

It's not a terrible compromise. In fact it works better in more real world situations. Near field monitoring gets the job done and pretty well for most people. I can pretty much guarantee that neither the OP, nor much of anybody else who reads this thread, is going to have a real high end PA in a warehouse sized room full of effective acoustic treatment. That's why I suggested mixing on the near fields and using the PA for wow factor.

As for the OP, I get what you're saying. I comment on threads that I find interesting in hopes that it will lead to some interesting discussion. Sometimes I learn things. Sometimes other people learn things. Sometimes it turns into a flame war. Don't really need the OP for any of that.
 
you are better off with a single avantone mixcube in mono than a PA system, most people are listening on absolutely terrible quality speakers most of the time, just something to bear in mind.
 
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