Subwoofer?

T

twonky

New member
So, I had some songs mastered for an EP that I will be releasing this winter. No this is the first recording of mine that I have had professionally mastered. The guy mastered it on a pair of Vandersteins, that were amazing sounding. I heard some shit I didnt even know I recorded. What I did notice though, was that a few times in a couple of the songs there was INCREDIBLE low end on some bass tracks and Keybaord track that I had never heard before. So needles to say I was a bit distractd by that as we listened to it and kept making suggestions in order to deal w/ the crazy ammount of low end I was hearing.

The mastering guy assured me that he had everything under control and even gave my a quick simulation via eq to show my what most home and car speakers would pick up. And alas he was right, it sounds really good now.

Anyway, I am now wondeing if I should get a sub to make sure I deal w/ this sort of shit correctly. How many of you guys have subs? Can I guy a cheaper home use one or is a better idea to get one that is made for audio production? I am currently using the Tannoy Reveal passives.

Do tell,
Thanks
Twonky
 
You should get a sub -- IF you set it up properly (and setting it to rattle the floors/walls to impress your friends - like the home theatre crowd loves to do- is NOT the right way!!!)

The sub should simply extend the low-end response of the system you already do have.... also - if you have a poor room, it is possible the sub will exacerbate the issue (ie if your room doesn't handle bass well now, adding more low-freqs to the mix can make it worse!)

Incidently, the proper way to set level on the sub is to play pink noise thru ONE of your monitors , then using a sound level meter (the Radio Shack job will do), adjust the level for say 85 dB... then turn of the monitor and set the level on the sub so that it reads 6dB below that.
 
I dont have a great room for sure. But I have a pretty good "sweet spot" where I can hear things pretty good. The bass is definitly more exagerated in the back of the room (9"x18")
I usualy go back there to see if anything really freaky is happening. Would a sub help out in this sweet spot? Or is that putting the cart before the horse as far as room treatment is concerned?

Thanks again

Twonky
 
Twonky,

As usual, Blue Bear nailed it. Putting a subwoofer in a room that has no bass traps is the wrong approach. Though your Reveals don't have a very good low frequency response either. But I still suggest you fix the room before confusing things further by adding a sub.

--Ethan
 
Mr. Winer

Good to have your ear for a moment. I hear what you and Mr. Bear are saying and couldnt agree more.

My room is a rectangular one (9.5'x17'), I am facing one of the long ends (if that makes sense). so I am detecting the exagerated bass in the back part of the room (there is a closet at that end as well that runs the length of the room, the wall of that closet, the one that faces the room does not reach all the way up to the ceiling, there is about a 1.5' gap, why? I dont really know)

I have been on your site many times looking for info on how to tame some of the weird frequencies in my room, i.e. too much bass in the back and harsh sounding mids and highs in the mixing position. And honestly I dont really comprehend a good nit of it, not becasue it is written bady but more because I dont pick up on stuff like that real quick.

To date I havent had an issue w/ too much or too little bass, in spite of the strange low frequncy behavior, in my mixes. But I would like to be aware of sub-sonic low end that migh be occuring.

Will bass trapping the corner w/ 702 be a good first step or can you offer me any good starting points to treating this room at a little on the cheap?

Thanks for your help,
Twonky
 
Twonks,

> Will bass trapping the corner w/ 702 be a good first step or can you offer me any good starting points to treating this room at a little on the cheap? <

Placing thick, dense rigid fiberglass across the room corners is the cheap approach.

--Ethan
 
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