Monitoring for Success

Dec 1, 2006 12:00 PM, By Charles Dye

At the High End

My powered reference monitors are the most accurate speakers I use when mixing, reproducing the highs and lows as they actually are in my mix. They're a great choice because they include not only the speakers, but the entire system including the amplifier and crossover as well. Quality powered monitors have matched components that sound their best together. Such monitors are one of my most important investments.

Models like the Genelec 8050 or 1031, Mackie HR824, and Yamaha MSP10 Studio (which I use; see Fig. 2) are all excellent. But there are many comparable brands and models, and self-powered isn't the only way to go. The real key is to have a pair of accurate monitors with extended lows; generally a pair with 8-inch woofers is needed for good low-end reproduction.

Oddly enough, I use these monitors the least — usually only while I'm working on kick and bass — but their importance can't be overstated. Having monitors that can properly reproduce your mix's low-end balance is essential when shaping this critical area. Lows can be difficult to judge, and without accurate monitors you can get unpredictable results. (Some people use systems with subwoofers for judging lows, but because I don't, I can't offer any concrete advice about using them.)

At the same time, however, great-sounding speakers can be quite flattering to your mix and potentially fool you into believing that things sound better than they actually do. This is not to discount these speakers, but I simply don't stay on high-end monitors for too long while mixing.

Off the Shelf

Once I've got my low end sorted out, I'll spend a lot of my time on smaller, less expensive, and more consumer-oriented monitors like Yamaha NS-10Ms. Their predecessor, the NS-10, was actually designed for home use, but it became popular with recording and mixing engineers in the '80s, and Yamaha released the NS-10M in response. Neither model is manufactured anymore, but they're readily available on eBay, and Yamaha's current HS50M is intended, in part, to fill the void left by the discontinuation of the NS-10M.

Now, NS-10Ms are not great-sounding speakers, but I find that their limited frequency response more accurately represents how the listener may hear my mix. And experience has shown that mixes I do on NS-10Ms usually translate very well to many other speakers.

The cliché goes something like “If you can get your mix sounding good on NS-10Ms, it'll sound great anywhere.” And it's true, because NS-10Ms don't complement your mix with pretty top end and full lows. Instead, they make you work hard to get great sounds, and the results are definitely worth it.

The strength of NS-10Ms is their pronounced high mids, which force you to focus on this important frequency area where so many instruments have their definition. The vocals, guitars, keys, kick, snare, hat, toms, and even bass all have upper mid frequencies that need to be managed in a way that will allow each of them to speak without distracting from the others.

And whether you use NS-10s, HS50Ms, or another similar monitor, the point is to use speakers without extended lows and highs to better craft the mids of your mix.

In the Real World

In the end, the speakers I spend most of my mix time on are a small pair of self-powered computer speakers. The pair I currently use are Sony SRS-88s, but the actual model is less important than the fact that they're extremely “real world,” sort of like modern-day Auratones.

This type of monitor doesn't have any low end or high end to speak of, and you can't listen to them loud. So, all of a sudden your mix becomes totally about the music (as it should) and very little about pristine sound. As a result, these lo-fi monitors are perfect for balancing the instruments and doing automation.

As lo-fi as they are, these speakers work surprisingly well for EQ'ing, for the same reason the NS-10Ms work well in the high mids. Because these speakers have a pronounced woofy quality without much low end, they cause me to clean up my low mids on upper-register instruments. At the same time, they're great for making sure the kick and bass have enough low mids to cut properly on small speakers.

And because these speakers don't have much high-end response, they allow me to hear if instruments that are bright enough on high-quality monitors have enough definition in the upper mids to translate well to cheap speakers. Seriously, lo-fi speakers are really useful.

Mono a Mono

Besides using different speakers, there are other techniques you can employ to freshen up your view of the mix. The first is listening in mono. Many engineers swear by it, and there is a lot of validity to the technique. It works well when checking for phase problems — by listening for instruments that lose level. And it's a great way to force yourself to listen only to the balance and frequencies of your instruments, without being distracted by the exciting stereo panorama moving around you.

I don't like listening in mono; it takes the fun out of mixing, and for me, it's just not that useful. However, I will frequently listen in what I call manual mono (which I'll explain in the next section). And this brings me to the next technique: you may have noticed that when you take your mix out of the studio, even simply to a boombox in the next room, you hear things you hadn't noticed only minutes before. It's because the change in environment also gives you a new perspective.

I've found it's possible to actually re-create this effect in real time, while still tweaking the mix. Moving around from speaker to speaker as we've already talked about can jerk you into a whole new reality that gives you a fresh perspective of your mix almost every time you switch. But one thing isn't changing, and that's the room you're in.