Monitor placement?

[dubs]

Just have a few questions about monitor placement: I've read articles haow you should place monitors away from reflective surfaces (e.g walls etc) as it affects bass frequencies. However, my little project studio is limited by space, so there's no choice but to place them close to the wall. What are my options to compensate the increase in bass freqiencies etc? What if I place some acoustic foam on the wall behind the speakers? Adjust eq.?

Regards
Darren

[Plec81]

When deciding the placement of your loudspeakers, NEVER resort to EQ to fix any anomilies in the spectrum. It does you more harm than good. If your speakers has a bass-reflex, you should try to plugg it. That will help in most cases. If you have trouble with your monitoring environment, the most important thing to know is that the problem exists. As a last resort, listen to your reference recordings and get a feel for how they sound in the environment you're in. The bass will be extended but at least you know that the problem is there and you know how it sounds.

Before you do this you should really try to rearrange your studio or try out some other location for it. A good monitoring environment is crucial.

[This message has been edited by Plec81 (edited 05-29-2002).]

[macouno]

if it's a very small room I'd consider building them into the walls. Like create a small angular wall in the corners of the room and place the speakers with the front paralel to the wall. Make it solid though.. or filled with foam.

Like err

\___/

that kinda

[dubs]

Thanks for you replies, unfortunatelty I'm renting so cutting holes in walls wouldn't go down well with the landlord, but I do have waist high speaker stands though...

Regards
Darren

[owensoundstudios]

most important, make sure you are equidistant from your speakers, form an acute triangle with them and your ears. Also, if you don't have dual concentric speakers, make sure you have them sitting upright, don't lay them on their sides.

so if you have to sit 4' away from them, set them 4'6" apart in a straight line with the tweaters on top.

[Sip]

What are "dual concentric speakers"?

[Plec81]

That's when the tweeter is positioned in the middle of the woofer.

Really important to have the speakers upright if you don't have these kind of monitors.

[Robert D]

Also, keep in mind that as you turn up the level, the problem will get worse, and the concept of nearfield monitoring will get lost. But you have to balance that against the effect of the Fletcher/Munson curves, which pertains to how our ears percieve different frequencies at different levels. At low listening levels, our ears will hear more midrange, less highs, and much less lows. That's why some stereos have a bass boost button, it's to compensate for the effect at low levels. So, in a room that's not been acousticly treated, there's going to be an optimal monitoring level that falls inbetween the two effects. High enough to get over the Fletcher/Munson effect, but low enough to hear the monitors more than the room.
Cheers, RD

[dubs]

what is the best way to adjust bass frequencies cause they are close to the wall as my alesis monitor one mk11 passive monitors don't have trim controls on them. Someone on the above post said that never to use eq to adjust bass frequencies, but isn;t trim controls on monitors the same? If I am to plug the bass ports, just how much do I plug them and what with? cloth?
Thanks
Darren

[Plec81]

The optimal monitoring volume is 79dBA. That's when you hear everything perfectly balanced.