Topic: I'm looking to focus on playback

[Nick's Picks]

Reference is reference.
if a studio release is well done, you'll know it.  If your AUD recordings are well done, you'll know that as well. I'm saying that a good reference system will shine no matter what you feed it for material.  It will also show you whats wrong.

whats the point of a "monster rig" when you are listening to it through a stereo that is not on the same level?
once you finaly get to that point, then taping becomes MUCH more fun, imo. 

You may come to find that once you build a great stereo your recording rig may not sound right to you anymore.
Better to have an honest system and then rebuild the recording gear.  After all, how can you be sure you have just what you wanted in that regard if you are not really hearing it?
My tastes in recording gear certainly changed after I got into high end (somewhat high end anyway) playback.

[cshepherd]

+T Nick!

~crackpot

Reference is reference.
if a studio release is well done, you'll know it.  If your AUD recordings are well done, you'll know that as well. I'm saying that a good reference system will shine no matter what you feed it for material.  It will also show you whats wrong.

whats the point of a "monster rig" when you are listening to it through a stereo that is not on the same level?
once you finaly get to that point, then taping becomes MUCH more fun, imo. 

You may come to find that once you build a great stereo your recording rig may not sound right to you anymore.
Better to have an honest system and then rebuild the recording gear.  After all, how can you be sure you have just what you wanted in that regard if you are not really hearing it?
My tastes in recording gear certainly changed after I got into high end (somewhat high end anyway) playback.

[balou2]

Thanks Nick.

[wbrisette]

Reading this it seems that a lot of you use nice stereo units for playblack, but what about mastering? Teddy has some nice monitors. I have the chance to pickup some Earthworks Sigma 6.2s at a really good price, which would be leagues ahead of the current set of Alesis monitors I currently have.

Who else is using dedicated monitors and what are you using?

Wayne

[bkirby]

Reading this it seems that a lot of you use nice stereo units for playblack, but what about mastering? Teddy has some nice monitors. I have the chance to pickup some Earthworks Sigma 6.2s at a really good price, which would be leagues ahead of the current set of Alesis monitors I currently have.

Who else is using dedicated monitors and what are you using?

Wayne

I run the Tannoy Reveal actives at my PC for mixing and all other audio work. Wish I could get something nicer, but these suit my needs well for now!

[Nick's Picks]

i dont do anything w/my recordings other than track them out.

[wbrisette]

i dont do anything w/my recordings other than track them out.

When you run up to 8 channels, you don't have a lot of options, you have master them back into a two track format.

Wayne

[wbrisette]

Had lunch with my finance manager (AKA wife), who told me to buy the Sigma 6.2 monitors... Now I have a LOT of work to do in my office/mixing room. I have an entire wall I have to take down, so I can set up my listening/mixing station properly.

Wayne

[Nick's Picks]

thats true.


thats why i like two channel love.

[tapeworm48]

what's the difference between "speakers" and "monitors" ?

[cshepherd]

Nothing, really.  It's a common term for speakers on stands.  Some monitors are active.  They have amps built into them.

Chris

[wbrisette]

Nothing, really.  It's a common term for speakers on stands.  Some monitors are active.  They have amps built into them.

That's not exactly true. Speakers in general are designed so they fill a room with sound and that sound is similar from all areas of the room. (this is a general over-simplification, but you get the idea). Monitors, while they can be far-field (what I'll call speakers), they usually are associated with near-field sound, that is, you usually listen to them very close up (within 2-4 feet) and usually you position them so you are in the "sweet spot" and get the full spectrum of audio in both ears. Just like microphones, monitors should be relatively flat across the audio spectrum. This is where most monitors really do fail. Most have some sort of curve to them (which isn't always a bad thing, since so do your ears), but the idea is to have a set of monitors that allows you to listen to the audio without coloring it. This way you can add EQ where required without compensating for the coloration of the audio through the monitors.

As Chris mentioned, there are active and passive monitors, most speakers are passive and require some sort of amp to drive them.

Wayne

[cshepherd]

You are correct about that.  Some speakers do not work at close 'near field' range.  A necessary feature for a DAW.

Chris

[RebelRebel]

Congrats Mr. Brissette! Lucky you! So I suppose youll keep the Alesis to crosscheck? I use Truth TA-1Ps to check on in addition to my B+W main pair. Ive found that if I can get it sounding alright on those two, itll sound decent most anywhere. I just looked at those Sigmas..man, those are nice!

Reading this it seems that a lot of you use nice stereo units for playblack, but what about mastering? Teddy has some nice monitors. I have the chance to pickup some Earthworks Sigma 6.2s at a really good price, which would be leagues ahead of the current set of Alesis monitors I currently have.

Who else is using dedicated monitors and what are you using?

Wayne

[wbrisette]

I just looked at those Sigmas..man, those are nice!

Yes, they are some of the best. In fact, you won't find a bad review of them. I did have to slum it though and get the black version and not the Cherry version (the cherry cost 5K a set! Ouch!).

Wayne