so i came up with a technique i thought id share, cause i think
most people here could need a little monitoring optimization,
or at least learn about their room acoustics.
NOTE : yes, this is not the best way to go,
correcting your room with an eq is not in any way as good as doing it
with traps, absorption and diffusion, because you are only correcting
the problems in one space (where you are sitting as an engineer)
and second your not sovling anything timebased, means:
if you have an rt60 (reverberation time) of 2 seconds at 300 hz,
this method will not really help you much. but for people
with treated rooms this can give you a good 20-30%
nevertheless : this method can also be used to allocate problematic frequency areas in your setup.
1. WHAT YOU NEED :
- VOXENGO CURVE EQ (www.voxengo.com) or LOGICS MATCH EQ or similar
- A CHEAP MEASUREMENT MICROPHONE (SUPERLUX ECM 999)
- A FLAT RESPONSE INTERFACE (for example FOCUSRITE SAFFIRE 56)
- A PAIR OF FLAT HEADPHONES (i use AKG 701)
- 1 XLR CABLE
2. HOW DO I KNOW MY ROOMS SOUND LIKE SHIT?]
setup the microphone in your listening position, at the height of you ears.
play a reference song in your daw at standard mixing level (75-85 db). record that into your daw. i suggest monoing your reference track to really hear the problems especially in the low end better, as the mic will only record in mono too. make sure that your mic level is loud enough, id aim for an average -12 db.
now get your headphones, match both tracks levelwise.
now switch between both recordings. DAMN. the one in your room
you just recorded sounds NOTHING like the reference track.
shittttt.... so thats the space you are going to mix songs... arrghh..
so how can we improve our situation fast and cost effective ?
3. HOW TO DO IT
1 -insert voxengo curve eq on your reference track (again please stay in mono) .
2- now take a representative part of the song where there is also vocals. i used nickelback dark horse. i wouldnt recommend using mp3s for this, please use a hq recording of your reference material.
3-now capture a curve from the reference (id go for 20 secs) and save it, call it REFERENCE.cqs .
4-now insert a curve eq instance on your micd track, open the REFERENCE.cqs. match it ((60 bands)) to the exact same miced part you recorded.
4. OH NOOO, WHAT DID I DO???
now if you put on your headphones switch between the original file
and your eqd room miced version, youll notice that they sound a lot
more alike than before. it might not be perfect yet, but if you
switch off curve eq, youll notice that your previous version sounded NOTHING like the original. (if not, your lucky and have treated your room properly!!)
so what did we do ? yes : we flattened our room response as good as possible, we smoothed out problematic frequencies here and there.
5. WHAT CAN I DO WITH THIS?
aplly this curve eq to your masterbus.
now if you listen to your reference material on your speakers through this curve, you should immediately hear:
- speech/vocal presence improvement
- less mudiness in the low mids
- a bigger low end
the difference should be noticable (if not huge).
so: try mixing through it. get used to it. live with it. if you are lucky,
you mixes willt ranslate a 100 times better to other systems now.
you should notice more clarity in your mixes and a lot more consistent low end.
>>but always make sure to bypass curve eq when you export your song.
remember, you are only correcting your rooms problems!
a tipp : I would only let curve eq work on the low end,
id set the high end flat. its ok if curve eq takes certain frequencies away,
but id be careful letting it add something... but your ears decide.
6. WHAT CAN I LEARN FROM THIS?
Now that you can visually see, what curve eq does (for example a 10 db dip at 170 hz, a boost at 1.300hz...) you know your problematic frequencies.
its a good starting point for optimizing your room. there is lots of great forums providing information about that.
7. CONCLUSION
now if this is not for you, you do not have to use it of course ;-).
but it might at least make you aware that your listening environment needs
(further) improvement.
>>>>>>>>>>
hope this will help some people here understand their rooms better, and show some people that its impossible to mix in their environment, when curve eq wants to boost 60 hz + 24 db and cut the high end by the same amount...
merry christmas you guys!
most people here could need a little monitoring optimization,
or at least learn about their room acoustics.
NOTE : yes, this is not the best way to go,
correcting your room with an eq is not in any way as good as doing it
with traps, absorption and diffusion, because you are only correcting
the problems in one space (where you are sitting as an engineer)
and second your not sovling anything timebased, means:
if you have an rt60 (reverberation time) of 2 seconds at 300 hz,
this method will not really help you much. but for people
with treated rooms this can give you a good 20-30%
nevertheless : this method can also be used to allocate problematic frequency areas in your setup.
1. WHAT YOU NEED :
- VOXENGO CURVE EQ (www.voxengo.com) or LOGICS MATCH EQ or similar
- A CHEAP MEASUREMENT MICROPHONE (SUPERLUX ECM 999)
- A FLAT RESPONSE INTERFACE (for example FOCUSRITE SAFFIRE 56)
- A PAIR OF FLAT HEADPHONES (i use AKG 701)
- 1 XLR CABLE
2. HOW DO I KNOW MY ROOMS SOUND LIKE SHIT?]
setup the microphone in your listening position, at the height of you ears.
play a reference song in your daw at standard mixing level (75-85 db). record that into your daw. i suggest monoing your reference track to really hear the problems especially in the low end better, as the mic will only record in mono too. make sure that your mic level is loud enough, id aim for an average -12 db.
now get your headphones, match both tracks levelwise.
now switch between both recordings. DAMN. the one in your room
you just recorded sounds NOTHING like the reference track.
shittttt.... so thats the space you are going to mix songs... arrghh..
so how can we improve our situation fast and cost effective ?
3. HOW TO DO IT
1 -insert voxengo curve eq on your reference track (again please stay in mono) .
2- now take a representative part of the song where there is also vocals. i used nickelback dark horse. i wouldnt recommend using mp3s for this, please use a hq recording of your reference material.
3-now capture a curve from the reference (id go for 20 secs) and save it, call it REFERENCE.cqs .
4-now insert a curve eq instance on your micd track, open the REFERENCE.cqs. match it ((60 bands)) to the exact same miced part you recorded.
4. OH NOOO, WHAT DID I DO???
now if you put on your headphones switch between the original file
and your eqd room miced version, youll notice that they sound a lot
more alike than before. it might not be perfect yet, but if you
switch off curve eq, youll notice that your previous version sounded NOTHING like the original. (if not, your lucky and have treated your room properly!!)
so what did we do ? yes : we flattened our room response as good as possible, we smoothed out problematic frequencies here and there.
5. WHAT CAN I DO WITH THIS?
aplly this curve eq to your masterbus.
now if you listen to your reference material on your speakers through this curve, you should immediately hear:
- speech/vocal presence improvement
- less mudiness in the low mids
- a bigger low end
the difference should be noticable (if not huge).
so: try mixing through it. get used to it. live with it. if you are lucky,
you mixes willt ranslate a 100 times better to other systems now.
you should notice more clarity in your mixes and a lot more consistent low end.
>>but always make sure to bypass curve eq when you export your song.
remember, you are only correcting your rooms problems!
a tipp : I would only let curve eq work on the low end,
id set the high end flat. its ok if curve eq takes certain frequencies away,
but id be careful letting it add something... but your ears decide.
6. WHAT CAN I LEARN FROM THIS?
Now that you can visually see, what curve eq does (for example a 10 db dip at 170 hz, a boost at 1.300hz...) you know your problematic frequencies.
its a good starting point for optimizing your room. there is lots of great forums providing information about that.
7. CONCLUSION
now if this is not for you, you do not have to use it of course ;-).
but it might at least make you aware that your listening environment needs
(further) improvement.
>>>>>>>>>>
hope this will help some people here understand their rooms better, and show some people that its impossible to mix in their environment, when curve eq wants to boost 60 hz + 24 db and cut the high end by the same amount...
merry christmas you guys!
notworthy
