My New Studio Build (perhaps overly detailed)

[silky smoove]

I'm gonna need more info on that Candlebox part.........

You had Colin Hay in your studio?

To answer both of your questions: Multitracks are available for download from many sources. Both of these were obtained from Telefunken’s website. I had neither Colin Hay nor the guys from Candlebox in the studio, though that would have been fantastic

 

[silky smoove]

I need to move my mix desk back to get it more in the monitor’s sweet spot, but I want my screen to stay where it is and can’t wall mount it. Time to build a monitor stand!

The ideal sweet spot for my head when mixing is about 27” behind where it is now. This setup will net me 11” back, which isn’t perfect but it will allow me to reduce the toe angle of the monitors, remain more in the sweet spot when mixing and is an acceptable compromise between ideal mix position and lost floor real estate. I have a rehearsal tomorrow, but hopefully I can hurry home and finish it before the band arrives.

 

[silky smoove]

Got the monitor stand built and installed, but didn’t have time to get everything cleaned up and put back into place before rehearsal I’ll get that done over the weekend and will post some pics. In typical engineer fashion I completely overbuilt the monitor stand, but I’m very happy with the placement of the desk, the screen and the hopefully improved position relative to the monitoring sweet spot.

 

[JeroB666]

Got the monitor stand built and installed, but didn’t have time to get everything cleaned up and put back into place before rehearsal I’ll get that done over the weekend and will post some pics. In typical engineer fashion I completely overbuilt the monitor stand, but I’m very happy with the placement of the desk, the screen and the hopefully improved position relative to the monitoring sweet spot.

It's not "overbuilt", its reinforced

 

[silky smoove]

It's not "overbuilt", its reinforced

Significantly

 

[silky smoove]

Combination monitor stand / mix desk wall offset is installed. It allowed for more clean cable management, although there’s still more work to do on that front.

I haven’t yet re-angled the monitors to set the sweet spot in the new mix position. I was able to move the subwoofer more to the center. I had it way off to the side because it’s technically better from an acoustics perspective and because it kept me from bumping my feet against it if it was placed under the desk. I had stereo imaging problems with it offset that far. The left side always sounded louder in the low end. We talk about how omnidirectional lows are, but I could always tell. With this new wall offset I was able to place it on the monitor stand’s base, which is still coupled to the floor and well within a quarter wavelength, so no loss of low end should occur. It also gets it closer to center without being totally centered which would violate a standard engineering practice for monitor placement. It’s a good compromise. It feels like a more centered image, but the sub needs to be dialed in for the new position (frequency and output) as it’s now a little too loud and hitting in a weird frequency spot in this new position. I’ll get it dialed. I suspect it will be a slightly less accurate frequency response this way, but once I learn the room in this new configuration I suspect it will lead to better mixes despite that.

Lastly, I’m now able to move my computer onto my mix desk since there’s more room on it. It was previously on top of the rack case, but ever since I put my rehearsal mixer on there nothing ever quite fit. There was always some overhang or things sitting crooked to the rack. Now everything fits and I don’t end up with mic and 1/4” cables draped across my computer.

Re-angling the monitors with some help from my wife tomorrow afternoon.

 

[JeroB666]

Combination monitor stand / mix desk wall offset is installed. It allowed for more clean cable management, although there’s still more work to do on that front.

I haven’t yet re-angled the monitors to set the sweet spot in the new mix position. I was able to move the subwoofer more to the center. I had it way off to the side because it’s technically better from an acoustics perspective and because it kept me from bumping my feet against it if it was placed under the desk. I had stereo imaging problems with it offset that far. The left side always sounded louder in the low end. We talk about how omnidirectional lows are, but I could always tell. With this new wall offset I was able to place it on the monitor stand’s base, which is still coupled to the floor and well within a quarter wavelength, so no loss of low end should occur. It also gets it closer to center without being totally centered which would violate a standard engineering practice for monitor placement. It’s a good compromise. It feels like a more centered image, but the sub needs to be dialed in for the new position (frequency and output) as it’s now a little too loud and hitting in a weird frequency spot in this new position. I’ll get it dialed. I suspect it will be a slightly less accurate frequency response this way, but once I learn the room in this new configuration I suspect it will lead to better mixes despite that.

Lastly, I’m now able to move my computer onto my mix desk since there’s more room on it. It was previously on top of the rack case, but ever since I put my rehearsal mixer on there nothing ever quite fit. There was always some overhang or things sitting crooked to the rack. Now everything fits and I don’t end up with mic and 1/4” cables draped across my computer.

Re-angling the monitors with some help from my wife tomorrow afternoon.

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Oh yah, that ain't going nowhere

Glad to see the "fixes" on the studio are just minor.

 

[silky smoove]

Oh yah, that ain't going nowhere

Glad to see the "fixes" on the studio are just minor.

Me too. Now I just need to spend some time on promotional materials (website, videos, audio samples, etc.).

 

[oddentity]

What are the monitor stands you’re using for the Adams?

 

[silky smoove]

What are the monitor stands you’re using for the Adams?

On-Stage Stands SMS6000-P

Nothing crazy. At some point I'll probably upgrade to something like Barefoot Footprint 01s and at which time I'll invest in more substantial monitor stands, but for now these work well enough.

 

[TedH]

$5 says within 6mo, OCD causes the monitor stand to be buff-sanded, stained and hardware redone to a more professional standard than "Home Depot Rustic"

And $50 says the Smails kid picks his nose.

 

[silky smoove]

$5 says within 6mo, OCD causes the monitor stand to be buff-sanded, stained and hardware redone to a more professional standard than "Home Depot Rustic"

No chance. The color blends in with the desk, the fronts of all the acoustic treatments and the floor. On top of that it's nearly invisible when I'm at the mix desk. Home Depot rustic it shall remain!

 

[silky smoove]

Two thoughts:

1. Now that I’ve got my monitors re-angled, the subwoofer dialed in and the general setup improved I’m quite happy. The sweetspot is much more accurate for my mix position.

2. Softube Console 1 continues to blow me away. I’m remixing a track for my RnB group using it, whereas before I used Izotope Neutron2 for channel strip duties (I prefer to mix with a channel strip plugin as opposed to individual ones whenever possible). I had the track sounding excellent. I was comparing it to the new Ripe record (Joy in the Wild Unknown) which is an incredible sounding record for this type of music. I could never get quite there with my previous mix, but it’s getting alarmingly close now that I’m using Console 1. I’ll post an A/B once I have it finalized. Ultimately I’m very happy with my Console 1 purchase to say the very least. I wish their Fader 1 had scribble strips and integrated fully with Logic. If it did I’d buy it in a heartbeat.

 

[silky smoove]

Resisting the urge to buy an Icon Platform M+ and two X+ extensions... for now... Not sure which emoji is appropriate for that, so:

 

[JeroB666]

Resisting the urge to buy an Icon Platform M+ and two X+ extensions... for now... Not sure which emoji is appropriate for that, so:

This one -> then this one once you get them and let us know ->

 

[silky smoove]

This one -> then this one once you get them and let us know ->

After some research it turns out that the Platform series can only reliably handle a single extension and still function correctly in Logic. I'd need to step up to the QCon Pro X to have 24 channels and suddenly the cost starts getting out of hand. For those kinds of prices I'd rather just go a little more, albeit with less channels, and get an SSL Nucleus to combine my control surface and monitor controller, while also getting a couple of SSL preamps in the process.

 

[JeroB666]

After some research it turns out that the Platform series can only reliably handle a single extension and still function correctly in Logic. I'd need to step up to the QCon Pro X to have 24 channels and suddenly the cost starts getting out of hand. For those kinds of prices I'd rather just go a little more, albeit with less channels, and get an SSL Nucleus to combine my control surface and monitor controller, while also getting a couple of SSL preamps in the process.

Isn't the SSL just 2 channels?

 

[silky smoove]

Isn't the SSL just 2 channels?

There are two preamps, but it's a 16 channel control surface. The Icon units I was looking at previously are just control surfaces with no preamps. The SSL is just two banks of 8 for the control surface, has two SSL preamps which are extremely high quality (like all things SSL), and integrates a great monitor controller as well. If I end up moving away from the Apogee interfaces I'm currently using and move to a MOTU 16A I'll need a dedicated monitor controller and 16 channels of analog preamps, the SSL Nucleus could consolidate some of that while also getting me a 16 fader control surface in the process. The cost comparison to just a QCon Pro X, plus extension with no monitor controller and the no preamps all of a sudden seems higher than it is on its own.

 

[silky smoove]

Decided I needed a second set of monitors in the studio, so I just placed an order for a pair of Avantone Mixcubes (the active version) in Retro Cream. The intent will be to use these as a midrange checker, an "everyman" type speaker, and possibly as a lo-fi grot box, although I hear that these newer Avantones don't do the grot thing as well as the old 70s Auratones (i.e. Horror-tones) that they're supposedly modeled after. Should be a nice upgrade for the studio. Pics to come when they arrive.

 

[silky smoove]

My Mixcubes are backordered until May. Bummer. I can get them right away in black, but that retro cream will tie in perfectly with my acoustic treatments and desk. I'll just have to wait.