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My New Studio Build (perhaps overly detailed)

#3,581
Ulf_Hansson said:
I have only listened through headphones so far, but I really wouldn't worry about that, cymbals are fine. To be honest, so much of the horns and percussion were hard panned (again, listening in phones) that it felt good to have plenty of drums grounding the mix firmly in the center sound stage.
Agree with @IconBasser , great work!
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Thanks!

The horns are panned:
Trumpet hard left
Second trumpet center
Trombone center
Bass trombone center
Saxophone hard right

The second trumpet only plays on the very last lick as an added harmony. The bass trombone only plays in specific spots of the choruses and is just there to add weight.

The drums aren’t really/effectively hard panned. The OHs are hard panned L/R but as mentioned they collapsed to a very narrow image. Kick and snare are dead center. The rack tom is panned about 25% left, and the floor tom about 60% right. They’re both panned with the Boz Pan Knob plugin with a crossover setting of 150hz (ie frequencies below the crossover remain in mono).

The vocals have the lead and double center with the harmony vocals below 400hz in mono with everything above that panned to about 75% left and right. There’s one random backing vocal in verse 2 that uses the Boz Pan Knob set to 125% (uses comb filtering to create a Haas effect and sound wider than 100%) and no crossover. I wanted those super wide.

Ultimately I’m happy with it. The response has been very positive.
 
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#3,582
I was working on a mix last night and was REALLY struggling to get it to translate onto systems that have a subwoofer. I stepped back and re-thought my monitor calibration. I decided to balance the nearfields to subwoofer ratio in favor of something a little more slammin in the low end. Instantly I found the mix easier to translate to more systems despite my monitors now being less flat in the room due to the increased low frequency response. Sometimes flatter isn't better. Going to try some more mixes like this. With the new monitor controller I have coming tomorrow I'll be able to switch on the fly between my ADAM Audio 2.1 system, my Avantone Mixcubes and my rehearsal PA and have them all at the same output volume. That should help translation go much more smoothly. The ADAM system will be the full-range (if not OVERLY full range :p ) check, the Avantones will be the lo-fi grot box check, and the PA will be the "this system doesn't really sound all that good but it sure does get loud" check.
 
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#3,584
Ulf_Hansson said:
You should be! Cool to hear the results of all the work you put into building the studio. Thanks for taking us along on the journey.
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Absolutely. The journey isn't over yet. I'm getting a bunch of new gear today and have more on the way in the coming weeks. Should be exciting. I'll be sure and show everyone the updated progress.
 
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#3,586
CryingBass said:
What monitor controller did you select? Just curious.
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The Audient Nero. It won out over the Drawmer CMC2 and CMC3 by the thinnest of margins. They're both excellent products, but the 2 doesn't have quite enough features that I need, and the 3 is basically the same thing as the Nero but for $200 more if memory serves. I need something with a desktop controller, options for analog and optical input, three monitor outs with a dedicated subwoofer out, ideally talkback, mono collapse, and at least one headphone out for the mix position. The Nero was a winner for all of those features and price.
 
#3,589
My Line Audio 8MP arrived from Sweden via France. No new converters yet, so I can’t try it out, but the build quality is absolutely top shelf. Nice resistance on the pots, all the switches are springy and clicky. I’m excited to try this one once I have some converters again.

30528C4A-244C-43DA-9E29-BA90384EF568.jpeg
 
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#3,590
My package with all of the fun items from Sweetwater still isn't here and FedEx no longer shows a delivery date (originally stated as 5/5) and instead just says "delivery pending" and "no updates available." It shipped on 5/1 from Indiana. During the pandemic, me complaining about not having my new shiny toys is a little loose on perspective, but... I WANT IT, I WANT IT, I WANT IT, I WANT IT! :spit:
 
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#3,591
silky smoove said:
My package with all of the fun items from Sweetwater still isn't here and FedEx no longer shows a delivery date (originally stated as 5/5) and instead just says "delivery pending" and "no updates available." It shipped on 5/1 from Indiana. During the pandemic, me complaining about not having my new shiny toys is a little loose on perspective, but... I WANT IT, I WANT IT, I WANT IT, I WANT IT! :spit:
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I understand your frustration... Ive been waiting on packages from the UK for a month now... and they still show as pending since the mail system is close to collapsed.
 
#3,594
Getting the 16A all dialed in. It's quite a complicated process since it's such a powerful device with many applications.

IMG_1163.jpeg


The 16A is controlled by a digital routing grid that takes some time to get your head wrapped around the way it functions. I'll be adding some additional paths from the analog outputs once I'm up and running. A permanent output dedicated to my reamp box that comes from computer output 3 for mono and 3-4 for stereo, and another to my Korg Pitchblack Pro rack tuner that looks at the analog inputs from the outboard mic preamps so performers can quickly check their tuning without going through the computer.
IMG_1164.jpeg


Lastly is this little guy. I've currently wired it from the 16A's analog outs 1 and 2. The 16A has the same DA converters as top tier converters like the Apogee Symphony, so I wanted to see how they sounded. I'm also going to try running from the 16A's ADAT output into the Nero. That will utilize the Nero's DA converters instead. It'll be interesting to hear a sound comparison. Using the Nero's converters would mean less time/cable in the analog domain before hitting the monitors, but the converters themselves are likely to be lower quality. I'm not sure which will win out. I'm still working through the playback dimming to the headphone outputs when using the talkback, but hopefully I'll get that sorted out quickly.
IMG_1161.jpeg
 
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#3,595
My OCD would have me planning out a neat little box to set the monitor and mix controllers into so they sat at the same level and looked uniform. But damn that’s a tidy little setup.

Now that the recording setup has arrived, what’s the next piece you’re waiting on, that custom Super J?
 
#3,596
J Posega said:
My OCD would have me planning out a neat little box to set the monitor and mix controllers into so they sat at the same level and looked uniform. But damn that’s a tidy little setup.
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You and me both. I'm going to just live with it for now. If I get annoyed by it I'll build something. I also have an Icon Platform M+ planned that will sit to the left of my Console 1 which is yet another height. That's a ways off as I need to prioritize two more mic preamps (4-channels each) before bringing in some faders. I've also considered putting an M+ and 2-3 X+ units behind everything, but that's a big expense that I definitely don't need.

J Posega said:
Now that the recording setup has arrived, what’s the next piece you’re waiting on, that custom Super J?
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Sweetwater has my two patch bays scheduled for delivery on Tuesday. After that my Avantone Mixcubes will be here in early June. The Dingwall is a question mark at the moment. I placed my order back in November and the build time was quoted as 12-18 months. That said, Chad from The Bass Shop usually has a spot or two in the build queue, so that timeline might be shortened if that's the case.
 
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#3,597
I just went through the same issue with the monitor controllers! Ended up with the Mackie Big Knob studio. I wish it had a dedicated sub out, but it’s otherwise pretty perfect for me. Next up is monitors. I’ve got the Focal Alpha 50 and Focal Shapes 50 on the way to try out.

@silky smoove - how did you test your new monitor placement? With reference tracks or test tones?
 
#3,599
cultrvultr said:
@silky smoove - how did you test your new monitor placement? With reference tracks or test tones
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I started with a pink noise generator and a calibrated electret microphone. I used that to dial things in as flat as possible on my main monitors at the listening position. I’ve since adjusted away from flat to get the sub hitting a little harder and my mixed have translated better as a result. My alt 1 set of Avantone Mixcubes will be here in June and will need to be dialed in for placement. My rehearsal PA is my alt 2 set and it is what it is. It’s a good “how does this sound when played loud on a not-great-sounding system” check.
 
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#3,600
silky smoove said:
I started with a pink noise generator and a calibrated electret microphone. I used that to dial things in as flat as possible on my main monitors at the listening position. I’ve since adjusted away from flat to get the sub hitting a little harder and my mixed have translated better as a result. My alt 1 set of Avantone Mixcubes will be here in June and will need to be dialed in for placement. My rehearsal PA is my alt 2 set and it is what it is. It’s a good “how does this sound when played loud on a not-great-sounding system” check.
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cool. I’ll be doing something similar with the reference mic. Genelec has a good set of test tones available for free on their website too.
 

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