Back to life!

Hi there wherever you are ....
I'm back and still in the process of choosing the appropriate monitors.
I'm also busy recording......(and again Focusrite rocks!)
so posting my demo will be postponed after the mastering of the tracks......
that should be done on the Mackie MR8.....yes ladies and gents we finally have a winner.
But again the question is why!?
let's clear it in bullet points


  •  budget: <450 Euro
  •  brand (would you buy a crap brand?)
  •  range (we will speak about that next)
  •  flexibility




Good


I think budget and brand are clear  but let's speak about range:
let's speak about Hertz.......


In my vision in order to be able to mix properly a track we need to 
be able to recognize any trash coming from our recording in between the human audible frequencies......
that are:


Frequency:



20 Hz - 20,000 Hz
(corresponds with pitch)
Intensity:
10-12 - 10 watts/m2
(0 to 130 decibels)
Pressure:
2 x 10-5 - 60 Newtons/m2
2 x 10-10 - .0006 atmospheres

someone would say that in that case you would need a sub woofer......right?
My answer is it depends, because the final hearing experience in the car or on the radio has a different purpose from the hearing experience on the reference monitors (you always need to re-listen on cheap speakers and crap headphones..... to confirm what the rest of the people will listen to....).
The hearing experience on the monitors speakers need to help you doing the correct adjustments on: 

  • level spikes (decibel spikes can occur at frequencies outside the reproducing capabilities of small and hi-fi speakers and then filtering inside the final mix unwanted with obvious consequences)
  • bass level (bass is important need to be in the right amount and tight; otherwise you will create a muddy mix....that's why we need at least an 8" driver in our boxes.....)
  • eliminating unwanted noises
So in order to do that we need to know the frequencies cut we would like to have for our mix.....example:

you do R&B and you want to record super low sounds? you probably need a subwoofer in order to have them under control.....

you have a band? then your needs might be cheaper:
consider a
Bass guitar (normally the instrument with the lower tuning......)
Low E on a 4 string bass is usually about 41Hz, and the low B on a 5 string around 31Hz fundamentals. Figure another 3 octaves in fundamentals plus another octave or two in harmonics, and the range is actually quite wide as is been able to hit on the other side the 5 Khz !!
Consider also that the for the generalized kick drum application, the “thump” is usually realized in the 60 Hz to 100 Hz range!!

Conclusions? if you're in a band or do that kind of music you need at least a box that can reproduce frequentis in between the 35/40Hz and the 20.000......

any driver below the 8 inch can't do that.............






(to be continued....)




Focusrite SAFFIRE 6 USB first days impression


Hi, I'm happy to say that I am impressed:

the ASIO drivers of the Focusrite are incredible: even with my old PC the latency is impossible to notice until now....on top of that the preamps are really pristine!! I don't have noise what so ever unless you plug something that makes noise on his own!!
also useful is the XCITE+ pack.....this interface is a great value for the money and it comes also with 
Bass Station in form of VST. 
I paid 150 euro at Musicstore and It makes me every day more happy....
I would recommend it blindfolded.


SAFFIRE 6 USB yes baby this is a FOCUSRITE PREAMP!!

this is the link to my very first sample:

guitar on direct plugged  with the scrappiest cable ever.....first attempt without even having read the manual.......

enjoy:

I am blown away.....(again!)

Wow! once again in my favorite shop!!

Musicstore really rocks.. btw I had a chance to listen to various reference monitors on a line and
surprise surprise I was disappointed to see big names making me unhappy......
So who was the winner??
well against all odds I'll go for a pair of Alesis!!

Ladies and gents let me introduce (and I liked them more than the MKII)
the M1Active 520

50hz bass extension and even so, the bass end is very credible and would perfectly suit my small studio. If you crank up the level the LED strips will also signal when you're reaching the amp peack but I personally won't reach that level with the speakers close to me as I'll setup them...I think even not been the greatest speakers available the sound is still clean and the bass is still under control and for just a little more than 200 euro they are amazingly honest.
P.s. I've finally got my audio interface!!! and is amazing .....I'll post something asap and a short review.




Koln is getting closer

I'll be crashing soon the Musicstore.....main reason a near monitor listening experience.....is really difficoult to have an opinion at this moment as so many people adviced me differently and I read already many articles about the near monitors.....I'll surely first listen to the speakers before getting any of them.
Coooool I can't wait!!

Nearfields monitors to be or not to be this is the question!

Here my first attemp putting my options on a line.....
passive or active?  this are my finalist........ any suggestion? Well is more than welkome!

Tannoy Reveal 601P Passive Studiomonitor



Latest evolution of the original passive Reveal high definition reference monitor 6.5" (130mm) LF/MF driverand 1" (30mm) soft dome tweeter delivering wide frequency response of 63Hz - 30kHz Sculpted and rigid front baffle design to minimise diffraction Response has been optimised for quarter space near-field operation, such as on a meterbridge or on a table either side of your control surface Front firing reflex bass port to negate boundary-coupling 50-100W RMS Recommended Amp Power Bass unit development using to minimise offsets and linearise the suspension components. Wideband tweeter design extending the amplitude response beyond 20kHz audibility to 30kHz to improve the phase response from within the audible band. + 1.5 / 0 / -1.5dB HF trim switch for custom room adjustment Balanced XLR and unbalanced jack connectors  Musicstore 122 euro)


JBL CONTROL 1PRO PAAR (150W/4ohm passive Thomann 135 Euro)

Yamaha 50M - Monitor
(active Features from the Yamaha 50M: 
  • frequency range 55 Hz-20 kHz (-10 dB
  • 5" woofer (45watts), 3/4" tweeter (25 watts) 
  • symmetric XLR and non-symmetric cinch inputs  Musicstore 135 euro)

Mackie MR5
  • (2-weg actieve nearfieldmonitor 
  • 1" HF driver 
  • 5.25" LF driver 
  • eindtrap vermogen per kanaal: 55w LF + 30w HF 
  • frequentie response (+/-3 dB): 60 Hz - 20 Khz 
  • analoge inputs: XLR (balanced), 6,3 mm jack, en RCA (unbalanced) 
  • bijzonderheid(en): lineaire weergave 
  • afmetingen: 292 x 197 x 266 
  • gewicht per box: 6.5 kg 
  • magnetisch afgeschermd Musicstore 144 Euro)

Tannoy Reveal 501A active Studiomonitor


  • (Integrated 60W total power amp unit 
  • 5" (130mm) LF/MF driver and 1" (30mm) soft dome tweeter delivering wide frequency response of 64Hz - 30kHz 
  • Sculpted and rigid front baffle design to minimise diffraction 
  • Response has been optimised for quarter space near-field operation, such as on a meter bridge or 
  • on a table either side of your control surface. 
  • Front firing reflex bass port to negate boundary-coupling 
  • Bass unit development using to minimise offsets and linearise the suspension components. 
  • Wideband tweeter design extending the amplitude response beyond 20kHz audibility to 30kHz to improve 
  • the phase response from within the audible band. 
  • LED indicator shows power status 
  • + 1.5 / 0 / -1.5dB HF trim switch for custom room adjustment 
  • Rear mounted volume control for convenient Home Studio and PC/MAC laptop/desktop use. 
  • Balanced XLR and unbalanced jack connectors Musicstore 145 euro)


Good bye Bose 601 serie III

Sometime you need to say good bye,
I know maybe someone would say why don't you keep them?
The answer is simple: 
I have different needs now..... the Bose are simply huge,
isn't amazing how a pair of boxes from the 80ties can still blow your walls down!? 
Unfortunately even sounding so deep they aren't a good reference monitor.

I really don't know yet what will take them place but it will be a proper reference monitor (I hope)....

Good bye Bose.... maybe we will meet again!