Where are the monitor speakers? Seven principles tell you!

A good mixing environment is very important. A mixer with many years of experience may be able to mix high-quality songs in a studio where the conditions are average and no acoustic processing is done; but for mixing enthusiasts in the learning process, improving the acoustic environment of the studio will It will greatly help you improve your ability. There are many factors that affect the acoustic environment, and the placement of the monitor speakers is very particular. Don't talk about complex scientific issues, just follow this simple and practical guide, and your mix will be very different from the past.

Acceptance is not good
No studio is perfect. Even a well-built professional mixing studio will have some flaws. The conditions mentioned in this guide are rarely met, so don't worry too much. It is possible to mix high-quality songs in a poor studio... It's just a little bit more difficult. The worse the monitoring environment is, the more important it is to compare with professional-grade works during mixing, and to test in different monitoring systems.

Monitor speaker placement principles
1. Make the human ear and the two monitor speakers an equilateral triangle
This is the simplest and most important rule. Most monitor speakers will have a sweet spot where you will hear a better balance effect on your head. The better monitoring position is the point that is in an equilateral triangle with the speakers, and the distance between the two speakers is equal to the distance between your head and each speaker. The farther the two speakers are, the farther you should be from them.

2. Don't sit at half the length of the room
Adjust the position of the chair and don't sit at the exact same distance from the two walls in front of and behind you. Doing so will cause you to be unable to hear low frequencies clearly. Low frequencies in the mix are prone to problems, such as heavy bass or muddy sound.
The vertical height of the room should also follow this principle. Adjust the height of your chair and don’t sit at the exact same distance from the floor to the ceiling.
The exception is the width of the room. You should sit in the middle of the left and right walls to get accurate stereo effects.

3. Don't sit in the back half of the room
If, according to the previous principle, you sit in the second half of the room, that won’t work. If the wall behind you is closer than the wall in front of you, the sound reflected from behind will cause you a lot of problems.

4. Don't let the monitor speakers be too far away from the wall
Many people think that the farther away the monitor speakers are from the wall, the better. This is a big misunderstanding. The reflection of the wall behind the speaker will produce comb filtering, causing some frequencies to disappear completely.
Please check the manufacturer's instruction manual to find the minimum distance between the speaker and the wall (usually about 30 cm), and place the speaker according to this distance.
Such a small distance may give a little gain to the low frequency-you can use the equalization function of some speakers to reduce the low frequency a little, or you can use special software to adjust the room monitoring, or ignore it, just remember to mix Just take this factor into consideration. In short, a little low-frequency gain is much better than producing comb filtering.

5. The distance between the speaker and the side wall and the front wall should not be the same

For example, if your speaker is 30 cm away from the front wall, the distance between it and the side wall cannot also be 30 cm. Otherwise, the standing wave generated will bring random peaks to the low frequency of your room.

6. In a big room, please face the long wall
This principle should only be applied to large rooms, to ensure that you do not sit in the back half of the room when facing the long wall (refer to Articles 2 and 3).
The advantage of facing the long wall in a large room is that the reflection volume from the side wall will be lower because the transmission distance is longer.
In this case, facing the long wall is better

7. Keep the speaker facing the ear

As mentioned before, most monitor speakers have a better listening position. Its premise is that the speakers of the speakers are facing your ears.
Let the speakers point to your ears
The vertical angle of the speakers should also be considered. If the speakers and your ears are not on the same level, adjust their elevation or depression angles accordingly.

to sum up
The placement of monitor speakers is very important to create a good mixing environment. Study these principles carefully!
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