mixing with naim

Posted by: Jon Moxon on 07 January 2004

Recently I find myself making more 'music' (pretty loose term this!) than listening to it, and I do the mixing through my 82/hi/140/S100s. Two questions are on my mind:

-What's the difference between this and a studio monitoring set up? (Is the naim/spendor rig not up to the job for some reason, or simply hugely over-specced?)

-Am I likely to damage anything doing this?

Thanks in advance for any info

Jon

Posted on: 07 January 2004 by Tim Jones

Any games some of us might still be playing Jeremy?

Tim

Posted on: 07 January 2004 by JohanR

quote:
-Am I likely to damage anything doing this?

If you are using an analog reel to reel player and fast forwarding / reversing with sound you might fry the treble units. Only thing I can think up.

quote:
The argument seems to be that a monitoring system needs to have a flatter frequency response and play louder but nobody I have asked so far has been able to explain why...

The rock musicians, who are the customers at the recording studios, are used to (or hearing impaired by) their own musics loudness, anything less loud must be bad?

In the classical world big B&W:s are very popular as monitors.

JohanR

Posted on: 07 January 2004 by Mike Hanson

Studio monitoring systems must be very detailed, and need to handle extreme transients and percussive elements (because the source material is often uncompressed). The rest of the atributes that we appreciate in our home stereos (soundstage, PRaT, etc.) are not as important in a professional setting. You tend to spend most of the time balancing the various elements and doing basic EQ'ing.

Also remember that they really deal only with the power-amp and speaker side of the equation, as the source is not CD/vinyl, and the mixer often acts as the pre-amp.

Overall, I've found that most studio systems are nowhere near as good as most of our Naim systems. Also, I would expect systems used for mastering (versus recording and mixing) to be better. Also, remember that most professionals are expecting their recordings to be played on boomboxes, which is why so much pop sounds awful on good systems.

Regardless, I use my office system (102/2*SNAPS2/110/RoydMerlin) for my project studio, and I've rarely had a problem. It's somewhat limited in the volume department, but that's its only real drawback.

-=> Mike Hanson <=-

Posted on: 07 January 2004 by Stephen Bennett

With a studio monitoring set-up, you are trying to produce a result that sounds good on different systems from hi-end to low-end. You need detail, reliable bass extension (or reliable intimation of bass extension) and low coloration. Hi-Fi speakers are usually designed to sound 'good' - whatever that means to the listener. There's no way I'd use Naim speakers for studio work - they have far too much of an individual 'sound'. But then I wouldn't use 99% of all studio speakers either! Having said that, if you really know your speakers and are careful you can use anything.

One of the most widely used monitor speakers in recording studios are the Yamaha NS10s. They sound shit. Everyone agrees they sound shit. But everyone has the same shit sound......

I do use Naim amps though!

Regards

Stephen

PS Don't put live drums through your hi-fi speakers at high voulume!

Posted on: 07 January 2004 by Stephen Bennett

quote:
Originally posted by Stephen Bennett:
With a studio monitoring set-up, you are trying to produce a result that sounds good on different systems from hi-end to low-end. You need detail, reliable bass extension (or reliable intimation of bass extension) and low coloration. Hi-Fi speakers are usually designed to sound 'good' - whatever that means to the listener. There's no way I'd use Naim speakers for studio work - they have far too much of an individual 'sound'. But then I wouldn't use 99% of all studio speakers either! Having said that, if you really know your speakers and are careful you can use anything.

One of the most widely used monitor speakers in recording studios are the Yamaha NS10s. They sound shit. Everyone agrees they sound shit. But everyone has the same shit sound......

I do use Naim amps though!

Regards

Stephen

PS Don't put live drums through your hi-fi speakers at high volume!

Posted on: 07 January 2004 by Tim Jones

Jeremy -

What an interesting job. I have a wee theory that computer games are to this decade what motion pictures were to the 1920s.

Some game music (remember the music to 'Doom'?) just gets turned off because it's shit. But good music can make a real difference to some other games, especially spooky ones.

Tim

Posted on: 08 January 2004 by Jon Moxon

Thanks for all the replies, I think most thimgs are clearer now and my mind is at rest. I guess that frontline studio monitors are more robust than the average hifi speaker to deal with uncompressed signals and mistaken connections, feedback and genral abuse.

I'm running the output from my interface back into the mixer and into the aux input on the 82; the editing and mixing is guitars, synths and vocals mainly, so nothing with too much dynamics I don't think. I will be careful anyway!

BTW, does anyone know why mixing is done at such high volumes? I only have to go past 8 o'clock on the amp and the music's louder than when I'm actually playing it!

Many thanks again

Jon