Hi guys,
I'd like to thanks you both for your quick response.
lazarous: you need some bass trapping in your mixing room.
I ablsolutely agree with that statement. I just don't have anything to measure frequencies with to make accurate determinations. I did find a website that has free downloads of low frequency tones. Actually it's a free download of a Sonar project with the tones included. You simply downoload the project which has one track with the tones and another track that is set to record from an omni-directional mic. (But I don't have an omni-directional mic.) Once the downloaded project runs through all of the tones and the monitor's output is recorded onto the second track, you simply look at the wav form and it shows you exactly where the peaks and dips are. Really quite nifty especially considering I use Sonar6 and the project plays very nicely with no trouble at all.
You're supposed to use an omni-directional mic. I have only dynamic and condensor mics but thought perhaps I could just get by using one of those. Even though I know that these mics will only capture the sound coming from the direction that they are pointed and they will not capture the sound coming from behind or from either side. But if I ran a series of 4 tests with the mic located where my head would be if I was mixing and pointed in different directions for each test:
1. With the mic pointed straight ahead between the two monitors.
2. With the mic pointed 90 degrees to the right.
3. With the mic pointed 90 degrees to the left.
4. With the mic pointed 180 degrees from the monitors so it would pick up the sound from behind me.
After taking these reading I should be able to determine what areas in the room need to have bass traps installed.
Now...that being said...I am confused about the results of the testing. Let me explain first and then I'll post a link. In the video that I'm about to post here, they explain the whole process. But where I get confused is when I look at the wav form I see huge peaks and dips. Of course the before-traps wav form is going to have peaks and dips. However,even though I can see improvements in areas that they point out, I am still seeing peaks and dips. I think perhaps I'm not understanding what I'm supposed to be seeing. I would think that after running a test
after the room has been properly treated with bass traps then you should see a pretty solid-bar looking wav form with no peaks and/or dips. But that's not what I see when I look at the wav form in the video. So this just has me really confused. Maybe if you looked at the video you could explain to me why there is still peaks and dips even
after they have treated the room with bass traps. The video runs about 19 minutes but if you download the video file it only takes a couple of minutes and you can scroll ahead to the end to see the
after wav form that I'm talking about without having to sit through the whole 19 minute video, although I think it's a pretty interesting video and extremely helpful for anyone who doesn't already have a solid knowlege of bass traps. And the Sonar project is quite a nifty tool and it would prevent the need for buying any testing equipment if I knew what to look for in the wav form. Well...peaks and dips of course...but why am I still seeing peaks and dips?
Here's the link for the video and the Sonar project used to test frequency response.
For the video scroll down to where it says MINITRAPS DEMONSTRATION.
For the Sonar frequency testing project you have to scroll all the down to the bottom of the page where it says Sonar Project Download. This would really be a huge help to me if I could learn just what it is I'm supposed to be seeing in the wav form. As I said, even after they installed the bass traps in the video I can still see drastic peaks and dips in the wav form.
http://www.realtraps.com/videos.htm Could you please describe the room you currently mix in?
The room is a spare bedroom and is quite small. It's about 10' x 11' and is carpeted. I have my workstation set up along the longest wall and centered in the middle of that wall. Monitors are at ear level while sitting in my chair and they are placed so that it form an equalateral triangle with each side measuring about 3 feet. The room is carpeted. The walls are sheetrock. The ceiling is 8' high. There is one other small workstation, a book case, and a few file cabinets in the room. There is no other furniture. The monitors sit about 1 foot away from the wall. (Which is probably why I'm hearing a lot of bass frequencies.) But unfortunately there's really not enough space in the room to allow me to pull my workstation further away from the wall. There is currently no acoustical treatment in the room. (Other than the floor carpet.)
Have you listened to your mixes in different positions within the room itself?
Yes, I have. And there is definately a lot more lower registry of frequencies when I'm sitting directly in front of the monitors.
Hope this gives you a better idea of my current status. And also would be a huge help if you could explain to me why I still those huge peaks and dips in the wav form in the video that I linked you to even after they finished installing the bass traps. If I knew what I was supposed to be looking for in the wav form I would be able to take readings myself and create some make-shift bass traps out of polyurathane foam rubber.
Thanks, Pete
yep: decouple the speakers from whatever they're sitting on.
Yes, you're right. I should have mentioned that my monitors are sitting on 1" foam rubber. It was part of the packing material in the box for my Motif. LOL Yea, OK...I'm cheap.
If you can pull them out a few feet from the walls that will lower the bass build-up.
I could pull the monitors another 4" or so away but that's about all I could do because I can't pull my workstation any further away from the wall without having it sit it the middle of the room. The room is only 10' wide. I have my workstation and chair which takes up about 6 of those feet and another small workstation with a computer (the family computer) behind my chair.
you can try putting a shelving filter of some sort on your main outputs
That's how I was originally going to correct the problem. Then during my 10 hours of research on the subject I dicovered that you're not supposed to do that. Supposedly, even if you use a very narrow Q setting, you can't get a Q setting narrow enough to raise or lower those peaked or dipped frequencies without effecting other frequencies around them. And then you have another whole problem to deal with. Of course this information is coming from a company that wants to sell you bass traps.
watch your listening levels while monitoring
Yes, you're correct. I already do this. I use volume levels in the same way you do. When I first started learning I used to keep them up high all the time so I could hear.
But I know better than that now. But a very good point.
I suppose I could ask the same thing from you...If you could view the video that I linked to and explain to me why I'm seeing peaks and dips in the wav form even after they've installed the bass traps. If I knew what I was supposed to be looking for in this wav form I think I'd be able to correct these problems I'm experiencing.
Here's the link again.
The video is where it says MINITRAPS DEMONSTRATION
The Sonar project file is at the bottom of the page.
http://www.realtraps.com/videos.htm Thanks again,
Pete
post edited by Peter Rabbit - March 20, 07 6:46 PM