Another great post Danny.

Does position of a sub make any difference? Is there a preferred position? I'm a little limited as to where I can place stuff so I'm wondering whether it's worth it if I can't get it into the 'right' position. I'm going to be pretty much limited to floor level center just in front of my normal sitting position.

Based on all the good things I hear (mix wise as well as advice on here) I'm going to treat myself to ARC and figure I might as well get a sub at the same time to save setting ARC up and then have to (presumably) do it again when I get a sub.

Thanks for any advice you can give.

.

FastBikerBoy


Another great post Danny.

Does position of a sub make any difference? Is there a preferred position? I'm a little limited as to where I can place stuff so I'm wondering whether it's worth it if I can't get it into the 'right' position. I'm going to be pretty much limited to floor level center just in front of my normal sitting position.

Based on all the good things I hear (mix wise as well as advice on here) I'm going to treat myself to ARC and figure I might as well get a sub at the same time to save setting ARC up and then have to (presumably) do it again when I get a sub.

Thanks for any advice you can give.

Thanks Karl. Well, it's strange. I've been in rooms where they were off to the side a bit and to be honest, though you might think it would be a problem, I didn't have any problems working/mixing in the room. I personally like mine in the center in between my monitors completely in line and even with the monitors. Not in front, not behind...straight on and even on the floor.
 
A few aritcles I've read mention "experiment with the best position for your room". Though I would disagree with this, when I've been in a room that's had one off to the side, you don't hear it coming from the side so that article may have been correct. Supposedly we can't perceive where the low end is coming from...and in my experience that has been exactly the case. I really don't know the right answer to that question brother...but I like mine dead on.
 
Yeah I think you'll like ARC. Definitely grab a sub with it if you can and do the correction with the sub so you don't have to do it again. The toughest thing is deciding on what low end to use for it. But with a little experimenting, you'll figure it out. What I did was, I played a few reference CD's before I corrected with ARC. I killed all eq adjustments on the back of my monitors and adjusted my sub so that it just gave me a little extra kick. You don't want to hear rumble...you just want a little extra kick in those lows. ARC will curb it if you use too little or too much, no worries there. Most of the time, it will remove a little too much low end after the correction which will make you mix a little bass heavy.
 
At least that's what happened to me. From there, I just brought the sub up an increment or so which feeds a little more low into the mix and you wind up mixing a little bass lighter. You may have to experiment with this but I was able to nail it on the first try. I contacted IK and asked them about that just to make sure and they said "yeah, you may have to experiment with your sub a bit after the correction." So you just bring your sub up a few notches after the correction if need be and you'll be fine. In my new studio, I didn't have to touch a thing after the correction and just about always, I never touch a sub. Just in my main studio I had to do it. Even there...it wasn't any problem really. You just need to fine tune it a bit to your personal needs.
 
I wasn't exactly mixing bass heavy before adding a little more sub on my end. It was just a little more bass than I felt I needed. Definitely passable for sure...but on that border of "ah, I think it's just a little too much." :)
 
-Danny

Danny, great feedback in the last two posts. The monitoring is everything. Without it you can tweak all day and not get translatable results.

His point on listening is key as well.  I have ARC.  But it has not helped as much.  My critical listening skills need to be honed.  NOw that Danny has mentioned that the kick drum is lost, I cam hear that.  My fatigued ears missed the point yesterday.

Danny Danzi

Yeah I think you'll like ARC ...
 

Kudos to Mr. Danzi for some of the most helpful, informative postings I've seen here.  Great work, Danny ... may you continue to find success with your music career.
 
Speaking of ARC, I was curious if you decided to go back to the original or if you kept the upgrade to ARC 2.  I think I remember you were having some issues with the new version.
 
Cheers,
Eddie
 

Eddie TX

Danny Danzi

Yeah I think you'll like ARC ...
 

Kudos to Mr. Danzi for some of the most helpful, informative postings I've seen here.  Great work, Danny ... may you continue to find success with your music career.
 
Speaking of ARC, I was curious if you decided to go back to the original or if you kept the upgrade to ARC 2.  I think I remember you were having some issues with the new version.
 
Cheers,
Eddie
 

That's very kind of you Mr. Eddie, thanks! :) I wish the same for you!
 
As for ARC, I've been toying with ARC 2 for a bit now and though it's good, to me it sounds nearly identical to ARC 1. I notice a bit more high end in ARC 2 which sort of scared me. I don't think my mixes come out bright right now, but if I used ARC 2 and trusted it, I believe my mixes would be a bit darker.
 
I tried to use the built in EQ to make it sound like ARC 1 by curbing the highs it seems to be adding. At the end of the day, why use a newer version that you tweak to sound like the old version, know what I mean? LOL! So ARC 2 doesn't get much action from me. I've yet to really mix something using it though. I should give it a try to see how I fair really. But from running it side by side with ARC 1, I just seem to like what ARC 1 is doing and I totally trust it.
 
That little extra high end just scared me off. Like I said, I DID fix that though....I just haven't tried to mix anything. I really only bought it because it was so cheap for me and thought maybe the additional options it has would be cool to have. But, those options are really not to my liking other than some of the custom stuff you can do. But even there, you're altering what it created and I don't think we should have to do that. Then again, sometimes you DO have to tweak things a little and it's good those options are there.
 
I don't know man....I'm one of those guys that tries as hard as possible not to change something when you have a well-oiled machine, know what I mean? I get everything I could ever need out of ARC 1 without messing with any custom settings or tweaking it. I raised my sub one increment after my ARC 1 corrections and never did anything else since. My clients are completely happy with my work, the people I do consultations for are happy, I'm happy that my stuff sounds good on every system I play it on...there's just no need for anything else in MY realm to be honest. But I can probably work with ARC 2 and hav good results. It really does sound super close to ARC 1...I'm just afraid it will make me mix a little darker and right now I'm extremely happy with my high end. :) Thanks again for the kind words brother, glad some of the stuff I've posted has been helpful to you.
 
-Danny 

The dog is still on the bone!  This thread has been amazing in terms of pushing me!  Thank you!  Am I closer?  I have worked hard on the low end

https://soundcloud.com/su...n-the-name-of-paradise

Danny Danzi

Eddie TX

Danny Danzi

Yeah I think you'll like ARC ...
 

Kudos to Mr. Danzi for some of the most helpful, informative postings I've seen here.  Great work, Danny ... may you continue to find success with your music career.
 
Speaking of ARC, I was curious if you decided to go back to the original or if you kept the upgrade to ARC 2.  I think I remember you were having some issues with the new version.
 
Cheers,
Eddie
 

That's very kind of you Mr. Eddie, thanks! :) I wish the same for you!
 
As for ARC, I've been toying with ARC 2 for a bit now and though it's good, to me it sounds nearly identical to ARC 1. I notice a bit more high end in ARC 2 which sort of scared me. I don't think my mixes come out bright right now, but if I used ARC 2 and trusted it, I believe my mixes would be a bit darker.
 
I tried to use the built in EQ to make it sound like ARC 1 by curbing the highs it seems to be adding. At the end of the day, why use a newer version that you tweak to sound like the old version, know what I mean? LOL! So ARC 2 doesn't get much action from me. I've yet to really mix something using it though. I should give it a try to see how I fair really. But from running it side by side with ARC 1, I just seem to like what ARC 1 is doing and I totally trust it.
 
That little extra high end just scared me off. Like I said, I DID fix that though....I just haven't tried to mix anything. I really only bought it because it was so cheap for me and thought maybe the additional options it has would be cool to have. But, those options are really not to my liking other than some of the custom stuff you can do. But even there, you're altering what it created and I don't think we should have to do that. Then again, sometimes you DO have to tweak things a little and it's good those options are there.
 
I don't know man....I'm one of those guys that tries as hard as possible not to change something when you have a well-oiled machine, know what I mean? I get everything I could ever need out of ARC 1 without messing with any custom settings or tweaking it. I raised my sub one increment after my ARC 1 corrections and never did anything else since. My clients are completely happy with my work, the people I do consultations for are happy, I'm happy that my stuff sounds good on every system I play it on...there's just no need for anything else in MY realm to be honest. But I can probably work with ARC 2 and hav good results. It really does sound super close to ARC 1...I'm just afraid it will make me mix a little darker and right now I'm extremely happy with my high end. :) Thanks again for the kind words brother, glad some of the stuff I've posted has been helpful to you.
 
-Danny 

I never got Arc2 to work.  Truth is I need to get IK multimedia on the phone.  Just have not had time.

Great topic and posts here. I have same problems with my recordings because sometimes even if technically it's all good and sounds good - the recording like e.g. OP's still has that specific homemade smell. How to get rid of that smell it's a million $ question I guess