Soundware Guides: Monitor Speakers
| In this guide we'll explain why a good pair of monitors are essential for mixing, and offer some tips on choosing speakers and getting the most out of them... |
Do I need new speakers?
Even if you've made a professional quality recording on your computer, the way it's mixed can make or break it as a finished track. To mix a track well, you need to be able to hear it accurately.
Using the speakers that were included with your computer is fine to begin with, but you'll probably find that if you play a finished song at a friend's or in the car it won't sound the way you wanted it to. This is because your speakers are misrepresenting the sound of your track and throwing your judgement.
Even good quality speakers like hi-fi speakers can cause these kind of problems. This is because hi-fi speakers are designed to enhance the sound of music, so they'll usually emphasise the bass. If you're mixing on these speakers, you might be mislead into thinking that the bass is too loud and turning it down, causing it to sound too quiet on other speakers.
Studio monitor speakers are designed differently - they're designed to give as accurate a representation of a mix as possible, so you know that if your mix sounds good on your monitors, it'll sound good on most other speakers, too. A good pair of monitor speakers can make mixing much easier and make your finished results sound much better.
Types of Speakers
Passive Speakers
Electrical sound signals travelling through wires are very quiet, so they need to be amplified before they're sent to a speaker cone.
Passive monitors aren't able to amplify the signal themselves, so they need a separate external amplifier to boost the level for them.
Passive speakers aren't often used as studio monitors, because the need for a separate amplifier can make it difficult to get an uncoloured sound. However, some studios do use passive monitor speakers.
Powered Speakers
Passive monitor speakers can lose sound quality because of interference picked up by the wire connecting the amplifier to the speakers. A way of avoiding this is by using powered speakers.
Powered speakers have their own inbuilt amplifiers and do not need any external amplification. Because of this the quality of the sound signal is preserved better, as it does not have to pass through as much wire and circuitry.
Active Speakers
Both passive and powered speakers split the signal after it has been amplified, sending the right parts to the two speaker cones.
Active speakers work differently. They use electronic circuitry to split the signal before it is amplified, and then feed the split signals into individual amplifiers, which then send the amplified signal to the speaker cones.
The active electronics can split the signal much more accurately, and can incorporate equalisation features to help match speakers to a room's characteristics. Again, active speakers are self-contained and need no external amplification.
How Speakers Work
The theory upon which speakers are based is quite simple. To make a speaker, an electrical sound signal is passed through a wire coil, attached to a diaphragm and with a magnet fixed within the coil. The current in the coil within the magnetic field causes the coil to move (because of the Motor Effect), which causes the diaphragm to move – at the same frequency as the original sound vibrations.
As the diaphragm moves, it will cause the air around it to vibrate as well, and will transmit sound waves the same as the original sound waves.
View Soundware Guide to Digital Audio...
A simple loudspeaker
However, it's difficult to make a single speaker cone reproduce every sound frequency in the spectrum, so most speakers use two cones (or "drivers"): a "tweeter" for high frequencies and a "woofer" for low frequencies. The point at which the low and high frequencies are split (usually around 2kHz) is called the crossover frequency. Some high-end studio monitors take this technique even further and use three or more speaker cones.
View our Speakers Section for more...
Speaker Positioning
The placement of speakers in a room can have a huge effect on the sound they produce, so it's important to position your monitor speakers properly to get the best out of them.
Speaker placement in relation to where you're sitting is also important, as the sound of a speaker changes depending on where it is in relation to the listener.
It's best to place your speakers so that they're sitting on two points of an imaginary equilateral triangle (the length of the sides can vary, although five to six feet is considered best) - the third point of which should be your head when you're listening to the speakers. This placement gives the most accurate reproduction of the stereo field (how far left or right sounds are panned).
Set the height of your speakers so that the tweeter cone is level with your ears - since high frequencies are most easily distorted by being "off-axis" (out of line), it's best to be level with the high frequency driver. Turn the speakers so that they're pointing inwards slightly, for the same reason. Always place your speakers upright unless they are specifically designed to be placed on their sides.
Placement of speakers within a room can vary depending on their design - some benefit from being placed against a wall, and some need to be well away from walls in a free space. Try to avoid placing speakers in corners, though - this can make the bass frequencies sound boomy.
Speaker stands are useful as they can prevent resonances from desks or cabinets - but wherever you place your speakers, make sure that they're firmly fixed in place to prevent vibrations.
When you think your speakers are correctly placed, use them to listen to some professionally produced music that you know well. Does the mix sound balanced? Is the bass or mid range coming through too strongly, or not strongly enough? If so, look at your placement again, and consider changing it to combat this. If you continuously run into problems, you might need to look into some form of acoustic treatment for the room you're mixing in - it may be that the shape of the room is affecting the sound.
If you're unsure about any of the above, or if you're not sure which products would be best for you, please
contact us and we'll be happy to offer friendly, impartial advice and recommendations.
