With the support of iLok, more tips & tricks from the community. Here is one from Dietrich Bonawitz…
Your site has been a major help in getting me on my way into solving problems and viewpoints I never would have thought of. I accidentally discovered this idea, and thought I’d pass it along, maybe it’ll help someone else. I have been putting my studio together for years, (some gear new, some old). I have been mixing on an old (perhaps ancient) pair of KRK V8 monitors. Over time (before I knew Pro Tools Expert existed) I figured out the hard way of how to tame the excessive bass response from the room. Initially I found the corner was NOT the spot to mix. Then I found out about optimising the position of your speakers within the room. Then about treating the room. Eventually, I was lucky enough to move the studio into the basement, which allows much more room for bass waves. Regardless, I still had a bit of an issue with my mixes falling short with bass when it translated out to my car stereo. Just as a thought, I decided to plug the ports of my monitors with some rags to cut the bass. Voila! all of a sudden the mix popped. I seemed to have much clearer stereo separation, high end detail, and the mixes now translate much better to the outside world. The monitors themselves were a good portion of my bass problem. The ported cabinets add too much bass, and caused muddiness in the mix. And it only took a few years to figure it out! Thanks for your site guys! Keep up the great work!!
Mike - You have learnt some of the principles of acoustics by trial and error. Corners are always places to avoid because bass will build up there. However, although you can block up the ports on speakers, it will mean that they are no longer working the way they were designed. Speakers with ports on the rear need to be moved away from the wall. But note, even non ported speakers will have a bassier sound when they are placed close to a wall and even more when placed in a corner. So if you have to put speakers closer to a wall you may need to compensate for that.
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