Studio Monitor Placement, Obviously, the process of controlling the loudspeakers is complicated. The headphones are on and the performance is perfect – easy!
With Monitors things have gotten much more involved, so it will be very frustrating to anybody who wants to know quick answers. It’s impossible to simply purchase a monitor that is good quality for the money.
Monitors interact with the space where they are located, and the sound hitting your ears combines indivisibly with the influences from the space inside.
Ask almost all mixing engineers about their most important purchase for enhancing their mixes room and you will likely hear the same answer -studio reference Monitors.
Monitor and Listening Location
Sound reflects from walls, ceilings or floors. The audio levels of the listener improve as reflecting sounds coincide in phase with the direct sound.
Noise levels increase if the reflection sounds have an opposite effect from direct sound. When the walls haven’t been designed for the diffusion of sound energy most of the reflected sound energy leaves the reflection wall at its current angle.
Avoid putting the monitor at an angle so that the mirror on the wall or ceiling will travel toward the listener. When room dimensions match sounds wavelengths, sound energy accumulates into resonance.
Radiation Space
The radiation space represents the amount of sound that an instrument emits from it. The sounds are enhanced with the limits of wall noise. Every half-hour reduction in the radiation volume from the walls surrounding monitors increase the sound pressure.
Monitors with flat frequency response can achieve a 6 dB higher sound level on solid wall. In a corner this gain is 12 DB. The gain of 3 boundary lines is +18 Db with corners closed.
It is especially apparent in low-frequency frequencies. Learn how radiation affects your ears by studying sound in the Sound 101 section.
Wall Reflections and Cancellations
Moreover, removing walls from the speakers can affect sound quality in certain instances. If an area between the monitor and walls is larger than a quarter of the wavelength, reflections on the wall are in the opposite direction and the reflected signal cancels out the sound on the screen.
At such frequency, sound levels decrease. How much of reduction will happen varies by distance and how much noise is produced by the monitor’s screen behind it.
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The wall reflection or rear reflection produce cancellations on multiple frequencies, it may be called comb filtering.
Verify studio monitor orientation
Many studio monitors can be installed in different positions. Several monitors, including the Presonus E5, E44 and E66 have the option of horizontal or vertical positioning.
If the studio displays are oriented vertically, the screen should reflect their counterpart with tweeters pointing to outside. Similarly for Mtm monitors such as Eris 44 and Eris e66 in vertical position.
They must be similar to one another with Twitterers on the exterior. The manufacturers suggest horizontal or vertical positioning, so you can experiment.
Monitor stands are worth the investment
Placing speakers directly on the desk may reduce sound quality; the sound waves that come out from them bounce off hard reflective surfaces like your desk and then reach your eyes.
Studio monitors can transfer vibration across all surfaces on which they sit and even on your table. Sometimes screws rattle and rattling are heard and can make dreadful sounds in a mix.
Your desk may be very resonant in the sense that if you switch up your monitor, it boosts some specific frequency by resonating with the sound of your monitor.
The driver should be the same height as your ears
Highfrequency data has a greater directionality than low frequency. It helps us hear better when the frequency is going into our ears.
Once the sweet spot has been created, place yourself at your ears level with the center tweet. In other instances placing the speaker vertically will cause the tweeter to be pointed too high over your ears.
Alternatively you can invert the speakers of the monitor in the opposite direction to get the tweets to the bottom. That may sound weird, but it worked.
Your speakers should form an equilateral triangle with your listening position
Often speakers will talk of the “sweet spot” or “sweet spot”. As previously discussed this is the middle of the two sides of stereo systems, where the speaker overlaps and where the stereo picture is most effective.
Create an ideal destination is quite straightforward.
Using your head the speakers can rotate or “toe-in” the speakers. This means they can be placed in equilateral triangles – i.e. the speakers have the distance between them.
Set up your desk so that your speakers are away from walls and corners
Make sure you keep the speakers off the wall. 8-12 inches are sufficient in the case of noises from reaching the walls.
Sometimes this may not always work out and there is an easy way to minimize the cramped mix. (The rest will come up shortly; keep this in mind).
Another benefit of placing some distance between the speakers on the wall is that it allows easy access from the back of the rig and that’s no problem.
The speakers should be a different distance from the back wall than from the walls on either side
So as long as you have your mix in the corner, there’s no reason for you to put your mix in the corner. Make sure that the height from speakers to the walls in the background differs versus the depth of the sidewall closest to them.
Generally speaking your speakers are 6 feet from your wall and not 6 feet from your wall behind.
Studio Monitor Height
The monitors now form symmetric triangles at your listening point, so you have to get it to the correct height. The tweeters need to be adjusted to the ear height when sitting.
If they are too high, they are less accurate in ensuring that the correct stereo images are produced. It’s a good idea for the monitors to be placed in the same direction in order to provide a clear stereo picture
. Monitor stands can help raise the speaker up the appropriate amount. Most offices are so small you could put a screen on it. The monitors have very important roles. This speaker stands helps raise the monitors to the correct height.
Deal with Surfaces
Stands can be removed easily to remove the monitor from hard surfaces like desks. Reflections of sound cause vibrations as well irregular frequencies.
Some stands feature a sealed surface that can stop sound escaping through the frame or hitting any hard surface. This helps remove the monitor from its resonant surface by removing a rubber cover.
The best way to deal with the sound reflection is to purchase an isolation pad. This unit is also useful on stand alone or when there are shelves in the monitor’s place. This isolation pad absorbs vibrations, while minimising sound waves.
Rear wall
Once all sides are trimmed, there will be the rear wall. Your studio is largely influenced by how important it is. The rear wall is a major problem if your house has a small space but may not be as crucial in large rooms. The absorber panel helps to calm difficult spaces by reducing energy consumption.
Generally, a diffuse panel is used for solving this problem. These screens reduce direct sound reflection on your screen. It is not necessary to use paneling. All irregular surfaces will aid. These might be a bookhelf that contains several objects and possibly furniture.
Side wall
Next is the sidewall. Reflexes of the ceiling can pose the same problems. First, you must find out how many reflection points to ponder. Some of the above are outlined but the emphasis should be on one sidewall.
The correct positioning of the reflector point should provide optimum sound quality. It’s easy for you to hear the music.
Imagine your sides were mirrored so your monitor could be seen from your listening angle. Once the spot has been identified you must install acoustic panels for this wall reflection. This applies to the reflection on your walls or the roof.
Ideal listening position
You need a computer to listen to music. The best position for forming equilateral triangles is from your hearing position.
The distance between them must be exactly the same as the diagram above illustrates. A monitor is also directed at your head.
Equilateral triangles offer optimum results.
There are various kinds of recording monitors but they are mostly near fields and will have very small sweet spot. You may see an incredibly low sound quality when you get closer to the ideal spot. The idea came from a creative point of view.
The 38% rule
Now that you know what walls are best suited, the next step would be to find the appropriate place for your workspace. It provides an easy guide to choosing the correct spot. Measure room size and find 35%.
The wall must be far away and the wall must have enough space between them to reduce reflected noise.
The theoretical 38% offer an effective combination between peak and nulls. Please remember it is an overview and nothing will ever be fixed.
It is possible to change rooms depending on other factors. Depending on the monitor’s nature this could also affect it.
Symmetry is important
Having all the factors listed above you can find the best place to buy workstations.
From here, you will have to make more checks to make sure that you pinpoint where you should be located and it also has some helpful information that you can follow in the process. Firstly place your workstation between wall surfaces.
The camera is capable of producing stereo images with accurate colours. Another point to keep in mind is the distance from where your monitors are supposed to sit and to avoid a collision with the wall.
Room modes
When sound enters an external monitor, it’s called sound waves. Its distances are called wavelengths. It’ll reflect light onto the walls.
This wavelength can collide and produce waves. Standing waves affect sound waves that may make a recording unbalanced, which can cause serious mistakes when producing or mixing.
It’s because of this fact the dimensions of rooms are much more important than you’d expect it to be. The frequencies are very small in length. If possible, avoid a perfectly square space.
Which wall to put up on?
Choosing the proper wall will greatly help reduce problems. Installing your desk on a long wall in a rectangular area is a good choice.
It helps sound travel farther before it hits a wall or side wall. Unless the room is narrower than usual, a shorter wall may be an excellent alternative for eliminating rear reflection.
The wall you select will be determined by your room’s shape. The corner has numerous reflections and is difficult to achieve balanced outputs.
Tame your room
Now you find the optimal place for your desk and set it to its correct position. Moreover, you handled your reflections immediately.
Then we have to tackle the room. It is important in the small rooms. The smallest reflection can be obtained using different surface acoustics.
Reflecting walls can affect a studio or house. If you’re standing in a dark room, you know what noises occur in a nontreated room. Fortunately, you can take steps towards reducing it.
Vertical or horizontal orientation
You know where you’ve positioned yourself now. Firstly, you have to decide if they stand up straight or in the opposite direction. Some monitors have horizontal positions.
Most monitors are generally placed vertically although this is very different from monitors on different screens.
See the documentation on your Monitor to determine what orientations are preferred.
Front wall
It starts by attacking the wall of the building. It’s critical to tame low frequency levels in this area. This can be achieved through acoustic treatment behind monitors.
Bass frequencies are longer than HF and usually create acoustics in studio studios. Bass traps are designed to absorb reflections from the walls and reduce them by eliminating.
Putting it all together
If you follow this principle you will find your optimal work place. Before we start our journey it should be remembered the following are merely guidelines.
Your studio project will differ from each other and you will require adjustments depending on the specific dynamics in your space. But these details provide a good base.
Finding The Right Spot
All studio spaces differ in sound quality and acoustics that affect the sound of your monitor. It is therefore important to evaluate and know how to find a working place for your workstation in your studio.
Should studio monitors be angled up or down?
Get your monitors to ears-level.The horizontal and vertical distortions from the speakers’ directional pattern can vary dramatically with distance from front and center speakers to achieve maximum sound consistency.
What angle should my studio monitors be at?
The optimal stereo image is created by the listening position and monitor placement to create 3 points on the equal triangle.
What is the 38% rule?
The 38 PERCENT Rule. It uses a placement technique based on the 38 percent rule that the optimal listener position can be found in 38 percent of the room’s length. This allows the optimal balance between peak vs zero for any given room.
