Monitor Placement

thehootman

Hi guys,
Just got my new monitors.
However, reading all the texts about monitor placement leaves me in a bit of a pickle. You see, I have 2 CRT monitors adjacent, and my \"control\" room is only small - meaning that to have an equilateral triangle setup i would have to sit half a metre away from my desk ( monitors shouldn't be near walls/corners).
Is the equilateral triangle setup really necessary? Or can the angle of the speakers be brought in a bit more?

Thanks

guitar3456

You want them so they are at ear level but aimed (angled) so the sound dispersement is across your ears. If that means being 5 ft apart vs 10 ft apart, that's what you do. When you use NFM for mixing, mix at levels (volumes) that you can hear another person if they were talking to you.

IOW don't crank them, or your mixes can get errors due to ear fatigue. NFM's reduce fatigue, but keep the levels nominal and you can mix sessions much longer than ever before getting EF.

Judge your mixes via your monitors using a pre-recorded cd of a similar works or genre. Then you can tune ( brainwash) your mind to hear certain details. Trust me, you will identify them more this way. If you can tune the response of your NFM's, do so in the same fashion. Always used pro mastered cd's etc to define your room and mix session conditions.

Ways to determine pre mix accuaracy- adjust the mix as you like. Now vary the volumes from low to gradually higher. If the voc's, drums etc seem well maintained, your pre mix can be set for mastering. listen at low volumes for details like guitar leads, how much they overcome the mix etc. At the lower volumes, you will find the ability to get the mix \"even\" much easier. Gradually go up in vol and compare each time you adjust at the lower levels. This way once mastered, your mix will pretty much play on anything.