[Ty Ford]

Hello Ev and welcome to the Cow Audio Forum.

Thanks for posting this. Interesting. Sounds like some strange peak at those moments. I haven’t heard this sort of thing before. What in the room? Were the mics on the same person? Could it be that this was due to someone wearing a wireless lav and smart phone?

I’m sure we’ll hear from others who may have encountered this.

Regards,

Ty Ford
Cow Audio Forum Leader

PS. check the room for wireless technology, see if you can turn it off and see if it goes away.

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[Ty Ford]

OK. Because of your environment, you want to use “near-field” monitoring. Near-field simply means you want the monitors close to you to avoid involving room acoustics as much as possible.

Placement is very important. The two monitors should be set up in an equilateral triangle with the position of your head. So maybe a meter or maybe a little more. You can be a little farther away from each monitor than the monitors are from each other but not much.

You also need the monitors at the same height as your ears and angled in slightly so that they point at your ears. That usually means you need to get something to put the monitors on to raise them to the proper height.

You need a clear shot from the monitors to your ears. The monitors can’t be behind the computer monitor. And hanging them on a wall or working with them with you faced into a corner will change their response. It’s best to have them free standing so they don’t interact with nearby surfaces.

I haven’t had a lot of time to listen to a lot of inexpensive monitors, but the Event 20/20 series seem to do well. https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/186039-REG/Event_P8N_20_20bas_Monitor.html/BI/8631/KBID/9745

These little Fostex don’t have much in the way of power or full fidelity, but they may help you as you try to dumb down your audio for your intended playback systems.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/669392-REG/Fostex_6301BE_6301B_10W_4_Powered.html/BI/8631/KBID/9745

Maybe take a few CDs you know VERY well and head out to a local store. Listen to the CDs and find a system that reproduces the sound that makes sense to your ears.

Regards,

Ty Ford
Cow Audio Forum Leader

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[Ty Ford]

Bob is correct, Scott.

The major restrictions of your intended playback systems dictate that, at some point you come to terms with the laws of physics and acoustics and modify your “studio quality” audio for best effect.

Using equipment with full spectrum sound at the final stages will only cause you pain, grief, and an unhappy ending. That, in no way, should prevent you from spending your hard earned dollars on monitoring which may be better than you have now. Just don’t use it to make judgements about your final product. What do you have now and what’s your room like?

To get more on this, head to the woodshop and read up on articles about “mastering for iTunes” and other info like this: https://www.npr.org/blogs/therecord/2012/02/24/147379760/what-mastered-for-itunes-really-means

Regards,

Ty Ford

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[Ty Ford]

Bob,

EXCELLENT question! I had a music project recently in which the client came back wit the first test CD and said there was no low end in the mix. I asked what he was listening on. He said lap tops and cell phones.

The expected playback systems absolutely have to be considered and due to the huge variation of them, per above, you can’t expect to please all people or systems all the time.

So, as it relates to this thread, what’s the expected playback?

Regards,

Ty Ford

PS: I used a bit of “Ty Ford magic hooey®” to change the CD mix and the client was happy.

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[Ty Ford]

Dear Mihael,

The nice thing about the Cow Forum is that we are able to disagree. I apologize if my answer does not suit you, but it is what it is. I’m completely comfortable with suggesting to people when they ask me if A or B is better, that neither are good and that C is the best approach.

Regards,

Ty Ford
Cow Audio Forum Leader

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[Ty Ford]

Hello Scott and welcome to the Cow Audio Forum.

This may help. https://www.community.genelec.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=146

Regards,

Ty Ford
Cow Audio Forum Leader

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[Ty Ford]

Thanks Tim,

What was the topic?

Regards,

Ty Ford
Cow Audio Forum Leader

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[Ty Ford]

Last year we were a two camera and three person crew doing interviews with women who were breast cancer survivors. You can’t get much more intimate than that. I was the sound person. and there was no problem. If you have had such a problem it’s a personnel problem, not a number of people problem.

I never just set levels, even when shooting one person interviews. Their levels frequently change or they may move away from the mic a bit and need attention;similar to them shifting in their seats and you need to reframe.

As a result, I go back to my earlier thoughts that something valuable may be lost due to inattention.

Regards,

Ty Ford
Cow Audio Forum Leader

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[Ty Ford]

How’d that go big guy?

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[Ty Ford]

Hello Matt,

How are you conducting your tests?

Zero is zero.

Are the peak levels your getting on the TASCAM not the peak readings you’re seeing in FCP?

Regards,

Ty Ford
Cow Audio Forum Leader

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