How do you feel about a sub in your monitor system?

[3phase]

Good question..and many missinfo is around there.. the answer is not easy. its yes and no...
as somebody stated before.. not for the mix..or you have very high quality components and at least 2 subs..



I like a sub to program sounds for live sets.. its good when your source sounds dont mess up the lowest octave .. there are many clubs without real low bass. but the ones that have usually have it strong.. rather like in a car than hifi..


so a sub, well adjusted can give you a feel what is going on with unprecise bass bins that are badly placed and to loud in volume...


and that it is..

You dont mix on unprecise bass bins that are badly placed and to loud in volume...

So you need the sub switched off for your main mixing and just use it as an additional opinion...
The mix needs to be nice and fat and loud and clear even on the smallest speakers.. .when its than extra nice with sub and dont goes balistic its allwright..

best is when you have an on/off switch for the sub at listening position.. best with an own volume control.. i am no friend of a fixed setting.. i usually have it in just a little..but sometimes the magnifieng gals gives additional info..when the room swims there is to much below 30 going for example.. but that happens only on a loud setting you only want temporarily..so a controlable sub is a good tool i would say. as fixed part of the monitoring system rather questionable.. good alligned ok.. but one might prefer to mix without.. and have decend main monitirs that dont require a sub. so at least do the 50 hz...


if you want to have full control over the lowend in the mix you need big monitors that go down to at least 35 hz straight...

better 30..but 20 is not necessary and at least doubles the speaker szise in relation to a 30 hz model..

and when a small speaker claims to do the 30 hz or lower its usually cheap tricks like in the subwoover that cause unprecission again..

one 15 inch in the bass or 2 12 inch a rather a realistic proportion for that..

there is a reason that the big cans in pro studios are usually a 2x 15 inch konfiguration...

so in reality many use a sub.. just not for the absolut judgment regarding a mix.

main problems with subs is that they draw the events longer than they are.. a short 808 kick..allmost a click is with a sub a booooom... at least with a bad sub..

the 808 is good to test subs.. have the kick short.. you get a short whiplash bassheavy but short kick.. actually on good speakers not too far from a real kick drum..
you know that you have a good subwoover when any position of the bassdrum decay has clear results to the sound you get out of the speakers.. on bad subs you dont get it short anymore

Actually most subwoofers on the market are not very good in this test..especially the small and medium szised ones that claim to go down to 20 herz...

So a bad sub can alter the groove feeling and bass composition badly because it plays its own music...

when a short 50 hz kick from the 808 gets a long below 50 herz booomm the subwoofer is doing its own music.
We dont like that ! Thats car hifi not studio monitoring

[3phase]

Hi

I had the Yamaha's HS80s for a time witout the sub and i had so many problems to get the bassline to set right where i wanted him.

I realized that working witout a sub in the studio is like walking in the dark with sunglasses on!

Now i got my HS10 sub and i am so happy with it and i would never live without again.

The sub is so important if you want to hear whats going on in the bottom of your mixes.

My mixes are 100% better now and its a much more fun in the studio....Go for the sub without it you just fooling yourself!

Kind Regards

The HS10 sub is actually a precise one..it dont does goes below 35 hz. its not very low.. just enough
but with this one a short 808 kick stays one.. So they dont tried to get more out of the little sub than physics allows
As said before..anything that really does controled 20 hz is huge

[alex.the.forge]

Hi

I had the Yamaha's HS80s for a time witout the sub and i had so many problems to get the bassline to set right where i wanted him.

I realized that working witout a sub in the studio is like walking in the dark with sunglasses on!

Now i got my HS10 sub and i am so happy with it and i would never live without again.

The sub is so important if you want to hear whats going on in the bottom of your mixes.

My mixes are 100% better now and its a much more fun in the studio....Go for the sub without it you just fooling yourself!

Kind Regards

The HS10 sub is actually a precise one..it dont does goes below 35 hz. its not very low.. just enough
but with this one a short 808 kick stays one.. So they dont tried to get more out of the little sub than physics allows
As said before..anything that really does controled 20 hz is huge

I have one of those propping up my gnarly old NS10s and I'm really happy with it.

[Z3NO]

I think the use of a sub is indispensable for quality mixing and mastering however... Even if the audible content below 60Hz is marginal, the impact of the low frequencies can 'overshadow' other frequencies in the 'open' range as well as contribute to quicker ear fatigue and possibly headache, so it's very important it's set up correctly.
Much emphasis was put on details like freq. response, watts, power handling and expensive room treatment whereas some important details that in my opinion are of utmost importance were completely omitted.
The no.1 purpose of a monitoring system is to give as clean a window as possible over the content coming out of your DAW (so far so good), so the main factor is a properly set up response and with the addition of a sub the task of accurately calibrating the crossover frequency and spectral energy of the audio becomes a little more difficult... But... In a small (home) studio, where accurate sound reproduction is only really needed in the chair you're sitting in, this can relatively easily be achieved using an omnidirectional or measurement mic connected to a decent spectrum analyser and using pink noise. This will quickly reveal the 'spikes' in the room's acoustics, which can often be adjusted to an acceptable level simply by repositioning the speakers or focusing them in a slightly different direction or... or... (wait for it)... by turning THE VOLUME down. (it's much easier to mix well at lower volumes but i'm sure many producers will disagree with me on this one)
Correct phase alignment of the sub and speakers is also crucial. A daunting task if left to your ears, but a relative breeze using a mic and analyzer.

With all that in mind (and achieved) the presence of a sub in a monitoring system is most definitely beneficial and can prevent from awkward surprises when demoing your tracks on bigger systems (or smaller) and can also provide the 'oumph' so vital to our sense of smug accomplishment

p.s. Also bear in mind that spec data like 100W or Freq. Range 38Hz-22Khz so commonly used as reference is completely worthless unless many more details (and ideally graphs) are taken into consideration. It's a bit like buying a car based exclusively on engine size. You could be buying a tractor for all you know...