Avantone - Feeding Ideas

[struknes]

How should I feed my single Avantone? I'm using it to listen to my stereo mix in mono.

Y cable with 1/4" left and rights on one end and a single XLR on the other end?

The only connection is an XLR on the back.

[fishmonkey]

use a single output on your interface.

if the Focusrite control software supports it, setup that output as a summed mono output.

alternatively, you set up a track in Live that feeds that mono output.

[struknes]

Thanks. That makes total sense. I'd thought of these, but I wasn't sure if they were possible. Now I know.

[Shift Gorden]

Thanks. That makes total sense. I'd thought of these, but I wasn't sure if they were possible. Now I know.

How you liking the Avatone? I thought about getting one for mastering/checking mixes.

[dougdi]

I love my Avantone Cubes, I use them along with my Genelecs to check my broadcast and music mixes. Definitely helps improve my mixes. I imagine you can crank them up, each cube has a huge power supply, great quality all around. I feed both sets of speakers with the passive JBL MPatch 2.

[napakettu]

Mono Utility on Live's master bus will help too. Mixcube (or something alike) is indeed great for checking how the midrange of mixes translate.

[fishmonkey]

i have a single Avantone MixCube. as mentioned above, they are really well made, and are really good for checking the midrange. being a single driver in an unported cabinet, they are also very true in the time domain...

[struknes]

Thanks. That makes total sense. I'd thought of these, but I wasn't sure if they were possible. Now I know.

How you liking the Avatone? I thought about getting one for mastering/checking mixes.

I haven't plugged it in yet. But I'm certain it's going to be an excellent tool. Mike Senior, author of Mixing Secrets for the Small Studio, uses one as a substitute for a mono Auratone (since they're out of production).

[Shift Gorden]

Funny - that book's where I first heard of them!

[struknes]

Mono Utility on Live's master bus will help too. Mixcube (or something alike) is indeed great for checking how the midrange of mixes translate.

would you recommend any mono utility plug-in? anything freeware is ALWAYS nice

[fishmonkey]

you can use Live's Utility device to collapse to mono...

[struknes]

you can use Live's Utility device to collapse to mono...

I see that now. Thanks monkey. Do you prefer 'fish' or 'monkey' for short? Interesting aspect of this utility: the mono created with it sounds different from the mono created in a different way; by summing the outputs in my FocusRite Control software (i.e. the software for controlling the FocusRite Scarlett 6i6 (my hardware recording interface).

I'm listening on the same monitor devices in both scenarios (headphones), so it's not different monitors causing the difference. It's the Ableton utility plug-in software vs. the FocusRite Control software: they create different-sounding mono mixes. Thing that jumps out the most clearly is the reverb; it's a lot more audible using the Ableton utility to create the mono mix.

[fishmonkey]

ha, ya can't split the fish from the monkey, they are inextricably linked.

something is wrong if it sounds different...

[struknes]

i have a single Avantone MixCube. as mentioned above, they are really well made, and are really good for checking the midrange. being a single driver in an unported cabinet, they are also very true in the time domain...

Fishmonkey, what kind of cable do you use to feed your Avantone?

I'm using a single Mogami gold 15-ft balanced 1/4" TRS to XLR-F right now, which should be fine (since I'm sending a line-level signal after the built-in preamps on my FocusRite Scarlett 6i6, not a speaker level signal). I just learned yesterday, if y'all can believe it, that speakers want a line-level signal coming from the hardware recording device, not a speaker level signal. Speaker level is what travels between speakers after the speakers' amplifiers have amplified a line level signal.

I didn't even know about all the different signal levels until last week. Sweetwater has a nice article that lays them out in ascending order of voltage: https://www.sweetwater.com/sweetcare/ar ... l-signals/.

Mic level, instrument level, line level, speaker level.

[fishmonkey]

yep, TRS -> XLR here.

the big difference between speakers is some are passive, and some active. active speakers have amps inside them, passive ones don't.

most studio monitors these days are active, and most PA systems these days have a mix of active and passive speakers.