Anyone running two pairs of monitors instead of one?

icedsushi · Post by **icedsushi** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 3:17 pm

I was thinking of doing this. Getting another pair of monitors and putting them behind me on speaker stands. That way when I use the synths behind me, or no matter what area I move, I have speakers still facing in my directions.

cavern · Post by **cavern** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 3:21 pm

hambone1 · Post by **hambone1** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 3:33 pm

Yep.

I DJ in quadraphonic, so have my studio set up to rehearse in quadraphonic.

There's so much more you can do to open up a room over mono/stereo. Send the main mix to the front, live percussion to the rear (or vice-versa). Beatmatch the incoming track to the rear of the room, then bring it to the front. Send a different loop to each corner of the room (I like to do this with a different Latin instrument loop going to each corner). 360 pan a loop/sound effect sweeping around the room. Do mashups with one track in the front, the other at the back of the room. The important thing is to make sure everyone in the room has a balanced mix. It's different for different venues and crowds.

I've got different preset pan/sends assigned to FCB footswitches, so stomping on a single button fires a dummy clip that recalls various pan/send settings.

compositeone · Post by **compositeone** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 4:06 pm

Are there that many venues around that can support that hambone?
Or is it a case of always taking your own system etc?

abletoff · Post by **abletoff** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 4:06 pm

yup

http://www.arivo.it/immaginiblog/168bbb.jpg

but I had to delete my wall paper cos it sucks

hambone1 · Post by **hambone1** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 5:05 pm

compositeone wrote:Are there that many venues around that can support that hambone?
Or is it a case of always taking your own system etc?

I use my own PA whenever possible. I know how it sounds, how to EQ for different venues, etc.

Wireless powered speakers make it easier to set up the rear speakers.

Khazul · Post by **Khazul** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 5:09 pm

Been thinking of adding more monitors -

A cheapo pair near around my synths for sound design and another really precise small pair for mixing on in addition to my current mix monitors.

Smaller monitors seem to suit the crap accoustics in here better, or rather they dont agrivate problems as much, plus being smaller ill be able toposition them more optimally.

Be nice to sort the accoutics out of course, but in a rented house and whats needed is quite drastic and expensive.

Currently I tend to stick some cans on if Im not in a good listening position for what im doing - ie fiddling with gear on either side.

icedsushi · Post by **icedsushi** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 5:31 pm

Wow, hambone. All that sounds great but it's much more involved than I want to do. Basically I just want my main outs duplicated behind me so I was thinking of just using a splitter. I'm thinking of buying the exact same model of Dynaudio monitors for the other pair so they're all sonically matched. So I wanted to have all 4 speakers on at all times, just 2R+2L.

Do you think there will be any mixing issues? Will my mixing be any different than if I only used 1 pair? Hopefully I don't play back something (which I mixed with 4 speakers) on a stereo pair and be like, "oh shit, the mix sounds different now"....

overdub · Post by **overdub** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 9:11 pm

It's not quite ready yet - but I'm having a moveable speakershelf built which will be ready in a week or 2.... basically, it's a shelf mounted on an arm that can swing to the other wall - as I have my studio setup in a corner.... will post pictures when it's ready and mounted

The materials to build it were CHEAP.... the arm is from an old office desk which we took apart - and I'm lucky to have friends who can build stuff like this... so all in all it has cost me around 50$ + the willing help of a couple of friends.... can't wait to get it installed.

Might work for other people as well??? wait and see

)

icedsushi · Post by **icedsushi** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 10:30 pm

Nice. Yeah let's see the pics!

overdub · Post by **overdub** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 8:07 pm

I know it took me a while - but hey - had too much work

Anyho! here are a couple of pics showing my speaker setup in different positions.
The thing cost about 50$ to build + plus a lot of time and effort from my friend!
The "black" arm is from an old office desk, and the rest is Aluminium (spare parts from friends company;o)

Aaaarghhhhh SHITE.....can't figure out how to post the pics..... PLEASE go to http://www.myspace.com/daffyscrib if you're interested.... or help me understand how to post pictures???
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sporkles · Post by **sporkles** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 10:07 pm

icedsushi wrote:Wow, hambone. All that sounds great but it's much more involved than I want to do. Basically I just want my main outs duplicated behind me so I was thinking of just using a splitter. I'm thinking of buying the exact same model of Dynaudio monitors for the other pair so they're all sonically matched. So I wanted to have all 4 speakers on at all times, just 2R+2L.

Do you think there will be any mixing issues? Will my mixing be any different than if I only used 1 pair? Hopefully I don't play back something (which I mixed with 4 speakers) on a stereo pair and be like, "oh shit, the mix sounds different now"....

I don't think it's a particularly good idea to have the same audio coming out of
all four speakers - it will cause all sorts of phasing issues, won't it? You should
simply get a small audio switch box which lets you A/B between two sets of
monitors. I've got one that I use to switch between my monitors and crappy
PC speakers, for quick "lo-fi stereo proofing".

The one that I've got only cost $15 or so, and has a big knob to switch
between four output pairs. Actually, its intended use is to switch between
inputs, but it works just as well the other way around

icedsushi · Post by **icedsushi** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 10:20 pm

sporkles wrote:I don't think it's a particularly good idea to have the same audio coming out of
all four speakers - it will cause all sorts of phasing issues, won't it?

I don't know. Will it? Trying to find the answer to that question was the whole reason for my post!

Still haven't done anything yet. I've been using just a single pair. When I turn around to play the keyboards behind me, the speakers are pointing into the back of my head.

dcease · Post by **dcease** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 10:55 pm

i know what you mean icedsushi, my keyboard sits perpindicular to my desk, so when i upgraded my monitors, i moved my entire room around, and set up the old one's for use with the keyboard. i picked up a big knob, a little more expensive than sporkles switcher, but i ain't trippin. i like my big knob, very easy to use, especially since i also run two computers. i wouldn't recommend using all the monitors at the same time next to one another. but yeah, i hear you bout pickin up some more bm5a's, i'd like to eventually move up to surround for shitz and giggles. but yeah, i like having the extra set for piaknowing. sound just going into the left ear sux

D K · Post by **D K** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 11:00 pm

i have two pairs i use in my studio...
some near fields and some mid fields...
for mix downs i use both pairs addressed normally, and switch between the two pairs
(the midfield pair has 8" woofers, the near field pair has 4" woofers)
for surround fun i put the near fields on stands in the rear.
it might be a good idea to consider a different pair made by the same company
(mine are all krk v series), this will give you more versatility/mixing reference options

Anyone running two pairs of monitors instead of one?

Anyone running two pairs of monitors instead of one?

moveable sweetspot:o)

Ok ok ok.....