Vibration pads for monitors, correct positioning, etc...

[tkarmakid]

I went to a trade show the other day at a local supply house for work and there was a stand with the Mason rep and a display. Mason makes vibration damping pads, mounts, hangers (etc...) for mechanical equipment. In his display he had a small unbalanced motor, that, when operating would vibrate the table it was on very intensely. He tested it while running the motor on an assortment of rubber pads and mounts. The Type ND pad (at the top of the page) was superior, none of the vibration got through to the table. Here is their link if you want to check them out.
http://www.mason-industries.com/masonin ... ne-mounts/

This got me thinking about my monitors. If they are vibrating my desktop then some of that vibration could feedback to the speaker causing it to distort the signal, maybe making it muddy, maybe killing of some of the bandwith. If the vibration could be stopped before it vibrates the desk then maybe that same energy that would have been used to vibrate the desk could be focused back to the speaker making a more powerfull, full, and clear sound.
I have a friend that comes over to share projects and jam and he has very sensitive hearing. He insists that his sets are perfectly mixed and that they sound good at his house. He has a hard time hearing bass on my setup - I have krk rokit 5. He says he has cheap desktop computer grade speakers and he can hear the bass fully on his setup.

I am going to try repositioning the speakers and putting super W pads under the corners and spacing them out. I read somewhere that they should be about 60 inches apart and at 30 degree angles? Any thoughts on any of this?

[fishmonkey]

it's very unlikely that the vibration pads will 'fix' your bass problem. i bet you are working in an acoustically untreated space with lots of modal problems. in other words, sound waves bouncing around your room interact, causing patterns of peaks and nulls that change depending on where your head is in the room.

ditto for your friend.

it's definitely worth trying your speakers in different positions though (as well as doing some research on acoustic treatment for audio production).

[Broomptish]

First thing I thought was you have decent monitor speakers and he has computer speakers, i bet its his mix thats wrong. Like listening with average headphones then putting it through decent speakers its like wheres the bass gone?? I recently got monitors and need stands for them, they came with little pads for the bottom but they are just sitting on my table and the table does vibrate a little but they still sound great, loud bassy etc. Interesting your thoughts about the signal being effected though ill take that into consideration.

[Sage]

If they are vibrating my desktop then some of that vibration could feedback to the speaker causing it to distort the signal, maybe making it muddy, maybe killing of some of the bandwith.

Sound is vibration though (Not an accurate description).

If the speaker is capable of moving, then it will distort the signal, but this is not the same as vibration as a result of sound energy transferring through surfaces (Such a terrible job of explaining that scientifically ).

[Dragonbreath]

I agree with Fishmonkey on this one. Odds are his mix his wrong, just because sounds good at his place doesnt mean its good everywhere. Without good monitors in a treated room its a hard to be able to say your mix is "right" with cross referencing with many systems (witch is very time consuming).

Your on the right track about isolating your speakers from your desk. Im not famliar with the pads your refering too but there are some isolation pad specificly made for monitors speakers. You might want to look into those. Also rokkit 5's have a cutoff at 45hz but they dont reproduce the very low end very loudly. My friend has them and there is not a whole lot of bass.

Positiing of your speaker is very critical. The distance and angle is gonna be different according to your room and listening position. You want the speakers at hear level and if this is not possible then angle them so the point bettweem the tweeter and the woofer points towards your ears. The distance bettween you and the two speakers should form and equilateral triangle. You also dont want to place the speakers too close to a wall or in a corner of a room,

The acoutics of the room are as much a part of the sound than the speakers themself. There is plenty of good info online about this just do some research and you will find plenty of info