Recording - April 2012 - 60
By Scott Dors
ey
It’s important to know what your material is going to sound like on a wide variety of different speakers, and to that end a lot of folks over the years have built “check mix” monitors for use in the studio alongside the full range speakers. These monitors are intended to sound like low-grade consumer speakers, to give you some notion of what the music is like on low-grade speakers. They tend to be bright with exaggerated mids and very poor low bass. That sort of frequency response can be a big help when you’re trying to figure out how to balance the low end on a recording. Popular check mix monitors over the years have included the Yamaha NS-10, the little 3" cueing speaker available as an option on the Ampex ATR-102 tape decks, and the Auratone 5C Cubes. The Auratones, often called “Horrortones”, were small drivers in cubical cabinets that did a surprisingly good job of modelling the sound from a portable TV set and consequently were very popular with the TV sound guys. Currently there are a few popular ones available, including the Triple P Pyramid monitors, but the common ones are long gone. So, I decided to come up with an inexpensive and easy-to-build check mix monitor speakers that would be very consistent from unit to unit. This means if you build one, and your friend builds one, they will sound the same and you can go to his studio and expect the same sound you’re getting. Consistency is actually very important in a check mix monitor, because in a lot of cases when you use them, you’re actually listening for the speaker itself going wrong! What makes this one a little bit different is that I’ve decided to use a single speaker for both channels, meaning that no matter what your studio amp puts out, the speaker produces mono. Most of the time when I want a check mix system, I want it to be mono anyway, because I also want to know about mono compatibility at the same time. So why spend twice the money when you only want mono in the first place? The secret of this speaker is a dual-voice-coil full-range driver made by Quam. A few other companies make them too, including Atlas and Lowell Sound, and they are intended for distributed PA systems which are also used for fire alarms; the second coil allows a second signal
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RECORDING APRIL 2012
source to be applied which remains completely isolated from the main PA system and therefore meets fire codes. The other drivers are essentially the same and have very similar T-S parameters. However, after checking the actual impedance at 1 kHz of several Quam drivers, I found the voice coils to match within 3% on all of them. That is close enough for us to use them for an accurate mono sum. I can’t speak for any of the other similar
Recording - April 2012
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - April 2012
Recording - April 2012
Fade In
Table of Contents
Talkback
2012 Winter NAMM Show Report
Sonodyne SM100Ak and SM50Ak Active Monitors
Shure SRH1440 Headphones
Noises In—Noises Out
Recording Fundamentals. Chapter 4: Introduction To Microphones—Part One (History and Design)
Reviewed and Revisited: iZotope Ozone 5 Advanced
Pelonis Model 42 Stereo Monitors
The Science And Art Of Ambisonics
Little Labs i-VOG Analog Bass Resonance Tool
Readers’ Tapes
Plug-In Outlet
Cerwin-Vega! XD3 Powered Desktop Speakers
Once Over—Reviews In Brief
Do It Yourself: Make Your Own Check Mix Monitor
Rob Papen eXplorer
Advertiser Index
Fade Out
Recording - April 2012 - Recording - April 2012
Recording - April 2012 - Cover2
Recording - April 2012 - 1
Recording - April 2012 - 2
Recording - April 2012 - 3
Recording - April 2012 - Fade In
Recording - April 2012 - 5
Recording - April 2012 - Table of Contents
Recording - April 2012 - 7
Recording - April 2012 - Talkback
Recording - April 2012 - 9
Recording - April 2012 - 2012 Winter NAMM Show Report
Recording - April 2012 - 11
Recording - April 2012 - 12
Recording - April 2012 - 13
Recording - April 2012 - 14
Recording - April 2012 - 15
Recording - April 2012 - 16
Recording - April 2012 - 17
Recording - April 2012 - 18
Recording - April 2012 - 19
Recording - April 2012 - 20
Recording - April 2012 - 21
Recording - April 2012 - Sonodyne SM100Ak and SM50Ak Active Monitors
Recording - April 2012 - 23
Recording - April 2012 - Shure SRH1440 Headphones
Recording - April 2012 - 25
Recording - April 2012 - Noises In—Noises Out
Recording - April 2012 - 27
Recording - April 2012 - Recording Fundamentals. Chapter 4: Introduction To Microphones—Part One (History and Design)
Recording - April 2012 - 29
Recording - April 2012 - 30
Recording - April 2012 - 31
Recording - April 2012 - 32
Recording - April 2012 - 33
Recording - April 2012 - Reviewed and Revisited: iZotope Ozone 5 Advanced
Recording - April 2012 - 35
Recording - April 2012 - 36
Recording - April 2012 - 37
Recording - April 2012 - Pelonis Model 42 Stereo Monitors
Recording - April 2012 - 39
Recording - April 2012 - The Science And Art Of Ambisonics
Recording - April 2012 - 41
Recording - April 2012 - Little Labs i-VOG Analog Bass Resonance Tool
Recording - April 2012 - 43
Recording - April 2012 - Readers’ Tapes
Recording - April 2012 - 45
Recording - April 2012 - Plug-In Outlet
Recording - April 2012 - 47
Recording - April 2012 - 48
Recording - April 2012 - 49
Recording - April 2012 - 50
Recording - April 2012 - 51
Recording - April 2012 - 52
Recording - April 2012 - 53
Recording - April 2012 - Cerwin-Vega! XD3 Powered Desktop Speakers
Recording - April 2012 - 55
Recording - April 2012 - Once Over—Reviews In Brief
Recording - April 2012 - 57
Recording - April 2012 - 58
Recording - April 2012 - 59
Recording - April 2012 - Do It Yourself: Make Your Own Check Mix Monitor
Recording - April 2012 - 61
Recording - April 2012 - Rob Papen eXplorer
Recording - April 2012 - 63
Recording - April 2012 - 64
Recording - April 2012 - Advertiser Index
Recording - April 2012 - 66
Recording - April 2012 - 67
Recording - April 2012 - 68
Recording - April 2012 - 69
Recording - April 2012 - 70
Recording - April 2012 - 71
Recording - April 2012 - Fade Out
Recording - April 2012 - Cover3
Recording - April 2012 - Cover4
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