Control Room Monitoring
The DAW Speaker System
The DAW Analog Monitoring System:
The studio analog speaker monitoring system contains a set of Event 2020 Bi-amped power “Mains”, a set of Yamaha HS5 powered “Near Field”, and a JBL Arena S10 powered “Sub” subwoofer.
A PreSonus Central Station, with a wired full function remote, manages the three-speaker configuration and speaker set selection.
The input sources are the MOTU 8Pre-es DAW Monitor Outs 1 & 2 and a Fiber Optic “Lightpipe” out from the 50” 4K UHD video monitor
There is a Professional Sound EQ-215 15 band graphic EQ between the MOTU 8Pre-es DAW Monitor Outs 1 & 2 and the PreSonus Central Station input 1. The EQ is used to tune the room with Pink Noise using the SonarWorks Calibration mic.
The SonarWorks SoundID Reference room tuning software application is used to validate the room acoustic treatments and set the 15-band graphic EQ for a relatively flat Pink Noise room.
The Slate Audio VSX Headphone system is used for "Mix Translation" monitoring in five different listening environments.
The SonarWorks SoundID Headphone Calibration tool is used for the other two headphones: AKG 240 Studio and the Beyerdynamic DT 880 Pro.
The iPhone and MacBook Pro share the stereo input 5 & 6 on the Allen & Heath ZED10 analog stereo effects mixer for monitoring. The MOTU ADAT #2 inputs 7&8, DAW 23 & 24, must be “Record Enabled” to monitor these devices.
The Studio Monitor Room Treatments:
The Home Studio Control Room/Tracking Room is treated with professional room tuning columns, scatter block squares, Free Standing and stackable Gobos, and Spot Panels.
Primacoustic London 10 Acoustic Room Kit:
- Eight Control Columns - 12" x 48" x 2", w/Beveled Edges
- Twelve Scatter Blocks - 12" x 12" x 1", w/Beveled Edges
The Primacoustic GoTrap Studio Gobo and Bass Traps:
- Three 2’ x 3’ x 6” Gobos for Control Room isolation from the guitar amps
The GIK Free Standing Acoustic Gobo Panels and Absorption Panels:
- Two movable Acoustic Panels: 24” x 60” X 2” for the mic table Acoustic Guitar and Vocals
- Six Spot Panel Acoustic Panels: 24” x 24” x 2” final wall reflection control
The Studio Monitor Control System:
The Studio Speaker System:
- Event 2020 Bi-amped power “Mains”
- Yamaha HS5 powered “Near Field”
- JBL Arena S10 powered “Sub” subwoofer
The SonarWorks SoundID Reference room tuning software application uses the SonarWorks calibration mic to sample the room in 37 positions per speaker set: Event 2020 Mains and the Yamaha HS5 Near-field reference speakers.
The SoundID plugin is added to the last stage of the Reaper DAW mixer as a room EQ reference and removed before Stems, Mixes, and Masters are rendered.
The Pink Noise, equal energy per octave, is recorded on a DAW track in a Reaper Calibration project. The recorded track is displayed on the 50” 4K UHD monitor using the Melda Productions MMultiAnalyzer plugin: This is the reference Spectrum Analyzer waveform.
Room Tuning Tools
- The Melda MMAnalizer Spectrum Analysis tool
- The REW Room Calibration Tool
- SonarWorks SoundID software
The room must be "Normalized" acoustically first with th process below. After the room has been calibrated with the Speaker settings on the speaker back panels and the 15 band EQ has help to remove frequency bumps and dips in the room shown in the Spectrum analyzer, then the SonarWorks SoundID software can do its magic.
If you do not get a good natural room tuning to start the SonarWorks SoundID software must be in at all times for a true representation of the room acoustics.
The calibration mic is feed to the MOTU 8Pre-es mic preamp #1 and calibrated to -18dB on a new DAW Reaper track for each of the two sets of stereo speakers: Four tracks for the Mains and Near field speakers.
All four recording mic placements are at listening level sitting at the recording console.
The PreSonus Central Station is used to select each set with the Subwoofer turned off.
The same process is used to calibrate the JBL Powered Subwoofer, the fifth track.
The mic is pointed, on axis, to each speaker and recorded for one minute separately. Each track has an instance of the Melda Spectrum Analyzer inserted. The subwoofer mic recording has the mic at listening level, center position, at the recording console.
All the tracks are compared to the reference waveform displayed on the 4K 50” UHD monitor using the 27” 4k UHD console monitors.
Decisions are made as to how to adjust the settings on the back of each speaker and the 15-band graphic EQ to balance the room effects on the recorded waveforms.
After the recorded waveforms have been recorded the signals are fed into the SonarWorks SoundID program for analysis.
Each speaker uses the controls on the back to change its response while viewing a LIVE comparison through the SonarWorks SoundID software.
After the four settings are set on the speaker settings, the 15-band graphic EQ makes the final little changes.
All of the settings are completed with the subwoofer turned off.
A cross-over frequency and gain staging for the subwoofer is the last step. The Mains and Near Fields are turned off and the spectrum analyzer is used to determine the high end -12 dB point of the subwoofer. The DAW track recordings are used to find the -12dB point of the Mains and Nearfields low end.
A crossover point is selected, generally between 100hz and 120hz and the Mains ate turned on. The gain of the sub is set using the controls on the subwoofer and fine-tuned with the Central Station Speaker Trim controls.
After the room has been "Normalized with the process above the SonarWorks SoundID program analyzes the results and make the final adjustments.