Monitor Placement: An Expert’s View
With so many things to consider when setting your monitoring up correctly, we decided to ask speaker design guru Derek Alexander Wilson of Custom Install Audio for his thoughts on the subject. So, over to you, Derek…
FM: What would you say are the main benefits of setting your monitoring up correctly?
Derek Alexander Wilson: “The chief benefit is consistency of sound – if you follow the correct method each time, you minimise the variables, allowing greater focus on the mixing/ mastering changes you’re making rather than room interaction or listening distance variables. Also, if you always work with the monitors correctly set up in the same position, your ears will become tuned to the sound produced, making it easier to detect spatial and frequency issues more easily – the less variables the better!”
What’s the most common mistake when setting up studio monitors?
DAW: “Over the years I’ve seen them all! A common one is a lack of symmetry regarding ear to driver distances between the left and right speakers; a basic thing perhaps, but something that’ll negatively change your perception of the sound. Another is the proximity of your speakers to reflective surfaces or walls; placing your monitors on a shiny glass desk will cause havoc by creating lots of unwanted reflections, for example. Finally, a big no-no is using poor quality, lightweight stands – especially undesirable if your speakers have bigger 8-12-inch low frequency drivers as the stands will resonate sympathetically with the sound coming from the speakers.”
What’s most important, the speakers we use, or the room they’re in?
DAW: “Difficult one – really great monitors can be made to sound very good in most rooms but sometimes the room is so bad just nothing works… In that scenario it’s time to find a new room! Using DSP-based room measurement and loudspeaker management software can really help to make a silk purse from a sow’s ear of a room but the bottom line is that the room is a fundamental part of your monitoring system, so is just as important as the monitors, and more important than most electronics.”
Finally, what are your top tips for FM readers regarding speaker set-up? DAW:
“Symmetry is a great one – make sure your speakers are as symmetrically placed in the room as possible with a symmetrical distance between each speaker’s drivers and your ears. Using solid stands that are firmly spiked into a solid floor helps massively and will provide an energy sink for unwanted vibrations – if you can put some credit card-sized 6mm pieces of Sorbothane under each corner of your speakers too then that’ll help with providing a secure and well-damped base for your monitors to sit on.”