95% of people get THIS wrong about Studio Monitors

What is the real benefit of a 3-way studio monitor?
In this video, I discuss some of the myths and misconceptions about loudspeakers while comparing 2-way and 3-way systems. This is not a sponsored video.
If you are looking to upgrade your studio monitors, there are things you can do to improve your current set-up without having to invest in a larger system right away and these are discussed in the video.
0:00 - Intro
0:40 - Audio Myths
1:11 - How a 2-way system works (Audio Example)
2:24 - How a 3-way system works (Audio Example)
3:20 - Why this can be better (or worse!)
4:23 - My Mixing Plugin
5:00 - Mix Translation
5:42 - Why not 4,5 or 6 drivers?
6:20 - How to make your speakers sound better
7:30 - Summary
My Plugin (Reviver) Free Trial:
www.blacksaltaudio.com/revive...
bit.ly/ReviverTrial
Music: La La Land by Kennedy Wilde
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[@stefanstroe91]

The way you just said that audiophiles don't know a thing about audio at the beginning was amazing. LOL.

[@inthemix]

I would never say such a thing ;)

[@usefulrandom1855]

@@inthemix When you are just listening to music what do you use? Do you just listen on monitors or do you have a set for just listening?

[@inthemix]

Typically I use a portable bluetooth speaker from marshall, bose qc35ii, earbuds or my car speaker system@@usefulrandom1855

[@usefulrandom1855]

@@inthemix Oh that's pretty surprising haha I assumed you would at least have a proper stereo setup with amp etc!

[@inthemix]

I've tried going down that route but most of my music listening either takes place at work (with my PSIs and Headphones) or while living life!@@usefulrandom1855

[@the_oc_brewpub_sound_guy3071]

This just made me realize why many seasoned mix engineers mix at a low volume, but occasionally crank up the volume to see how it "Feels". What they're really doing is checking how the midrange sounds when the woofer is displaced; which is a valid thing to do since most people like listening to their favorite music loud.

[@inthemix]

I think you’re right.

[@DJayFreeDoo]

I mix at a volume where my ears feel relaxed. Not to loud, not too low. And i test my mixes at barely audible levels to confirm that i can still hear all elements in the mix the way i intended. When i crank the volume i do it to find out what may sound harsh or could potentially hurt listening to. If it sounds great at these three volume levels the mix is done. I also do this loud test when mastering.

[@the_oc_brewpub_sound_guy3071]

@@DJayFreeDoo I like your method quite a bit. I've used similar methods myself.

[@gregpastic6910]

@@the_oc_brewpub_sound_guy3071 The human ear hears the best balance of frequencies at roughly 78 to 82 dB c-weighted. Our most sensitive range is from 500 Hz to 8 kHz, and we are less sensitive to frequencies above and below that range. Your ears and brain act like an EQ and roll-off the frequencies above and below that range. If you listen at many different loudness levels, your ear and brain are constantly adjusting and compensating. When mastering I usually listen at 68 to 72 dB range, which highlights certain parts of the spectrum, and then at 78-82 dB which allows the ear to detect more highs and lows. Get a cheap dB meter or a phone app and try it. Whether you mix or master, by sticking to just two loudness reference levels, you'll develop your critical hearing faster.

[@kaydevious]

Mixing at a low level also helps take the acoustics of the room out of the equation more. Can be helpful in an untreated space so the signal doesn't interact with the room as much

[@GabrielPassarelliG]

Before upgrading your monitors, always make sure to have at least a basic acoustic treatment setup in place, with all First Reflection points covered and some bass trapping. After you room is sounding good, you can then invest more in speakers. A better sounding room will make your current monitors to sound better as well.

[@richardbixler]

Demonstrating the frequency ranges was really enlightening! Honestly, I’ve never heard any of those ranges isolated like that. The midrange really does a lot more of the heavy lifting than I realized.

[@garethonthetube]

That's why the mids sounded like a telephone. The system was designed to use only the important part of the frequency range needed for voice communications. No need to waste resources on a wide range.

[@DJPastaYaY]

Thanks for keeping us informed Michael. Appreciate the video!

[@dwindeyer]

3 way is a fortuitous optimisation that moves the crossover out of the pinna activation region. Going to 4+ way re-introduces the issue again, with the exception of dealing with large monitors that have both a midwoofer and subwoofer for LF reinforcement

[@inthemix]

That is a really good way of describing it.

[@lrrrruleroftheplanetomicro6881]

Yes, with some rather expensive exceptions, Genelec 8381 and Barefoot Main Stack have this solved, are 4.5 and 5 way.

[@TrakLejendBeatz]

Appreciate this brother I always learn something from your vids and im a huge fan of monitors! Happy holidays to you and your family 🔥🎯💯🚀

[@michaeltablet8577]

Please make the video about 2 subwoofers. Very interested!

[@R.W.FilmSound]

I recently got the avantone mix cubes to isolate the mid range and i have to say i am astonished by how easy they make the process of finding out the weak spots in a mix. I really love those speakers and can safely recommend them to anyone who wants to clean up their mixes. However, i found myself overdoing the mid cleanup as consequence of my new setup, making my mix feel too clinical in the end. I am now trying to focus more on reference songs combined with reference speakers and i‘m convinced this will lead to a nice balance between a clean and a natural result. I find it funny how fixing one problem immediately leads to the next one. Guess that‘s a neverending process and part of being a human.

[@astrofreq]

I bought a pair of the Auratone cubes this year and they are SO great for hearing what is 'sticking out' in the mix.

[@R.W.FilmSound]

@@astrofreq absolutely!

[@sub-jec-tiv]

Having multiple sets of speakers for specific tasks is so helpful. Even if people don’t have Avantones, they can use an inexpensive small wired bookshelf speaker, with the bass and highs rolled off on an equalizer, and get much of the same benefit. I like Pioneer’s Andrew Jones-designed bookshelf speakers for this, they have great midrange detail, and cost $150 for a pair rather than $260 each. (Jones is an award winning speaker designer Pioneer hired to make the best possible design for small inexpensive speakers) I have an A/B/C system, with 2 pairs of powered studio monitors, and the Pioneers through a cheap home stereo w graphic EQ, which i’ll test both with lows-highs cut, but also flat, it is super helpful to hear mixes on a less-expensive system, it will often alert you if your sub content is going to pin or pump small consumer speakers.

[@ShimanskiBeats]

doing exactly the same. It's always sobering to hear how crappy your "great" tune sounds on the cubes, but after this moment of truth I usually get much better results after making the mix more acceptable on the cubes

[@jaimegarcia7180]

@@sub-jec-tivthank I for this info bro 👊🏼🔊

[@agthaog1986]

love the breakdown on what the different parts of the speakers are for. its like i thought i know and u just gave me a complete tour through the rabbit hole basically

[@rhalfik]

The main drawback of two way systems is intermodulation, which is higher on wideband drivers. Using a dedicated midrange in a critical range between 1k and 4k reduces intermodulation where it matters and that's why this config works. Without the split between bass and midrange, the distortion of the midrange rises every time the speaker is reproducing bass at the same time. The displacement of voice coil from the magnetic center is very bad for linearity of higher frequencies. There are other things too but this is one that gets overlooked.

[@inthemix]

You’ve hit most of it on the head there I think. It’s that extra displacement of the woofer that throws off the mids (literally).

[@rhalfik]

@@inthemix It's called amplitude modulation. The magnetic flux is the most concentrated in the center of the gap. As the voice coil leaves the neutral position, the force acting on it gets weaker. This happens when a driver is playing it's bottom and top notes at the same time. When the moving coil goes in and out of the center at 30Hz, the upper tone has it's amplitude rise and fall at this frequency. We can't hear 30Hz amplitude modulation as AaAaAa, but we can hear loss of detail as it means the average amplitude of this high pitched sounds is lowered for the duration of low frequency sound, usually beat. It can make the vocals sound muffled. It also causes increase in harmonics, which make vocals sound coarse for some other reasons that are more technical and transducer-specific. There are ways to mitigate that but by far the best method I know is using narow bandwidth drivers in a multi-entry horn, which has all sorts of mechanics that cancel this effect. One way that you can mitigate this effect is highpassing your woofers right below Fs. Other is hornloading the tweeter so that it can be crossed over low. The problem with that is that we can hear crossover phase shift according to Finnish scientists so maybe going too low is not a good idea. This and of course tweeters have their own limits and their own intermodulation problems.

[@PACKTdotSPACE]

@@rhalfik my dude you are a nerd. I mean that in the best way.

[@RennieAsh]

According to one audio company, phase shift is less audible below 1600Hz. So they cross over below that.@@rhalfik

[@RennieAsh]

Some well designed, usually expensive woofers, greatly mitigate modulation effect from inductance and BL variation with displacement. It's also nice even for woofers in a three way system to have as symmetrical a motor system as possible. Because it may cross at 600Hz, you will still hear some of the rolled off sound maybe up to 1k, which is all still part of the midrange @@inthemix

[@6Litz_]

Great information. Congratulations on the 1 mil subscribers!!! Love this channel

[@inthemix]

Thanks so much!

[@FoxGhost7]

What a 3 way also does is massively reduce intermodulation distortion in the mids. Especially since the non-linear distrotions get a lot worse the more the speaker has to move, getting that away from the mids just helps so much. That goes doubly for passive speakers where the crossover puts a huge dent into the damping factor.

[@electriccatvisualarts2397]

Your videos are a treasure trove. Thanks so much for the time and effort and for sharing your expert knowledge!

[@malibustacy3606]

Hello relaxing cat.

[@martoneill]

Great guidance; thank you. The video on one vs two subwoofers would be really interesting.

[@Diogolobofernandes]

Great video! Always nice to learn something new here!

[@earledaniels4539]

Hi Michael, another great, informative video. By the way, I have owned your plugin "Reviver" for over a year and absolutely love it. It's one of my go to plugins for my Mix Buss 👍

[@ZeroGITC]

Great video (as always). Thank you for the information!

[@msingh1932]

Very cut to the chase and to the point. Thank you.

[@Alkatross]

I'd be interested to hear how you would set up a stereo subwoofer system for room listening. And would that setup work for multiple listeners, or just the center.

[@LogiForce86]

I add subwoofers to 3 way speakers to fix the lacking low end (most 3-way speakers their woofers are compromised to only handle mid-low well), and you basically get a 4-way solution. 😅

[@SoJesusChristMusic]

This video was awesome! I love these kind of discussions

[@kumquat125]

I just got the VSX headphones and am SO excited for them. Thanks for this video!!!

[@inthemix]

The New Club indy is mind blowing. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

[@electronicmusicartcollective]

Very great and short explanation👌

[@danielhipwell3607]

Great video, thanks as always!

[@woodybouyounes7281]

Love your thorough review, can you do one on your Orange box speaker behind you?

[@godsmacker744]

I want you to know, and I mean this sincerely; as far as music production tutorials go, you are the GOAT.

[@Njabuloseh]

Gorgeous pair of A23Ms there 👌🏾

[@dj_Kzas]

Michel as always you're one of the most trusted guys to talk about it, really helpful thanks for clarifying

[@lakambramusic]

Great video!!! I just upgraded from a 2 way pair + 10” Sub to a 3 way Focal pair. I got rid of the sub, and also had to add more an acoustic treatment for my room, all the investment was worthy.

[@DJ-Justo]

Interesting and makes sense. I use ADS SAT7 3-ways. They were not so forgiving at first, but using REW and Audyseey Multi-EQ to flatten them out a little it’s hard to find something that sounds bad.

[@sureshkohnke4288]

Nice video! Thank you!

[@beefeeb]

Recently got some Kali IN-5's, don't think I can go back to a 2-way again. Will keep those PSI's in mind when I upgrade down the road!

[@DerMitDemStern]

Wow, well explained, makes so much sense to me

[@NiamorH]

I remember reading that the more holes in the speaker, the more source points for audio waves and thus the more waves interferences. So I always thought a 2-way speaker was in fact by default less worse than a 3-way speaker. The fact that engineers can design around that is amazing to me.

[@rhalfik]

Interference is just a small part of it. Check out Klippel's research. It's a library full of knowledge on speaker distortion. It just doesn't end. IF you care about a point source that much, you can always get a horn.

[@Alepap.]

Coaxial three way is cool like Genelec speakers

[@lrrrruleroftheplanetomicro6881]

@@Alepap. True, very precise, I do most of my work on those. But I'll keep big classic 3 ways in the living room, cause they're more fun.

[@Its24KARAT]

Very effective plugin brother. I just tried it out. Super effective and clean sound!

[@devicefuldb5097]

Excellent vid, thanks. I have the Focal Trio6 Speakers and yes, I have two subs!! That is so right on, best and most accurate bass for sure. Also, a key thing when I had my speakers installed, was that the acousticians were able to set the distance and timing when things hit the listening spot, using a DSP (after physical setting). This is super important if the subs are not the exact distance as the mains, or rear speakers are not exact distance as fronts. Interestingly, these Focals were not perfect; the tweeter was hitting early. However, it was so close they actually just tilted the speakers back a very tiny bit until the reading was good. Also, I wondered your opinion on the design of having a 5" woofer as the mid? The main woofer is 8". They also have a "Focus" mode to switch to just the 5" and tweeter. It's a major brain squeeze when you do it though, especially for bass and kicks!

[@andreymosin1884]

It's not just that. Big drivers have narrow directivity and in order to keep sweet spot wide, midrange driver is necessary. The bigger the cone, the lower off axis response starts to go down. But in terms of the topic of the video: Very well 2 way monitor with really good quality drivers and REALLY GOOD crossover job can be as revealing as a decent 3 way system. I've spent last 2 years designing such monitor system for myself

[@nisios]

Sorry my friend you have it completely wrong. Small drivers have narrow directivity, big drives are more omnidirectional.

[@markozindovic9227]

​@@nisios❌❌❌

[@gravity00x]

That dual sub suggestion is very interesting!!

[@bartsimpson2131]

Appreciate the video! I see you have the Barefoot Footprint01s in your picture at the very end of the video. How would you say they compare to your PSIs? Thanks and all the best

[@kadiummusic]

I have a pair of Kali three-way IN-5's strapped to a Kali WS-6.2 sub woofer, effectively a four-way system. It sounds great and gives me very precise monitoring set-up for my small garden mixing studio. The beauty of the WS-6.2 subwoofer is that it's actually two speakers in one cabinet, so effectively a stereo two-way sub in one box. Amazing! 😎

[@07wrxtr1]

I have that same sub paired with some cheap adam audio t5v’s… def going to ditch them for 3-ways as I had previously some m audio m3-6’s that were wonderful but the amps stopped working… The adams are fine for movies but honestly not that impressive as all the hype online has made them… however for only $300 they’re not bad…

[@MorganReidguitar]

I upgraded to the rokit g10's that have a 4 way system.. coming from Yamaha's hs8s, a classic dual driver setup... and man things became so clear! They aren't as harsh in the treble so perceived details were minimised theoretically but the separation added a clean and wide sound stage that made picking out issues so much easier. As a reference, I would play some mixing games on the soundgym website and immediately after getting my 4-way speakers my scores went way up in the eq and imaging department.

[@Ni7ram]

interesting!

[@pulDag]

lol, its Active 3-Way Studio Monitor, not 4-way.

[@ReferenceFidelityComponents]

Lots of good points but also a few too many generalisations. I’ve designed a few two way designs specifically for mixing and mastering duties and they have been accurate and just as insightful as any three way. I picked high efficiency low distortion designs using steep crossovers and coaxial drivers to ensure both time and phase alignment. Even vintage hpd315’s can be superbly revealing if used with a decent crossover and cabinet design. Crossed over at a khz means most of the sensitive 700hz to 5khz is handled by the horn loaded hf unit but the real issue with crossover designs is NOT that they somehow leave a gap or screw up detail at crossover. The issue is this: many audiophiles do understand the importance of time and phase alignment but fail to comprehend polar response as do many studio mixing engineers I’ve worked with. It’s not enough to get alignment right if you screw up polar response as this affects both directivity and stability of image and even phase response. This is where a 3 way can avoid the issue at the critical mid point BUT a well designed 2 way can do as good a job IF polar directivity is matched for the crossover point AND phase/time alignment is good plus sensitivities are matched. Whilst its true subs hugely improve system efficiency and can reduce distortion of two and 3 way systems, there’s no reason why with proper driver selection and cab design you cannot match or better a satellite system with sub. Subs have their own issues with room and driver integration. A good full range three way, using a good room correction like a Trinov system is the ideal but I wouldn’t rule out a two way either. There are compromises with all speaker systems which is why it is wrong really to generalise.

[@Millerboy]

Awesome demo

[@JonDoe-zi3mh]

Great demo between the different speaker types and the differences between 2-way and 3-way speakers. In some respects though, a single full range speaker without a whizzer cone is best since it's not likely to have any lobing, although it will have so many frequency response and other limitations that they're never actually used in hi-fi speakers.

[@KimonoEtrange]

Very interesting, I purchased Adam A7X a while ago and added sonarworks and have treatment. Which interestingly was under your recommendation. I never regret it. Is it safe to say that they work well for mixing purposes? I mostly do production and tend to mix afterwards for my own but want to share my music in a near distant future.

[@inthemix]

Oh yes, a pair of A7X with some treatment and correction are going to be excellent for mixing. You might appreciate a subwoofer depending on the genre but the A7X are more than capable speakers. I used them right up until I bought the PSIs because it felt wrong to keep the Adams to myself when I wasn’t using them!

[@SamRommer]

Fascinating stuff. I would love a video showing how good or bad the same sound treated room can sound based on the positioning of everything.

[@eggshellskullrule7971]

As a consumer, I added a 6.5" full-range to my JBL 4320 simply because the original design makes the horn tweeter irreparably louder than the 15" woofer, rendering the sound unbearably shouty and inaccurate, not to mention wasting the potential of the impeccable 15". To make the whole thing work, I switched to using my Pioneer D-23 electronic crossover, driving 3 separate amplifiers to feed the woofers, the squawkers that used to be a full-range, and the horn tweeters, crossed over at 100Hz, and 2k, Now I can distinguish messy commercial recordings due to the balanced 3-way spectrum 30Hz-15KH, just by paying attention to the squawkers. You are well-done!

[@edsohovocals]

Best explainer of technical stuff on the internet. Thanks Michael.

[@jatigre1]

I use to daisy chain Bluetooth speaker through the 3.5 mm jack specifically you can control the volume on each one, and once you balance everything, the image of the sound sticks out and you can have this amazing experience.

[@djicebreaker80]

Thank you for explaining this in great detail, i have various speakers to test, hi fi , DJ monitors T-10 laptop computer with tweeters and others have them too & Karoke system, so what you’re saying is the bass should sound good 50hz - 60 - 100 hz , I do have portable speaker system with two sub bass’s, got me thinking test my track on this two, thanks you for your help

[@mrdenson3101]

I found this useful, thanks

[@marcom.]

I took a little different approach to connect my subwoofer - yes, I use only one, but the same would apply to a pair. My passive monitor controller has two separate stereo outputs that can be turned on and off. On the first I connected my 2-way monitors, on the second my subwoofer. So I can easily turn on/off both and listen how a mix translates to both of them. Of course on both the monitors and subwoofer the volume knobs are adjusted so I rarely touch them. Also the crossover frequency on the subwoofer is adjusted to match the monitors, even if they aren't connected there. And on both monitors the highpass filters are turned on.

[@luginonluginon2602]

SO glad to found this video, as electronic eng. i always told that 3 way's had to be better for mixing so i made my own spikers and use them, but that irritates some people who claim that 2 way or even 1 way is perfect.

[@damirhlobik6488]

great video, thank you have you had a chance to listen to the Acoustic Research AR 9?

[@g.fortin3228]

I have my system set up with my main 3 ways on A, and a set of 2 way's on B. Can play either set and yeah I notice on some music the two- way sound more pleasing and other music my main speakers. I'd never thought about it from your perspective but geez.. it now makes more sense to me. I just thought it was the particular drivers and not the design limitations.. but it appears both !

[@lloydstampa9270]

You always explain better

[@ceed3d396]

Good information

[@dmitryburlakov6920]

I am just researching the topic and funny enough, right after your video I stuck upon this article on amcoustics which explains Double Bass Array and why it works: It's quite easy to absorb such a flat wave front with the exact same loudspeaker array on the other end of the room. Remember that swing at the beginning of this article? How do you stop it? Exactly, when the kid is on your side you try to catch it, absorbing the kinetic and potential energy in the system. The same happens when some speaker cones move away from the wave front the moment the wave front arrives. Normally the wavefront would hit the wall, building up pressure and because of the fact that air wants to be homogenously distributed it would move back to release that pressure at the wall. But as the membrans of the second speaker array move away at that very moment the pressure can not be build up and the wave is not reflected. It's kind of sucked up by the speakers.

[@MechanicalProgress]

Thanks for the Video its helpfully for me to understand the 3 and 2 way speaker. Greetings from Germany Wuppertal : )

[@inthemix]

Greetings from Scotland!

[@walterwischmob2914]

Hey :] Pleasant educative video, as always, thank you! I don't recall having seen a video of yours where you describe/distinguish different audio setups for noobs, that would be a very appreciated guide/tutorial, if I may make the suggestion. What I mean by that: A comprehensive, very broad-scale "map" of every component ... what can a simple minimal studio setup look like (PC -> XY-Wire -> Interface -> XY-Wire -> Speaker) vs. How do pros do it (same components, just more expensive, or additional components?). Like "I just got FL Studio downloaded for the first time, how do I get a reasonable monitor sound? Help." vs. "This is what I'm aiming for in 10 years".

[@hleet]

Oh ! didn't know that. Very informative

[@MissionFitnessCTC]

Great video!

[@matnrocknroll]

Do the PSI review! I'm interested in buying them also ...

[@dananskidolf]

I'm currently trying out a 3-way and a 2-way alongside each other and the 2-way is holding up great through the mids and up through its crossover. I also tried playing a low frequency tone with tones up to the crossover and they didn't interact audibly, as might be expected. I would guess there are other ways of mitigating the problems of a 2-way design without needing a dedicated mid range driver? Main things in favour of the 3 way at the moment are an extra few Hz of bass extension (should be irrelevant once the sub is integrated) and the brilliant AMT.

[@agentooe33AD]

Great breakdown of the concept here. I would definitely like to see a review of those speakers, including your use case for them and why.

[@inthemix]

Thanks for the suggestion. If enough people ask, I'll make a video about them.

[@gregorydeckelman4262]

@inthemix Count me for the review vid! Maybe compare them to a pair of Klipsh cornerhorns?

[@JorgeTelloOlivaComposer]

@@inthemix Yeah!! It would be amazing to see a review of those PSI coming from you! As always, nice vid btw.

[@AshrZ]

@@inthemix Don't comment often, but +1 from me! I'd love to see a video about your speakers

[@WalkinonSunshyne]

Definitely also keen to see a three way monitor review. 😁

[@shorerocks]

Back in the 2000's I got my Genelecs 1030A, added a sub, and this is a killer neutral mixing and mastering setup. Plus room treatment, obviously.

[@inthemix]

That is a really nice setup there.

[@LVE2103]

Genelec does elite work

[@joshuamudanyaofficial7766]

Hi Michael, I have a question (away from the topic though). Seems to me you majorly use FL Studio for your music work. What made you settle with FL Studio and not the other popular DAWs out there?

[@Lennard222]

I'm curious about how you decided on your pair of speakers. Where did you find the relevant information?

[@sub-jec-tiv]

I always recommend having an A/B setup if it’s affordable. Even with inexpensive speakers, having 2 sets of speakers to switch between can be extremely helpful for triangulating. (Obviously you have to learn well any speakers you use, especially if they’re inexpensive.)

[@inthemix]

I used to do this too, although sometimes it was A/B/C when testing speakers for a few companies. It was enlightening to hear how differently the mix was portrayed on each system.

[@privacyhelp]

using a/b class is too audiophile

[@hammer-and-thumb]

A three way system principally offers lower distortion from all drivers, particularly intermodulation distortion. Intermodulation distortion (modulation of one tone by another tone) is a huge part of why speakers sound like speakers and not real sound. When I have been able to work on three way speaker designs, they always sound clearer, more natural, and more transparent to the source. This is because when a woofer gets a strong signal and its cone experiences significant movement, that movement also modulates the magnetic field responsible for producing the midrange sound. You can hear this in action if you play a 20 Hz tone (at the threshold of audibility) while also playing a tone at 1kHz; the 1kHz tone will sound like it is warbling, and even very expensive mid-woofer speakers will do this. But this is also happening at other frequencies that are closer together, and it produces a 'jumbled' sound. When you can free a speaker from the job of producing lower frequencies that create a lot of this intermodulation distortion, it produces clearer sound. So you get a more transparent lens into the original performance. The problem with speakers that have many passbands is phase. The crossover filters produce phase rotation between the passbands of the crossover that has to be managed, because it is a delay in the sound, expressed as 'degrees' of a wavelength where one wavelength is 360 degrees. Crossover points work best when they are placed where the phase of the sound coming from a speaker overlaps with the phase of the same frequency coming from another speaker in the adjacent passband. Also, if passbands overlap with non-adjacent passbands and produce significant output, they produce strong off-axis directivity lobes because one speaker is interfering with a speaker that is farther away on the baffle. This is why concentric speakers are prized - because the system behaves with less phase alignment issues at off-axis angles, and produces a pattern of directivity that is always symmetrical.

[@HaharuRecords]

Is it really always necessary to crossover if I use a sub, or the overlap will effect much!

[@nlamottecomposer]

Getting my first pair of monitors very soon. Focal Alpha Twin Evos, which are technically 2.5 way. But they have dedicated low and mid woofers and a tweeter (of course!).

[@aro7975]

Random question, but what timebase ppq do you use in FL studio?

[@prakharmathur9381]

Hi! I have really old monitor speakers which sounds great but some of the low end is missing. It is a 3-way speaker but also has a rectifier which works opposite the woofer. I think because of that there is a phase issue creating at the low end. What can I do to improve the quality of the bass in these speakers?

[@zembalu]

I agree with you, though I have no experiences with studio monitors. For mixing and post processing, I use the Sony MDR-7506 Studio Headphones, which have a rather dominant enhancement of the mids instead of a nice flat frequency response. In that range, the most impurities occur, let alone the battle between bass and kick drum. So, for me that is perfect.

[@1wibble230]

PSI are incredible monitors. Had my A21Ms for several years now, love them to bits

[@beatvillainz]

Your input is trust worthy.

[@Antitrump7431]

I have Yamaha HS8 and would like to upgrade to 3 way but there is big price gap. I mostly use it to play guitar thru audio interface and PC. Should i stick with 2 way? Upgrade to a better 2 way? Any suggestions?

[@vtechk]

What about MixCubes or similar single speaker solutions? To really focus on the important stuff while mixing and switch to 2/3-way for fine-tuning. I know, that some people prefer that way.

[@astraldeath777]

Think of bass and treble like your peripheral vision , the mids are what’s in focus when it comes to hearing , and in turn , listening

[@grommie]

Thanks for the upload. I have very nice active 3way. I am so happy. But i would like to know more about subwoovers. I dont know if big or small woovers are more important.

[@rmatson]

Appreciate this explanation here. Subs: I’m rarely sure I’ve properly balanced and melded the subwoofer with my mains. There always seems to be too much bass. Any tips?

[@Studio22mix]

Measure with REW, try changing the crossover and check the phase. Also placement is important, time alignment.

[@knallbertkrach9263]

a comparsion to coaxial monitors like the KSD C8 would be nice... thx great vid

[@felixklein7683]

would you reccomend the krk rp10-3 g4 3 way monitors the same for critical mixing?

[@PrincipalAudio]

I got 2-ways myself due to cost considerations. However, I'm pleasantly surprised as to how good the mid clarity is vs my older 1990s design monitors. I use Neumann KH120A with the KH750DSP sub. I've never had my mixes translate so well to many different systems, and yes, they don't make mixes sound good by default. Most mixes sound pretty poor on them, but a few mixes sound absolutely excellent. That's certainly the character of a good monitor system. Of course, I'd have gone for the KH310A instead if cost wasn't an issue. Good call about using 2 subwoofers. I currently use 1 (cost again).

[@marcus268]

I use Genelec with GLM plus a sub, but i check the midrange again on a small bluetooth speaker, to verify its working on a typical consumer device, its a cheap option, but for sure i would dive into barefoot or psi, if i had the money.

[@PrincipalAudio]

@@marcus268 Aye. I use a small JBL speaker (Flip 6) for the general in-studio, in-kitchen referencing. Most youngsters buy these speakers here in the UK. But yeah, 3-way PSIs for sure if I had the budget!

[@paulred9136]

Hi I'm thinking to switching from Ableton, so I ask if there's an autosync audio loop feature like ableton does, either when you drag a sample in the grid or if you prelisten a loop when your song is played, ableton always put the right bpm. There is such thing in fl studio? Thanks

[@daleboylen6427]

MY big issue with most studio monitors is indeed the crossover. They tend to have VERY high order units (i've seen 48db/oct) which smear time and phase HORRIBLY. A 3 way design, as noted, can have better mid range, but my experience is they generally are worse. This is due to the afore mentioned phase shifts or time delays caused by the high order crossovers as well as the additional crossover parts needed to build a 3 way network. Every single part, even a single capacitor, will alter to some degree, the sound. Nowhere in the recording chain, nor in the playback chain is the timing split between highs and lows, or the polarity, or both. This is purely a speaker phenomenon/distortion. The higher the order of the filter, the more time delays the speaker suffers. One can learn to recognize that, the way an amplifier designer can hear if someone's amplifier needs a bigger transformer- it's a unique sound distortion. What you call revealing is simply additional distortions introduced by the speakers crossover. This is why music which is very complex or has a lot going on will also sound less good on most studio monitors. With high order crossovers, the first energy to arrive from that step-input is upwards-going, as it should be. A moment later, the late-arriving, inverted-polarity tweeter shoves (sucks) that initial positive air-pressure-increase down into the negative-air-pressure portion of the graph. The tweeter's dome then returns to rest from its full "-" excursion, because the crossover cannot pass the "DC" to tell it to "hold your position, albeit sucked in". The air pressure then returns to the positive from the mid range tones' positive-pressure continuing to arrive. All the match fully supports my claim. I know you feel audiophiles are clueless. Not all of us are. My studio monitors are very simple 1st order designs, 3 way. VERY difficult to achieve in practice.

[@FutureShockStudios]

Very well explained, I have the Adam Audio S3H and as you said these types of monitors are ‘UNFORGIVING’.

[@christiansolinasfanpage]

i think that 3 way monitors have more phase issues and the sweet spot is harder to find, and the best alternative that i've seen was the kali in's series, because they have the mid speaker and tweeter together making a semi coaxial speaker (plus the woofer). another thing i suggest is to make the speakers sound better is to use calibration software as sonarworks or rew and at the end of the mix when you're translating it i would use a very bad speaker to listen if there's some issues (like the ns10s or the tiny jbl portable speakers). btw really nice video

[@starchemistery]

Please make the video about PSI A23-M. Very interested!

[@inthemix]

Thanks, I think I will!

[@PrlmNT21]

very interesting. I wonder if one could train their ear to hear exactly where the break is happening. thanks for the vid!

[@inthemix]

It’s certainly possible in my experience. I have guessed correctly more times than not. Try sweeping with an eq and you’ll hear the sound jump from the woofer to the tweeter!

[@timburton1080]

Directivity is also a big reason why, with drivers starting to beam as they're pushed into higher frequencies. An 6" has really dropped off axis by 1500hz

[@einarbk885]

1500hz is a wavelenght of 9" it doesnt start to beam before you have driver sizes above that, also driver size is including frame, not just cone. for example here is a 12" with a 1250hz crossover: 4.bp.blogspot.com/-bqv1bgFvQPE/TXDRNSrwrUI/AAAAAAAAF5Y/eVnCEZW3sQU/s1600/s15dsp%2Bnormalised.png

[@jojay.blessthismess]

Not me happy to see Michael post a video😭... Thank you for the insight

[@Arsonloke]

I have 2 ways monitors and all of my mixes translate very well. However I do want to upgrade to the 3 way kali audio in8s

[@rimmersbryggeri]

Seems sensible. I was taught how to set up my guitar tone years and years ago by not scooping the mids. Because as you say the guitar resides mostly in the mids and a guitar amp mostly only really reproduces mids well. Of course you can engineer even lower-fi guitar tones by scooping the mid range which can be agreeable in some situations.

[@user-rq5zc9ls3x]

Man I've started producing from scratch 6 years ago and Michael has been my go to person since then and I've grown so much and know alot because of Michael.. thank you bro. Never let me down since day one. Your content is worth more than gold in music production.

[@HOLLASOUNDS]

What if I put a 3rd speaker ontop of the standard monitors and then change the signal to send low and mid to the standard Monitors and then have the additional 3rd speaker to do the top end? Would that have the same effect as a 3 way system?

[@DanieldeVilliers4]

Will check out your plug in dude 🙂 I appreciate that you never talk bullox

[@nealpolitan_6th]

Can you please do a video on the theory behind two subs. I've always wondered about this in the back of my mind but am curious to learn the advantages and disadvantages to having two as opposed to only one.