Are Speakers the Most Important Part of Your Studio Setup? Marc Daniel Nelson

[@Producelikeapro]

How do you make sure you have the best monitor setup possible?

[@adissabovic]

Been using the same pair of boxes since '96. Never mixed a thing on anything else. :)

[@porotosExiliados]

I kown I don't.. cause I can't aford studio monitors yet, but well.. I konw well what I have now

[@unclemick-synths]

I don't think the best monitoring system exists. I'm pleased with mine (especially since I got SonarWorks) but there's always room for improvement - particularly the room! 😀

[@eMatthieu]

Great video! Personaly i can't dissociate monitors from conversion when talking about monitor setup and listening experience. Therefore the first serious unit i've bought when building my setup was good converters, what's your point about that Marc and Warren?

[@santibanks]

By knowing my room, as Marc repeats but also by not overpowering the room. There is only so much SPL you can put in the room. This is something I got much earlier from Steven Wilson who always said the same: his room was never the best sounding room, but he knew the sound of it inside out and that made him able to mix. Same for me, i live in this room for 11 years, i heard thousands of hours of music including everything I already knew by heart. Match your mixes to the stuff you like and that's it. Using Sonodyne here at good height and distance. Great midrange reveal. Low end I check on my Blue Sky 5.1 set. Headphones I use for details and to "cut out the room". And just checking on iphone, macbook speakers, blue tooth speakers, earbuds. Mixing at pretty low volumes (even to the point I can do that at midnight) with just occasionally checking it at louder volume for more excitement. I know there is stuff I'm probably missing out on. I know that when I change my room and monitor setup my mixes will probably go up in quality. But for now, everything seems to translate pretty well and the clients are happy, which is probably the main point.

[@TheSickNeeds]

ok, so he says to have fun.....but does he care if I'm doing marvelously well?

[@sonidojamon]

hahaha

[@Producelikeapro]

Haha oh yes he does! I certainly hope you're doing marvellously well!

[@Producelikeapro]

@@sonidojamon haha

[@Justin_the_Analog_IC_architect]

Not everyone has the gift of bestowing marvelousness!

[@buddhabinaural]

Ha, when I tell my girlfriend I've been watching youtube and she asks what, producelikeapro would mean nothing to her but if I say the bloke from over here with the fuzzy hair that says hope you're doing marvelously well, she knows what I'm talking about straight away.

[@MarkNordeen]

A bit more explanation of the S test would be great.

[@beatarcheologzt]

I really like this guy. I feel confidence when learning from him

[@Producelikeapro]

That's amazing to hear!

[@grimslater]

You shouldn't, he may be a great mixer, but the advice in this video is incorrect. He's talking out of his area of expertise.

[@gbsrecords]

What, no dog? I miss the Weimaraner glancing over at Marc, thinking, "dude, there's a little too much 32k. Pull that down a tad, won't you?"

[@RoryButlerMusic]

Always like seeing these videos with Marc, seems very personable and genuine, no need for showy tricks or anything. Just good advice, nice looking video and a lot of experience behind him!

[@sonidojamon]

I would gladly pay for a full complete course of anything-audio led by Marc.

[@adammilburn8855]

Agreed, could listen to this bloke all day.

[@Producelikeapro]

Here it is Rory! Marc did a course with two tracks from Eric Burdon:- promixacademy.com/course/mixing-eric-burdon-with-grammy-nominee-marc-daniel-nelson/

[@Neil-Aspinall]

As long as you have reasonable sounding monitors the most important thing is to get used to how they sound. Once you have sufficient experience with them and have compared your mixes through other speakers you will soon realize their idiosyncrasy's and foibles.

[@lucdingreville4307]

I like the contrast between the advise for beginners (like me) and at the end "I use $10k monitors and I can't go below that" xD

[@pdac86]

For beginners there is no need to buy $10k monitors before you have a professionally designed room. Buy a $3k pair of speakers and put the rest of that $10k in acoustics instead. But as a professional with a acoustical well built room the difference going from a really good $3k (Munro 150) set of speaker to a $10k custom-built Dynaudio/Focal mains with high quality amps was worth it. :)

[@buddhabinaural]

You can get a pair of HD600 headphones if you're on a budget. I couldn't even afford half decent monitors, never mind acoustic treatment. The difference they have made for me is incredible and I use my old, cheap monitors, phone, van and soundbar/sub combo for testing on a variety of systems.

[@pdac86]

@@buddhabinaural Good advice! Before even thinking of a monitor system for critical listing (unless u have the money to spend at least the same amount on acoustics) get your self a good pair of open headphones. Combined with a good DHP solution like Sonarworks Headphone edition for best results. If you feel a need for speakers, buy a reference set up. I recommend a pair of one-way single driver ones like Aurotones 5c or similar.

[@buddhabinaural]

@@pdac86 I don't actually like the room in the headphones software. I find it can give instant spacing and clarity to things that isn't really there. That was my intentions when I bought the headphones but I found it was much better without. To be honest even panning and reverb isn't all that bad to do in headphones. I find with panning, as I sweep left to right, it hits a sweet spot where things suddenly sound like they have their own space. The one you mentioned is more premium than what I used, so maybe it works better.

[@felipousismix]

After going from NS-10 in the 90s to KRK and Mackie on the studios I worked, I got for my home studio the JBL LSR 305, I was very happy with them, but then I jumped into the Kali Audio IN-8 and so far, these are the best I ever had. I wish I can afford PSI in the future, but right now, I'm more than happy.

[@ilikemyrealname]

I also sold a lot of gear to get better speakers. I had Shadow Hills, Neve, API, Maag, so on and got rid of it all and bought Neumann 310's with the DSP sub and several grand in materials to build treatment. One of the best (and hardest) decisions in my career thus far.

[@darindipietro9141]

The Sonarworks set up is something I’ve really grown to count on now that I’ve actually learned to trust it. Had to switch main monitors two days before a project and after 15 years on JBL’s I was lost on the new Focals. Without room correction it would have been an endless remix battle.

[@bluematrix5001]

SW CHANGES THE LOWEND

[@kevinellis4729]

I'm still mixing on the same pair of Alesis Monitor Ones that I've been using since probably 1998. I just know them. I have some other speakers to check with, but I figure familiarity is the most important characteristic of any monitors.

[@jenshendriks9092]

I've noticed that in my room, I can move around up to half a meter in each direction (except up or down) and not really have much of a change in sound. Very convenient! In most studios I've been, moving my head just 3 inches was enough to completely destroy a mix...

[@paulphilippart7395]

So happy someone is finally pointing out the importance of phase linear monitors,I must point out that its only going to be perfected once manufacturers get rid of the ports,its impossible to have perfect phase bass when you have ports all you have is an augmented band around 180 degrees out of phase,it just tricks your brain,get rid of that and the veil is removed.

[@mrfixit0]

Room treatment - check, Monitors I think are stellar- check, listening skills - needs much more work! Very happy with my HEDD type 20s, excellent flat response. Application of Sonarworks corrected what was left. Really appreciated the discussion, have never considered phase in that manner before. I did check and am all good on that issue.

[@bobbykanemusictube]

I'm in a small, pentagonal room. I only have enough room to put my monitors 3' apart. Bit they are also 3' away from me. They are set above my ears, but pointed down at me. There just is no other way. But, I'm learning to work with those constraints. Sonarworks helps immensely. But I've also gotten used to the room itself. And I'm still learning more and more about what it does to the frequencies. I do, however, tend to use headphones quite a bit as well because kids are home. There are no private rooms to run to in my house. So... there's that.

[@famosguider205]

I've been watching this channel for a while NOT realizing I wasn't subscribed. This video made me hit the button. Thanks a bunch

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much for subscribing!

[@cary3428]

There are so many important things. When I mentor young engineers I say, “ it’s all about the everything “. But for me the biggest thing is the best treated room you can afford and the best speakers you can afford. If I can’t accurately hear it, I can’t mix it.

[@akagerhard]

maybe think about preaching what you believe in. Maybe it would actually be great for students to focus on treating their room right, instead of focussing on buying "the very best plugins". That kind of change in attitude could really create a difference in competence between your students and other students.

[@antiHUMANDesigns]

I used a pair of Studiophile monitors for many years. Fairly cheap crap, honestly, but I had a limited budget and focused on recording quality and having enough microphones and so on. But eventually, I realized that some problem that I had been compensating for was likely due to the monitors. So I bought a pair of Genelec, and it was like a door opened, and I could actually hear the sounds properly, like some kind of silkscreen had covered everything but was now gone. It's hard to describe the huge difference. And it confirmed my suspicion, that my old monitors produced a few sharp peaks in the frequency spectrum, which were now gone. The low end had also been a problem. And while my old monitors had a very good stereo image, they had no 3D depth, everything felt flat. I think this is due to how much distortion they produce. One thing though: When I upgraded my monitors, problems with the acoustics in the control room became much more prominent. (This is of course a good sign.)

[@BeauStephenson]

The way you described those ATC's is exactly how I feel about my Amphions. Switching over to them about 2 years back was absolutely crucial to my mixes translating fast. It's amazing to go to the mastering room and hear that my home mixes hold up and sound great, even in such a clinical listening space. That Trinnov technology is mind blowing. There are a few studios here in LA that use them for tracking as well.

[@ryanshook8284]

Which model Amphion do you have?

[@klaassiersma4892]

First off, i am a hobbyist. For my mixing/ listening i use a set of room tuned magnepan smg c magneto stats, a balaced output amp, a set of sure se 846 earbuds and a set of typical home typ loudspeakers, those magnepans are in no way nearfield monitors but i have never heard a less coulouring set of speakers.

[@ecpruthless]

Great video! I find the easiest hack to check phase on speaker is using a battery......connect battery directly to driver leads (not the amp, disconnect the amp).....positive to positive, negative to negative.... driver should push out..... if its "backwards", driver will suck in, meaning its 180 degrees out of phase.........then reverse the wires stuff like group delay, and dsp phase correction is a very fun subject to learn...... dsp correction for me all day....its almost a philosophy argument nowadays right?.....imo you better have 1000% faith in your speaker manufacturer as well as the room that you put the speakers in to be able to say they can even reproducing every frequency perfectly....to then be able to somehow distort that with something inline Good stuff

[@barongray5458]

In these times of active-powered speakers, it is not always that easy. The battery trick was polarity 101 back in the passive days, but now you have to adopt a different approach. Clickers are a great tool but you can also use a function generator if you have one.

[@antiHUMANDesigns]

About the distance to the monitors: Note that every monitor (except coaxial ones) have a minimal summing distance. Sit too close and the treble and bass cones do not sum together but become separate sound sources, and they will not sound right. I have a set of 6.5" Genelec monitors, and their minimum summing distance is about 1.5 meters. And yes, this really matters. Do not sit close to your monitors, I keep seeing people do this all the time, even with larger 8" monitors. There is no way that a set of 8" monitors can sum if you have them on your standing desk, perhaps 60cm (2ft) from your ears. Their summing distance is probably closer to 2 meters.

[@sm5574]

I have a pair of Kali LP-6s. If I'm closer than 7 feet, everything under about 100 Hz is undefined and mushy, but at 7 feet it magically comes together and suddenly I can hear the thump of the kick. Leaning forward or back in my chair is a completely different experience!

[@antiHUMANDesigns]

@@sm5574 OK, but it could also be the acoustics of your room.

[@sm5574]

@@antiHUMANDesigns, it could be, but it was pretty consistent as I was rearranging acoustic treatment and speaker locations and such.

[@sm5574]

@@antiHUMANDesigns, and I forgot to mention, but 7 feet is the listening distance specified for the speakers, so between that and my experience, I'm assuming it's not just my room acoustics. But yes, that could still be a factor.

[@antiHUMANDesigns]

@@sm5574 Yeah, I just don't know if it would specifically impact the punchiness of the kick, but that may be. I can't quite describe what happens when I get too close to my speakers (Genelec 8040). It's... weird.

[@footsandersen]

I started mixing on some budget Focals. Took an EP to my mastering engineer (Nashville veteran) and he graciously told me what he was hearing that I couldn't. He suggested some PMC monitors. After talking with the sales rep and demoing several models, I settled on TwoTwo.8s. Remixed the EP, brought it back to my mastering engineer. He said 1000% better. I'm still learning to listen, but having great mentors is huge!

[@chinmeysway]

It’s so hard to find actual mentors. Youtoob is pretty hit er miss as mentor material 😩

[@officialWWM]

I mix on a pair of 1000 watt, 12 inch QSC floor monitors. Less than ideal but it's what I have, lol. I feel like they actually work quite well. Not very detailed but I check everything on cans etc and I feel like I get decent results. That being said, I'd love some decent monitors :/

[@shayannadeem4282]

perfect explanation! Learning your room/equipment goes a long way! I figured that if one learns his/her equipment properly, be it crappy or top tier, he/she can put out some quite good quality mixes. I know people with some great equipment releasing crappy mixes. Its all about learning your equipment! great video.

[@Kambiz.Mahdavi]

Thank you so much Mr Warren Huart to post this awesome guy advices about the most important issue on mixing audio. I spent so much money for my room Acoustic treatments and equipments but I couldn't hear such that correct sound I had expected,so I decided to do something irregular and I did some equalizing on my interface internal dsp equalizer, I chose a song that I had heard that more than 10 years and I started to calibrate my speakers by doing some cuts and boosts on this equalizer to hear my favourite song the way I liked, Anyways after a few weeks I found out that my mixes didn't have enough midrange , I had been so disappointed and I lost my self confidence until I met a guy who introduced me Ik multimedia Arc2 , After buying this package and learning how to use it, I found out,the sounds I had heard were not correct enough before the Arc2, These days I use hardware measurement and I say boldly that one of the best sound engineers made my speakers 80 percent flat. I am very happy about this basic and important issue. Good luck

[@arcanics1971]

I have relatively cheap monitors. They are pretty flat, but I don't rely on them. Instead I rely on my headphones which are absolutely as flat as possible. Once I have mixed using those, I play on a variety of other speakers and see what it sounds like. I find this works for my budget. I do certainly have my speakers set up forward though, but I didn't do this with any expert knowledge. It's just what I happened to prefer.

[@glicmathan1771]

OMG I’ve been doing so many things wrong for so many years! No wonder I’m never satisfied with my mixes. Always too much or too little bass with weak mids. My “demo” studio will never be more than that until I work out all these details. I’ve moved around A LOT and have yet to set up a proper studio space. My monitors have been way too close together, I just learned, nor have I ever tested for phase. Marc’s videos are making a huge impact. After my next relocation, I’m going to set up a proper space and get a pair of ATC45s. Thanks again Marc!

[@jimsimmons2674]

When he talked about speaker phase why would my speakers be out of phase if the + and - polarity are correctly connected to my speakers?How would i correct out of phase speakers some other way?

[@jimlabos]

There is phase and there is polarity. I think in this case polarity might have been less confusing. Phase can be off by degrees but polarity only has 2 possibilities. Plus or Minus. The speaker's internal wiring or amp might be incorrectly hooked up. Also the cable going to the speaker might have the hot and neutral reversed on one side which would reverse that channel's signal compared to the other one. But he was talking mainly about polarity being the same all the way through so that a positive wave will cause a forward motion on the speaker cone. One of your speakers might be wrong and that would be more apparent but also both speakers could be off and that is not always easily detectable. So a visual method of confirming the cone moves forward for positive wave and inward on negative wave let's you confirm that. A signal like a kick drum is easier to work with as it has a short but strong low frequency transient. I would just do a simple test. Record a kick drum and make sure that recording is in phase! Then pan kick drum to the left speaker only so zero signal goes to right one. Then play kick drum track and switch back and forth between in phase and reversed phase on that track. Which one sounds punchier to you? Now do same with the other side. No need to see a coin flip. If your ear can't detect anything then leave things alone and enjoy mixing. Otherwise check cable on whatever side you hear discrepancy in. If cable is good it could be the output of the console or AD/DA interface or speaker.

[@pdac86]

@@jimlabos that's a really good way of explaining phase issues! Always have trouble finding the right words to explain it to beginners how phase works in audio. Think I'll copy this end use it in the future. Well done sir 👍

[@bernburg1999]

Does the idea with the phase and coin not just depend on the drum sample? The waveform of the sample could technically by itself pull the speaker back before pushing forward? Right?

[@Username_Invalid]

Possibly, yeah I was curious about this as well. I feel like if you took a couple professional release songs and just trim it to where the kick and bass hit one really short burst and loop that. Do this test with a couple professional songs for average and it might give you an idea. Haven't tried it but am going to mess with it when I get home.

[@gooshie3]

Cheers, folks

[@MartinLuxen]

Awesome! I mainly mix on headphones now that I have a little girl that is asleep ;) They're reference headphones (Shure), around 250-300€ at the time...but I've owned them forever, listened all music on them and so on. I know them really well! Same goes for my speakers, but I just moved to a new house with a new (larger!!! yeah!!!!) studio and since there now is a baby, haven't had much time to learn my new room... So headphones it is for now....

[@crisrose521]

You didn’t mention the “ once past the ear “ method or when someone should use more then one set of monitors and when and why horizontal and vertical monitors should be used but nice post , thank you 🙏

[@steveg219]

Great orientation to how to approach this. Absolutely YES the right monitors have a way bigger impact than any preamp or outboard great can possibly have- Perfect! Worth adding though that room can have an even bigger impact, especially low frequencies in a small room. We created the session that we delivered over multiple years at AES/NAMM to teach the details of this. But in short, the room can alter your frequency response by tens of dBs at any given frequency. Monitors may vary what you hear by a few dB. Preamps an outboard gear more like fractions of a db. The point is that the room is the biggest culprit in messing with accurate monitoring, and, the hardest thing to fix. Room “correction” software can only go so far. Small room acoustics is extremely difficult but really is the best place to start, especially focusing on low end and basic reflection control

[@RonnieVaiArovo]

11:35 my fav part was his million pound smile 🙂✌

[@ryanperrault8174]

Great video...I only have headphones right now (Sony MDR- 7506)and a pair of PC Bose speakers that were $250. Good to know this before I make my first purchase. I actually have a pair of KRK 5 inch but I don't like them as I can't hear the bass....everything sounds paper thin. Even in a small room I need larger than 5"

[@sirdaveandre]

nice trick. with the speaker phase. I do it by connecting red amp out to red speaker in.

[@artist1303]

Room treatment... Check, Monitors w/ sub.... Check, Sonarworks...Check = the best i can get for my home studio!

[@J-DUB-F1]

All good points...... I remember an engineer at the Village once told me about the coin trick on a woofer to check phase. I'm space challenged so I can't really get any farther than 3' back from my mons in the mix position.....so there's a lot of backing away to check the low end. Funny the Event Precision 8s were his first mons :-) . Way back when I got my first pair of powered mons, they were the ones I really wanted, but couldn't afford them, so I got the Event TR8s....I still have them packed away somewhere??.

[@jazzzfer]

Love every time Mark does a video. So much knowledge

[@GustafWestin]

I mix and check on like 6 different headphones as well as my monitors. They all let me hear different things and they have such different color between them. That’s how I know how it will translate. But I’m only a hobbyist... so what do I know 🤣

[@bigriff9946]

So if my speakers were firing backwards first, how would I change that? I haven’t tested it yet because it’s 2am but now I need to know haha Edit: also I love the videos with Marc, his lessons have been very useful to me at least. Thank you Marc!

[@bluematrix5001]

INVERT THE PHASE OF L/R IN EACH SPEAKER OR IN THE DAW AT THE MONITOR ONLY

[@thedp]

if your speakers have wire terminals, reverse the wires. if they have XLR or TRS, change the cable wiring. bad cable wiring is probably most likely cause. if you can open the speaker cabinets you can flip the wires on the the speakers but thats assuming you checked that the wiring is good. don't change the speakers until you know the wires are good. use continuity meter to check wiring is correct.

[@jeremythornton433]

I just make do the best I can. I have 2 sets of monitors and a set of Sennheizer HD280Pro headphones. I have a pair of Edirol MA-15D's and a pair of Kali LP6's. My room is stuffed with gear and is about 9' by 8' or maybe a bit bigger. I built a couple of acoustic panels that I hung on the wall behind the monitors and I have one that sits in the widow sill just to kill some of the reflection plus carpet on the floor. I cross my fingers a lot! My keyboard stands help to break up reflections too! I hope!

[@haroldstaam]

i have a pair of kali lp6s and i love them. i think they are really awesome for mixing. used to use some cheap speakers and my music is sounding a million times better now

[@BeccaLozierTrumpet]

Up vote to learning your room. I tried correction software and ditched it in favor of more critical listening time and more listening sources. Also, up vote to having bluetooth speakers and bookshelf speakers in play, along with bad and good headphones and buds. I added an old Klipsch running through a sony receiver from my mono sum. I used to mix on those Klipsch before I had any actual monitors! Still provide a great mid range and excellent instant mono checker.

[@sonidojamon]

Five minutes in and I'm in shock. First time I hear about the possibility of both speakers being in phase with each other, but "firing" backwards first. And a lot of questions arise. I suppose all monitors are built and designed to move forward first, but something in the digital or analog path between the audio source and the monitors might be changing that without us knowing? I know this can happen cause I experienced something similar w/ guitar pedals (when parallel processing or with wet/dry/wet configurations). Am I right? And if so, how do you find what causes it and fix it? And then, right after that, Marc references some of us asking about his IEMs, and I smile to my self. And, still with the smile on, he shows the same BOSE BT speaker I have to check my mixes. What a great coincidence! I also use an Amazon Echo 4 for the same purpose, and check my work after "every-hour-5-minute-get-up-walk-or-do-something" in my trusty Audio-Technica ATH-R70X headphones. We need more "Make. Mine. Music". Also, the video production and photography is second to none!

[@RC32Smiths01]

Speakers have much of an importance I believe! Awesome work as always!

[@liquidaudio_]

Thanks, Marc! I always learn so much from your videos, every single time you open me up to something new!!!

[@jjohnwords2873]

Recently I been putting an eq on my mix bus from 200hz to 5k and mixing with that on and then removing and tweaking back and forth. helped with my mid range which is where I was making the most mistakes and helping me with getting harmonics coming through from the bass.

[@chrisschut4533]

Hi there, great video, thanks very much for sharing, it's exactly what I'm struggling with right now in my room. How exactly do you do the S-test he's talking about? What do I listen for exactly, and mostly, how to fix it if you think you have a problem with s's ? Thanks! Chris.

[@jerrycraftproductions581]

Warren and Marc, thanks for another valuable offering. I have ordered my Simgot EN700 Pros and my Bose blue tooth. I remember when the auratone was a staple; time to adjust with the times.

[@TheGARCK]

Brilliant, thanks Marc & Warren.

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much Gareth!

[@thomasnegovanonline]

What an amazing gift to have these insights shared in such a kind manner! I’ve been devouring your videos and am incredibly grateful that you take the time to do them!

[@matthewtrow5698]

I struggle to really get this. I understand that something I make, that others may (hopefully) listen to, will not be on the same setup I have. I understand that if you are working with headphones and doing a mix, you have to make damn sure you also listen on speakers. The rest seems a little 'witchcraft' to me. We all have different 'ears', just like we all don't see in exactly the same way, we don't all hear in the same way. But yeah, I get there's this wide middleground - this 'optimum' you are striving for. But heck, I've got cheap-ass monitors in a tiny cheap-ass 'studio'. I positioned my speakers until they sounded good to *my* ears - but how do I know this is a representation to anyone else and their setup? I'm a total newb at this still, despite some years dicking around trying to create music, so a lot of what this video is telling me, flies over my head like that frisbee I just can't catch. I recall the days of listening with my brother to music - he was a total audiophile. He'd buy special speaker cables and try different stands, different positioning of speakers, different floor surfaces, vinyl from master recordings - the whole damn thing. "No, don't sit there, just move back, 4 inches ... there, that's it." "Now listen." I'd be damned if I could really tell any major difference that impeded my ability to enjoy what I was hearing. But sure, when he set it up just right, with his excellent expensive gear, it was pure heaven - you start hearing things you *never* heard before in recordings - whether that was the intention of the producer/band or not. I don't fully understand, because I'm such a newb, but I do like the idea of getting some absolutely low end gear to play your mix back on - to reach that middleground - but surely not at the expense of leaving those with better gear with a lesser experience? How do you know? Do you dumb it all down to the lowest common denominator? This is HARD.

[@unclemick-synths]

The bottom line is if you can't hear it you can't fix it. The other thing is that if the speakers or room are adding problems you'll be messing up the mix if you bend it to fit round those problems. Real-world systems have their place but only as a second opinion.

[@TheGARCK]

It's a forest, but really, the rules above all rules for me is: Mix in a set-up that you're used to and have got good results from. Time and repetition, there's nothing more important

[@sinnersrisemusic]

Honestly, I used to have the exact same issues. The more that you keep mixing and chipping away at it, you will just get into the groove where you find out exactly how things translate and what goes into making these sounds. You will get there, just keep mixing and learning tricks and don't give up! Edit, just to add one more thing: One of the biggest things I learned at the beginning was the relationship between EQ and compression. Layers of compression are a big, big part of what makes a mix come together and sound the same way on most systems. I hope this helps!

[@BrendanKDavis]

Sympathies and understanding re "this is hard". The no-budget "best practice" of listening to your mix on a variety of speakers that you are already referenced to with pro mixes you love is a great habit to get into. If you're doing, say, an Alice in Chains-esque rock track, compare your mixes of it to a reference AiC song on all your available speaker options - headphones and earbuds and bluetooth and laptop versus desktop speakers, even through your TV if you can make that work - and adjust accordingly until it's sounding pretty consistently GOOD to you everywhere. Hope this helps someone if not you - but all the best to you. :D

[@officialWWM]

I agree and I actually believe you can monitor on anything. The key is to know your speakers and know your room. Then go check your mix on as many different systems as possible. Once you've done that a few times, you will know how to compensate for what you are and aren't hearing in your own mix position.

[@longjohnsonshagwell3377]

No, but they are very important. If you are a mixing engineer sure its the most important thing. If you have a studio setup which is mainly for tracking/recording, speakers are not as important as your mics, preamps ect. It all depends.

[@cary3428]

I have to disagree. As both a record and mix engineer I feel it’s crucial to get great sounds going in. Moving a mic 1 “ on a speaker cone can make a big difference in tone. I need great monitors to hear that difference.

[@riktascale4]

100% in agreement with 1:10! This is a topic I am trying to master currently and could not have come at a better time. Thank you very much!

[@JulesFox]

Great video! I'm going to watch this multiple times and have it on when I'm in my control room and do all this step by step!

[@AlexeySolovievMusic]

Please more videos with Marc! He's absolutely incredible!

[@iammadeofsound]

The end note is something that everyone learning the craft should really inhale and understand. No room is perfect. You always need to be in sync with your room issues and speakers capabilities. I always say measure the room and know your speakers. Your brain will do the rest for you. I actually got a question somebody might be able to answer - on mtrx studio - can you adjust phase alignment of each monitor connected? I know there's an option to dial in quite a few frequency corrections. I'm currently debating whether go LCR - SCM45 or Genelecs 1237 with GLM... I'm buying into dsp speaker alignment - it's a very helpful tool to have. I digress..

[@myspecialplace8682]

I'm trying to understand, if my speakers aren't pumping out on the beat what would I do to correct that?

[@AshleyGittins]

If they're passive speakers (ie, you have an amp separate from the speaker) just reverse the leads to the speaker (positive/negative). Otherwise the easiest might be to add a phase inversion in the monitoring bus of your DAW (using a plugin if your daw doesn't have that as a feature). Just remember if you have to put it on your master bus make sure you don't export your mixes via that plugin or you'll just be messing it up again! If you're using balanced connections to your amp you could swap the hot/cold connectors in the cable, instead (but then you'll have a cable that is just waiting to double cross you one day). As Frank said I have my doubts to the importance of this - having your speakers in phase with each other is critical, having them come forward on a positive voltage seems a little arbitrary, but I could see how an acoustic kick drum's waveform will be asymmetrical so I guess it makes sense - I'm just used to thinking about phase relationships with sinewaves rather than absolute impulses.

[@myspecialplace8682]

@@AshleyGittins Thank you - my speakers are active with power in them - I have my Apollo going straight into them...I should be ok then

[@marcdanielnelson317]

@@myspecialplace8682 your xlr cables could still be wired out.. check that too.

[@ThePlanarchist]

Excellent as ever. And for those outside the US, other small value coins work too. ;)

[@antcall6779]

I get so excited when I hear Marc's intro!🤘

[@aaronmarko]

To paraphrase the Angry Video Game Nerd: what's the most important part of the music? Being able to fucking hear it!

[@Simbabhebhe]

Amazing video :) What is the ‘S’ test?

[@fredraputznik2313]

I'm curious: you said you like your monitors 6 feet apart; but doesn't that mean they should be 6 feet AWAY from you as well, to complete the triangle?

[@danb1942]

Hahaha anyone know what's going on with Soundcloud. Tried to upload 2 of my "Cover songs" and they were removed immediately for "COPY WRITE" restrictions... What!

[@Gretsch0997]

I just use headphones 🎧. Always. I use three different ones to reference with. No room problems. No phase issues. At a low volume.

[@laynehoward2870]

I am so torn on this subject. I was just about to pull the trigger on a set of ATC SCM45A monitors. Then, I saw an interview with Andrew Sheps where he said he now mostly mixes on headphones. He even sold his legendary Neve 8086 to work "in the box". I've always been a proponent of using headphones: it eliminates the issues we all face of working in a typical non-perfect room: I also understand their limitations. I use Focal Clear Pro headphones. Very happy with them. My monitors are little Genelec 8040B with a 7350A Genelec sub. If not the ATC monitors, I was thinking of going up to the Genelec 8341A. I also use Sonarworks SoindID. I even bought a set of Powerbeats Pro earbuds so I can understand what tons of people are hearing with my mixes. What to do....what to do....?

[@rome8180]

Sucks for those of us who can't afford to acoustically treat our room or buy good monitors. I have some mediocre monitors, and I end up using headphones instead. The quality of monitoring experience I can get with a $150 pair of headphones would cost at least $1000 in monitors and acoustic paneling and bass traps. I've never bought into the notion that monitors are an inherently better way to mix anyway.

[@sonidojamon]

try room correction software, like Sonarworks or ARC. Won't fix everything, buit they sure help a lot.

[@chriskepple7295]

I don’t. I still only mix in head phones. Lol. I started having kids when I started home recording and they take all my money now. Lol🤪 some day maybe. 🤞🏼

[@DarkMetaOFFICIAL]

bad

[@HarryDinesOut]

I only mix in headphones too. I haven't really been worried about it though. I'd say most consumers nowadays only use headphones or stock speakers anyway. Marc makes it seem like everyone out there is an audiophile with an expensive stereo system ... and that they actually have a place to blast it ... Personally, I know very few people today whom actually have a decent stereo system in their car or home ... where they don't regularly use headphones ... so I'd disagree with Marc and say speakers are not "the most important part of your studio setup." Important, sure, but not "the" most important part. Maybe they were once upon a time, but yes, anyone making serious money would probably want studio monitors. High profile artists would almost certainly demand it.

[@haroldstaam]

@@HarryDinesOut its important to have the best reference you can get when you mix. i upgraded my studio monitors and it has helped my mixes a hell of a lot. and the better you do at mixing at home the better its gonna sound on peoples systems. if you use cheap speakers your basically mixing blind and its impossible to dial in your mix properly. save up some money buy a pair of kali lp-6s . you dont have to spend thousands of dollars on speakers but if you are wanting to make music its important to have the proper gear.

[@rome8180]

You can get great mixes entirely in headphones. People exaggerate the need for good monitors. The majority of people listen to music in headphones to begin with. And you can always test your mix on other systems.

[@davidmatta6543]

Thanks to Marc I found my monitors were firing backwards. To further test it I flipped the phase of both channels on my master bus and noticed much more punchiness and attack. Is there a way to fix this permanently, like a software that lets you flip the phase? Would love to have it engaged when watching videos and listening to music

[@furbasswillst4273]

Same here. Do I have to disable the Phase-Inversion when exporting the music?

[@marcdanielnelson317]

Get your xlrs to your monitor phase flip.. cheap fix

[@agondistortion]

So how to correct phase on the speakers , this was about how to check if they fire right , was this about mixing ? cause that's easy all you do is switch phase

[@HitTheRoadMusicStudio]

Such a helpful episode, great great insight, thanks for sharing Marc!!! 🤘

[@mk-musicproduction]

I've been using a Bose like that for years. I just ordered an Auratone because I didn't think I was "right"..I think I'll cancel that now. Good video.

[@juanchis.investigadorsonoro]

Thanks for this video and just the way you started is the way I always start "audio conversation" How do you listen? Regarding those ATC, do you have a sub to add to that? Or are you just working on a stereo system? :)

[@Eventual420]

This should auto play every morning for me. If there’s one thing you need, it’s how to listen.

[@MrPipmeister]

I’ll let you know when my Eve SC3070 FINALLY turn up... 6 weeks and counting... 5 more weeks to go ughhhh!

[@bcastromusic]

I'm intrigued by the ATC SCM45A as I'm looking into a set of near/mid monitors. I haven't gone to listen yet but those are one I want to listen to. Do you find any lobing issues having the two woofers far apart on the horizontal plane? The response would change significantly as you shift left and right relative to the monitors? The midrange may help where the woofers crossed over lower and takes these issues out of the critical range?

[@vijayanand1154]

Great advice thank you. Didn’t talk about software like sonarworks ref 4. Those atc45’s look fantastic but very pricey £9k a pair :)

[@nilsrocks]

Great video, thanks! 👍

[@drampadreg1386]

If you have passive speakers, just use a triple a battery and check the phase by using the polarity, the cone moves out with positive to positive, negative to negative. \ And I think the ATC's you have, the 150's would be fine for an atmos system...Heh, there goes the bank account!Another good video, without all those bells and whistles, thanks.

[@djse]

I don't really get the phase check on individual speaker, I understand that 2 speakers can have phase issue with each others, but how one speaker can have this issue ? If I put a sound with the speaker on the side and a coin, like you explain, and flip the phase, and the reaction of the speaker is different, isn't that mean that there is a problem with the sound (and depending of the sound it could be an oposite result) ? or do I have to use a specific type of sound like a sinewave (for exemple) that goes up first in its phase ?

[@ryanmbisson]

I really appreciate his presentation and information delivery style. Really clear and easy to follow.

[@elijahparkin6530]

What is the “s” test and how does one perform it?

[@gregoryivesdolbyatmosmusic]

What is the harmonic plugin that Marc is talking about that he uses to pull up the sound of the bass after using the Bose Bluetooth speaker without touching the other speakers sound

[@alexhormann8931]

Speaker phase? Well, put up a good mix and flip its phase back and forth. If it makes no difference to you, then you're probably not able to hear a correct phase ... what makes "bringing your speakers into phase" kind of pointless. But if you wanna be sure, take a microphone to record a kick coming out of your speakers and compare the waveforms.

[@marcdanielnelson317]

Alex is right on the monies.

[@josephfish6593]

Looks like my speakers are getting a test run today. I'll put em through the ringer, see how they fair.

[@FavioMagnoGuitarrista]

Excellent tricks Marc! You have a true teaching vocation and you really do it with passion. Thanks for all the contributions. They are always interesting. Greetings from Buenos Aires! Music is love!

[@Euphonicmusicschool]

That's awesome! Those Event SP8s were my first 'nice' monitors. Haha!

[@geddydawg]

So agree with this. Understanding ones mix/control room. Side note, I run the ATC SCM25As (too small a room for the 45s) and so luv the sound from them. If I could inquire, what was the Harmonic plug-in used for the Bose speaker resolution?

[@slaidaniel628]

Course! Very important......

[@KevinWickerProductions]

Dude I enjoy your posts! You are spot on. You save your listeners years of headaches. I'm an old school guy (before cassette!) There's no doubt you are the real deal. I see a series of videos comin'! Thanks, 😎you got my support...

[@randylee1954]

So do you need to check the phase on a single solo track every time you record? Is this a different concept than two tracks being in phase with each other?

[@JeffoftheShout]

Re: 9:15 Bose Mini Soundlink... HAHAHA... NO WAY‼️ ME TOO‼️💯😀👍🏼

[@MrSk8trby]

Good stuff Marc. So good to see you thriving in your element. Pretty amazing your level of expertise and influence these days. Would love to chat soon

[@gustadreams5389]

Great content!

[@mennovroom5537]

Another great tutorial. So much to learn. tTip - Take notes.

[@electricwhiterabbit]

Is that a Tascam 424 I see in the background? I have the exact same one if so. Curious why he has it.

[@electricwhiterabbit]

@J WAV no. Why you ask?

[@sonidojamon]

Can't decipher the IEM brand to look them up. 😬 🤦🏻‍♂️

[@DarkMetaOFFICIAL]

Cannabis is the most important part of my setup.

[@thascrow]

agreed