▶ MY PLUGINS: https://apmastering.com/plugins
▶ MY COURSES: https://apmastering.com/courses
SHOPS I USE AND RECOMMEND:
▶ Sound Imports: http://soundimports.eu
▶ SchneidersLaden: https://schneidersladen.de
GEAR I USE AND RECOMMEND:
▶ Squarp: https://squarp.net
▶ Reaper: http://reaper.fm
▶ Hypex amplifiers: https://hypex.nl
STUDIOS I RECOMMEND:
▶ Studio Wong: http://studiowong.de
========== Video Description ==========
SPEAKER COURSE HERE: https://apmastering.com/courses/small-speakers
Use code “MAGICMIDS” for a 25% discount (valid for 7 days only).
IMPORTANT NOTE ON THE SETUP
Since small sealed designs like these are meant to be used as super nearfields, I deliberately use a very tight listening triangle, with the speakers in a meter bridge position. The lipinksi sound speakers are absolutely NOT designed for this setup and sound super muffled like this. But I thought I’d include them anyway for fun.
My desk shelf has an adjustable angle, so I can set it flat exactly like a meter bridge and put monitors and other stuff on top. It’s normally down (angled away from me to reduce desk spill / comb filtering) but I’m using it in this flat position to simulate some kind of typical use for this kind of monitor. That said, this set up is kind of bad in terms of comb filtering and they can sound better on stands, lifted higher above the desk. I demonstrate this on the foo fighters and tool tracks. But I imagined that placing them directly on the shelf is closer to the kind of set up most people would do, and that’s what they are famous for. Ironically, using foam to “isolate” them from the shelf makes them sound slightly worse despite the fact that many people think this improves the sound.
I recorded using two omnidirectional measurement mics. This means, if you do some kind of standard XY thing, you will essentially just record mono. To get a stereo image, I isolated them from each other using a piece of 15mm ply with 60mm pyramid foam stapled to both sides.
The amp I’m using is a Fosi audio ZA3 which I recommend as it sounds good, looks good and is cheap. FULL TRANSPARENCY: Fosi actually sent me this but no money exchanged hands and I was actually going to buy it anyway to power these speakers, for the exact reasons I state in the video. Whether I bought it or they sent me it, this video would have been identical.
VIDEO DESCRIPTION
In this video, I provide the cost effective antidote for the plague of small ported studio speakers in the audio production world.
I expose the fake “sealed monitors” on Sweetwater and show you some real sealed speakers which you can make yourself for peanuts. Small sealed monitors are the secret weapon of nailing the mids, and if you nail the mids, you nail the mix.
00:00 – Problem with ports
05:14 – DIY solution
06:52 – The amp I’m using
09:20 – Post metal (ISIS – In Fiction)
10:35 Pop rock (Foo Fighters – Rope)
11:44 dnb (Ed Rush – Body Back)
12:56 Free jazz (Ornette Coleman – Lonely Woman)
14:32 Pop alt metal (Bring me the Horizon – Throne)
15:46 Vomit step (SNAILS – Frogbass)
17:01 Post hardcore (These Arms are Snakes – Mescaline Eyes)
18:23 Psytrance (Alchimyst – The Rave)
19:41 Progressive metal (Tool – Pneuma)
