If you're researching the field a bit you might know faster how to treat your room instead of just fiddling around and tune to a subjective opinion. There are some easier rules (room measurements as basis for bass traps e.g.) and some that aren't that easy, but I'd not only rely on my ear, especially on the low end side of things. From what I gathered, the room itself is at least contributing 30% of the overall sound. Micing differences is almost necessary.

Disco, I agree that small woofers can't reproduce low end really accurate. However I think that 9" woofers are hard limit for monitors, as those monitors won't reproduce the mid-tones accurately then (tweeters would have to even lower frequencies to reproduce, which in analogy to the woofers their membranes again are to small for reproducing correctly). Adding a sub at will isn't trivial either if it is about accuracy (adding a third way with change of phasing). The exceptions proove the rule...

2 ct from my side,
PolarBear

What you're saying is exactly my point, PB.

At the moment I have an ASC MIX Station set up in a modified fashion (http://www.tubetrap.com/mixstation/index.html), along with a couple of Auralex foam sheets leaning against the front window, some Auralex LENRD foam wedges in the back corners (which isn't quite right, hence my need to do some work), and a strategically-placed bookcase behind me for dispersion.

That's one step above one-size-fits-all treatment. I need some bass-trapping as well, and as you and I both say, I need to look at sweeps with a measurement mic to do it properly.

The other thing is that I've been convinced by a friend (www.moultonlabs.com) that contrary to conventional wisdom, putting absorption on the sides is not a good idea. All that does is insert a lowpass filter in your room; you only hear comb-filtering interference if the relections come from the same angle as the speakers, so the place to get rid of reverb is at the front of the room.

That's not what I have set up, but I believe it's the ideal way to do it.

While you guys are on the room tuning subject, I've often wonder how my 2 19" CRT monitors, placed right in front of me, and directly between my speakers, might tamper with my sound?... With my desk, there's really no great place to put them, but I'm sure they have an effect. But it seems to me that pretty much everybody working with software studios must be dealing with this problem. How do you guys have your monitors (displays, that is) set up? Mine are at about eye-level, and thus about the same level as my speakers, and about 8 inches closer to me than my speakers. My setup really is far from ideal, and there's not a lot I can do about it, but would it make sense to lower them, and move them back?

J.

The effect is usually that the sound seems to come from in front of the computer monitors rather than behind the speakers, in other words it removes a lot of depth. You may be able to get some of it back by leaving a small gap between the two monitors, or possibly by raising them so the sound can get underneath them, but ideally you'd mount them down and at an angle to keep them out of the way.

Thanks Nick,

I hadn't really thought about it before, so that's good to know. I'll see if I can mount them lower -- it should be possible in my setup.

cheers,

J.