Hello very well talented guys and gals,

Well, It's not long since I have got my first pair of monitors
My room is very well untreated and I was hoping to set them up to get a best sound I can get for now.

Today I started cutting the lower frequencies with the specific knob at the back of my monitors and suddenly I thought I can hear the high-end of the mixes and musics better. but that would have killed the bass and the sub bass specially...

So I put the bass between 0 and -2 , like -1
And tried to boost the highs, Now I feel I can hear the high end better and can hear things I couldn't hear before !! So now I'm around +3 (max) ... I think I'm ok now and would even go a little further if it allowed me to...being at the "max" took me into thinking that maybe I'm over doing it or something? if it's like max +3 db and I still like it ... Is it really the room that is that bad? Or Is it maybe too much?

Any good link that explains monitors setup is also appreciated.


Thank you all ... Keep it up

 

The "smiley face EQ" is the hi-fi EQ. Everything sounds better with smiley EQ, almost. ;)


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smiley_face_curve

 

Last edited: Aug 25, 2015

Hi Baxter,

Thank you, never heard "Smiley face curve" before.
But as you know, I'm trying to compensate for my untreated room.
Now I can hear the highs better and the details are actually very much more present to my ears , Even the vocals on the mids which couldn't be heard (like little back vocal details, harmony) as good before, So I'm definitely not coloring the mix and actually hearing it how should be, Right? Please correct me if otherwise.
I really need to think of doing something about my room, Acoustically

 

First off, yes acoustic treatment is one of the best things you could do to improve your mixes.

Just keep in mind that as you boost the high frequencies on your monitors, you will put them at a lower volume in your mix, the effect is reversed.

What you need to do instead is, once you have your final mix, evaluate it, reference it on several different sound systems and ask for opinions from other engineers.

If the conclusion is that your mix is too bright, it means you don't have enough highs coming from your monitors, causing you to boost them in your mix instead, so it would be good put some gain on the highs on your monitors.

If your mix is too dull and lacks brightness, it means you had too much highs coming from your monitors, causing you to lower them in your mix, so it would be good to lower them on your monitors instead.

 

I typically mix too bright, so I like to keep my monitors high shelf at +1db, therefore when I bring the highs up on my mix, right at the point where it starts sounding shrill, I know that I'm just right.

The same could go for mixing too bass heavy, dull etc..

 

I would say that a good and simple way to set up these controls right is to listen to many songs from the genres you're aiming at, and especially focus on the songs that sound great on most sound systems. One song just isn't enough. Then continue to re-adjust the controls until you've found the best compromise. It's important that you find your own sweet spot of speakers' bass and treble response.
With decades of EQing and sound corrections, I can only say that the ear is worth so much more than any high-end measurement device. These can give you valuable hints and reveal weak spots, but the final corrections should always be done by ear.

 

And to be sure your setting is right, go outside. Come back and listen again. The first seconds, you will know your setting is right or excessive.
After some seconds, your brain will start to compensate.
It is exactly the same with vision : we are in rooms with very yellow lights but still see a "white balance" effect ;)

 

Guys, There is now actually a bigger problem for me! I'm mad totally.
After working with boosted frequency that I told you, I understood it's too much but seems it was too late
cause my ears have started being so sensitive to high frequencies, But specially on my monitors !! higher frequencies seem harsh to my ears
they are sharp and my ears feel pressure inside, Like when u life a heavy weight or flying on airplane (being in a height with low air pressure)
Don't have that problem with my headphones seems like, Have you guys had any experience?? *Feelsbad*

 

Last edited: Sep 3, 2015

What monitor are you using?
I am on
KRK Rokit 5
KRK VXT 8
and
Yamaha MSP10

Setup is in a living room, so not really the best option.
First of all I think it ist kind of hard to give an overall setup advice, due to circumstances like surrounding area, room size and most important your own ears. At the moment I am using mainly the VXT8 and I would suggest using a very linear setup. Walk around in your room and listen. are there any unwanted subbasses you hear when you walk around? I had the same problem. Sitting in front of my monitors all was good, but the mix sounded awkward, not what I was hearing..
So like I said I walked around in the room to see if the sound differs.. and it did. standing next to the monitor i had this very hard subbasss humming, so i set the LF on my monitor down
I have the following option on my Monitors: Underlined and Bold is my setup
Lift & Grd
Clip Indicator: ON
Auto Mute: ON
System Level: 0 dB
HF Adjust: +1dB / Flat / -1dB
LF Adjust: Whole(Standard) / Quarter / Half

So adjusting the LF from WHOLE to HALF really made a big difference. I can actually hear almost every sound individual and get much better results.

 

Last edited: Sep 3, 2015

I

I've got a pair of Focal Alpha 80

I cannot hear any differences around the room, Sub bass was little high so I lowered it down, around -4 db on my left monitor which is placed at a corner and the right one about -2 things seem ok with the bass now. I think I have got everything under control but there I got another problem which I have stated in the post above yours, I boosted the highs on my monitors, without knowing what the problem is...
I used to check with favorite songs which I played on Windows Media !! And that thing has got an EQ and that was the cause of my misshearings... I turned up the highs and highs seemed clear, I turned off the EQ and everything is good but I think boosting the highs for few days has got my ears bad to them, I feel pressure, higher sounds seem harsh to my ears... Trying to rest, but dont know if that would work

 

well boosting is not really the answer, because it will mess up your mix. And dont mix at high levels.. keep it to rrom volume + 2-3 db. Otherwise your ears will get screwed up. Did that in earlier years.. i got louder and louder and louder.. and to me the sound got better and better and better, but listening to the next day. OMG... could start all over again. And always compare in neutral settings. your favorite tune on neutral flat EQs and your mix also...

 

Thank you, Something got my ears screwed up already ... it's annoying not being able to listen to music for a week