Would the Samson SR850 barely qualify?

 

They would, but they need about 200 hours to open up, also you will have to listen to music with them as much as you can, it will take you a few months to get to know them, but after that you will get a lot better results than with cheap speakers and non isolated rooms.
Sr850 have very good drivers, yea the build quality is mediocre and the cable is non detachable, but sound wise they are up there in the 150-200$ headphones range.

 

which bass heavy song on repeat?

I just saw the SR850 on Amazon for $38. Ordered.

 

Smart decision.
Classical, electronic, rock, heavy metal, so you cover all the frequencies. The headphones themselves are not bass heavy, i would say they are very neutral as is desired, you can tell if you are pushing it too far or too little in that department.
You can even put AKG leather/velour pads on them.

 

I tend to do most of my mixing in cans rather than my monitors, though I'll listen to both at the end of a mix to make sure I can still hear details without speakers pressed right against my ears.

Best phones I've used so far are Sennheiser HD 280 Pros. I bought a pair of HD 380 Pros, which has a detachable cable and weighs a lot less, thinking I'd even get better quality -- waaaaay too much mid-range. They'd make decent talent phones (which is probably what they're calibrated for), as they emphasize vocals and guitars nicely, but they're not great for mixing. The 280 Pros are pretty flat.

 

You also probably know HD 280s like the end of your pocket and you know what to expect and how they behave, you know its strong and weak points and that comes with time and trained ears.

 

Exactly. I think that's true no matter what you're mixing on -- going back to your point about listening to a lot of commercial mixes that you're familiar with on your monitors/phones so you have a reference point for how they're translating sound.

 

How about instead of wood, or ball carrier, 8 of these with 2 inch diameter since the ball is 2.7 ?


Going to the hardware store tomorrow. I will report back. I will see if a stack of huge washers or this 'tee' is cheaper.

 

Last edited by a moderator: Dec 30, 2017

Strange the recording world never uses spikes. The 'great sounding' wooden knobs for $500 world does.
Those might reduce some energy transfer but there is still contact?

 

New and Improved version 2.0
The cheapest option at the hardware store was a 2" pipe extender for 90 cents each.
The metal ones like the picture two posts up was $15 a piece.

 

That looks cool. What about putting 2-3 layers of that kitchen cabinet rubber matting (comes in rolls) under your pipes?

 

Why not use hair spray caps?
Oh wait. What was I thinking? Guys here have girlfriends or wives?
Just Kidding!
It would be the same as pipe extenders and free since it would be normally thrown in the trash anyway.
I have Auralex for 4 speakers plus Sub plate (open box deal at GC) and some other foam for my center channel that works pretty good. Nothing for the rear speakers yet, but I want to build new lower stands with spikes to the concrete under the carpet.

 

great idea. got any tennis balls to compare performance with foam?
What do spikes accomplish? It reduces the contact to 4 small points but there is still contact?

yeah I was afraid of they might slip around too. once the speaker is placed it's fine.
These speakers won't see any high volumes.

 

I have a pair of Neumanns sitting on top of my NS-10's which sit on pedestals at ear height in a perfect equilateral triangle from my listening position. But I have always wondered about isolating them and please, somebody stop me if this is ridiculous, I have wondered about placing four screws into the Yamahas, cap them with non-slip rubber, place the KH-120's safely atop the small contact points and see how that works.

 

I would NOT drill screws into a set of NS10s.

 

They are full of holes already. On my third set of tweeters, spray painted a few times. They've seen a lot of action since 1979.

 

or any cap. I just found a bunch of caps in my kitchen. Crystal Geyser cap is wimpy. Some spice metal lids work nicely.
Various sizes too.

 

Why don't you guys simply use foam, the soft kind we find in hardware packaging

 

Last edited: Dec 31, 2017

Most serious high end mastering studios have their speakers either in the walls or on the stands. Something like auratones can be seen on desks though but its always a risk putting your speakers on your desk since it can introduce several problems.
Just the fact that you @dragonhill started looking for solutions is a sign your game is improving.