I’m struggling with monitor calibration and need some direction. I’m using KRK Rokit-8 monitors that have a HF Adjust and LF Adjust on the back. Those adjustments have little effect on this issue I’m posting. I have a pink-noise track in Pro-Tools that gives an EQ reading of a normal, steady, slightly ascending slope from low end to high end. Using a measurement mic, I’m getting an EQ out of my monitors with a distinct low-end drop, like an HPF is being applied. The signal is going straight out of Pro-Tools through my Presonus 32R for this test, totally dry. As a second test, I loaded the pink noise file into iTunes on my Mac, disabled the iTunes EQ, ran it out of the headphones jack and into the KRKs, getting the same results.
I’m not so thoroughly versed on monitors, but my expectation is that they’re supposed to give me back exactly what’s coming out of my system, am I correct on that? If I mix based on the HPF curve of these monitors, aren’t my mixes are going to come out more bottom end than I want?
See the linked image for the source and monitors EQ readings:
https://www.caycecookbook.com/Monitor-Analysis.jpg
Could use some help on this one.
Thanks.
Monitor Calibration Question
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Monitor Calibration Question
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- CaseyCayce
New here - Posts: 7 Joined: Fri Jan 27, 2017 12:21 am
Re: Monitor Calibration Question
Virtually all monitors exhibit the low frequency drop off that you're seeing on your graph. KRK say the 8's go down to 40Hz but that's only half the specification, for that to really mean anything they need to say what range is. So a full description might say 40Hz to 20kHz at +/- 3dB. That would tell you that the frequency response in that range doesn't vary more than 3db from unity.
As it is, at 40 Hz your measured response is about 4.5dB down, which isn't bad at all.
When dealing with the real low end, you either have to spend many thousands of pounds for extensive room treatment and very serious monitors, or you just get some nice headphones and check the low end on that.
As it is, at 40 Hz your measured response is about 4.5dB down, which isn't bad at all.
When dealing with the real low end, you either have to spend many thousands of pounds for extensive room treatment and very serious monitors, or you just get some nice headphones and check the low end on that.
- Drew Stephenson
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Re: Monitor Calibration Question
There is a saying in German - "Wer viel misst, misst Mist!"
Translation - Those who measure a lot, measure crap.
It is a mistake to obsess over speaker linearity because (1) That is not the most important aspect of a speaker (2) The room is not linear (3) Your ears compensate for differences relative volumes.
1. Other things like distortion and response rates affect the way you hear music more than linearity. If you can find a waterfall plot for those speakers you will see that like all small ported speakers, they ring at various frequencies - usually around the bass and the X-over F.
Have a read through this lot - http://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/ass ... wq9mLf1t0=
2. Unless you have something like the giant anechoic chamber that Daimler-Benz uses to test truck noise in Stuttgart, your room will be all over the place. All rooms are!
3. Your ears and your brain are constantly compensating for differences in what you see and hear and feel. So even if you had perfect speakers in a perfect room, you would still change your perception of what you hear and the relative volumes of the various frequencies.
Translation - Those who measure a lot, measure crap.
It is a mistake to obsess over speaker linearity because (1) That is not the most important aspect of a speaker (2) The room is not linear (3) Your ears compensate for differences relative volumes.
1. Other things like distortion and response rates affect the way you hear music more than linearity. If you can find a waterfall plot for those speakers you will see that like all small ported speakers, they ring at various frequencies - usually around the bass and the X-over F.
Have a read through this lot - http://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/ass ... wq9mLf1t0=
2. Unless you have something like the giant anechoic chamber that Daimler-Benz uses to test truck noise in Stuttgart, your room will be all over the place. All rooms are!
3. Your ears and your brain are constantly compensating for differences in what you see and hear and feel. So even if you had perfect speakers in a perfect room, you would still change your perception of what you hear and the relative volumes of the various frequencies.
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- The Red Bladder
Frequent Poster (Level2) - Posts: 3298 Joined: Tue Jun 05, 2007 12:00 am Location: . . .
Re: Monitor Calibration Question
I'm on an away day and typing on a phone in a car (from the passenger seat) so this will be brief.
Pink noise should display as a gently falling frequency response (reducing hf at -3dB/octave) or a flat line, depending on your graphical settings.
It definitely shouldn't rise at hf as shown in your graph. I suspect either that your source is white noise not pink noise, or maybe you have a weird display mode (frequency scaling) in your fabfilter settings. Edited to add: some fabfilter versions have a tilt function. Check yours is set to portray pink noise appropriately.
Taking that into account, your mic measurement looks pretty good with a decent low end response for those speakers.
There is a high pass filter in the system, BTW, its formed by the lf roll-off of the bass driver combined with the effect of the cabinet.
Pink noise should display as a gently falling frequency response (reducing hf at -3dB/octave) or a flat line, depending on your graphical settings.
It definitely shouldn't rise at hf as shown in your graph. I suspect either that your source is white noise not pink noise, or maybe you have a weird display mode (frequency scaling) in your fabfilter settings. Edited to add: some fabfilter versions have a tilt function. Check yours is set to portray pink noise appropriately.
Taking that into account, your mic measurement looks pretty good with a decent low end response for those speakers.
There is a high pass filter in the system, BTW, its formed by the lf roll-off of the bass driver combined with the effect of the cabinet.
- Hugh Robjohns
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(But generally posting my own personal views and not necessarily those of SOS, the company or the magazine!)
In my world, things get less strange when I read the manual...
(But generally posting my own personal views and not necessarily those of SOS, the company or the magazine!)
In my world, things get less strange when I read the manual...
Re: Monitor Calibration Question
Those look like very good results to me - pretty flat down to 60Hz and as Drew says, not too far down at 40Hz. Don't worry!
As Drew says, to get decent bass below that, you need a well-treated room and expensive monitors - or a sub-woofer. Depending on your room, though, a subwoofer might or might not not have a beneficial effect!
To work with the bass end as it is, the best thing is to use reference tracks so you can compare your mixes with them.
And if you can stretch to cost of using a mastering engineer, they can help balance your bass, as long as it's in the right ballpark before you send it to them, or give you feedback on your mix if it's not. Although I have a reasonable monitoring system, it can't hold a candle to my mastering engineer's.
As Drew says, to get decent bass below that, you need a well-treated room and expensive monitors - or a sub-woofer. Depending on your room, though, a subwoofer might or might not not have a beneficial effect!
To work with the bass end as it is, the best thing is to use reference tracks so you can compare your mixes with them.
And if you can stretch to cost of using a mastering engineer, they can help balance your bass, as long as it's in the right ballpark before you send it to them, or give you feedback on your mix if it's not. Although I have a reasonable monitoring system, it can't hold a candle to my mastering engineer's.
Re: Monitor Calibration Question
Just leave your speakers as they are and learn what they tell you. No speaker is perfect - it's how you react to what they tell you that matters.
An Eagle for an Emperor, A Kestrel for a Knave.
Re: Monitor Calibration Question
I agree with the others that this response is good. However, I couldn't resist replying to The Elf's comment
The loudspeakers say "No"
Martin
The loudspeakers say "No"
Martin
- Martin Walker
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Re: Monitor Calibration Question
I'm on an away day and typing on a phone in a car
I had to laugh at this, if you’d said this thirty years ago it would have made no sense; similarly I find it amusing to see people apparently talking to no one. Mobile phones, don’t you just love ‘em?
- Drew Stephenson
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Ignore the post count, I still have no idea what I'm doing...
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Ignore the post count, I still have no idea what I'm doing...
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Re: Monitor Calibration Question
An Eagle for an Emperor, A Kestrel for a Knave.