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Do you use a sub?


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No, I haven't for years. I'm still using my ADAM A7's and S3A's... I've thought about adding an ADAM sub a few times, but my mixes seem to translate okay now, and I really don't do a lot of stuff in genres where the bass is over-emphasized, so it's always been a low priority item on the gear wish list.

 

I wouldn't mind having a sub again though - after all, nothing says you have to leave it on all the time, right? ;) In fact, if you go with one, a monitor controller that allows you to kick it in and out easily would be something I'd definitely recommend to go along with it.

 

 

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In fact, if you go with one, a monitor controller that allows you to kick it in and out easily would be something I'd definitely recommend to go along with it.

 

 

Yeah, good point. It's something i've been looking into anyway to be honest. I have my eye on the Drawmer MC 2.1.

 

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That Drawmer looks pretty interesting.

 

I ran across some passive monitor controllers the other day while surfing the 'net that I had never heard of previously from a company called Mammoth Cave Audio. They have various different rack and desktop units with different I/O capabilities. I have not heard them, so I can't speak to their audio quality, but they seem to be in the same general price range as the Drawmer, and they look pretty darned cool too...

 

 

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That looks great Phil. I know sound is what's important but what a nice looking piece of gear. Unfortunately, with shipping here to oz and exchange rate, it would cost me quite a bit more than the drawmer. (i'd want the deluxe model)

 

The drawmer doesn't look anywhere near as good

 

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and what i don't like about it is that the face isn't slanted

 

although the one advantage to that is if i ever get my car stuck in mud i can stick it under a wheel to get some traction :)

 

drawmer-harduse-2.jpg

 

always a bonus with pro audio gear

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I have one Harmon Kardon mono sub and two passive sub cabs. The passive subs are just simple 8" full range speakers mounted in air tight thin solid wood cabs. They're not specifically tuned but I must have come darn close to it because I don't have issues if I do mix with them, just a reduction in overall bass.

 

I mainly use subs for tracking bass or testing finished mixes. I hate using headphones and having the extra beef for tracking is my preferred method when doing solo work. I have several other sets of monitors I can kick on too so I can get a little microphonic guitar body sustain going too. I like having the subs down by my feet though. It gives the illusion of how things sound in an automobile.

 

I'm thinking I may be changing things up in the studio in the near future however. I did a road trip from TX to NJ recently and got to listen to all the mixes I've done in the past two years and made some evaluations.

 

I haven't been doing many live sessions so I'm going to set things up in a quad configuration instead of a stacked wall of monitors. I'm going to set my monitors up so I have subs in back of me so I have the trunk effect of a car stereo.

 

This should allow me to frequency pan from front to rear. I have a couple of recordings where Todd Rundgren does this on some of his recordings and its a super cool effect I been wanting to try out. He does some tricks you can only hear in a car well. He pans side to side and at the same time rolls the bass up and mids down so the image will move from say the left front car speaker to the right rear.

 

With the right automation you could easily do clockwise rotations or any number of X type moves. Its only a pseudo comb filter trick but it does get close to a quad effect.

 

This kind of mixing is difficult with the speakers stacked in front of you. You need a set in back of you to create a sonic plane at ear level to properly execute those moves so I thought I'd give it a shot and see what happens. Once I get some presets built I may be able to go back to a vertical stack and do the same thing but I'll have to see how well I can pull it off first.

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