Near-field monitor placement

[Jed]

Any advise for a newbie? I believe the monitors should be equi-distant from each other and from my ears but how close / far away? How high / low compared to my ears? Does any of this matter?

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Jed

[Phil O'Keefe]

Generally you're correct - an equilateral triangle type arrangement, with equal distances from each monitor, and between the monitors and your ears.

 

As far as distances, that's somewhat dependent on the size of your room - you also have to take into consideration your listening position, the distances from the walls (rear wall behind the speakers as well as the side walls), etc. but in general 4' or so is a reasonable starting point.

 

How big is your room? Do you have any pictures?

 

I prefer the speakers at ear level height when seated, but if they're positioned above your ears, they should be angled downwards so they are "aimed" / angled directly towards your ears, and not firing above your head.

 

If you place the speakers 4' from each other, you should also "toe them in" (angle them inwards) so that they are not firing directly down the long axis of the room, but so that they are angled inwards, towards the listening position - in other words, aimed towards your head. About 30 degrees is a good starting point on that.

 

Here's a recent picture of my control room to give you a basic idea of what I'm talking about:

 

(Thanks to Songrytr for uploading the pic to my server for me).

[slider]

not to hijack the thread....nice studio set up.

I wonder with your rack gear so close together and near the monitor etc...do you have hum detectable in your recordings.

I notice that I sometimes do.

if I face my monitor with my electric guitar I hear a buzz. when facing to the side it goes away.

 

my near filed monitors are toed in, eye level, and I sit 3 to 4 feet from them.

I can tell when I am at the cross point because I can hea small details much better.

[Phil O'Keefe]

not to hijack the thread....nice studio set up.

 

Thank you.

 

I wonder with your rack gear so close together and near the monitor etc...do you have hum detectable in your recordings.

 

No, not really. I was pretty careful with the way I racked things (trying to keep transformers away from things they'd cause hum in), and in the way I did all my wiring and how I routed the power and audio wiring - it's good to keep them routed away from each other as much as possible. All of that, plus the power conditioners definitely makes a difference IMO.

 

I notice that I sometimes do. if I face my monitor with my electric guitar I hear a buzz. when facing to the side it goes away.

 

Are you using an LCD monitor, or an older CRT style monitor? CRT's are notorious for causing buzz and hum with electric guitars when they're too close to the monitor, or when you're oriented in the wrong direction relative to the monitor - especially with single coil equipped guitars.

 

my near filed monitors are toed in, eye level, and I sit 3 to 4 feet from them. I can tell when I am at the cross point because I can hea small details much better.

 

Sounds like you have them positioned fairly well.

[Jed]

Phil,

 

Thanks for the response. I don't really have a room, just a desktop adjacent to my computer. The room is far from ideal (15x30) but it's all I've got for now.

 

cheers,

 

Jed