You didn't ask... but here is my opinion anyway. Studio Monitors, After 25+ years of doing this full time... IF your room is a normal room, basic treatment, 8ft ceiling... Just get monitors that sound how you like to hear music, meaning, something that sounds good to you. Because until you are in a REAL room, correctly designed, you will always need to deal with monitor issues, no matter what you buy. Any room calibration is a phasy Band-Aid. If you are in a properly designed studio, even cheap monitors work better, but if you get really good monitors, correctly sized for the room, all the better, the detail and stereo image comes to life and the days of mixes not translating are gone. Your job as an engineer becomes EMENSELY easier. EQ moves make sense, you can hear compression, everything just works and doesn't fight you. Side note, in a properly designed room with the monitors setup correctly, Vocals will sound quieter than you'd except if you are used to listening in other settings. ;-) Merry Christmas everyone!
There are very few engineers on RUclips that I actually trust. You two are top of the list. I know I’m entering a no-bullshit zone whenever I watch you. For 2025 I’d love to see mix tutorials added to your roster. That probably won’t happen, but I’d love to get more insight into your process. Anyway, enjoy the festivities, and see you soon.
Your views on live mixing are spot on, when I went to mix live for a while, I noticed the "seasoned" live mixes were scared of the compression and EQ, and then wondered how I made it sound to clear and full. Was quite a nice feeling!
MERRY CHRISTMAS STUDIO LIFERS!!! 18:31 - Good choice. That Toneboosters gear should be demolishing FabFilter at this point, their EQ is eating ProQ's lunch in a big way. Their MBC is definitely on my Christmas list also.
I just realized that ToneBoosters Pro EQ 4 actually has an option under Peaking (Transient; Sustain) which does a similar thing to Split EQ. We just need it to do frequency suppression and ta-dah! We'll have the underdog EQ
I have cheap monitors with a sub and I wouldn't change them because I've been listening to great music on them for years so I know what a good mix should sound like on them.
Yeah the Toneboosters MBC is the nicest multiband I have used. Clean interface. For me one of the best deals I got was Eventide Blackhole Immersive. Amazing reverb.
Ahh Mickie Most....New Faces, the X Factor of the 70's Thanks for making me feel absolutely Jurassic guys : ) liking the Alan 'Fluffy' Freeman/Bullseye mash up on the Top 5, 20:36 only you Dan could take a sinister turn in plugin reviews, 23:49 you guys are cold blooded man lol 28:34 great point Dan 29:14 I still do that Sean 'The Kitchen Test' Learning your monitors is an art in itself, nuff respect Sean and Dan for your anecdotal knowledge in the engineering game, just as inspiring as well as your trusted reviews. Sayonara suckers
Merry Christmas fellas! I saved up my money from live shows and bought a pair of Mackie HR824’s in 1997 as a fresh faced 17 year old. I still use them as my main monitors to this day. Thousands of songs have been tracked, mixed and mastered on them. They aren’t perfect. They aren’t really cheap or really expensive. But like any piece of gear, it’s KNOWING them that matters. Combined with a good sounding room. As I rapidly approach fifty, I can afford some high end monitors if I want them. But I’ll stick with me Mackies! I really can’t be arsed to learn a new pair of monitors.
It's like being stuck with the roadies in the back of the artic with a bottle of rum after losing two rear tyres. Or it would be, if not for your evident expertise... Merry Xmas and a clappy new year.
Always towards the end of the”a thing”… even worse, I was creating stuff in the 80’ for people to call it crap, but then hear it on the radio 10 years later… oh well, those were the good old days (and you know you’re old when you hear yourself say such things)
Listening from outside room. Listening from corner of the room. Listening with hands in front of ears to hear back reflections only. Plus the mono horrortone. Perhaps you should do a bit on headphone referencing with things like Realphones. Anyway, happy xmas. 🎉
Sean, when you say your back wall is one big bass trap, do you mean the wall behind you or your monitors? Been researching this a lot lately, and they say the front wall behind the monitors isn't super necessary for bass trapping compared to the wall behind us. Also, do you have any clouds above you? One last thing, what are the dimensions of your studio. My room is square, super challenging for me to hear low end properly.. Love to hear your thoughts.
The whole building and room is custom built so there's double layers of rockwool on all walls...then there's floor to ceiling corner bass traps behind the monitors... There's also a cloud above my head....and 2 low mid traps sitting in front of the bass traps....finally there's a diffusion baffle above the monitors centre position. Ceiling is angled towards the front and is a foot thick made of mdf and plasterboard layers. No parallel walls anywhere, so no standing waves.👍 Room is 4.5 x 4m so not huge. 👍
Perhaps you could make a bundle of your Top 5/10 plugins for mixing and Top 5/10 for mastering and sell them as a bundle. Most developers cooperate with online resellers. Bundlehunt do bundles of non-music software by various developers every few months.
My main Barefoot monitors have a problem with the DSP that disables them sporadically. It's going to be £600+ to get the amps back to Barefoot in the US, the only way of fixing and matching them, which I've not had the budget for of late. Been working on my old NS10s for the past 3 years, different projects, full releases. Don't find them fatiguing at moderate levels and appreciate their honesty. I'm considering looking at some top end headphones in future, rather than expensive monitors. IF they can do the job for me it would mean I could mix anywhere (within reason) which is invaluable. I'd be interested in your thoughts on mixing with top end headphones.
Re Kiiiiive 133 - Mirroring channels I can handle. I couldn't be doing with the Hi-Mid below the Lo-Mid layout. I just know that that would screw me up everytime. Even if I were to remember it being the wrong way around I would resent it...
Aaaaand .. I started using my monitors that were the near-fields in the studio I was working in back in 1987. I've owned them since 1992, when he sold up. Tannoy Mercury II - 2-ways (front ported) from the 80s Before that I had Lancasters with 15" Golds in my own place. I do like a dual-conc. Nowadays as a little old man, retired, doing a bit of DIY in my home studio/living room I'm using Sonarworks Sound ID for the room and looking to compensate for my ancient hearing deficiencies. 🧙♂
All those compressor sound the same on youtube. People hear what they want to hear. Great channel guys. You guys remind me of my twin uncles. They always gave me a good laugh too. Sean even looks like them and has the same mannerisms. Merry Christmas.
Yeah, we hear what we want to hear which is why these blind tests are so useful. Level matching is great too so my reptilian brain stops shouting "Louder Make More Gooder!"
You guys are the most entertaining thing on audio RUclips right now. Merry Christmas, fellas!
You didn't ask... but here is my opinion anyway. Studio Monitors, After 25+ years of doing this full time... IF your room is a normal room, basic treatment, 8ft ceiling... Just get monitors that sound how you like to hear music, meaning, something that sounds good to you. Because until you are in a REAL room, correctly designed, you will always need to deal with monitor issues, no matter what you buy. Any room calibration is a phasy Band-Aid. If you are in a properly designed studio, even cheap monitors work better, but if you get really good monitors, correctly sized for the room, all the better, the detail and stereo image comes to life and the days of mixes not translating are gone. Your job as an engineer becomes EMENSELY easier. EQ moves make sense, you can hear compression, everything just works and doesn't fight you. Side note, in a properly designed room with the monitors setup correctly, Vocals will sound quieter than you'd except if you are used to listening in other settings. ;-) Merry Christmas everyone!
interesting hearing what you were talking about with live. ive got very little experience mixing foh so nice to hear your stories
There are very few engineers on RUclips that I actually trust. You two are top of the list. I know I’m entering a no-bullshit zone whenever I watch you. For 2025 I’d love to see mix tutorials added to your roster. That probably won’t happen, but I’d love to get more insight into your process. Anyway, enjoy the festivities, and see you soon.
I just copped the Toneboosters single band compressor yesterday. They definitely have some great plugins for a fantastic price.
Merry Christmas Dan and Sean! 🎅🏻.
Thanks for all amazing reviews, advices and laughs during the year.
Have a smashing christmas holiday!
Your views on live mixing are spot on, when I went to mix live for a while, I noticed the "seasoned" live mixes were scared of the compression and EQ, and then wondered how I made it sound to clear and full. Was quite a nice feeling!
MERRY CHRISTMAS STUDIO LIFERS!!!
18:31 - Good choice. That Toneboosters gear should be demolishing FabFilter at this point, their EQ is eating ProQ's lunch in a big way. Their MBC is definitely on my Christmas list also.
I just realized that ToneBoosters Pro EQ 4 actually has an option under Peaking (Transient; Sustain) which does a similar thing to Split EQ. We just need it to do frequency suppression and ta-dah! We'll have the underdog EQ
I have cheap monitors with a sub and I wouldn't change them because I've been listening to great music on them for years so I know what a good mix should sound like on them.
Yeah the Toneboosters MBC is the nicest multiband I have used. Clean interface. For me one of the best deals I got was Eventide Blackhole Immersive. Amazing reverb.
Merry whatever guys!! I like these kinds of videos to drink my tea to right before bedtime
Ahh Mickie Most....New Faces, the X Factor of the 70's Thanks for making me feel absolutely Jurassic guys : ) liking the Alan 'Fluffy' Freeman/Bullseye mash up on the Top 5, 20:36 only you Dan could take a sinister turn in plugin reviews, 23:49 you guys are cold blooded man lol 28:34 great point Dan 29:14 I still do that Sean 'The Kitchen Test' Learning your monitors is an art in itself, nuff respect Sean and Dan for your anecdotal knowledge in the engineering game, just as inspiring as well as your trusted reviews. Sayonara suckers
Always great.Happy Holidays
Merry Christmas fellas!
I saved up my money from live shows and bought a pair of Mackie HR824’s in 1997 as a fresh faced 17 year old. I still use them as my main monitors to this day. Thousands of songs have been tracked, mixed and mastered on them. They aren’t perfect. They aren’t really cheap or really expensive. But like any piece of gear, it’s KNOWING them that matters. Combined with a good sounding room.
As I rapidly approach fifty, I can afford some high end monitors if I want them. But I’ll stick with me Mackies! I really can’t be arsed to learn a new pair of monitors.
Good one guys 👌 Merry Christmas!
It's like being stuck with the roadies in the back of the artic with a bottle of rum after losing two rear tyres. Or it would be, if not for your evident expertise... Merry Xmas and a clappy new year.
@@jrgroberts 😂👍
Top 5 starts at 22:09
Monitor discussion at 23:38
Just waiting for Dan to sleep it off during recording... Happy Crimbo guys x
Love the Bullseye prizes reference, worst prize I ever saw on there was a Formica Kitchen hahaha
@@simonwhenlock 😂😂
Always towards the end of the”a thing”… even worse, I was creating stuff in the 80’ for people to call it crap, but then hear it on the radio 10 years later… oh well, those were the good old days (and you know you’re old when you hear yourself say such things)
Definitely not cresting yet. Keep going. I enjoy your videos so much.
@@JunkanooImmersionScience 👍🍻
Love the Die Hard sweater!
Listening from outside room. Listening from corner of the room. Listening with hands in front of ears to hear back reflections only. Plus the mono horrortone. Perhaps you should do a bit on headphone referencing with things like Realphones. Anyway, happy xmas. 🎉
Speakers are the same as thirty years ago? If you have a chance, check for example the Ex Machina Pulsar.
@@drydessert4198 Yep....heard them....Nice....but not gonna affect my work...👍
🤣 did you do this back from the pub ! Great show gents ✊🏼👊🏻
All ears are a scam !!!!😂
Sean, when you say your back wall is one big bass trap, do you mean the wall behind you or your monitors? Been researching this a lot lately, and they say the front wall behind the monitors isn't super necessary for bass trapping compared to the wall behind us. Also, do you have any clouds above you? One last thing, what are the dimensions of your studio. My room is square, super challenging for me to hear low end properly.. Love to hear your thoughts.
The whole building and room is custom built so there's double layers of rockwool on all walls...then there's floor to ceiling corner bass traps behind the monitors... There's also a cloud above my head....and 2 low mid traps sitting in front of the bass traps....finally there's a diffusion baffle above the monitors centre position. Ceiling is angled towards the front and is a foot thick made of mdf and plasterboard layers. No parallel walls anywhere, so no standing waves.👍 Room is 4.5 x 4m so not huge. 👍
@@StudioLife101 Thanks Sean. Sounds like you planned that room very well. Would love to have something similar one day!
@ Was a drawing for a few years before I built it...worth the time and cost though.👍
I DO NOT think Sean is ugly haha!!! 😂 F you tooo there Dan 😂🤘🏻
Perhaps you could make a bundle of your Top 5/10 plugins for mixing and Top 5/10 for mastering and sell them as a bundle. Most developers cooperate with online resellers. Bundlehunt do bundles of non-music software by various developers every few months.
My main Barefoot monitors have a problem with the DSP that disables them sporadically. It's going to be £600+ to get the amps back to Barefoot in the US, the only way of fixing and matching them, which I've not had the budget for of late. Been working on my old NS10s for the past 3 years, different projects, full releases. Don't find them fatiguing at moderate levels and appreciate their honesty. I'm considering looking at some top end headphones in future, rather than expensive monitors. IF they can do the job for me it would mean I could mix anywhere (within reason) which is invaluable. I'd be interested in your thoughts on mixing with top end
headphones.
fun episode! What mics are you using?
Austrian Audio OC18 👍
@@StudioLife101 Thanks!
I would like to see someone build the DIY monitors by the music tech scam guy and test them.
Best wishes to y;all from . . . R2R Xmas release.
Chambers are great when a plate doesn't work.
I just got an email from wavegrove and your faces are on it 😂
😂😂 Nice.... 👍
Dan almost rhymes with scam. So, is the other fellow named Perry? Merry Christmas.
This show kicks ass
Solstice Felicitations 🌅
Re Kiiiiive 133 - Mirroring channels I can handle.
I couldn't be doing with the Hi-Mid below the Lo-Mid layout.
I just know that that would screw me up everytime.
Even if I were to remember it being the wrong way around I would resent it...
Aaaaand ..
I started using my monitors that were the near-fields in the studio I was working in back in 1987.
I've owned them since 1992, when he sold up.
Tannoy Mercury II - 2-ways (front ported) from the 80s
Before that I had Lancasters with 15" Golds in my own place.
I do like a dual-conc.
Nowadays as a little old man, retired, doing a bit of DIY in my home studio/living room I'm using Sonarworks Sound ID for the room and looking to compensate for my ancient hearing deficiencies. 🧙♂
Is that a soundtoys logo on his hand
@@nahtesteven6117 ha....no.....it's an camera aperture...👍
Oh okay, was thinking this man is dedicated to sound, sick tattoo regardless 👊
@@nahtesteven6117 Cheers....Made a few films too....👍
@@StudioLife101you mean *iris, being aperture is the open portion itself, and not the blades?
@ yes...👍
All those compressor sound the same on youtube. People hear what they want to hear. Great channel guys. You guys remind me of my twin uncles. They always gave me a good laugh too. Sean even looks like them and has the same mannerisms. Merry Christmas.
@@stevenroach2296 👍😂
Yeah, we hear what we want to hear which is why these blind tests are so useful. Level matching is great too so my reptilian brain stops shouting "Louder Make More Gooder!"
Seasons Greetings (Yoots !) lol🎅👉🍻🍻
3 out of 5! Bosh!
I heard you struck my Son, may I ask why? Yeah well he did his mixdown and sounded great in his car……..oooh.
Subtle Little Nudge was great in the early 90s until they signed to that major label.....
@@jarrodolman5828 😂
Kudos to PSP in my account they just pop free plugins in there for you!
Teh real Question i ARE computa monitors a scam as the are just black and very thin. It doesnot even make any sense to star at them.
Looks a little bit like hitler! 😂Best line ever.
😂
Attention scam ..
All your base are belong to a scam!