near field vs. far

[Nubus]

Grover says near and far are different from one another. I used to always sit really close to the speakers but lately I've been much further back... pretty much out of the normal sweet spot. Just curious about your styles.

[lukedavo]

Oh man, I cant vote for both. I like to do everything close, and then see how it sounds far. From what Ive experienced, to get the true bass sound, you have to check far often. It just never sounds like what it really is up close, I tend to walk out of the room, and if it's too much, I know its wayyyy tooo much. But if it comes down to having to change the speakers with more effort than the push of a button, I just do close, and check bounces at distance.

[Bellringer]

I think I fall more into the Mid field area. Which is probably closer to near. Though I'm not sure. This is when I'm recording and mixing. When I'm working on the final mix, I'm near and I have a second set of speakers that I do a far check with. I guess it depends on the song and kind of music. There's just no tight rule for me.

[Whoopysnorp]

Isn't the golden rule to form an equilateral triangle with the points formed by your head and the two speakers? I thought that was the way to get the most accurate results from your monitors.

[Bellringer]

Originally Posted by Whoopysnorp

Isn't the golden rule to form an equilateral triangle with the points formed by your head and the two speakers? I thought that was the way to get the most accurate results from your monitors.

I believe that for the best stereo seperation the equalateral triangle is essential. With nearfields this works out well in a project studio or short monitoring area.

[Nubus]

Originally Posted by Bellringer

I believe that for the best stereo seperation the equalateral triangle is essential. With nearfields this works out well in a project studio or short monitoring area.

I believe depending upon your speakers the triangle is for accuracy. If you get outside of it the minute differences in timing between the stereo field should cause imaging distoritions and level imperceptions; and the highs and lows hitting your ears at different times relative to one another can cause phase cancellations... I think. Thing is, lately I've just been ignoring the rules and sitting on the couch, like where the band would normally sit; as in no where near the sweet spot. Just getting sounds up and moving the mix along fast is nice this relaxed kinda way to me.
I wouldn't do this for editing though.

[Whoopysnorp]

Originally Posted by Nubus

I believe depending upon your speakers the triangle is for accuracy. If you get outside of it the minute differences in timing between the stereo field should cause imaging distoritions and level imperceptions; and the highs and lows hitting your ears at different times relative to one another can cause phase cancellations... I think. Thing is, lately I've just been ignoring the rules and sitting on the couch, like where the band would normally sit; as in no where near the sweet spot. Just getting sounds up and moving the mix along fast is nice this relaxed kinda way to me.
I wouldn't do this for editing though.

If you're curious and you haven't done this before, sometime you should sit in the traditional triangle spot and then move your head from side to side as there is something playing in the monitors. You can hear those phasing issues very readily.

[Nubus]

Yeah. And the timing difference between tweeter and woofer too. Try sitting your monitors up straight the way they are designed to sit. Your sweet spot should be big enough to move around a little bit. Lay them on their sides (the cool looking way) and sit back down. Your sweet spot should have shrunken down quite a bit. Now you have effectively shrunken your sweet spot. Good luck.

[dagosto]

One thing worth mentioning that I recntly have started doing is making sure the tweeters are pointing as directly at my ears. Since I don't have fancy speaker stands I usually have to sit up straighter. This has helped my stereo placement skills as well as helped improve my posture.

[Whoopysnorp]

Originally Posted by Nubus

Yeah. And the timing difference between tweeter and woofer too. Try sitting your monitors up straight the way they are designed to sit. Your sweet spot should be big enough to move around a little bit. Lay them on their sides (the cool looking way) and sit back down. Your sweet spot should have shrunken down quite a bit. Now you have effectively shrunken your sweet spot. Good luck.

My main monitors are a pair of Tannoy Reveals (vertically-oriented) but I also have a pair of the old version of the Alesis Monitor Ones (horizontally-oriented). I wonder why Alesis designed those to be laid on their side, and I wonder if I could just stand them up and improve the sweet spot? I don't actually do any mixing on them--they're just so I can hear what I'm recording in my rehearsal space before I take it home to the Tannoys. Still though, couldn't hurt.