A Silent Studio
A Silent Studio Posted on: 30.04.2013 by Wilton Keuning I do believe at this point we have all heard of Silent Discos where you are in a club type setting with a room with just subwoofers and a bunch of people in headphones so that you can grab a pair of cans and dance or you can take them off and stand to the side and not be interrupted in conversation by sound.This lead me to another thought. This is aimed at those of us who live in apartments, dorms, duplexes, have room mates, et cetra, but want to produce originals, refine our DJ mixes, or even just immerse ourselves in full, powerful music without having the boys in blue show up at our door with a sound complaint. A silent studio. Basically what came to mind was this (for me anyway): Aiaiai TMA-1 Studio Headphones and a SubPac Now before we go off having battle of the headphones, this is MY thought, you can use any headphones you damn well deem the best for you. The Set-up You'd be in your studio, it's late, the neighbours are all home so it's time to kick off your sub and turn your volume down. Can't really mix/master like this now can you? You don your pair of cans, in my case the TMA-1 Studios and flick on your SubPac on your chair. You're back in the mix feeling your lows, pulling out those highs and losing yourself in the mids, all without waking up your room mate who was up for the passed 7 days cramming for their Proctology 101 exam. The Pros
The Cons
So those are my thoughts on something like this and some ideas I had, but I'd like to hear all of your input! Discuss. | |
Dannie Dimora 03.05.2013 |
Originally Posted by ProfessorStrangeman
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Wilton Keuning 03.05.2013 |
Originally Posted by Polygon
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Dannie Dimora 03.05.2013 |
Originally Posted by ProfessorStrangeman
Many companies do these prefab soundproof "boxes", this is one example: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2008/11/sound-proof-roo/ Some are made entirely with triple layer glass panes, my friend has one of them in his studio for drum recording, they are tailor-made, so you give them the dimensions, they ship you the panes with the frames, and you mount it with a couple friends They're pretty awesome, when playing drums, the sound levels outside are as low as, say, a very lightly played acoustic guitar |
Wilton Keuning 03.05.2013 |
Originally Posted by Polygon
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Romelia Stankard 30.04.2013 |
Originally Posted by ProfessorStrangeman
I believe the bigger picture that R01 and I are talking about is that lack of sub bass in headphones really isn't the issue, so the subpac wouldn't be solving any problems of mixing in headphones in the first place. You're looking for a solution to something that isn't really the problem. |
Wilton Keuning 30.04.2013 |
Originally Posted by R01
This is all just a concept idea that come to me and I though I might share with you guys and the one resounding issue with me, would be tuning in the SubPac. Any tips for that? |
Trey Brune 30.04.2013 |
Originally Posted by ProfessorStrangeman
I've never been a fan of mixing on headphones for a lot of reasons, and I believe that by adding some low-freq/sub you're not going to be making it that substantially better. Having annoying neighbors is always going to be part of your concerns unless you soundproof a room or are working in a studio. It's just part of life. Anyway, it's never been a big problem for me, even when mixing in tight spaces with paper thin walls. I try to do my mixing during the day, as your ears become naturally fatigued towards the end of the day.You also fatigue your ears faster with headphones (just fyi). It's not that hard to find some equilibrium between working on music and not bothering your neighbors, though I'm frankly surprised you'd ever get busted by the cops for sound pollution, then you're simply monitoring waaaaay too loud. Even in the studio I stick to these points (unless I'm simply out of time):
I've yet to get a complaint for noise. |
Wilton Keuning 30.04.2013 |
Originally Posted by Xonetacular
|
Wilton Keuning 30.04.2013 | I do believe at this point we have all heard of Silent Discos where you are in a club type setting with a room with just subwoofers and a bunch of people in headphones so that you can grab a pair of cans and dance or you can take them off and stand to the side and not be interrupted in conversation by sound. This lead me to another thought. This is aimed at those of us who live in apartments, dorms, duplexes, have room mates, et cetra, but want to produce originals, refine our DJ mixes, or even just immerse ourselves in full, powerful music without having the boys in blue show up at our door with a sound complaint. A silent studio. Basically what came to mind was this (for me anyway): Aiaiai TMA-1 Studio Headphones and a SubPac Now before we go off having battle of the headphones, this is MY thought, you can use any headphones you damn well deem the best for you. The Set-up You'd be in your studio, it's late, the neighbours are all home so it's time to kick off your sub and turn your volume down. Can't really mix/master like this now can you? You don your pair of cans, in my case the TMA-1 Studios and flick on your SubPac on your chair. You're back in the mix feeling your lows, pulling out those highs and losing yourself in the mids, all without waking up your room mate who was up for the passed 7 days cramming for their Proctology 101 exam. The Pros
The Cons
So those are my thoughts on something like this and some ideas I had, but I'd like to hear all of your input! Discuss. |
Dannie Dimora 03.05.2013 |
Originally Posted by ProfessorStrangeman
|
Wilton Keuning 03.05.2013 |
Originally Posted by Polygon
|
Dannie Dimora 03.05.2013 |
Originally Posted by ProfessorStrangeman
Many companies do these prefab soundproof "boxes", this is one example: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2008/11/sound-proof-roo/ Some are made entirely with triple layer glass panes, my friend has one of them in his studio for drum recording, they are tailor-made, so you give them the dimensions, they ship you the panes with the frames, and you mount it with a couple friends They're pretty awesome, when playing drums, the sound levels outside are as low as, say, a very lightly played acoustic guitar |
Wilton Keuning 03.05.2013 |
Originally Posted by Polygon
|
Dannie Dimora 02.05.2013 | Or just build or buy one of these |
Syreeta Piela 30.04.2013 | Mix and record in the evenings on headphones, pump the monitors on the weekends or at any given opportunity! I know how you feel as I live in a flat surrounded by people.. Who complain in the form of stamping on the floor (If above) or smashing on the ceiling with a broom (When below) I don't believe the subPak is really gonna make a massive difference or open up a new world for you and your creative process. It's a nice 'toy' to have which I'm sure gives a really good listening experience.. But probably a bit of a gimmick in my opinion. Like the previous posts recommend, take regular breaks when using headphones and use your monitors when you can. One thing to note is that a lot of big producers still use headphones producing and get great results. I believe the SubPak is designed to represent that punch in the torso, diaphragm rattling low end you get when stood in front on a Funktion One rig! |
Augustina Zulu 30.04.2013 | Ear fatigue is the real problem I have with long headphone sessions. I've heard using open back cans can help a lot but I can't imagine it could replace monitors. |
Romelia Stankard 30.04.2013 |
Originally Posted by ProfessorStrangeman
I believe the bigger picture that R01 and I are talking about is that lack of sub bass in headphones really isn't the issue, so the subpac wouldn't be solving any problems of mixing in headphones in the first place. You're looking for a solution to something that isn't really the problem. |
Wilton Keuning 30.04.2013 |
Originally Posted by R01
This is all just a concept idea that come to me and I though I might share with you guys and the one resounding issue with me, would be tuning in the SubPac. Any tips for that? |
Trey Brune 30.04.2013 |
Originally Posted by ProfessorStrangeman
I've never been a fan of mixing on headphones for a lot of reasons, and I believe that by adding some low-freq/sub you're not going to be making it that substantially better. Having annoying neighbors is always going to be part of your concerns unless you soundproof a room or are working in a studio. It's just part of life. Anyway, it's never been a big problem for me, even when mixing in tight spaces with paper thin walls. I try to do my mixing during the day, as your ears become naturally fatigued towards the end of the day.You also fatigue your ears faster with headphones (just fyi). It's not that hard to find some equilibrium between working on music and not bothering your neighbors, though I'm frankly surprised you'd ever get busted by the cops for sound pollution, then you're simply monitoring waaaaay too loud. Even in the studio I stick to these points (unless I'm simply out of time):
I've yet to get a complaint for noise. |
Anh Pagliuco 01.05.2013 | Yeah, I'd just build a studio with nice acoustics and some serious sound proofing, setup 4 monitors on each side which are decent-type and then press play. |
Romelia Stankard 01.05.2013 | subpac seems kinda cool for listening but I just don't see it being useful or accurate as a monitoring tool. I mean a lot of headphones have good low frequency response (better than monitors without a sub), lack of sub bass isn't the issue with mixing in headphones. |
Lannie Kutay 01.05.2013 | the only problem, with the subpac is that is just slightly on the expensive side. |
Wilton Keuning 30.04.2013 |
Originally Posted by Xonetacular
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Romelia Stankard 30.04.2013 | Silent studio? This seems like quite a long post and a lot of overbelieveing that can be summarized into "wearing headphones". Hardly a new concept. |
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