Table of Contents
Advertisement
3.0
Installing and Positioning
When choosing a suitable location for the monitors, bear in mind that the physical mounting of
loudspeakers can have a large influence on performance. For best results the monitors should be
mounted on a rigid structure, supported on four pads making contacts with the laminated panel.
The use of soft pads (rubber, Sorbothane, or Blu-Tak) is recommended.
Ensure that the console position does not obscure the direct sound radiation from the
loudspeakers when sitting down. The engineer and producer should have a clear, uninterrupted
view of the monitor loudspeakers.
3.1 (5.1 Surround Monitoring)
In order to ensure a uniform acoustical environment, the room should be symmetrical about the
centre loudspeaker axis; room treatments should be applied symmetrically throughout the room.
Mixed "Live end/Dead end" environments should be avoided. If the lateral speakers are
positioned close to walls then the constitution of the wall surfaces should be identical.
As the main effects speaker for the front soundstage, the Reveal X's placement is a critical factor
in its performance. In all cases the centre channel speaker should be placed as close to the TV
screen as possible. The viewing position when seated determines the ideal mounting height, but
in all cases this should be as close as possible to ear height, if this is not possible the monitor
should be tilted towards ear height in the mix position. The centre speaker should be positioned
along the centre axis of the picture and the left/right monitors just outside the picture, ideally the
three front effects speakers would be placed with the front baffles in line with the screen surface.
If an acoustically transparent screen is used, the left/right monitors should be placed just inside
the edges of the picture. The surround speakers should be positioned at the same distance to the
mix position as the main front speakers. As the subwoofer/LFE channel only produces low
frequencies it is difficult to localise its position by ear. As a result it could effectively be situated
anywhere in the room, though optimum performance will be gained by placing the subwoofer in
the same plane as the main front speakers. The LFE channel is set at a level 10dB higher than
the other channels when mixing therefore it is important to apply the same in any playback
situation.
3.2 Bass Ports
The Reveal X monitors' bass ports are located on the back panel. You should keep the back
panels at least 150mm (6") away from the nearest wall surface to avoid an overblown bass
sound. If you cannot avoid being close to the wall you may want to consider plugging the port
tubes on your loudspeaker with a closed cell foam-rubber plug, friction fit for a full seal.
3.3 Equalisation
Our feeling is that you shouldn't equalize monitors at all; variations in the monitor response
should be fixed through placement. But we realize that equalization is sometimes a necessary
evil. If you have a choice of equalizers for monitor applications, less is more. The fewer the
number of filters, the better the equalizer will sound. A stereo five band parametric is better than a
stereo 15 band that is better than a stereo 1/3 octave. You may not realise that in all but one or
two brands of 1/3-octave equalizers, all 30 filters are in series. There is a minimum transit time
through each filter of some 25 microseconds, plus just a bit of decay time for each filter. Even
with the equalizer set flat, it does not behave like a straight piece of wire in the time domain. If
you don't need to equalize your monitors, then don't hook an equalizer up to them at all.
Hide quick links:
Advertisement
Table of Contents
