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About the l$l Actiue
About lllearlield
monitoring
In the early days of recording, most recording studios used big monitor speakers
almostexclusively. unfortunately, they also required high powered ampMiers and
expensive acoustic treaknent (often poorly done) of the enlire control room. still, a
well-constructed big monitoring system really was impressive to listen to, a fact not
overlooked by the studio owners who wanted to impress the record company
executirres who paid for the big studio's time. These big systems had big-level
control knobs, and climts enjoyed "cranking-up" the volume. Fortunately, recording
mgineers and producers eventually leamed that this was not the best way to
accurately mix rrusic because it wasn't the way most people listened to their radios,
casset+es and CD players. Also, big monitor systems and the costs for the required
control room acoustic treahnents were going through the roof (no prm intended),
particularly beyond the budget limits of smaller project and home itudios which
were growing in numbers. A new way of accurate monitoring was needed: nearfield
monitoring.
Nearfield monitors, by their definition, are intended for mounting close to the
listener. The idea here is to improve the direct acoustic path betrareen the speaker
and the listenerby making it shorter, thereby giving less opporhmity for the always
present indirect (reflected) somds to getback in and muddle things up. With
nearfield monitoring, the surrounding acoustic mvironment becorres a much less
significant factor in establishing the monitor system's sound character.
A good set of small monitors properly placed in a reasonably non-reverberant room
and properly powered will yield surprisingly accurate results atbudget prices.
Caried to another studio, the same monitor should also provrde repeatable r,esults. In
fact, some recording engineers carry their own speakers around because they lcrow
how they will sound in almost any room. Now, even the big sfudios use smaller
speakers to augment their big monitoring systems, and nearfield monitors have
become proven tools in the recording business.
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