M-Audio M3-6 User Manual page 8

About the Rear-Panel Equalizer Controls
These three knobs allow you to tailor the EQ curve of your M3-6 monitors to complement the
frequency response of your studio.
Since studio monitors (including the M3 series) are designed to have a flat frequency response,
you may be wondering why these speakers include additional EQ controls. They are included
for three reasons:
1. Size, shape, and acoustical treatment of your specific studio:
M3-6 monitors are tested and tuned in an anechoic chamber to be as linear (flat) as
possible. This means that leaving the knobs set to their default "12:00" position will closely
resemble monitoring in an "ideal" environment similar to those found in high-end recording
studios. In these studios, acousticians carefully determine the size and shape of the
control room, placement of the studio monitors and large furniture, construction materials
of the walls and ceiling, as well as all acoustical treatments that must be applied to various
parts of the room. All this ensures that studio monitors will sound as flat and accurate as
possible at the "mixing position."
In the real world, however, many project studios are set up in preexisting rooms where the
size/shape of the room cannot be easily modified to improve acoustics. This means that
the design of the room itself may have adverse effects on the frequency response of the
monitors (i.e, sound reflections from flat surfaces in the room may cause the monitors to
not sound linear). For that reason, the M3 line features "corrective" EQ controls to
compensate for adverse effects that may be caused by your room.
2. Placement of the M3-6 monitors within your studio:
The proximity of your M3-6 monitors to the walls (and floors/ceilings) may adversely affect
the frequency response of what you hear at the mixing position. This is because all
speakers radiate low-frequency sounds in all directions—not just toward the mixing
position. If there are large, flat surfaces (such as walls or ceilings) within one foot of the
speaker, these surfaces act as low frequency "sound reflectors" that return bass energy
projected from the rear of the speaker back into the studio. This can result in bass that
sounds "tubby" and exaggerated.
3. Using a subwoofer:
If you plan to use a subwoofer with your M3-6 monitors, you will need to filter out low
frequency sounds so that only the subwoofer plays low-frequency sounds (the M3-6
monitors will only play midrange and high-frequency sounds, in this scenario). This needs
to be done so that the subwoofer and M3-6 monitors do not both play the same low-
frequency sounds, causing a greatly exaggerated bass response within your studio.
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