Speaker Placement

Star11

New member
I have a 4 pc speaker set (left, center, right, and bass). How should I arrange them to get the best sound for post production?
 
Bare in mind you're not going to get the same listening quality as a pair of nearfield monitors... But...

left & & right: as you would set nearfields (equilateral triangle - tweeters at ear height to your listening position.

centre: on the desk in front of you (I'd be tempted to have it a foot lower than the left and right and if possible - further back)

sub: under your chair and turn it down to start with until you get a feel of how your mixes are translating on other systems.
 
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I'm sooo glad you asked this question. I've been getting into mic placement myself lately. Simple answer. What kind of mic's do you have and what are they designed for, overhead mic's, bass kick mix, instrument mic like sure sm57, and vocal mic,s which cost mor. All mic's nowdays are pretty much labeled out the box on what they are ment got.
 
I'm sooo glad you asked this question. I've been getting into mic placement myself lately. Simple answer. What kind of mic's do you have and what are they designed for, overhead mic's, bass kick mix, instrument mic like sure sm57, and vocal mic,s which cost mor. All mic's nowdays are pretty much labeled out the box on what they are ment got.
OP's post was about speaker placement.
I only have one mic at present (SE2200IImp) and it's used for vocals, acoustic guitar and percussion (shakey eggs, hand-drums/bongos & recently my baby's Glockenspiel).
Other mics I've used: Rode: NT1a & NT2a, M3 (SDC better than the AKG c1000 - drum ov-heads, acoustics, purcussion & vocals at a push - good cheap first mic IMO), Shure SM7b(love this but would need a decent pre), sm58, sm57, AKG c1000 (M3 is cheaper and better), Oktava 219 (a bit dark but very good - would like to try through a better pre than I had available). AKG drum set (did the job...)
All lower end mics but all competent.
 
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I second the part about the equilateral triangle with the left and the right. Those two are your anchor. You need those right to do good work.

Virtually all music work is two channel, not multi-channel. It shouldn't matter where you put the center because it shouldn't be making sound. If it is making sound while you're making music, something is wrong.

The sub shouldn't sound like its own speaker - it should just make the left and right sound like the create deeper frequencies than they do. Place and dial in the sub so it enhances without dominating. Trial and error really matters.


Studio monitors will sound better than computer speakers. Though, if you're budget constrained, you're probably better off getting a cheap but good set of bookshelf speakers and a cheap but decent receiver. You should be able to find the Andrew Jones Pioneer SP-BS21 for around $50/pr used, and a pre-HDMI Denon or Pioneer receiver off of Craigslist for $80 or less. That should sound better than most all studio monitors around $400/pr. And they'll sound better still if you match them with a decent sealed sub and keep the bookshelf speakers on stands. (Use a narrow desk or put absorption on top of your desk if you do this.)
 
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