Monitor Positioning

[UnityDeep]

Hey all,
I am having problems getting a perfect position for my monitors. I want the perfect centered sound so when I pan an instrument or vocals they will play exactly where I want them. Any help?

[Vulconizer]

How far apart are they and how far from you are they?

I find it works well to have a basic triangle. The two monitors form two corners with my head at the 3rd angle, putting myself roughly the same distance from the two monitors as they are from each other.

[richiebee]

What he said... equalateral triangle should do it for balance. You can run a fixed signal (sine wave for example) through them to make sure the balance is equal from your seated position.

There are other things that you should consider too - height and distance from the wall. These things shouldn't affect stereo placement though.

[Vulconizer]

Speaking of balance: Might just want to make sure you have the volume knobs on the monitors set the same ( if the monitors have them ). It can throw the mix to one side if they are off volume-wise from each other.

As to what richiebee mentioned concerning height and the distance from walls, I agree. That 'shouldn't' have an effect on the stereo imaging.

Do you have anything like a bookshelf, picture, wall, etc... close by on one side that could possibly reflecting more sound towards one ear?

Do you maybe have one in a corner and the other isn't?

Do you point the monitors straight ahead or are they angled in, towards your listening position?

[sparqee]

Hmmm... I have to say that my own experience with speaker placement has given me a differing opinion on stereo imaging being influenced by wall proximity. I've found that if a monitor with a rear facing bass reflex port (such as the Alesis Monitor One mkII) is placed close to a room corner the apparent bass response is increased. So if you have just one of your monitors close to a corner that will pull the "center" of the bass to that side. Since the human ear registers less stereo separation for low frequencies this can really mess with the apparent balance of the low end.

If your monitors do not have rear facing bass ports then this problem will be less noticeable but sometimes those "less noticeable" problems can be the tricky one as they influence your mixing decisions without you realizing it.

Speaker placement certainly isn't something to fixate on or think too much about but it's good to be aware of things to consider. The best solution I've ever heard of for finding the best speaker arrangement is to have two friends (each holding one speaker) move around as you direct them. This allows you to sit and use your ears to find the arrangement that sounds best.

[Vulconizer]

Originally Posted by Vulconizer

Do you maybe have one in a corner and the other isn't?

Yes sir. This is why I asked this question.

When I was referring to the distance from the wall, I meant just from the back of the monitor without taking anything else into the equation. One step at a time.

[sparqee]

Ah yes, "one step at a time". You lay the trail of bread crumbs leading the way along the gentle path to wisdom.

Where as I the Raven spew forth the barbed tangle of details that make up our mortal life thereby laying the challenge for the initiate to unravel the unfathomable jumble. <snicker>

Forgive me. I'm teetering between the verbose and the poetic today.

[Vulconizer]

Verbosely poetic is always a fine way to be in an effort to eschew the rigors of this grave trail we all ride.

I'm just plain weird. lol

[richiebee]

I wish I could come up with clever sentences. Maybe that's one of the reasons I'll never write a song with lyrics.

[NBeebe24]

For the best monitor positioning you should have monitors in an equilateral triangle like everyone else has said. What I haven't heard mentioned is the symmetry, which definitely affects the sweet spot. Monitors should be the same distance from the side walls also, meaning is one is 5 feet from the side wall then the other should be as well. Monitors should ideally not be placed against a wall because no matter what kind of port system it uses, all monitors radiate in 360 degrees, so 1-3 feet from the back wall is great.

All treatment in the room should be symmetrical too. Monitors should be 'firing' down the long dimension of your room because bass waves are long and cause worse standing waves in shorter distances. Monitors should be decoupled to avoid comb filtering also. With proper treatment and good monitoring position you can get the perfect center stage you strive for.