What to use as monitors?

[jambell]

Hi guys!

Over the last little while I've been recording my band's first EP on my Firepod and all has been going very well!

We've finished tracking and I'm finally at the point now where I can start mixing to get this thing out. Our release date is November 4th so I've got a good two weeks or so to get this thing mixed, and while not ideal to be under such a time crunch, it's all we've got. Frankly, I'm glad to have a full two weeks to mix because I expected much less!

Now, tonight I run into a hitch. I don't have a whole lot of money so my monitoring situation has been quaint, to say the least. I did most of the tracking through headphones (decent quality ones, at least! not crappy iPod earbuds haha). I know this isn't the ideal situation, but again, it's all I've got so it had to do.

The problem I ran into tonight lies in the fact that the computer speakers (4.1) that I'd been using to do rough mixes and stuff and had intended on using to mix are now dead! Due to my complete idiocy, an open bottle of water got spilled into the receiver (I'm fairly sure it's a receiver. it acts as an amp, as far as I can tell) and now the speakers are left unusable. I'm not too choked up about losing the speakers, they were pretty old and weren't very expensive and I've been meaning to buy new ones anyway.

Now, the problem I'm left with is, these are the speakers I've been listening to music on for the last 4 years and I know the ins and outs of them, so I figured they'd be perfect to mix on. Now that these are gone, I'm left with two weeks to finish a 4-song EP and nothing but a few pairs of decent headphones (one set that boosts lows way too much, one set that boosts highs way too much).

Also, I have a fairly expensive home theater system set up for my TV. I figured maybe this wouldn't be such a bad thing to use (maybe just run the two front speakers) because the system would also be intended for music to be listened to on them. This might be a completely silly and the other members of my band completely think so too, so maybe I'm out to lunch but I'm kind of grasping at straws here. I think I'd be facing the same pitfalls as using computer speakers, and I might even be better off? Is this a dumb thought?

I'd look into just biting the bullet and buying some studio monitors but a) money is already tight and b) the room I'm in is crap, so I imagine they wouldn't do too much well?

I've heard good things about the Audio-Technica ATH-M50 studio headphones, and they're within my price range but I doubt that I'd find them in town and I don't have the time to wait for them to ship :\

I could just go out and buy another decent set of computer speakers for the job.

The last option would be -- and I don't know how plausible this is -- to find a way to rig my old stereo speakers to plug into my PC/Firepod somehow and use those as monitors temporarily. This would probably require buying an amp because the soundcard doesn't have the power to run the bigger speakers, which would basically leave me in the same place as the home theater stereo system


Oof, I'm at a loss for what to do. In summation, here are my options:

a) headphones
b) home theater speakers + A/V receiver (+ added bonus of mixing on a 61" widescreen tv? )
c) buying studio monitors (room is crap, money is scarce, so this isn't much of an option unfortunately :\)
d) buying studio headphone monitors (affordable, but probably wouldn't be able to find them in the limited time I have)
e) buying another set of decent computer speakers
f) finding a way to rig speakers from a CD player/stereo thing to run through my PC (would probably require an amp which would leave me at the same place as using home theater system)

Time is of the absolute essence, and I know none of this is ideal but with what I'm working with, what do you guys think I should do? Right now I'm an inch away from lugging my PC upstairs and plugging it into the home theater system and rolling with it. At the very least I could do a mix or two and see how they translate to other stereos, but I think that this might be my best bet, facing the same pitfalls as any other less-than-ideal monitor situation?

Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated, though! Thanks!

[Autobahn]

Why not see if you can rent a pair of studio monitors for a couple weeks.

[brandondrury]

I've heard good things about the Audio-Technica ATH-M50 studio headphones, and they're within my price range but I doubt that I'd find them in town and I don't have the time to wait for them to ship :\

Yeah you do. Get 95% of your mixing done on whatever you can and finish up the mixes on ATH-M50s. I've started mixes on unideal systems before and finished up on my real rig.

This is the method I'd recommend.

Why not see if you can rent a pair of studio monitors for a couple weeks.

It's one option, but I don't care what studio monitor you use, it takes time to learn them and if the room is bad it won't matter anyway.

You've got to find a system to mix on that you are familiar with. Studio monitors are always preferred but you own records that have been mixed on hi-fi systems, I'm sure.

Ultimately, I wouldn't make a huge fuss on what you are mixing on. That just means you are going to spend more time checking your mixes on other stereos. This isn't a huge deal.

What is a huge deal is the quality of the mix to begin with. Make sure the second you've got something that translates well to toss it in Bash This Recording so we can help you. Mixing is a tough process in most genres and we all can use help.

Brandon

[jambell]

Thanks for the replies guys!

I went to the accompanying music store at the place I teach guitar at and talked to the guy who handles all of the live sound/recording equipment questions there, and he reccommended me some cheapo Yamaha monitors. I didn't really want to spend a big chunk of money on something that I don't really need (I'd rather do research and get some better monitors, for a little more than $120!) so I told him I'd think about it.

He did give me some good advice, though: start a mix in mono, work everything over so you can hear everything well, then start to pan out from there. I did this on a mix with a pair of headphones my brother gave me, a pair that I use for all of my music listening, and the mix translated ridiculously well to other systems. Streamed it to my PS3 and it sounded wonderful on the home theatre system, put it onto my iPod and it even sounded great on iPod earbuds.

Granted, I've got a page of heavy notes, but it's the best starting base I could have asked for.

I'm starting to think this will be ready for next Tuesday :] I will definitely post a mix to Bash This Recording later tonight, after I get through my notes and get together the second mix of this song.

Thanks again, guys!

[jambell]

(post-hardcore) Cera - Ready Boys, Let's Go to the Mattresses

Here you go! bash away :]

[paul999]

hi jambell

I've never used a chat room before so I hope I am responding in the correct place. I took a listen to you recording and I think you did really well especially given your equipment limitations. For me the important stuff was there ie: I could here each instrument my attention was drawn to the right place at the right time. This made the equipment limitations not interfere with getting the vibe of the song. The instrumentation was great. THe vox being off key was distracting for me. Over all good song!

[Dime]

Don't sacrifice the quality of your work to meet a release date. Some of the biggest names in the industry will GLADLY push a release date because the project is just not ready for commercial sale.