I appreciate the way you handle the needlessly snarky, nasty comments. Very calm and classy. Obviously, it takes a thick skin to make it in this world.

these responses are perfect examples of how happy and passionate people enjoy life more than miserable angry people.

It’s funny how you can tell when someone has a personal issue with something and not an actual critique or question, they are so emotional straight out of the gate. Love this series, thanks Dave.

Oh man, I found good humor in this! Easy to criticize and throw shade, sitting behind a laptop screen. I've not mixed, But did A2 (local) years ago at the Warp Tour Monster Stages both left and right SL260 stages, with both Rat Subs, K-array, and V-DOSC. Everything Rat supplied sounded great, and Gwar was a trip!

It's awesome seeing the diversity of age and wisdom that you teach to. I'm just a 22 year old and seeing your legacy of giving back information is really inspiring. Much respect

Some of these are hilarious. I've witnessed your attention to detail when setting up a system in a room and it sounded awesome. I hope you don't let these comments get to you.

*calm whisper* “I think he means polarity.” 😂😂

I love these videos. Your ability to smile and move on is incredible. I need to learn that skill from you also!

Why are sound bros always so salty and righteous? 😂 Dave you are a legend for reading these out loud man haha. Love your work.

Dave, a short comment to give some love! thank you so much!! Absolutely Love your videos, I’ve learned so much watching them it’s insane! Always a teaching or new ideas to think about! 🙌🙌🔥🔥

Dave, you're a unique intellect and that invariably draws the ire of lesser minds. I would like to be more like you when I grow up, but I'm already 68.

The marmite story reminded me of the first time I tasted caviar. Your dad had a jar of it in the fridge at the house in HB and you were eating it for breakfast and gave me some. I was repulsed! Now I love it. Also loving these vids! Good to see your mug and hear your voice, my brother!

Hey Dave. I love this series as I find it incredibly entertaining and educational. Keep doing this and educating these spoiled internet raised kids!

Love that your posting again.

Wow! I never knew people really hated Dave this much. He's one of the best and greatest audio engineers in the world to me. He's very gifted, experienced, and awesome to me. My favorite of all time to be honest

Keep these vids going. Learning a lot 👌🏾

It's nice that you try to add educational and informative value in these "responds" videos, because I would simply ignore most people on the internet. Most of the time, I have no way of knowing the credentials of some person on a forum. I also wouldn't know if they are actually being truthful about what they say.

You know Dave, I have seen numerous RHCP shows. Mostly by video and a few in-person. Long before KZfaq. I had never once questioned the sound quality. I just assumed it was done by a professional and my ears told me it was a good mix. I think a lot of the hate you get is because you are exposing what you do. Before doing that I would bet no one would ever have guessed your methods and assumed everything was “stereo-mono” as I like to call it. These concepts are quite thought provoking even if not incorporated by the viewer. It’s too bad man.

Dave, I love your videos even though 1/2 the time I’m absolutely clueless. I’ve just started DJing and producing music but I found your video on how heat affects sound travel quite interesting. Have you/do you ever work directly with synthesizers?

You know, I think my first question to some of those comments would be “why are you mixing on a Dave Rat system in the first place and not a (enter their name here) sound system?” Thanks Dave for all of your knowledge and wisdom.

That face at 3:26, that's the best reply ever :'D Still laughing about the "out of polarity everywhere" concept...

awesome work as usual. not all these ideas going to work in all venues it depends on the tuning of the Band equipment, tuning the sound system, layout. sometimes the mix in the room sounds amazing ,but when I go to listen to the desk mix it's completely opposite. the most important thing, does the audience actually enjoy it . remember it's all about the audience's experience. which at the end motivates the band.🤟

Haha this is great. Love your attitude keep it up. To hate every minute of an L-Acoustics rig says to me it might be time for a change of career🥴

Dave is a national treasure

Dude "turned off all that nonsense" because he didn't understand sound as much as he thinks. A lot of newbs these days, think they know everything right out the gate. Nobody wants to stay in their lane until they're going fast enough to not wreck everything. Believe it or not, your videos have helped me with mic placement instead of speaker placement, in my studio. I have 14 microphones on my drum kit (4 toms). I'd like to see how those reddit rats cancel all that phase without delaying or moving tracks in a DAW. 🤙🏼

Pure class Dave 🙌

Hey Dave, ever since watching your videos about polarity I've been blown away by how much better things can be if you pay attention to it (i.e. flipping polarity of kick mic to drummer headphones... huge difference). My question is how do you cater for all the different polarity situations? i.e. in the video you talk about Drummer and Singer needing opposite polarity of kick drum. Is it a case of once a mix has correct absolute polarity you can just flip the polarity to the wedges or in ears? Also, flipping final polarity to a band member will really only make a difference if they can hear elements of their mix both acoustically and through their wedge/in ear? Thanks once again.

Genius stuff.... If being a world class supermodel stops working out for you, you could always consider becoming a comedian... This series is super funny

oof. The comments are so snarky. This is a good way to learn something new. Dave doesn't get all hot and bothered, instead, he explains. Good teacher.

Vegemite... The gateway for Marmite...

Hey Dave! Hope you're doing allright, I love your videos. The information youg ive is amazing, eye opening (or should I say... ear opening...) Im just wondering what song is that on your outro?? Its so raw and narly I love it!

I can't believe that one guy went to the hollywood bowl, took measurements after hearing about a unique concept going on, then started by undoing all of it before doing anything else, and concluded with it being bad. Amazing lack of respect and creativity in a person.

Hi Dave. Could you do a video on Black Flag's tour rigs and sound set up? Maybe include any info on the amps used and cab builds you can remember? Been listening to the live tour tapes on KZfaq from 1985 and 1986 and they sound great.

Hey Dave, Steve here. Would one be able to mimic the effects of double micing everything by copying the input to two channels with separate processing instead of actually double-micing everything? Let's say on a small side I have a 32ch mixer with a 16ch band. Does the benefit come from separate source mics or just processing on the FOH side?

TBF I’ve rocked up to venues with issues with the PA and the in house tech has said “impossible! *well known sound person* set up this PA. Thing is there’s different techs using the PA every night. Sometimes things are patched out the wrong way etc in the rush of a show. Also when mixing internationally, do you have to rent or buy a new patch of grass?

I was punished with a threat of a spoonful of Marmite as a child 😂 - I never got over that!

Great comments here, Dave! "...nobody understands Dave Ratt." If there's anything I understand about Dave Ratt is that we're not going to improve our game without testing for ourselves what works. In one sense, you can just try stuff to find out what happens. Serendipity is fine. In another sense, it's helpful to be methodical. I did undergrad work in both physics and music. Ours is an art with a science to it and we need to be scientific artists. You get to be consulted on the Hollywood Bowl by knowing what you are doing, not by guessing or falling into mental ruts. Understanding sound interference can be your best friend and polarity can be your secret weapon. Not understanding it can give you problems you'll never be able to figure out otherwise.

I would absolutely love to hear Dave debate one of these naysayers.

Dave is at the top of the audio food chain. Shit posting about his qualifications is clearly born out of jealousy and kind of pathetic. Rock on Dave.

I used the decorrelation trick on a show I mixed at Wacken on Saturday and I had people tell me it was the best show they heard there, even though I used the festival desk&patch with only 20 minutes of soundcheck time, so I was pretty happy in the end! Btw Dave, did you get my last mail about the Discord server? My mail sometimes behaves a little strangely, so I'm worried that it might not have arrived Robin

It's amazing how many people on -reddit- -on the internet- just people everywhere just make things up.

I My DJ set up is all in stereo, even my subs. I use the real world applications in my Daily DJ work, at times as well. When I bring 4 subs out for a bigger gig. I run 2 subs left stereo signal and 2 subs right stereo signal. Also turn one subwoofer side up a little more than the other side. At times and location to achieve awesome results. Using the dbx drive rack makes even more possible. I love to use the phase of speakers for desired effects as well. Definitely more so with certain music styles. When running my laptop I run my signal sources to two independent channels instead of to one. I switch back and forth with my pan pots from zero for more more floor punch. Though a little more of a roll off on the low end . Depending on songs I will also run pan pots far left and far right and the characteristics is amazing. My low end floor opens up little less punch though more fullness and the mains have more head room in dynamics. Some people even think I'm using sound effects on songs. When in reality its the subtle affects that get buried in songs. From to many sound sources going through the speakers. I'm simply using the pan pots to more so isolate signal paths. To achieve the head room in the music. Sorry for the rant! Just amazing stuff Dave. Awesome work on your channel, Love it!

Hope you do share your experience working on the Holiday Bowl with us. I get that some of these people have methods to get good mixes, but they must not understand that being versatile and having multiple techniques to deal with all of the issues in live sound will make them better in any situation and better prepared.

i live and work in Canada as an FOH/corp mixer and any and all creative ideas are de facto off the menu up here. I am fed up with the staid thinking in the industry here. I gotta move to the USA. Dave... sponsor me!! I'll work for next to nothing if you let me op !

Always love it when people talk shit and then you hear them mix and it's just loud and only sounds good near the mixer. The "lower levels" of pro audio is full of that. It's also full of people who love to experiment and are eager to learn, but it's a job and you can only work with what you have. In a way this is similar to experiments in a studio. E.g. what the Beatles did. Try something against the "general knowledge" and if it sounds good... keep doing it. But again, most people don't have the cash for that either... haha. I could tell stories about that, too.

Dave, all I can say is you tolerate fools better than I do.

lol - thanks

They really know how to hold back on Reddit.

Leveraging Marshall McLuhan's "The medium is the message": Doubtful any of those hurling vituperous epithets would do so in face to face conversation. Yet, it is still the mark of an educated person to entertain a thought without accepting it.

I would rather listen to a PA that sounds good and measures bad than listen to a PA that measures good and sounds bad. Keep up the good work Dave!

haha I thought the 'Dave brings a patch of grass' comment was a joke when I originally first read it.

"There are those that can do. And there are those who just speak doo-doo!" - William TSG

I should have started a list of all the people I've run into who were just damaged goods, disgruntled, loner, vagabond types back in the early 1990s. It's not a solid industry, being a mix engineer, to say the least. It's not as bad as being a truck lumper but it can be close at times on tours. It's just the nature of being gig to gig (even venue to venue and never knowing if they'll still be in existence your next pass through that area) for most people that turns them into hyper suspicious pessimistic assholes toward anyone who has a settled-down thing where they have any kind of job security. Let's face it, there are rackets everywhere and corruption and nepotism and some severe PTSD among us due to the buddy systems at play on all levels and anyone, such as Dave, who has a fairly solid thing with a home base to it is suspect before he does or says anything for those very reasons. It's super difficult for someone to get their head out of the culture aspects of it to even stop and think ''Oh, yeah, these are humans I'm dealing with and talking to or about''. I honestly don't believe any of these snarky commenters begrudge you for anything other than having an apparently steady thing, they see that and a light goes off in their heads flashing MUST BE BULLSHIT AFOOT and they come up with any angle they can to say something hateful. It's obvious that none of them can nail down any specifics so they are almost certainly lying or are clueless but the bigger picture is that they are suffering and trying to put up a tough guy image about it as if they aren't. It's a sad thing. Nobody said carnival life was going to be easy or loving or accepting or respectful.

Some people have Alot to say. Easy to fire shots when we can't listen to your mix. I think, everyone who post trash on Dave should send us a link to their shows

Christ on a bike! (I’m allowed to say that, I was raised as an Irish catholic ☺️). But some of the criticisms of Dave Rat appear to be more than bizarre. Almost borne out envy. Three things. 1. horses for courses. I’ve never heard Dave say any of his ideas are cure alls or magic bullets. 2. Dave’s touring record speaks for itself. It’s obvious he knows his stuff. 3. From someone like me as an audience member for these posts, some of the remarks, particularly those making them under spurious names, seem pretty snide and show no common decency or respect. Regardless of what anyone thinks of Dave’s or anyone else’s ideas, regardless of their profession, a little more respect would be beneficial not just to sound humans but to humans in general. Dave not all of your ideas would work for what my sound company does, it’s horses for courses. But I do appreciate those who try to push boundaries. I hope you make mistakes on your journey as we learn more from those. I know I have when we’ve tried new ideas. Worth noting. Without mistakes there would be no line arrays, no digital desks, no digital infrastructure (I for one do not miss hauling mahoosive multi-cores). In fact without those pushing boundaries we wouldn’t even have electric guitars… or electricity itself if you want to go back far enough. To all the innovators. Keeping making mistakes. We all benefit from them. Unless of course you’re innovating with Guinness. Leave well alone, there’s no perfecting perfection ☺️

Regrets in life.. never hearing a dave mix.. I'll make up for by having marmite toast for breakfast..

I think it was The Levellers, really didn't like an L Acoustics rig.. While it was plenty to do the gig, it was a bit small and their ego was a tad bruised.

I got to hand it to these 11 year old's these days. With a bit of anonymity and a bit of reading (skimming really) they can seem pretty convincing. I guess I should really be appreciating these RPG designers, they have truly enhanced the imaginations of young people everywhere. I mean I remember playing one of the earliest helicopter simulators to the point I didn't crash on take off and I was convinced I had flown a helicopter, I too was 11. Same thing but far more convincing. I mean the critics literally expose themselves with every word, LOL. At minimum they show they don't understand the concepts you employed and are looking for someone to blame for their crappy mix. In all fairness to the one or two people who may be legit you clearly employ advanced techniques so it might be a stumbling block for many. As for me I can barley run my DAW so I just soak up what I can and humbly let the other stuff whoosh right over my head. Well handled Dave, it just shows how good of an educator you really are. :)

If the point was to reduce low-frequency, wouldn't that be the point of out-of-polarity subs?

I think any successful entity has haters that are envious somewhere deep down.

Top of the game with shit mixes, yes I may be alright haha 🤣🤣

Haters gunna hate Dave. 🙄 You earnt your stripes while some of them were still in nappies.

That thread really is as much hate (or jealousy) as much as it is legitimate criticism of your work. You can tell by the wording… I’ve heard mixes that were awful, but I wouldn’t publicly use such negative language unless I was going out of my way to discourage the engineer who made them. It’s not a question of whether someone has thick skin, it’s about making your criticisms constructive so that people are more willing to talk about things.

Wait so you brought your own sod as a foot pad? Did you go barefoot? Otherwise whats the point. But also thats some hippie jazz.

Marmite all the way! Crumpet, marmite, slab of cheese all under the grill. perfect. Btw hearing my cats fighting in the hall but kitties not sure what they are actually fighting about - a bit like the loaded hater comments!

If those comments won't bring you down, what does? 🙂

Hahaha.

If you hated every minute mixing on large L-Acoustics rigs you are likely doing something wrong...

Last time I checked you should never blame the gear it's most likely your fault too many guys want to blame the gear or the PA that you're on and in some instances it's it but it's rare it's pretty awful to hear so many inexperienced soundguys just bash Dave because they don't know what they're doing

So just can not adapt and over come . Start early and understand what the system can and can not do . Let the musician be emotional and the sound man steady on . A difficult thing to be and do many days.

i am just a listener , not a sound guy.the comments sound like a bunch of jealous haters