Really taking my time and having fun creating these videos, hope you all enjoy!

Hey Colt, hope it's okay I share some points to continue where you left off. What I've discovered way too late was that more important than the 38% rule, is why. You already know this but for me the most vital thing that changed everything re: monitor placement was something nobody talks about. SBIR. Speaker Boundary Interference. Same reason we don't want to be in a square box, or in the middle of the room. We don't want our mix position OR our monitors to be in multiples/double/equals 10x10 as an example. It's not just about the nulls and modes, it's about where we are and where the monitors are in relation to them and making the worse, versus being able to "treat" those problems effectively in the exact same room. Here is an example of where following the rule is a very bad idea: If we say first, that we want to base the monitor placement around our mix position having to be at the 38%, the problem with the rule is that someone's monitors may now be: 4 feet off the ground with an 8' ceiling. 2' from the front wall, and 2' from the side wall for each monitor, with 4' in between monitors. That is a DISASTER waiting to happen all for the 38% rule. I made a HUGE mistake abiding more by the rule, NEVER knowing what problems I introduced as a result because nobody ever mentioned the above in a cohesive way. My room wasn't so bad, I just abided by the rule with no reason not to. We have to teach when we need to break that rule, right? I had treatment with 6 inch absorption and clouds, and iso pucks, everything. I had Sonarworks, too. And the worst part is that while I thought Sonarworks flattened my curve to complete my soundstage, my Adam A7 rolled off around 60hz. The monitors spec down to 43hz, I just figured they didn't really go that low. Until I moved studios and was going to do a build, and did so much more research. Now I'm up as close to the front wall as possible (which would have been a total no-no if you asked me a year ago) and the modes/nulls have moved up higher in the frequency spectrum allowing me to actually treat them as a result. And, I am actually getting the full response of my monitors now down to 43hz. The 38% rule doesn't work even 38% of the time in a home studio scenario. It works in a purposed build, or a home that was purchased with the golden ratios in mind. That's when the 38% rule works. Any other time, the best place to put monitors is going to be as close to the front wall as possible because of SBIR, and to be mindful of staying away from equal dimensions that have modes that will build up upon one another. 2 other things to consider: Desk reflections. I can't believe I never knew about this as a real thing. The comb filtering I have always got is literally the same as everyone's because of desk reflections. All of us have the same issue, and none of us talk about it. I always thought my monitors just dipped around 650hz. No. I used a mirror at the reflection point and now have an angle that gives me a better response, in the same way your video monitors are probably doing for you. Lastly, getting my monitors off the desk, even though they were de-coupled. Total difference. All to do with monitor placement. Hope it's okay I shared some of my experience. Keep doing you!! I appreciate very much you are giving your time to so many! Cheers and be well!

3 years later, and now you're building an Atmos studio!! Can't wait for a video about speaker placement NOW with 13 speakers and the sub!! 🔥

This was very helpful. Thank you!

Damn kid...your videos get better every time I check in...keep up the good work!

Colt. You definitely deserve my subscription to your channel. Keep up the great work!

I love how you edit your videos man. and it seems to keep improving. You're an inspiration. Thank you.

I just watched this again . . . I'm teaching a mixing class and the reading assignment for the weekend was Chapter 1: Monitoring, from Bobby Owsinski's "Audio Mixing Bootcamp". I'm having them watch your vid to compliment the reading - keep up the good work. peace

Thanks Colt. Appreciate the good info as always. Have a good weekend, man!

You never lay many of them on their side because some of the new tech speakers are made to disperse sound on a upright left to right plane.(that's why you see a oval dish shape around the tweeter).

Very timely video for me. Building the desk for my DAW this weekend, and getting Kalli LP-8's next week. My entire studio has acoustic treatment now.

I learned something here. Thanks, sir. Also, we have the same fancy cup. Nice. ...Measure from the center of the top face of the cabinet, mark the floor, then place the STANDS on the center of the mark that you made on the floor (traditionally with a gaft tape X) so the center point is easy. If the CENTER of the base of the stands are on the CENTER of the X on the floor then the speaker's manufactorer and the stand's manufactorer's math will put the point between the tweeter and main woofer just behind your ear in the correct position when you put your chair in the position where the CENTER OF YOUR CHAIR BASE is on the equallateral point ot the monitors. Big-budget studios have used third party installers for decades who use tape to mark the floor then pull it up and the center of each subject is the measuring point. Ihope this helps people realize why guys like Tony Maserati and CLA say in interviews that their speakers are pointed just behind their head and that they prefer it that way. Do it and listen for yourself and decide for yourself and worst-case-scenario you put it back how you had it. This also makes a slight bias to the rest of your room sounding more like the "sweet-spot". I pinky-promise. 👌🤘🤙

Great subject! Hey just a side note, your video quality is just getting better and better and the production is just great man. Good Job Colt you are an inspiration!

That intro though. Someone's been watching some Peter McKinnon 😉 Great video, Colt!

You made me change my speakers position. I'm gonna check it out and compare .thank for you time.

AL & his go rhythm, says what up... Keep em coming with much love!

Now i need to revamp my whole studio up, thank you for the insight in this video

Many compliments from my side!! I’m Roberto from Italy, I really appreciate your channell.. thanks a lot for all kind of tech information you share! If possible, it would be of great interest (for me, at least) to know which is your opinion about the mid-range freq quality of the Auratone 5c you have and the Avantone mix cube. I heard some people report that the kind of mids of the original Auratone (of the 70’s and 80’s) is different compared with the new ones, the 5c you have. In other words they say the new have slight more highs and some more bass, loosing in that way the characteristic that allowed to focus the hearing on the critical mids frequency. I would like to know if you agree on this, and if you maybe think that Avantone could be a similar or better choice if the mixer needs to concentrate on that part of the sound spectrum. Also some comments from other people here are welcome! Many thanks in advance! Cheers!

Thanks for this Video. Just about to buy my 1st “pro” reference monitors. Invaluable info. Thanks again 👍👍 Keep up the good work.

Just followed this process! Thanks Colt for an awesome video! Love your stuff!

I want to obsess over this, but I think close is good enough. I think reference tracks, different speakers, and the car can all add up to tell you what's happening. Good is good.

Yep, yep and yep. Pretty much confirming my thoughts and suspicions Gonna be adding some CLA10s soon and centering them with my 5Cs on top. I'll have to push my main JBLs out a bit wider, which is not optimal for a 10x16 room, but seems a small price to pay.

Between the woofer and tweeter is close, but if we're gonna get technical... Lmao... Those lower freqs are less directional than the highs firing from the tweeter. I could be wrong here, but I believe that the center point you choose should be negligibly closer to the tweeter than the woofer. But it has once been said, "don't sweat da small stuff" 😜 Ever think of placing your 5c's directly in this "center point" we speak of? Just a nitty gritty idea. Thanks so much for the video Colt. I love your channel, dude. PS: was dat da old lady using the measuring tape? Haha

Thanks for another one Colt! This is very helpful information.

Congrats on Sweetwater deal! I Just want to add additional steps mentioned here. I also use JBL speaker angle app to toe in the the speaker angles to minimize phase cancellation and also use Sonarworks room EQ to make precise time alignment and room correction eq.

Fantastic tutorial - great quality and straight to the point! Great job!

Great video as always! Thank you Colt

Hey Colt, Always enjoy your videos and the great info. I see your monitors are on their sides and there are a lot of opinions on the matter and I’d like to hear your thoughts on that. You obviously are having good results with them that way. I may have to as well because of space restrictions in my home studio. Cheers, Jamie 🙂🇨🇦

Curtain you made is working great 👍

Good concise info! Well put together video!

Hej Colt, I watch your videos and like them very much. I also use Event OPALs and love them, and here's a line from manual about horizontal placement: "Note that when mounting the Opal horizontally, the tweeter should always be on the inside, as shown below." I'm just curious is it on purpose and I'm not trying to be an a** here. Love your videos and find them very helpfull. Cheers!

Good practical info. Thanks man!

Here is one for the algorithm. Good luck. And keep up the good work.

As always... great info, great presentation

Congratulations broooo! Soo happy for you....can we get a video explaining drum mixing plss..btw can we have a video about budget monitors also..thanks

Can you make a video on how to calibrate monitors and subwoofer!

Congrats on Sweetwater relationship. That's a big deal. Great to see you so successful!

could you do a video on different types of acoustic treatment(clouds, diffusers, traps) and how they’re set up in your studio?

awesome video Colt! I currently only have two awkward rooms to work out of and am having a hard time managing even with the acoustic treatment i have implemented. Thinking on acquiring sonarworks to hopefully help this problem out a little bit.

Can you comment on setting up your speakers in the horizontal position versus vertical?

Great video!!

Great video as always 🤘🏽

Hi Colt. Love the videos! Keep em coming. I need some advice. Because of where I’m at in my career, I’ve started mixing songs for artists who have been mixing their own stuff but are ready to “take it to the next level”. Trouble is that they really just want me to mix it the way they would mix it. How do you go about making a product that you’re proud of, even when the artist is asking you to make choices that you think sound bad? Thanks Colt!

Love all your videos, Colt. I am currently building a studio. I want a set of speakers for mixing - probably the HS8's. But I also want something for playback for friends and family to listen to. How do I know what speakers are good for playback vs mixing?

Those are some great speakers 🔊

Very helpful. Thanks!

Great vid as always!

onthef rule of thumb is to make sure the tweeter is never placed in the middel between floor and ceiling right? and what about the material/stands/desk you putt them on what are the differences?

Great video bro!!! Thanks 🤘🏼🤘🏼🤘🏼

Cool video! Would you recommend NS10's or the 5C's as a secondary set of monitors beside my yamaha HS8's? Thanks!

Hi Colt. Keep up the good works. I love your channel. If you don't mind, what's the model number of the 24 LG monitors please. They look amazing

Another great video!

A question that is 50/50. Can you place a speaker on top of another? I'm limited to space, have 2 sets of monitors but am buying a pair of cubes. Can I place those on top of one pair of the originals. Thanks👍👍👍

Phase Polarity is a tricky thing to take care of. I am reading Mike Senior book and finished the first chapter and searched on checking the Polarity of monitors and found your video. He also recommends unported speakers NS and Auratone. I'm gonna guess Auratone is expensive and NS10 are not even in production and the Yamaha HS model is ported and I've seen bad reviews of it in comparison to Presonus Eris. Do make a video on reviewing unported speakers and the waterfall plot graph. By the way I am sure most of us who are just beginning won't be doing much acoustic treatment. Mike Senior was crazy about acoustic treatment and spending as much as possible for the speakers. Don't think it's necessary and feasible at all. Gonna just do it with ATH-M40X Headphones instead.

Why horizontal placement of the monitor speakers? Not the NS10s.

Great video as always! Out of curiosity: how do you gauge the low end when working on the NS10s? Would you use a subwoofer (tricky to setup right) or would you switch back and forth between the NS10s and headphones if you didn't have the Opals? Thanks in advance :)

Bro you're a hero!

Nice one boss, Informative as always. Just a random query, What amp would you recommend for NS 10s , I know few by names but still not sure which one to get 😂.Much appreciated bro 🙌🏽

thank you for the clip!

Rock on! Great info!

I am trying to get the best positioning audio . You know vocal at the center and also instruments separated right and left . If i open the speaker to far out in the room i loose positioning

Cool tips!

Great tutorial, any position for the subwoofer?

I have a question, if I need to place my speakers lower than the video monitor is it ok to angle them up pointing toward my ears? Is that the same as placing them up higher straight on at ear level?

I love my event opal next to my yamaha ns10s 😍

Hi Colt, Great job. I always get good information in these videos. One question I had is what compelled you to pick the Dawmer monitor Controller instead of controllers such as the Personus? Im looking to buy one but don't know how good it is. Please let me know. Randy

between monıtors also should be the same result as our ear and wall ?

Great video Colt and useful info as always... Not sure I've heard you address it in any of your other videos, but what do you find is your optimal referencing volume? I've found on my NS10's (powered by an ART SLA1) that 77db-ish seems to be a sweet spot in my room. My Kali IN-8's, which are placed just outside of those, I usually go a few db louder to feed the craving that comes along with better bass response. Do you find you do that with your Events as well? Congrats on that Sweetwater deal and looking forward to see where this channel goes...

Can you explain what is the difference between aura tones and ns10, I want one of them to home, wich to choose?

How to setup monitor screen like that in slanting position ?

Not gonna lie fam, it gives me anxiety to hear monitor placement advice while there are two sets of monitors setup horizontally behind you (which puts the ‘wiggle room’ of the sweet spot on the vertical axis, Ie. The distance between the woofer and the tweeter changes in relation to your ear as you move from left to right). Also, all of your speakers are set with just the right distance from the wall to cause serious sbir issues and little done visibly to deal with it.

You need to try out the iso acoustics mini pucks!!

great advice

Great video, keep it up Colt! Quick question, my listening position is different spot from mixing position as my 38% dictates. I assume I would make my mix to what I think sounds right, then move to listening position to check? Seems obvious but my coffee hasn't kicked in yet...

Thanks man

This is awesome info! I finally got into my own place so I can take a bit liberty with my room, but the best way to set my room up is for it to be wider rather than longer. Is there any reason in particular why you should set your room up "long ways"?

What is the distance between speakers and backwall?

great video

Congrats on the sweet water deal!

Mathematically, because the desk to monitor stereo triangle is hard-set the 38% rule only works in really long rooms.

Thanks 🙏 ✌️

Greetings, could you advise me on whether I should get a 5 or 6.5 inch monitor for my home set up. Am choosing between the Focal Alpha 50 and 65. My room is amateurishly semi treated and is 10 by 11. Will be sitting about 2-3 feet away from the speaker. I want to demo them but I can’t. Prefer the 65 for its potential meatiness and lower frequency reach but I’m worried I’ll be stuck with a too loud or too big speaker. Any advice would be very welcome. Just discovered your channel and it looks great, thanks!

Random question, does it matter if you have the ns 10s oriented the tall direction?

Hey man! I wanted to say thanks for all your videos. I have Krk 10-3 monitors and am not sure if I should set them up with woofers closer to inside or outside. Some companies sell left and right monitors that are labeled other way around. What's your take on that? Bass in the center? Thanks!🙌🏻

Man these small cube monitors are attacking me from all sides online these days... too bat I have too much stuff already higher on the priority list for my budget... but one of these days I'll get me some.

hey broski, do you prefer 5c over ns10? if so, why? just want your personal opinon on both these passive speakers. Thanks

Thankssss

Awesome ❤️ Sweetwater!!

What about angle?

I've seen them before a few times!

What are you using for a controller?

Nothing was said about them being on their side vs upright. I've tried both but can't say I feel strongly either way but would love to hear your insight. Have also seen someone with their monitors on their side but tweeter inside and woofer out..which seemed so wrong to me.

Awesome as always, really enjoy your vids. While we're on the topic of monitors, don't those orange Event lights drive you insane? They drive me insane everytime i see your studio setup. I don't quite go crosseyed, kind of crosseyed, more one up one down kind of thing but not because it's impossible. Grrrghhh!! You'd think for the price of those monitors they would have given you a dedicated left and right. Anyway, just sayin' adding to the algorithm. Love your work.

Do you use any software correnction system?

Hey! Please have andrew masters visit your studio 😁😁😁 i would like to watch the whole studio tour.

How's the window in the back effecting your mixes if at all?

Might just have to get the Auratone cubes.... damn you lol

Do you adjust your seat just to hear your cubes on top?

Hi, what amp do you use with your Aurotones?

Congrats on the Sweetwater deal!