Circle of Confusion: Database of Studios and their Monitors

[GXAlan]

Out of curiosity, I started looking up the mastering/mixing gear used at some of my favorite studios. I thought it might be good to create a master thread where we keep track of what speakers are used where. I haven't separated the recording studio from the mastering/mixing studio, which is probably an important thing to do. My general impression is that the studios focusing on movies and music have the most high-end speakers while the pure music studios seem to go with seemingly random setups.

1 - Studio name, location
2 - Brand of monitors used
3 - Music or movies that you liked that was mixed here
4 - References (photo, article, press release, etc.)

Skywalker Sound, California (USA)
Meyer Sound
All of the Star Wars, Pixar, and Marvel movies and more

Reference: [1][2]

Victor Studio, Tokyo (Japan)
Genelec (for last 30 years)
The do a lot of Japanese-market music, but in the USA, they're known for popular anime (Macross and Gundam series) and videogames (Final Fantasy series).

Reference: [1][2]


Abbey Road Studios, London (UK)
Bowers and Wilkins
Obviously known for the Beatles, they were also used by Adele, Pink Floyd, U2 and Sting.

References: [1][2]

Electric Lady Studios, New York (USA)
Custom Augspurger mains, ATC
Adele has recorded here (30) and Taylor Swift was recently seen recording here while doing her Eras tour.

References [1]

The Village Studios, Los Angeles (USA)
Custom, TAD tweeters and drivers
John Legend, John Lennon, Marilyn Mason, Barry Manilow, Lady Gaga, Bob Dylan... pretty much a true mix of every genre

References [1][2]

East West Studios, Los Angeles (USA)
Custom Augspurger with TAD/JBL drivers and custom ATC, though they apparently have a Wilson in the lounge
From Frank Sinatra to R.E.M.

References [1][2]


Capitol Studios, Los Angeles (USA)
PMC
John Mayer, Bob Dylan, The Beach Boys, Skrillex

 

[kongkong]

It's not typical and traditional studio but I like to watch video or information of immersive audio.

As you can see engineers who work in those part seemed to be preferred using more modern tools or speaker.

 

[Snarfie]

For me the confusion is how they treath there room acoustics regarding there controll room(s). What does have priorities an how do they accomplish that. If i am correct the investment ratio is around 30% gear an 70% room treathment/accoustics. So besides canceling out side noise you want to bring your reverb time to let say 0,4 seconds or lower? Than i guess Frequency respons linearity (20-20khz) some where between 2 an 3 db? How do they accomplish that with absorption pannels bass traps DSP combination of those? Does proffesional studio's these days want those above conditions or am i way of.

Correct me if im wrong but i saw some where a servey i thought from Genelec that showed after measurments that the average linearity in pro studio's was not what they expected not with in 2 or 3 db.

So if above is in place an the optimal conditions are met for speakers/monitors what is the difference (besides speaker size cabinet volume) between speakers/monitors i guess there purpose.

I'm using DSP to correct my sound caused by room modes. I measured a lot of speakers over time in my room. I got the impression (after measurements) they have not the same sound but they have the same sound signature. So placement of instruments frequencies have more ore less the same character. Differences are more in depth an imaging.
Does ASR members have the same experience.?

 

[sigbergaudio]

Interesting thread. There are thousands and thousands of studios, so this is doomed to be a quite incomplete list I think, but interesting nonetheless.

I think one thing that is easy to forget when being baffled by problematic studios, is that most studios aren't rebuilt continuously. In reality a large majority of studios was built decades ago, so the amount of acoustic treatment and also their approach to acoustic treatment isn't necessarily state of the art for natural reasons. And often a result of the knowledge they had 30+ years ago, rather than what we know now. While we had good theoretical knowledge of acoustics then as well, that doesn't mean everyone had access to that knowledge. They also did not have as advanced measurements, no DSP, etc.

The choice of monitors are probably also somewhat random many places, and a result of anything from personal preference, budget and recommendations from others. Not unlike the hifi side. As we recently installed both SBS and Manta in a large studio here in Norway, I got the opportunity to talk at length about all these things with the owner. Other interesting things are how they still used analogue master tape, the giant mixing table in the recording studio is still analog, and for the cable fanatics, how the sound went through probably 100 meters of XLR/TSR cables via patch panels and various components.

 

[goat76]

I would like to know if anyone here can give some indisputable examples of how the different monitors used in various music studios have "colored" the end result of the audio productions coming out of those specific studios. What obvious traits in sound can be heard in all audio productions made at Abbey Road, Electric Lady Studios, The Village Studios, East West Studios, and Capitol Studios, that can be pinpointed down to their choice of studio monitors?

I think the whole idea of how much bearing the choice of studio monitors has for the end result of audio productions is a preassumption-idea at best. The most important thing is that the audio engineers are familiar with the monitors at hand, and that reference-grade material sounds correct to them on those monitors. If good reference tracks are repeatedly used during the audio production as a target, the audio production being made will end up sounding tonally-wise about the same as the reference track no matter what kind of monitors the studio is using. I would say most studio monitors are in the ballpark of being neutral enough, anyway.

But as already said, I would very much like to hear some examples of how the audio productions from the above-mentioned audio studios have ended up sounding in a specific way due to the choice of their loudspeakers.

 

[GXAlan]

Interesting thread. There are thousands and thousands of studios, so this is doomed to be a quite incomplete list I think, but interesting nonetheless.

One main criteria is that you also have to specify an example of an album or artist that recorded there. A lot of times you see pictures of home studios and you have no idea if they have won Grammy’s or were responsible for esoteric indie music that 100 people listen to, or the kind that millions listen to.

Look up some music you like, try to find where it was recorded and then try to find a picture or article of that studio.

In my list, Victor Studio is the most esoteric for those in the U.S./Western Europe but for video game and anime fans, those are gold standard titles. Final Fantasy, for example, has sold 180 million copies since the 80’s

As we recently installed both SBS and Manta in a large studio here in Norway, I got the opportunity to talk at length about all these things with the owner.

Do you have links to music or movies that were mixed or recorded there?

I would like to know if anyone here can give some indisputable examples of how the different monitors used in various music studios have "colored" the end result of the audio productions coming out of those specific studios. What obvious traits in sound can be heard in all audio productions made at Abbey Road, Electric Lady Studios, The Village Studios, East West Studios, and Capitol Studios, that can be pinpointed down to their choice of studio monitors?

Great question! We have examples of individual tracks but we SHOULD find that stuff coming out of Victor Studio SHOULD be more consistent then studios that may be using less neutral speakers like Abbey Road.

What is tricky is that the old 801 Nautilus was more neutral than the 800D that they have in a different room.

 

[sigbergaudio]

Do you have links to music or movies that were mixed or recorded there?

Well, with regards to the new monitors from us that would be misleading, since they've just been installed, while the studio has been around since the 90s. So they've recorded lots of well known artists (from a Norwegian perspective), but not on those monitors (yet).

 

[GXAlan]

@goat76
For instruments and smaller ensembles, I would imagine it to be less of a problem since the mixing engineer knows what he or she knows.

That said House of Flying Daggers had some tracks recorded at Victor Studio. We don’t know which tracks but I bet Echo Game was done there.

Track 3, Echo Game, is a stress test of IMD. It sounds great in the movie 5.1 mix, but when mixed down to 2 channel, it has become one of reference “challenge” tests for speakers. This clip from the movie explains why it’s such a challenging piece of music.

Now that I know they were mixed on Genelec, it makes sense. On speakers of that caliber, this track is incredible. Most ordinary speakers struggle to keep the drum hits from becoming a blur. (My JBL 708P and Meyer Sound Amie’s all do fine).

In contrast, the Kodo albums more consistently sound good across speakers. Some of this may be content and total number of drums playing simultaneously, but they were using classic JBL monitors. You can see the smart phone on the table showing that this is a modern photo and the article is about the passing of the person last year, so presumably they were choosing something recent for the photo.

“The Release of Our New Album ‘Kizashi'” by Yuta Sumiyoshi - Kodo, Taiko Performing Arts Ensemble

www.kodo.or.jp

Well, with regards to the new monitors from us that would be misleading, since they've just been installed, while the studio has been around since the 90s. So they've recorded lots of well known artists (from a Norwegian perspective), but not on those monitors (yet).

Sure. Add a picture with the new monitors and the most well known Norwegian artist that recorded there

 

[sigbergaudio]

So this studio was originally built back in 1989 and then called Studio Nova, changed owners in 2004 and was then also renamed to its current name which is Velvet recording studio - located 1 hour south of Oslo, Norway.

The original studio (Studio Nova) recorded a few artists that may be known outside of Norway, most notedly Aha, but also Vidar Busk, Seigmen, Sissel Kyrkjebø, Jan Werner, Return, Backstreet girls, Zeromancer, Trine Rein and many others. I have no idea what monitors they had back then.

The current Velvet recording had artists like Hellbilies, Turbonegro, Sivert Høyem, Madrugada, Claudia Scott, Lorraine and others. They used to have Dynaudio and also the Yamaha NS10s (still there for checking mixes occasionally.

Spring 2023 they replaced the monitors in their recording studio with Sigberg Audio Manta + dual 10D subwoofers, and also replaced the monitors in their mixing/mastering studio with Sigberg Audio SBS.1 + dual Inkognito 10" subwoofers. So none of the above were recorded on these monitors, but everything they publish going forward will be.

 

[DVDdoug]

The "final sound", including the final EQ, comes from the mastering and that's usually in a different studio.

And most pro engineers know how to get a good mix/master from the monitors & room they use everyday...

 

[NTK]

Blackbird Studio Studio C. Available with ATC or Genelec.

 

[GXAlan]

Blackbird Studio Studio C. Available with ATC or Genelec.

Blackbird is a big Nashville (USA) studio with artists like Kelly Clarkson, Keith Urban, and Reba McEntire but also artists like Avicii, Alicia Keys, Adele, John Legend, and more.

BlackbirdStudio.com Clients

The completely non-inclusive A-to-Z list of the artists, engineers, and entities we've worked with at Blackbird Studio since our start in 2002.

blackbirdstudio.com

So far, it seems like there are more Genelec’s in tier 1 studios than we have seen Neumann…

 

[Chester]

@GXAlan a great thread idea. I have nothing of interest to contribute but I will keep reading with interest.

 

[NTK]

@GXAlan a great thread idea. I have nothing of interest to contribute but I will keep reading with interest.

Here is a similar/related thread.

Which speakers are the Classical Music Pros using?

I was reading a piece about BIS Records. At one point, the equipment is described and photos of the studios are shown. Interestingly all speakers are passives. Studio 1 - B&W 802 Diamond ... https://www.stereophile.com/content/bw-802d-loudspeaker-measurements Studio 2 - Quad ESL63 ...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[holdingpants01]

I think you're way overblowing the importance of the monitoring system, engineers can adapt to them very fast by listening to known material doing constant referencing and almost always use alternative monitoring that they know well. The room, placement and EQ are as important if not more and you can't know these. Almost all of them aim at being neutral anyway. You also showed mostly recording studios, most often the albums are not mixed there and at the end it goes to mastering for quality control and further balance change. IMO this is pointless if not confusing

 

[DavidMcRoy]

I think this is a useful topic to discuss if only to demonstrate just how non-standardized recording and mixing practices are in real life. It's a miracle we get as much consistency in the end products as we do, or, alternately depending on your sensibilites, it's no wonder there's so much variation. At the end of the day, sound recording for music, movies, video and gaming is part of a creative artistic process, not a standardized laboratory endeavor. And most projects are basically commercial art where profit is a motivating factor behind decision making.

 

[Sokel]

A lot of music comes from Howie Weinberg Mastering .
I see PCMs' and lots of smaller ones.

Edit: Does anyone recognize the monkey coffins under the Bryston?
Edit2: Surprised to see this EQ (?) on top of the Bryston and as it seems very minor corrections are applied there (it's ON,you can tell by it's led)

They have a wall of Grammys' in their site for about the mastering and clients like Madonna,Metallica,Prince,Nirvana,etc

 

[Snarfie]

A lot of music comes from Howie Weinberg Mastering .
I see PCMs' and lots of smaller ones.

View attachment 319170

Edit: Does anyone recognize the monkey coffins under the Bryston?
Edit2: Surprised to see this EQ (?) on top of the Bryston and as it seems very minor corrections are applied there (it's ON,you can tell by it's led)

They have a wall of Grammys' in their site for about the mastering and clients like Madonna,Metallica,Prince,Nirvana,etc

Because of the minor corrections you can say that a flat neutral sound is produced.?

 

[Sokel]

Because of the minor corrections you can say that a flat neutral sound is produced.?

It tells me well constructed room,flat or not is up to their taste probably.
Do we know how this big boys measure?*

Edit: *Probably not very well judging from the rest of the line.
On the other hand they seem quite affordable (about 40k a pair if it's MB2S with their matching woofer at the bottom) comparing them with other big boys main monitors.

They're either used to them or afraid to break their (admittedly impeccable) record and reputation. (?)
At the end it all comes down to the skills of the individuals as it seems.

 

[Snarfie]

It tells me well constructed room,flat or not is up to their taste probably.
Do we know how this big boys measure?

I pressume that all (pro) studio's have constructed there room treathment such that a more ore less neutral/flat sound is created. If i look to my IMF an Vandersteen speakers they are measured in a anchoric room also flat within 2 a 3 db. Now it's up to the customer how the recording must sound (for instance good in a car or an average house etc etc). Than the perceived sound at home can be good average or bad.

At home I have made the choice to choose a system such that a flat neutral sound can be produced. For that i started years ago with speakers that where build by design phase coherent and measured with in 2 a 3 db flat. With the introduction of dsp years later i could corrected the room modes much better. The results is realy good if i play music that is probably neutral recorded they sound the best.

Enclosed measurment (Vandersteen grey) of my mancave. Preferd target curve white. An i used many target curves to get the most transparant result. Flat by far was (subjective) the best IMO