DIY speakers for mixing

[Gregoire90]

Hello,

First post here! Been reading for a while.

I just built myself a pair of Paul carmody hitmaker speakers. They sound great! Great bass response, however, they are not quite detailed enough for critical mixing duties. Does anyone have any experience with another kit that you have found great for mixing? Mostly mixing rock and electronic.

I really loved building the last set which is why I’m interested in building another rather than buying from a manufacturer. Any input is much appreciated.

 

[fpitas]

Jeff Bagby had some premium speakers in that line. I recall the Spirit Wind, but there were plenty of others. Hitmakers are inexpensive, good value but not top notch by any means. Some of Bagby's are about as good as you get. Paul may have some higher performance speakers too, you might check his website. This one looks decent: https://sites.google.com/site/undefinition/bookshelf-speakers/carrera

 

[fpitas]

You might also message member @Wolf here. He used to make DIY kits at one time.

 

[staticV3]

@Gregoire90 here are a few good to great DIY designs:

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...r-directiva-open-source-speaker-review.27094/

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...selah-integrity-diy-speaker-kit-review.15695/

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-1a-diy-speaker-with-sehlin-mod-review.15802/

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/bagby-mandolin-diy-speaker-review.22981/

 

[DVDdoug]

This is the second time I've said this today, but most of us here are audio & music lovers, not audio pros...*

Have they been measured? (The design, not necessarily your build.)

If you don't have "known good" monitors and a treated room, the best you can do is compare your mix to a known-good reference and check your mix on everything you can get your hands on, and again compare to your reference. (Pros do this too, but they don't have to compare on "everything" and they usually don't need as much back-and-forth.)

After some time, if your monitors aren't terrible you should have learned to make a mix on them. (Even real monitors sound "different" from each other and it takes time to learn them.)

But you may need a subwoofer. I doubt you can get "realistic" bass you can feel in your body from those.

they are not quite detailed enough for critical mixing duties.

You have to be careful with words like "detail". Nobody really knows what it means and it's not quantifiable or measurable. I would have thought it relates to high-frequency response but somewhere here on the ASR forum there is a link to a Dan Clark video where he talks about headphone testing. He says headphones with more distortion are often described as being "more detailed"! But headphones do often work well for hearing "little details" or "little defects". Most pros recommend against using headphones as your main monitors or to judge the overall sound of your production (unless you are specifically making a headphone mix)

* P.S.
On 2nd thought... If you find a pro audio forum they'll probably tell you to go-away until you get some real monitors.

 

[thewas]

A good DIY compact monitor and its comparison to the Neumann KH 120:

Heissmann Acoustics | DXT-MON vs. Neumann KH-120A

DXT-MON vs. Neumann KH-120A. A scientifical comparison, or "How far can I get to DIY and where are the boundaries"

heissmann-acoustics.de

 

[Philbo King]

These measurements look pretty impressive.

A good DIY compact monitor and its comparison to the Neumann KH 120:

Heissmann Acoustics | DXT-MON vs. Neumann KH-120A

DXT-MON vs. Neumann KH-120A. A scientifical comparison, or "How far can I get to DIY and where are the boundaries"

heissmann-acoustics.de

 

[Gregoire90]

This is the second time I've said this today, but most of us here are audio & music lovers, not audio pros...*

Have they been measured? (The design, not necessarily your build.)

If you don't have "known good" monitors and a treated room, the best you can do is compare your mix to a known-good reference and check your mix on everything you can get your hands on, and again compare to your reference. (Pros do this too, but they don't have to compare on "everything" and they usually don't need as much back-and-forth.)

After some time, if your monitors aren't terrible you should have learned to make a mix on them. (Even real monitors sound "different" from each other and it takes time to learn them.)

But you may need a subwoofer. I doubt you can get "realistic" bass you can feel in your body from those.


You have to be careful with words like "detail". Nobody really knows what it means and it's not quantifiable or measurable. I would have thought it relates to high-frequency response but somewhere here on the ASR forum there is a link to a Dan Clark video where he talks about headphone testing. He says headphones with more distortion are often described as being "more detailed"! But headphones do often work well for hearing "little details" or "little defects". Most pros recommend against using headphones as your main monitors or to judge the overall sound of your production (unless you are specifically making a headphone mix)

* P.S.
On 2nd thought... If you find a pro audio forum they'll probably tell you to go-away until you get some real monitors.

Hey thanks for the reply!

Sorry I wanted to keep my post short and sweet but I’m realizing I left out some key details! I have a treated room and use genelec 1031as. They are great and I love mixing on them, but our studio space is shared so I am essentially putting together a home mixing rig.

I understand this is more audiophile- geared but a lot of pro audio forums tend to rely on hearsay and brand recognition. I know that’s a broad sweeping generalization, but I really do prefer the more analytical approach this community takes to measurements. I apologize if I’m beating a dead horse here.

And you are exactly right. In reference to “detail” I’m mostly talking about high frequency response.

Thanks for the feedback!