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Two different brands of studio monitors

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Mister_Mirabilis

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Two different brands of studio monitors

PostMon Oct 29, 2018 11:08 am

Good morning

As my build nears completion, I may have an opportunity to acquire a second pair of studio monitors for a decent price.

I’ll be running the complete Hereford set. As my budget and room space (130 square feet) is quite small, I was intending on a basic 2 channel setup plus subwoofer. (Studio monitors are Yorkville YSM8 - afaik,these are only available in Canada - and a Definitive Technology ProSub 1000). I might have a chance to purchase a second pair of monitors comparable to my Yorkville speakers (Presonus Eris E8).

If I were to do this, my plan would be to assign Great, Choir and pedal through my existing setup: the other speakers would play Swell and Solo divisions. All speakers (except the sub) will be quite close to me, speaking just above the console.

I’ve heard that mixing different speaker brands is frowned upon, but would assigning them as described above make sense? In a room as small as mine, would it even make an appreciable difference? (I do have headphones - AKG701 - for those occasions when privacy is preferred.).

Looking forward to your input.
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magnaton

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Re: Two different brands of studio monitors

PostMon Oct 29, 2018 12:37 pm

Mixing and matching different speakers just limits you in being able to use one of the HW algorithms that divvy's rank and notes between a group of speakers. That method works best when speakers are identical so there is a very cohesive blend. I've worked on one HW setup that had 4 different types and brands of speakers and it was successful. It took some experimentation and speaker spec review to determine which ranks sounded the best on a respective set.

Your setup will be much easier since both the Yorkville and Presonus are active studio monitors with 8" woofers, dome tweeters, with a front port. Nice! The division seperation you listed seems logical since Swell and Solo are both under expression for the Hereford set. An alternative split would be:
Great + Swell
Choir + Solo
This would allow you to have a nice String & Vox accompaniment from the Swell in one pair of speakers and the melody played on a Clarinet or Flute 4' from the Solo in the 2nd set. Its kind of thrill (at least it was for me) the first time you can experience physical separation like this.

BTW, here is a nice read on mixing different speakers with Hauptwerk.
http://forum.hauptwerk.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=15009&p=123011#p123011

Danny B.
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NickNelson

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Re: Two different brands of studio monitors

PostMon Oct 29, 2018 1:45 pm

Mister_Mirabilis wrote:I’ve heard that mixing different speaker brands is frowned upon, but would assigning them as described above make sense?


As Magnaton says, in theory this might be a bad idea. In practice, and with similar if not identical speakers, it may cause little or no trouble. I have used the strategy of sending different divisions to each pair of speakers with success. A third approach is to decide (by listening) which ranks sound best to you through which pair of speakers and routing them on that basis. This is likely to be a long process and if the characteristics of the two types of speaker aren't very different it might not gain much.

Nick
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1961TC4ME

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Re: Two different brands of studio monitors

PostMon Oct 29, 2018 1:55 pm

If you have two pairs of speakers with similar frequency responses, it should not be a problem at all. I built a system using quite a mix and match of different speakers, and all sounds very good. But, I also route based on what ranks fit best where. It's largely based on like sounding rank families and which work with each other and compliment each other, and which when sent to the same speakers detract from each other.

You might also want to try sending all (regardless of division) 8' and lower to one pair, all 4' and higher to the second pair. I'd also send any reeds, horns, clarinets, oboes, etc., to the same pair you send the 4' and higher. Either connect the sub to the pair receiving the 8' and lower OR if you have the additional channels at your disposal, create a mix-down of all and connect that to the sub. And oh, by the way, stack the front speakers on top of each other, 2 on each side, and space the 2 stacks out around 5 to 6 feet from each other. If you can get each stack off the front right and left corners of the console pointing pretty much straight out into the room, that should give the best results.

Marc

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