Room Calibration!

Why do we calibrate our studio room? So we can monitor our sounds at an even level. Without doing so, we are left with a false or unbalanced representation of the sound. The level at which you hear sound coming from each monitor must be level in order to get a true representation. Those levels and monitor positioning are major factors that come into play whilst designing your studio. We are going to take a look at those here.

Sound Pressure Level-

SPL is the rate at which a sound is released from the speaker or its decibel level. The benefit of having a level sound source allows your brain to register a constant and consistent medium over time, that will allow you to more accurately decipher what you are hearing and make adjustments accordingly.

We can get this result by using pink noise and an SPL meter on a phone app as I will demonstrate below-

1. Turn the output of your monitors to zero

2. Using a DAW, create a track of pink noise and set the recording interface’s output level to unity

3. Going back to the pink noise plugin, we set its level to -20dB

4. Next, we pan the track hard right for starters to monitor its SPL and vice versa for the left monitor

5. Download a free SPL application for your mobile. Keep in mind the weight scale needs to be ‘C’ weighted and it must have a slow response selected. This is because it does not cut off lower or higher frequencies that cannot be heard by the human ear, making it perfect for calibration purposes

6. Play the pink noise through the right monitor and slowly turn up the speakers output level. When the SPL app tells says you’ve reached -80db, you are pretty much done! If your monitors are close to you, maybe try taking it back to -78dB or -79dB to allow for the distance

Monitor Positioning-

Having your monitors at an evenly spaced distance is also vital to your brains representation of the sound you are hearing. A general rule of thumb would be to sit in the middle of your work space and outstretch your arms and have the driver of each monitor hitting the middle of both of your palms. Then just aiming those monitors a foot behind the usual resting place for your head as you work on your computer screen. This is where the height factor comes in. To avoid bass vibrations from your desk, it is wise to purchase monitor stands or blocks that are solid and will not move when your sound is heavy in low end frequencies.

The following video is an in depth look from a professional on the topic of monitor positioning and placement-

Researching the calibration of my studio space has been very beneficial to me. My levels are now even from left to right using an SPL meter and pink noise (not just by eye upon setup, bloody amateurs) and I now see the importance of having your monitors positioned perfectly regarding height, distance from the source and width. My desk at home is sturdy but investing in some monitor stands will only benefit me from a mixing/production standpoint. Also increasing the distance between me and my monitors is a necessary step to receiving a more level and complete sound.

References-

Silverstein, V. (2018). How to calibrate your studio monitors. [online] Audio Hertz. Available at: https://audiohertz.com/2017/12/22/how-to-calibrate-your-studio-monitors/ [Accessed 22 Jul. 2018].

YouTube. (2018). Mixing Legend Tony Maserati: Sweet spot & speaker placement. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ep0OBLbsmSo

YouTube. (2018). PreSonus—How to calibrate your studio monitors. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idGvZnSnPhs