I do believe at this point we have all heard of Silent Discos where you are in a club type setting with a room with just subwoofers and a bunch of people in headphones so that you can grab a pair of cans and dance or you can take them off and stand to the side and not be interrupted in conversation by sound.
This lead me to another thought.
This is aimed at those of us who live in apartments, dorms, duplexes, have room mates, et cetra, but want to produce originals, refine our DJ mixes, or even just immerse ourselves in full, powerful music without having the boys in blue show up at our door with a sound complaint.
A silent studio.
Basically what came to mind was this (for me anyway):
Aiaiai TMA-1 Studio Headphones and a SubPac
Now before we go off having battle of the headphones, this is MY thought, you can use any headphones you damn well deem the best for you.
The Set-up
You’d be in your studio, it’s late, the neighbours are all home so it’s time to kick off your sub and turn your volume down. Can’t really mix/master like this now can you? You don your pair of cans, in my case the TMA-1 Studios and flick on your SubPac on your chair. You’re back in the mix feeling your lows, pulling out those highs and losing yourself in the mids, all without waking up your room mate who was up for the passed 7 days cramming for their Proctology 101 exam.
The Pros
Silent.
Can be used 24/7.
Useable in dorms and appartments without risk.
More affordable than some monitor set-ups that would yield similar results.
The Cons
Hard to tune in the SubPac
No true, near-field monitoring.
So those are my thoughts on something like this and some ideas I had, but I’d like to hear all of your input!
subpac seems kinda cool for listening but I just don’t see it being useful or accurate as a monitoring tool. I mean a lot of headphones have good low frequency response (better than monitors without a sub), lack of sub bass isn’t the issue with mixing in headphones.
Yeah, I’d just build a studio with nice acoustics and some serious sound proofing, setup 4 monitors on each side which are decent-type and then press play.
I think that’s the biggest problem right there.
I’ve never been a fan of mixing on headphones for a lot of reasons, and I think that by adding some low-freq/sub you’re not going to be making it that substantially better.
Having annoying neighbors is always going to be part of your concerns unless you soundproof a room or are working in a studio. It’s just part of life. Anyway, it’s never been a big problem for me, even when mixing in tight spaces with paper thin walls. I try to do my mixing during the day, as your ears become naturally fatigued towards the end of the day.You also fatigue your ears faster with headphones (just fyi). It’s not that hard to find some equilibrium between working on music and not bothering your neighbors, though I’m frankly surprised you’d ever get busted by the cops for sound pollution, then you’re simply monitoring waaaaay too loud.
Even in the studio I stick to these points (unless I’m simply out of time):
Work during the day (with suficient breaks)
Keep monitoring volume at a good even volume (better a little quiet than too loud)
I’d love to do that, but I’m a student so being home during the day is next to impossible.
This is all just a concept idea that come to me and I though I might share with you guys and the one resounding issue with me, would be tuning in the SubPac.
I really don’t think it’s possible to tune a vibrating pad to give accurate sub bass representation…
I think the bigger picture that R01 and I are talking about is that lack of sub bass in headphones really isn’t the issue, so the subpac wouldn’t be solving any problems of mixing in headphones in the first place. You’re looking for a solution to something that isn’t really the problem.
Ear fatigue is the real problem I have with long headphone sessions. I’ve heard using open back cans can help a lot but I can’t imagine it could replace monitors.
Mix and record in the evenings on headphones, pump the monitors on the weekends or at any given opportunity! I know how you feel as I live in a flat surrounded by people.. Who complain in the form of stamping on the floor (If above) or smashing on the ceiling with a broom (When below)
I don’t think the subPak is really gonna make a massive difference or open up a new world for you and your creative process. It’s a nice ‘toy’ to have which I’m sure gives a really good listening experience.. But probably a bit of a gimmick in my opinion.
Like the previous posts recommend, take regular breaks when using headphones and use your monitors when you can.
One thing to note is that a lot of big producers still use headphones producing and get great results.
I think the SubPak is designed to represent that punch in the torso, diaphragm rattling low end you get when stood in front on a Funktion One rig!
Some are made entirely with triple layer glass panes, my friend has one of them in his studio for drum recording, they are tailor-made, so you give them the dimensions, they ship you the panes with the frames, and you mount it with a couple friends They’re pretty awesome, when playing drums, the sound levels outside are as low as, say, a very lightly played acoustic guitar
They’re pretty awesome, when playing drums, the sound levels outside are as low as, say, a very lightly played acoustic guitar