A question to the Sound Engineers out there


I really enjoy the way in which, some sound engineers have the ability to create tracks that sounds like the recording took place in a much larger physical venue outside of a studio

But based on the pictures I have seen of some studios, i.e. with the large mixing desk in front of a large pane of glass - it hardly looks to be an ideal listening environment.

So I was wondering...

- do Sound engineers listen to the finished master on a TOTL hi-fi system having a more "normal configuration" i.e. like many of us have in our houses, to ensure their end product will sound  just as they want it?

- or is the studio a near field listening environment, which is actually better for the purpose of creating a grander sounding master?

- or are the speakers not really for mixing purposes because the sound engineer relies solely on headphones to create the final product mix?

Just curious - Cheers - Steve



williewonka
Depends on the studio, the end product, the people working on it, and the customer.

Don't confuse the recording studio with the mixing station, which may be just one of several review systems used.  Pretty much all digital processes now, mixing and mastering could be in the next room, the next city, or the other side of the world.
Sound "Engineers", back in the 70's- early 90's. In what I would call the "Golden age" of sound recording, "all" used the exact same monitors.
And I do really mean "All" engineers in any studio producing anything you would hear on the radio at the time. They were "Near-field" monitors that I cannot remember the model name of. But they were a 2-way, made by "Fostex". Small and looking like a bookshelf speaker, but for that time very expensive. Always flat-black with a pure white woofer, (5" woofer I think). I paid $400 for my pair in 1980. Hee hee, and I only paid $800 for the "sportscar" I was driving back then, just so you understand. Tons of clones that look like the old Fostex are around now. NONE sound like the Fostex's though. There was a very clinical resolution heard through them, a "Truth". That when used for mixing down allowed you to present a very even "field" of sound throughout the spectrum. They hid nothing. Horrible as a stereo, "speaker' though!

In addition to the high quality studio monitors, many mixing studios in the analogue to early digital era also used Auratone speakers for near field mixing. Small box-shaped speakers that were perfect for how the mix would sound on the radio, typical home stereos, boom boxes.
Producers and clients wanted to hear the recording on the large monitors, but the engineer would always check the mix on the Auratones.


raysmtb1

Your reply reminded me of the movie That Thing You Do!, where they recorded the released track in a church.