How to Upgrade the Weak Links in Your Studio

Of course, you can always upgrade to better mics, audio interfaces, monitors, and the like. But what about the weak links that are holding you back (even if you’re unaware) or can hold you back in the future? Let’s focus on fixing those weak links and get your studio in better shape than ever.

Uninterruptible Power Supply

The weakest link in your studio computer is the power grid to which it connects. From brownouts to blackouts, power interruptions are becoming more common. Unfortunately, solid-state drives are far more likely to be damaged by power issues than modern mechanical hard drives. If you have SSDs in your recording system, then an uninterruptible power supply (UPS), such as the Furman F1500-UPS, is desirable and even essential.The goal of a UPS isn’t to let you keep on working but to give you enough time to shut down your system in an orderly manner (and hopefully finish any firmware updates that don’t depend on a Wi-Fi connection). You don’t need to connect everything to the UPS — just your computer, any external drives, and your primary monitor so you can choose the necessary shutdown options.

Make sure your UPS is rated at enough power for your system, and check the batteries at least every 60 days. There’s no point in having an uninterruptible power supply if it lacks the power to do its job. A UPS bonus is that with extended power blackouts, you’ll be able to recharge your smartphone or tablet — and maybe even your laptop — without drawing too much power from the UPS.

A high-power UPS isn’t cheap, but the next best option is a high-quality power conditioner, such as this Black Lion Audio PG-XLM. A power conditioner won’t provide uninterrupted power, but it will do its best to keep spikes, surges, noise, and other power glitches out of your computer. 

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How to Avoid Power Disasters in Your Studio

Peace of Mind: Uninterruptable Power Supply

Speaker Isolators

Monitor speakers are a traditional weak link. Primacoustic Recoil Stabilizers may initially seem like snake oil, but they make a noticeable difference — just ask professionals like Chuck Ainlay, Robert Scovill, Neil Citron, Joe Chiccarelli, and Ulrich Wild. A Recoil Stabilizer isolates the speaker from whatever stand or surface it’s positioned on but also keeps the cabinet from moving around as the speaker vibrates. The improvements most users notice are better stereo imaging and tighter bass.

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Take Your Home Studio to the Next Level

Decoupling For Clarity

HANDS ON: Primacoustics Recoil Stabilizers

Great Headphones

For decades, engineers dissed mixing on headphones and instead recommended mixing on high-quality monitors. But so many people now listen to music on headphones that you need to make sure headphone and speaker mixes sound equally good. One problem is that there’s no such thing as “flat” headphones. And even if there was, your head shape, the seal, ear pads, and design (closed-back or open-back headphones) alter the response. Furthermore, headphone manufacturing processes aren’t precise enough to “clone” headphones with identical specifications. 

The Sennheiser HD 660S2s, HD 600s, and HD 650s; the Shure SRH1840s; and the Beyerdynamic DT 990s are well-respected headphones with frequency responses well-suited to mixing. Granted, your fans will likely listen on headphones with a “smiley” EQ curve that boosts bass and the upper midrange/treble. But aiming for a flat response means you won’t be adding more bass and/or treble.

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5 Big Mixing Mistakes You Might Be Making

Headphone Modeling Software

You can come close to a flat response with the headphones you have, thanks to the Sonarworks SoundID reference plug-in for headphones. The company extensively analyzed more than 400 headphones and created response curves that compensate for headphone response variations. You load the response curve for your headphones into a plug-in and mix with the plug-in inserted to hear a flat response. Then, bypass the plug-in when rendering your mix. This kind of product might trigger your skepticism meter, but it does a surprisingly good job of giving headphones from different companies a consistent, flat response.   

Steven Slate Audio’s VSX system (the Platinum Edition or the less expensive Essentials Edition) takes a different approach. It emulates the sound of different studios, the various speakers they use, and several high-end headphones. Because the package includes dedicated headphones, there are no issues with support for particular models. The VSX system is a fine way to find out how your mix will translate in various environments. Furthermore, the experience of listening to an emulated studio environment is more satisfying than the typically two-dimensional sound of headphones.

Finally, the Waves Nx series of plug-ins combines the two approaches. The Virtual Studio Collection emulates four studios, including mix rooms from the Hit Factory, Ocean Way Nashville, Chris Lord-Alge’s Mix LA, and Waves’ original mix room. Each one provides compensation curves for more than 270 headphones based on the Harman Kardon Target Curve (intended to give headphones more of a “speaker-in-a-room” sound). 

With so many people listening to substandard playback systems like laptop speakers and cheap earbuds, creating truly translatable mixes is an uphill battle. But when mixing on headphones, comparing the “flat” sound of Sonarworks or near-flat headphones with “real-world” speaker sounds with Steven Slate Audio or the Waves Nx series can be helpful. Achieving a compromise setting that translates well over different playback systems becomes easier.

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Headphone Amp

While talking about headphones, the headphone amp included in your audio interface was designed for monitoring, not critical listening. It’s surprising how much headphone amp quality can influence the sound of headphones. Audiophile-level headphone amps, like those in the Dangerous Music SOURCE monitor controller or Grace Design m900, incorporate high-quality DACs to accept digital inputs. Or, forego the digital inputs with the 2-channel Little Labs Monotor headphone amplifier or the 1-channel Rupert Neve Designs RNHP precision headphone amplifier. None of these are cheap, but they’ll give you the best headphone sound possible.

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Acoustic Treatment

For many studios, the room itself is a seriously weak link. Acoustic treatment may seem like a daunting task, and if you’re going for perfection, then it can be. But even small changes can make a big difference. Basic acoustic room treatment kits can cost as little as $400, such as this Primacoustic London 8 acoustic room kit. Spending a couple hundred dollars on bass traps, like this Auralex LENRD Studiofoam 4-pack, can help eliminate the bass response anomalies that make it almost impossible to mix the low end correctly. And it’s not just about the room. Putting monitor speakers on stands allows you to place them away from reflective surfaces like mixers and adjust their height to the ideal level for your ears.

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Fix Your Room, Fix Your Mix

Acoustic Treatment Buying Guide

How to Hang Acoustic Treatment from Your Ceiling

Tweak Your Speakers

If you can’t treat a room acoustically (renters, you know what we mean), then room correction software can compensate for anomalies in your space by applying EQ to your playback system. Sonarworks SoundID has a version specifically for tuning speakers and headphones, and the IK Multimedia ARC3 acoustic analysis and room correction software with MEMS microphone is another popular option. Don’t expect a panacea that compensates for rooms with terrible acoustics — but at least the sound will be more accurate. Ironically, a well-treated room can often benefit the most. If a room is already well on its way to sounding good, then accurate room tuning can take it the rest of the way.

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Adapters

To connect point A to point B, you may not even have a link, let alone a weak one. This is why you can never have enough adapters — balanced to unbalanced audio, phono to 1/4-inch, USB-to-MIDI DIN, 3.5mm jack to 1/4-inch, stereo 1/4-inch to dual mono 1/4-inch. . . you get the idea.  

Different Jacks: Adapters and Adapter Cables for a Multi-jack Universe…

Line Mixer for Synthesizer Fanatics

Hardware synthesizer outputs add up fast, particularly with devices that have multiple outputs, so you’ll need more line-level inputs to supplement your audio interface. Fortunately, synth outputs have high enough levels that you don’t need mic preamps made of unobtainium and hand-assembled by grizzled audio veterans. The Ashly LX-308B 8-channel stereo line mixer is an excellent option for synths. Although it has eight inputs, these inputs are stereo, so it can accommodate eight synths with stereo outputs. You’ll probably need dual-mono-to-stereo plug adapters, but that’s just another reason why you want a variety of adapters. Then again, a simple line mixer, like the Behringer RX1602 rackmount line mixer with 16 mono inputs, may be all you need (most line mixers top out at eight mono inputs, so you don’t have a lot of choices). Or you can go nuts with something like the QSC TouchMix-30 Pro, a 32-channel digital mixer with a touchscreen and onboard processing. It could also be a stellar choice if you want a mixer that can do double duty for live gigs. Note that it’s oriented more toward mics than synth outputs, so you’ll probably need some 1/4-inch-to-XLR adapters.

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Choosing the Right Mixer for Your Keyboards

Audio Interface Expansion

Not having enough mic inputs can definitely be a weak link. Fortunately, many interfaces have ADAT optical inputs, so adding an interface or set of mic preamps with an ADAT optical out can put many more inputs at your fingertips. The Focusrite Clarett+ OctoPre 8-channel ADAT preamp is an excellent example of the genre, with eight mic inputs (two are brought out to front-panel combo jacks and can serve as instrument inputs). Many audio interfaces are also suitable; however, be aware that while some have front-panel parameter editing, others need to be hooked up to a computer — even if you’re not using it as your main interface — if you want to tweak gain settings and phantom power on/off.

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How to Add More Inputs to Your Audio Interface

Prevent Contacts from Becoming a Weak Link

Metal oxidizes. Faders accumulate dust. Gold contacts need protection. Fortunately, the answer to all these issues is CAIG Laboratories DeoxIT contact cleaning and contact restoration products. They’re worth their weight in gold... and you can even use the company’s DeoxIT Gold G5 contact enhancer 5% solution to clean your gold. 

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Plug Your Knowledge Gaps

A little more than two years ago, Sweetwater partnered with music industry legend Craig Anderton to create a new publishing model. Our e-books are all downloadable PDFs, and most have periodic free updates to keep you current with technology. We’ve also made them affordable — even books with hundreds of pages cost only $19.95. Whether you want to know how to make better mixes, get more out of the Line 6 Helix, discover innovative tips for Studio One or Pro Tools, record and mix great guitar sounds, or become an expert on audio basics, dynamics processors, or (coming soon) equalization, then turn to Sweetwater Publishing. Perhaps most importantly, these e-books aren’t just about the technology of getting great sounds but also about the artistry involved in creating next-level music.

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Craig Anderton on His Incredible Recording E-books

The Truth About Pickup Placement

Don’t Ignore Spare Proprietary Power Supplies & Cables

If a piece of gear is an important part of your life, then a nonstandard power supply or cable is a weak link just waiting to happen. Contact the manufacturer and buy a spare. Or two. At some point, you’ll be glad you did.

Crown Seating Stealth Chairs

Some of the weak links in many studios are your back and shoulders due to sitting for hours on end. You can try the Herman Miller Aeron office chair route, but Crown Seating‘s Stealth chairs are seats optimized for the studio. For example, if you’re a guitar player, then you’ll be overjoyed that you can remove one of the arms so it won’t scratch your prized guitar(s), and you can sit naturally and play. Crown Seating also realizes you’ll be leaning forward a lot during sessions, so it provides appropriate back support. Just remember that you’ll need to spend time playing with the various adjustments to find the best settings for your body. 

5 Studio Upgrades I Wish I’d Done Sooner

Cloudlifter Mic Activator

If you use only condenser mics, then you can pass on this. But for ribbon and dynamic mic users, this product can help you avoid weak links in your signal path. The Cloud Microphones Cloudlifter is phantom powered and provides significant gain. Most ribbon mics need more gain than many audio interfaces provide, and the Cloudlifter accommodates that. But it also guarantees that your ribbon mic won’t be subjected accidentally to an unwanted blast of phantom power. This is increasingly important as many audio interfaces now apply +48 volts globally to mic inputs. The Cloudlifter also does better impedance matching with dynamic mics; again, phantom power won’t hit them. There are 1-channel and 2-channel models as well as a 1-channel model with variable impedance. The latter makes a big difference with dynamic mics.

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Cloudlifter and SM7B – The Perfect Match? A Mic Booster Shootout

You Want a Really Cool EQ Plug-in

The EQ plug-ins bundled with most modern DAWs reach a relatively high level of quality, even though they can’t demand too much CPU power because they’re designed to provide multiple instances in multitrack projects. While they’re not necessarily weak links, some third-party EQs can strengthen that link — thanks to additional filter types, mid-side processing, dynamic response, sophisticated spectrum analyzers, EQ matching, and more. For traditional mixing applications, plug-ins like FabFilter Pro-Q 3, Waves F6, and iZotope Neutron 4 Suite (with its machine learning–based antimasking) go beyond the usual bundled plug-ins. If you’re into maximizing your creativity, then the Eventide SplitEQ parametric EQ plug-in can process the transients and the body of your audio tracks separately.

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Overachieving Mastering Plug-ins

You’ve spent so much effort getting the cleanest sound possible. But one day, you discover the ironic truth that, for projects where grit is desirable, pristine audio becomes a weak link. You can fork over $15,000 for a used Studer A800 if you want tape saturation... but you’ll probably prefer the excellent Universal Audio UAD Studer A800 multichannel tape recorder plug-in emulation. It never needs cleaning or demagnetization, either.

If mastering is your personal weak link, then dynamics-based EQ plug-ins can analyze your master automatically and judiciously apply tweaks to enhance the sound by taming harsh timbres and rogue resonances. The Stabilizer module in the iZotope Ozone 11 advanced mastering software suite is an excellent example of this technology, as is the Oeksound soothe2 dynamic resonance suppressor plug-in. If you’re new to mastering — or a veteran who wants to get where you’re going faster — then check out the Master Assistant in iZotope Ozone or the remarkably effective IK Multimedia Lurssen Mastering Console. They’ll give your masters the right polish or at least come close enough that — with a little effort, you can tweak them to perfection.

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Mastering in Your DAW

Essential Mastering Plug-ins Every Studio Should Have

Three Easy Mastering Tips for a Better Final Mix

Probe Your Weak Links

Some weak links are self-evident, but others are sneakier. That’s why utility software that sticks a probe into your audio and gives you a status report can be helpful. The Blue Cat Audio Analysis Pack plug-in bundle is a great example, with multichannel loudness metering that features MIDI controller outputs, multitrack frequency analysis, multitrack oscilloscope, and the company’s unique StereoScope Multi that compares the stereo image of multiple tracks in real time. For another way to climb inside your mix, the NUGEN Audio Visualizer audio analysis suite might be the ticket. It includes nine different analysis tools: FFT spectrum analysis, stereo spectrum analysis, spectrogram, stereo spectrogram, vector scope, stereoscope, stereo bias meter, correlation meter, and a stats and parameters module. Either of the above products will give you insights about your mix that can help isolate problems and make better mixes.

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There You Have It

And there you have it: ways to get those weak links out of your studio. In the process, you’ll have a better time, get tasks done more quickly, avoid roadblocks, and, hopefully, become more inspired. After all, isn’t that what it’s all about? And if you need more help with anything for your studio — from monitors to mics and guitars to rack gear — then call your Sweetwater Sales Engineer at (800) 222-4700.
The post How to Upgrade the Weak Links in Your Studio appeared first on inSync.