Music & Audio Advice Studio Monitor Calibration 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is the recommended toe-in angle for most nearfield monitors aimed at the listening position?
- Monitors pointed straight ahead, parallel to walls
- Angled so each monitor aims at or just behind the listener's head (Correct answer)
- Angled toward the ceiling
- Angled away from the listener
Correct answer: Angled so each monitor aims at or just behind the listener's head
Toe-in aims tweeters at or just behind the listener's head for a focused stereo image.
Question 2: What problem does a comb-filtering effect indicate during monitor measurement?
- A faulty crossover
- Reflections combining with the direct sound causing regular peaks and dips (Correct answer)
- A blown tweeter
- Excessive subwoofer output
Correct answer: Reflections combining with the direct sound causing regular peaks and dips
Comb filtering appears when a delayed reflection interferes with direct sound, creating evenly spaced peaks and dips.
Question 3: What is the typical height to position nearfield monitor tweeters relative to the listener?
- At ear level when seated (Correct answer)
- Well above head height
- At floor level
- Behind the listener
Correct answer: At ear level when seated
Tweeters should be at ear level so high-frequency response is on-axis at the mix position.
Question 4: When using room correction software, what does the target curve represent?
- The maximum SPL the monitors can produce
- The desired in-room frequency response the correction aims to achieve (Correct answer)
- The serial number of the monitor
- The room's reverberation time
Correct answer: The desired in-room frequency response the correction aims to achieve
The target curve defines the intended in-room response the correction algorithm tries to match.
Question 5: Why is a slight downward-sloping (not perfectly flat) target curve often preferred in control rooms?
- Because monitors cannot produce flat response
- Because a flat in-room response tends to sound bright; a gentle high-frequency roll-off sounds more natural (Correct answer)
- Because bass should be removed entirely
- Because it increases loudness
Correct answer: Because a flat in-room response tends to sound bright; a gentle high-frequency roll-off sounds more natural
A gently sloping curve (often called the 'Harman' or 'X-curve' style) sounds more balanced than a flat in-room measurement.
Question 6: What should you do with EQ-based room correction at deep null frequencies?
- Boost heavily to fill them in
- Avoid large boosts, since nulls from cancellation can't be effectively EQ'd and waste headroom (Correct answer)
- Mute the channel
- Increase overall volume
Correct answer: Avoid large boosts, since nulls from cancellation can't be effectively EQ'd and waste headroom
Cancellation nulls can't be fixed with boost; large boosts only waste amplifier headroom without solving the problem.
Question 7: What is spatial averaging in room measurement?
- Taking multiple measurements at slightly different positions and averaging them (Correct answer)
- Measuring only one fixed point
- Averaging two different monitors
- Averaging over different days
Correct answer: Taking multiple measurements at slightly different positions and averaging them
Spatial averaging combines measurements from several nearby positions to reduce position-specific anomalies.
Music & Audio Advice Studio Monitor Calibration 3
What is the recommended toe-in angle for most nearfield monitors aimed at the listening position?