Well my M3's arrived last week and I spent an afternoon interfacing them and an Onkyo M-282 amp into my rig using only the main output of my Yamaha Digital Mixer. I also spent the time to integrate a stereo sub for good measure. I made up my mind that I would not listen to any of my mixes or projects in the works until I spent some time listening to these new speakers.
I see this could be a long response so I will try to be brief. After listening to a few personal favorites from days gone past. I had to stop. Unfortunately, my listening experience was going to have to be deferred as I had to pull my mixing desk out and remove the Sub, the Mackie HR 824'3 and the JBL's from the system. As I could tell they were no longer needed. Hmmmmm 6" inch speakers eh?
With all of the un-needed stuff removed, I settled in to put these little guys through a workout. The more I listened the more the beauty of the speakers started to shine. I found myself listening to some of the classic rock mixes and asking myself, I wonder if so an so wishes he would have put less compression on the vocals there etc.? After a few hours I couldn't stand it and was ready to "face the music."
I loaded up a project that is to go out for production later this month. It is a very important project for us and I have been having trouble getting the mix to translate. I was immediately confronted with details that had been eluding me, the bad bass tones that were not showing up on the Mackies and JBL's jumped right up and slapped me on the cheek. The over hyped highs and muddy mids on the guitars came right out of my computer screen and started waiving at me as if to say, hey dipstick where have you been? Then the bass spoke up and said something like hey how about letting up on the compression. In about 5 minutes I had this mix under control, the instruments and frequencies all seemed harmonious. Next up an Acoustic record that is to leave us this coming Thursday, In less than ten minutes the song I was working on went from ho hum to stellar, I mean stellar, and suddenly there was something that my wife has not seen in a while, and that is a smile on my face. The next test/worry would be, how does this mix translate.
Unfortunately we have been so busy I did not have a chance to even burn a CD to listen to. To say the least I was worried as I was churning out mixes under the gun so to speak for about 5 days straight. By Monday I was a little concerned about all of this work I was letting leave without checking it. (my usual protocol involves a lot of cussing and a lot of thrown away cd's and my poor wife wishing she could help).
Sunday was the big test however, a client had booked a ten hour block and planned on recording mixing and leaving with a 3 song demo, uh, oh! I usually start apologizing at noon saying you know I don't like to track all day and be asked to mix it down at the end of a 10-12 hour day as my ears are shot. About three hours into tracking I noticed something very un-familiar to me. I was turning the speakers down, what? Hmmmm. I also noted this phenomenon when I was listening for pleasure, and one thing anyone who has listened to my live mixes will tell you is I "never" turn down.
As the session was coming to a close My apprehension was growing, as not only was this project leaving, there were a few others already gone, and I hadn't listened to any of them. I have been living on the edge so long, it seemed almost serendipitous.
I mixed this project to K-14 scale and hit it at about +0.5. I brought up Voxengo Span to see what it looked like and to my friggen amazement it came up to a nice -20 DBFS, and nearly flat across the spectrum, definitely an attractive looking mix.
I made a copy for myself after the group cleared. Exhausted I went to bed and put the cd into the Boxed Panasonic home theater in or bedroom, and wow. I call my wife, and say "you have to come hear this." The bass was right in the pocket, the drums sounded clear and authoritative with just the perfect attack and thump. Everything in it's place. I was happy and slept well, finally! The following day I had to got replenish my cdr stock, and the final test,,,,,the car stereo, well truck stereo in my case. I put the cd in and braced my self. The song came on and right then I knew all was well. The kick drum was right in my face but not making the speakers sound like they were going to jump out of their baskets. All of the mid bass guitar sounds were there and made the song strong. The cymbals and vocal were very good. Was this a perfect mix? No, but the things that needed adjusted were minor and I could attribute them to a tired set of ears from the night before. I imagine five minutes for some minor adjustments and nobody will believe this recording was done in ten hours, no way man. One last thing, when I turned up the bass and treble something just plain magical happened, the song came alive. The cymbals shimmered, the lows reached out and grabbed you. I was impressed and I am hard to impress.
To say I love these speakers is an understatement. I actually have been enjoying my job lately and would like to give a big thank you to all of the people at Axiom. You make a wonderful product!
I don't know that I would recommend these for young engineers as they may not have fully developed their tracking technique enough to keep the low tones in check. These speakers could fool you if you do not know what you are listening for. I found for my space I like the center of the woofer at ear level, I would like to try the 22's because they stand a little taller and wouldn't require another stand to be built on my desk, but I like these so much I am not willing to chance it....Perhaps I will shell it out but I plan on a set of M-60's for the living room and don't want two sets of book shelfs, of course I bet they would find a home quickly. This is a long post I know but worth it for anyone who is sitting on the fence. Anyone who hasn't been getting their mixes to work for them. Buy a pair and don't look back. The key word when mixing is trust and I trust these speakers more than others costing 5 times as much.
T. Patterson
Empty Mind Studio
