Guys w/ Stereo Powered Cabs + Subwoofer

[hardware]

Had lots of time to tweak my stage monitors last year and while not having any issues w/ hardware analog and digital synths, my VSTi"s just weren"t in my face as much when I used my Spacestation 3. But then the Spacestation wasn"t powerful enough for bigger rooms.

 

Spacestation 3 w/ a Sub worked great because I suppose the design was 3D. But using RCF TT08A"s or K8.2"s, the VSTi"s like Kontakt, Keyscape, PTeq and Omni, the width of the stereo field seemed to lose focus with 2 powered cabs.

 

I finally fixed the focus using Brainrox Mono Maker.

 

It will take your signal and make it Mono below whatever frequency you hear that works the best. Really shaped the focus for a 2.1 rig. Sub was round tight and deep, somehow allowing my 8"s to be more in your face.

 

I thought it might be because I used a tree set up with only a couple feet between the 8"s. But even changing the cabinets to separate stands wasn"t focused enough, just too much width in the stereo field.

 

Night and Day difference. HX-3.5 Rotary emulation w/ proper Horn/woofer ratio/ramp sounds fantastic too.

 

I slide my over the Sub to keep a smaller footprint on stage. Usually have 8-10 feet space between me and the tree.

 

Shared in case others do a PC and 2.1 rig.

 

take a screenshot

[Delaware Dave]

Quick war story: Around 1980 there was an article in one of the electronic magazines that showed you how to build what they called an LFF (Low Frequency Filter). It converted all tones 150 Hz and below from stereo to mono. I etched the board and built it with the recommended parts I acquired from Radio Shack. You can actually see the woofer cones movement change; without the LFF a song like the beginning of Chris Cross' Ride Like the Wind the cones would literally shake from the wind noise, turning on the LFF that woofer shaking movements was virtually eliminated and the bass really tightened up. They used 150Hz as the crossover point for the stereo to mono conversion because the article mentioned that the human ear's ability to separate stereo from mono was only good to that point, anything below it and your ears can't distinguish stereo vs. mono. so your comments about the subs being round, tight and deep resonate with me as I witnessed this directly.

 

We eventually put that LFF inside the graphic equalizer we were using. I still have that EQ with the LFF built into it. The EQ blew up on me but the LFF still works.

[hardware]

I like how my Spacestation + Sub sounded, just wanted it louder and it"s more of a solo/rehearsal rig.

Mono Maker is just an added feature in Brainrox Digital for Scope DSP from 2003, now a famous VST guy.

 

It"s really nice having time to really learn your software, and how it can enhance your hardware.

 

Radio Shack was really fun back in the day. I did a few DIYs and had lights from the catalog called Edmund Scientific Company.

Grade school band. Movie projector, through a colored Christmas tree wheel, to the front surface round mirrors bouncing from our guitar amp speakers. Much cheaper than the MAC/LED stuff on stage todayâ¦

 

Cheerz