Any Tannoy users here? I got me a pair of these today. I listened to them for a while in the store (mostly chocking customers there with Autechre's 'Confield' and 'LP5') and I just had to bring a pair home. My headphone days are over.

-tek

I don't personally have Tannoy , but , a friend of mine does . They do sound nice . Autechre is a great way to test them out , Confield is a nice album .

I just got tired of my headphones. I listened to a couple of my recent tracks and I instantly noticed how low my fx levels were. Reverbs are barely audible in the Tannoys, thanks to closed headphones mixing.

-tek

I want the non powered models - they sound great. First I have to sell my Event 2020's. Anyone ????

Headphones are only useful for monitoring takes or checking how a mix actually sounds through headphones. Although many people may think having a set of cans clamped to your head is optimal listening, it is not. Sound frequency waves do not develop the same when generated so close to the ear. For realworld listening environments they are not a good way to mix as they give you a false impression of how sound will sound through speakers. As you noticed they make you think you have a lot more reverb than you do. They also make it very hard to judge low and high end response. Plus they can emphasize problems that are virtually inaudible when heard through speakers.

Always check your mix the way people will end up listening to your music...... through speakers.

The Tannoys will sound much better than headphones and your mixes will improve markedly because of the truer listening environment.


[This message has been edited by Nigel (edited 01-24-2003).]

One thing was odd though. The guy in the store told me you could put the monitors on their side, with the tweeters pointing out. According to him, they would sound even better that way. So, I come home and browse through the Tannoy manual. There's a big picture of the monitors on their side with a cross over it and the word, "BAD!". Heheh.

-tek

tek, you have my blessing to go to the store and kick that guy in the nuts

Yes he was incorrect in telling you that. The whole reason for the demand for near field monitors was due to minimizing the time delay between low frequency and high frequency sounds reaching your ears. Putting the monitors on their side with the tweeters further away from you than the woofers means there would be a greater delay on the the high frequencies and will have a bad effect on the sound quality.

He was wrong to tell you that .....

Speaker driver alignment is all to do with phasing. ideally all drive units should be placed in a vertical line, as close together as physically possible (drive unit size) indicates and placed in a cabinet as narrow as possible (Drive unit size).
In the listening environment near field monitors should be suspended free air. Placing any speaker on a mixing desk or solid cabinet or near any reflective surfaces will add coloration.

Graham UK

Yes, agreed. The salesman has the ears of the tin man. Close proximity enclosures are best within the given field, suspended relative plane to ear level and facing to direct line of sight. Best they not be placed on reflective surfaces; especially those reflective that are acutely angular to any acute degree. In the manner of obtuse angles, coloration can be formed via reflection relative to room size, but would not be much of a determinant in effecting the drivers direct sound.

Once we reach heaven (or your higher place), may all of us in the know be given a private room with no walls in a city of silence. Monitors levitated in perfect position.

Although I would never use them for mixing or mastering, my electrostatic headphones are great for those late night / early morning jump out of bed and play this immediately before it's lost, moments. They keep loved ones from El-Kabonging* you.

*El Kahbong is an old discontinued cartoon because of it's nature of violence whereby the super hero "El-Kahbong" would take his weapon, a jumbo like body acoustic guitar and spindle the guitar body through the villin's head going through it, leaving the guitar capitivating them at shoulder level. (no wonder it was discontinued for violent nature.) It was not my favorite, but it was funny. I liked Gigantor, the remote controlled robot the best.
MORPH!