5 things your studio doesn't need

It is common to hear from new studio owners who are having problems getting a good sound. They often ask if their problems will be solved by upgrading their equipment. A new stand-alone mic-pre, a summing mixer, or perhaps better A to D converters?

Do we really need all this?

We all love new gear but the harsh truth is that for most of us, it is our decision making processes that we need to improve. We can always get better at using the gear we already own. Almost all modern studio devices are capable of amazing results, if they are used well. Of course this doesn't stop the marketing departments of hardware manufacturers from trying to get us to buy their latest device. But do we really need it?

Here's 5 things our studios can definitely do without.

Cable tester
Perhaps there is a legitimate need for cable testers in live sound reinforcement but in forty years of running studios we have never felt the need to have one to hand. Leads rarely break and when they do it's easy to test them by plugging them into an alternative device.

Graphic eq
Graphic EQ is next to useless for creative equalisation tasks and only really useful to correct the response of monitors in a studio control room once it has been analysed by a professional. Chances are we'll do more damage than good if we try to use one, so we can safely dump them. Besides, most of us monitor close up in the near field.

Acoustic treatment
Controversial? Perhaps not. It is true that standing waves and flutter echoes can spoil the balance of frequencies at different locations in a room, but if we always monitor in the near field (close to the monitors where the direct sound dominates) these affects will usually be inaudible. If we want to deaden the sound reaching a microphone, we can hang a few duvets around the performer.

If we really want to create a consistent frequency response in a room then it's time to call in the architects, designers and builders. We'll need deep pockets.

DI box
Unless we are one of the rare breed who's audio interface or mic pre doesn't feature a hi-Z direct injection input, we don't need a DI box. On the other hand, a re-amping box can be useful.

Expensive speaker cable
Any reasonably heavy wire will do. Do NOT listen to hi-if salesman rabbiting on about "the skin effect" or the "oxygen free" properties of audiophile grade cabling. They're salesmen. Enough said.

Thanks for watching and listening
FairFax

Confronting the studio beast

Nothing tops the joy of new studio hardware acquisitions. Whether the result of a diligent saving regime, or a hard fought eBay victory, the arrival of new pieces of gear in the studio is a time of celebration. The future looks bright, the world is our oyster, and soon we will be creating the kind of productions we always knew we were capable of once we had the necessary equipment. And now we do. There can be no excuses anymore!

And then the reality sets in. We must confront the beast head-on. Wiring and installation. It should be a straightforward job, so why is it so hard? Here are the primary challenges ..

Specifying the cable: Installation miniature or mic cable grade (it's all about the diameter)? Multicore pairs or multiple individual lengths? If we choose individual lengths we will need to gather them together somehow. Why are there so many choices and why do the costs never follow any logic?

Cable length: Too long may be inconvenient as our coiled snakes amass at the bottom of rack cabinets, but too short can be a disaster (you know you're going to re-site the gear someday, us studio owners are always reconfiguring).

Connectors: Premium XLRs can be expensive, but is the economy option going to be good enough?

Patch bay: Do we have sufficient unused capacity in an existing patch bay or will we need to buy a new one? As more and more studios close their doors, and professional mix engineers move to an in-the-box workflow, there are an ever increasing number of secondhand patch bays available on eBay. But most have an existing decapitated loom attached which will take hours of work to desolder. It's a choice between 50 bucks for a secondhand item or 250 bucks for a brand spanking new one.

Soldering: The first half hour is always a disaster as you find your rhythm. There then follows several hours of eye watering work in which you try to maintain concentration by repeating the maintenance engineers chant "123, external live return, 123, external live return".

Lead labelling: Why does the labelling machine always run out of tape halfway through the job? And why do we always forget to attach the labels sufficiently far enough down the cable so that we can easily unscrew the connector cover and slide it off when we find that in our sleep deprived exhaustion we have forgotten to actually solder our carefully stripped and tinned cables to the connector pins.

Patch bay labelling: Always, always plan and label the patch bay before soldering the loom to the terminals. We swear those connectors get closer every year!

Loom restraint: There's no way we can allow our heavy looms to put strain on our precious soldered connections. So it's tie bars, cable guides and cable tie time.

Are we done? Nope. Testing, fault finding and fettling next. And the finally, maybe, just maybe, we can sit down, read the manual, and find out just exactly what the new gear actually does!

Thanks for watching and reading

FairFax

Studio furniture build

You will already know that we are keen advocates of building your own cost effective custom furniture to exactly suit your individual needs. 18mm MDF is our material of choice due to its low cost, ease of cutting and sanding and strength.

We have already published guides to building a guitar isolation box, synth workstation, guitar cabinet and double width 19" onboard rack, and this month whilst we wait for the builders to arrive and construct a new extension for our studio, we decided to build a second double width rack to accommodate the many ebay bargains and DIY builds we have repaired and built over the last six months.

So far the costs have worked out at ..

MDF (panels cut to size) $56
Castors (6) $64
Rack strip $51
Tin of varnish $10

We also brought two new Samson PS10 power distributors at half price on eBay. Total cost $113. Why one of the 18 watchers of this Buy It Now auction hadn't snapped them up we'll never know! We now have 12 of them and they have never failed us. Cheap and robust workhorses. Of course all this power requires a good robust isolated mains ring, something we're looking forward to having in the new room.

Not much is operational in the studio at present but as our current in-production video playlist is digital audio, and is very diagram based, we hope to have the next few videos completed before the summer. Meanwhile here's a few images of our new rack.

Thanks for watching and reading.
FairFax

Build a synth workstation guide

Keyboard players need to organise and connect master keyboards and rack synths ergonomically so performance and editing controls are within easy reach.

Our simple guide provides all the measurements and instructions you need to build and assemble a workstation capable of accommodating a master keyboard and 50u of rack synths.

If you are a subscriber to our mailing list you can download this and all our other guides now.

If you're not subscribed yet, you can do so here ..

http://www.projectstudiohandbook.com/subscribe/index.html

Thanks for watching and reading.
FairFax

New studio furniture build guides for subscribers

We have just uploaded a new guide on how to build a double width 19" rack cabinet. If you are a subscriber to our mailing list you can download this and all our other guides now.

If you're not subscribed yet, you can do so here ..

http://www.projectstudiohandbook.com/subscribe/index.html

Thanks for watching and reading.
FairFax

DIY studio electronics

We've said it before, but there has never been a better time to build your own equipment. The web has provided small independent kit makers with a forum to develop, market and sell their wares, and a fantastic community of enthusiastic kit builders has emerged, ready to discuss and help others.

AML ezP-1A Pultec clone kits

Today there are kits available for devices such as ..

Teletronix LA2A
Pultec EQP-1A equaliser
Neve 1073 mic pre and eq
Universal Audio 1176 compressor
API mic pre's and equalizers
etc

The more astute of us will have noticed that these are all popular and classic designs, but there are innovative ones too.

The three primary reasons for building our own gear are ..

1. Affordability. We can build a device for around 1/3 of its retail price.
2. We can build devices no longer manufactured.
3. We get too learn about electronics and feel the satisfaction that comes with a successful build.

As music makers and studio owners, many of us do not have the electronic knowledge to embark on our own electronic projects. However, kit makers have realised that we comprise a primary market for them and are therefore striving to sell kits that make projects as easy as possible.

If you browse forums such as ..

Group DIY .. https://www.groupdiy.com

.. project support sites such as ..

http://mnats.net
http://diyaudioprojects.com
http://wiki.diyrecordingequipment.com

.. and the product specific build support pages at kit maker sites such as ..

http://www.soundskulptor.com
http://www.audiomaintenance.com/acatalog/kits.html

.. you will soon get the feel of how the community works.

In the past, DIY electronic projects were the domain of individual electronic enthusiasts and experts who were not necessarily creative types like musicians and sound engineers. These experts would often exchange ideas and information about circuit design and build processes for their own DIY audio projects, and sometimes collaborate. Their discussions were often impenetrable to creatives.

Although most electronic components are standardised (such as resistors, transistors and capacitors),  projects almost always require some bespoke components such as printed circuit boards, cases and knobs, and specialist transformers, all of which involve some expense in producing especially if volumes are low. Economies of scale apply for all small manufacturing sectors, non more so than audio electronics.

Realising that the web offered the opportunity to monitize their hobby by selling to us creatives, experts became suppliers and started supplying circuit boards, build instructions and BOMs (bills of materials). A BOM is a specification of all the required components. Although a step in the right direction it was often too challenging for us creatives to source our own cases and negotiate the challenge of buying the components needed.

The next development was therefore to provide a link to a pre-populated shopping cart of components at sites such as mouser.com or rscomponents.com, and another link to a case manufacturer such as collectivecases.com. This too presented problems as all too often some specialist components were difficult to source and alternatives needed to be found.

But within the last few years many suppliers have built successful business by providing complete kits comprising BOM's, schematics, components (including specialist items), circuit boards, cases and build instructions. They also offer troubleshooting support, typically via a forum at sites such as GroupDIY. This is why DIY builds have become possible for creatives.

Here is some advice for those new to audio DIY followed by some links to kits.

1. Suppliers are often individuals who do not have a large staff of professionals. Therefore their websites are sometimes awkward, as can be their communications and after sales support. Their customer relation skills can also be limited. There are often details in their marketing and operation which may cause you to raise an eyebrow! Best advice is to get on the forums and see what other customers think of them. What kind of reputation do they have? How satisfied are their customers? How well and quickly do they respond to posts? If they are good, plenty of customers will be singing their praises.

2. Send an enquiry email to the supplier. How quickly do they reply and how good is the reply?

3. Aside from the odd email, suppliers are understandably reticent about providing full email or phone support for every customer, so check all the support materials before purchasing. Read the build instructions several times and browse the forums and YouTube to see what help they and their customers can offer.

4. Remember that you may have to pay a substantial amount of import tax if buying from abroad so favour local suppliers or check to see if international suppliers have a local distributor.

5. Take your time choosing what kit to buy. Like the 1 and 5 star reviews at Amazon, treat highly vocal aggressive opinions on forums with scepticism. Do not get bogged down in discussions about how authentic a kit is. Remember that due to component aging no two vintage 1176 rev A's sound alike.

6. Buy a temperature controlled soldering iron. Budget for at least £50. Search YouTube for videos on how to solder.

7. Buy an affordable (£20-50) digital auto-ranging multimeter that can measure resistance, AC and DC voltage and current (most can) and ideally one that allows you to check transistors too. More advice is here .. http://www.ebay.co.uk/gds/The-Complete-Multimeter-Buying-Guide-/10000000177329491/g.html

8. Use a multimeter to check (control) resistor values before stuffing (soldering to the circuit board). You cannot measure resistance value in-circuit.

9. Buy a resistor lead forming tool, they cost little and are indispensable.

http://shop.evilmadscientist.com/productsmenu/68

10.Troubleshooting a non-working build is especially challenging for us creatives, so take your time, check every component and its location before soldering, and be patient. If the build time is advertised as 5 hours, take at least 20. If you something isn't clear, search the forum, post a question, or email support.

And finally here are four kits that we have had experience with, each of which was professionally packaged, well documented and supported, and sound great ..

AML ezP-1A: http://www.audiomaintenance.com/acatalog/aml-17-022_extended_info.html
Sound Skulptor MP573: http://www.soundskulptor.com/uk/mp573.html
Hairball Audio 1176LN Rev D: http://www.hairballaudio.com/catalog/fet-rack/fetrack-revision-dcomplete-diy-kit-pre-order
DIYre colour palette: https://www.diyrecordingequipment.com/collections/colour

Thanks for watching and reading
FairFax

Mackie Control repairs

Mackie's DAW control surface devices, the Mackie Control, 8-channel Extender XT, and C4 commander, have been hugely successful. But like all hardware they need occasional maintenance. Mackie’s own support resources are incomplete and the forums are full of frustrated owners trying to find ways to repair their devices economically.

As it happens, we have some experience with repairing these devices and so our presenter, Matt Ottewill, decided to create a video describing how to repair the backlights, replace faders, and update the firmware. These are the three common issues and also the ones that owners are capable of resolving themselves.

Matt aggregated information from manuals, suppliers, parts reviews and his own experience in repairing both 1st generation and Pro versions of the Mackie Control Universal, XT extender and C4 devices, in order to create the video which he posted on his YouTube channel.

So if you are a Mackie Control owner, or are considering buying a second hand unit, take a look here .. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeRHw711IFw

Thanks for watching and reading
FairFax