Is it possible to cover the whole spectrum, high SPL, low distortion with a 2-way?

I used a aphex 104 for mastering ambient stereo recordings I made of various live events (whether right or wrong) if used lightly (and I mean lightly!) it definitely added to the live presence, you are correct though in that I did have to reset it for each song even from the same recording. as I purchased better recording equipment over the yrs it started to be the weak link for noise and I stopped using it, but the plugin version should be just about noise free?
 
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I don't know as i don't use it. Very probably less noise sure.

Please let me be more accurate about it: for the kind of modern production in hip hop, r&b and EDM derivative it isn't voiced well.

It works wonder with guitars and other things for rock n roll, reggae, dub,... but for electronic produced things it doesn't fit well for me ( in this genre i tend to cut rather than boost the bass, it help to keep definition as these are often busy arrangements with lots of info to cut through).

I've been lucky to work in a place where they had an original one ( circa 1980... it was rented by minute when it first appeared!) and this one didn't suffer from noise ( not more than you could expect from the treatment) and it was harwired to kick chanels for rock, blues, etc,etc,.. with a Dbx 160 before it ( the vintage unit, the A iirc). With a U47fet and an Akg d12 ( and a transistor/aop preamp)it was a killer chain for kick drums.

And yes i agree that when used better be light handed, i often thought to use it as // treatments but it doesn't sound the same as inline ime ( less interesting to me).
And i'm too sure you could find someone with different thoughts than mine about this.
It depends so much of workflow and habits/preference...
 
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Thanks for clarifying, I remember using it a lot to bring the standup bass out/up in unamplified bluegrass recordings which I couldn’t get right with my analog parametric EQ for some reason……..I’m sure today with dsp based EQ it wouldn’t be an issue but we’re talking 20+ years ago.

Sorry for the sidetrack Camplo!
 
When judging peaks vs rms is REW good enough for this or do I need to run this through my DAW and visit a true peak limiter or something simular?

When we talk about this peaks vs rms the idea of a 115db at 1 meter comes up....
At one meter, a HF transient from dropping a fork 1 inch on a plate is over 100dB, a fingernail clipper can put out in the 110dB SPL range, but won't read anywhere near that unless you can record the peak.

Mark 100 just did, recently:
115.9 dB LZ peak.png


Perhaps you never play your drums as loud as a fork dropped on a plate, good for you!
Of course, you would never want to record an instrument's HF transient or hear it reproduced with the dynamic range of actual live music, would you ;^) ?
The Peak, as I see it, being the highest part of the Mix, normally resides on the Sub bass side...And when visiting the Bass heavy rap material, it normally is 20-30db over the midrange.....
Bass heavy rap material often has hardly any crest factor in the low end, and may be less than 12dB (like pink noise) in the top. Less crest factor sounds louder because the average level can be recorded higher.
Retain the HF transients of real music in recording, and watch the average level drop by 10 dB (or more) and when it sounds only "half as loud", engage peak limiter, crank it up...

Art
 
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Thanks for clarifying, I remember using it a lot to bring the standup bass out/up in unamplified bluegrass recordings which I couldn’t get right with my analog parametric EQ for some reason……..I’m sure today with dsp based EQ it wouldn’t be an issue but we’re talking 20+ years ago

Yes this is the kind of things i used them for too. And yes it can do things a normal eq can't. And it is still true today. But in bluegrass you have 'room' for this kind of things, with rap tracks where the booooommmm last two bars and you have a kick and a synth and...whatever in the range 30/200hz it's difficult to enhance by adding things.

I used a lot Spl Tube Vitalizer for mastering purpose ( the 2u unit), it's in same vein but gives more flexibility for mastering imho.
 
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Figured I'd save your guys kid ears and find the instrumental versions of some of the examples I can find....Here's a lighter example of a distorted 808, bass line

A lot of 808's are distorted like this or maybe a little more gentle, just tastefully enough to give presence and pitch identity to an iphone speaker with a 150-200hz cutoff.

This is not the original version so sound engineering may be lacking.

The more colored 808's basically sound like 8bit sounds almost... i'm sure you can just imagine what it sounds like...things get aggressive or lifi depending on eq

My idea had to do with adding harmonics to a bass sound, in order the judge the fundamental better...and then removing the harmonics after eqing and checking results.
 
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Yes it can sound like that i agree. But it can be very impressive too at high spl and with massive soundsystem ( with lot of acoustic impedance, either horn or a lot of direct radiators).
The physical impact it can have have to be experienced to understand why it's so craved for in some subculture of popular music. Not only EDM but dub, reggae,industrial, experimental,...

Often there is a generation conflict about that: those raised into rock and roll or acoustic music doesn't understand why the need for such extended low end with high pressure capability because this kind of effects are few in those styles. But other style are based on that effect.

The interesting thing is that for this to sound good, you have to have a loudspeaker or system able to play anything well ime. So the needs are more or less the same in the end ( except for acoustic impedance in the low end).

Eg, there is a thread at thevmoment where a member face that kind of reaction.
 
Wow, never realized that sound is done purposely
I wouldn't repeat that in front of many people...
never much enjoyed intentional distortion
Yeah me neither, especially bass guitar in rock or alternative or something 80's. But the distorted 808 has grown on me, it is very video game sounding (8bit) a lot of times and is fun,

Yes it can sound like that i agree. But it can be very impressive too at high spl and with massive soundsystem
I'm not sure whos leading the sound...I think its EDM, but it could be Rap. The Distorted 808 sound is used heavily in some types of EDM like Dubstep for example.
 
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Camplo, the track i linked is from 1996, considered by some as one of the ancestor of dubstep ( despite it was considered as illbient/dub).

Before that there was the drop bass in jungle/drum and bass/ breakbeat which was 808 sampled and depitched... before that their was Afrikaa Bambata
's Planet rock... the distorded 808 kick exist since the birth of the beatbox.

It's a classic sound. The stratocaster or tele or precision or... of my generation ( with 909 and 303).
 
A system with subs can be running at 100 dBA, but be much more annoying to neighbours compared to a system without subs doing the same level. Hence the use of multiple readings at events and the like.

Hence my preference for 2 or 2.5 way systems without multiple subs.
Last week we had a party where peaks of 90-95dB were reached in the living room of a small penthouse with no adjoining rooms of neighbours. Later that night, we were invited by acquaintances across the street who were also having a party in a luxury penthouse of approximately 200m2. Although a professional DJ booth had been installed, the music was played at background level. In addition, about 40 wireless headphones were available for a (semi-)silent disco.
The reason: the police came twice in the previous week to 'disrupt' a party of neighbours.
 
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Trap beats have hardly anything to do with the 'essence' of the 808 kick drum imho.

These are heavily processed 'hypes' (dominated by 3rd order harmonics) that won't stand the test of time, just like EDM, which died around 2014.
So you don't need any of what's mentioned below, as there's no reference (Ronald Aarts' low Bl sub woofer should suffice).

This is all for listening purposes too. Don’t you want a flat two-channel transfer function when you’re producing? I’m sure you said this currently theoretical box is aimed as studio monitoring, in the near field no less. So what goes in should come out, no boosts or dips, maximum ‘revealing’ mix, or have I got that wrong? I don’t think even the popular SoundID thing from SonarWorks tries to match an ELC, and aims for flat response with linear phase.

Instruction video.

808 classics:



(speaking of 'drops')

And the cabal's (former) poster boy loves the 808 too, even though there's some processing involved.
He had foresight when he used a buzzword for the title of this track, 12 years before it became topical, remembering his ex Alexis Pfizer, uh Phifer :giggle:

 
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Ro808 those classics show our age! You forgot Dive/Sonar imo... and i would add to the list Unit Moebius about distorded 808 (and Hekate). And yes Ritchie Hawtin before he dived into the dark side ( became an Ibiza certified artist! At least he seems much happier these days than he was when Consumed was released and this i enjoy despite i don't listen to his recent productions) was a king of the thing.
I disagree about the 808 distorded drone to quickly fade away ( it's there for more than 30y one way or another). But i agree it'll be a marker of 2020 productions used this way and will sound outdated then will go back in trend...

Ro808 another question: why 2014?
 
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Musical preference remains a personal matter.
Electronic music in particular has become sensitive to trends from the moment the threshold to produce became lower and lower, in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
We've seen New Beat, Early Rave, Hip House, Eurobeat, Gabber, Garage, Drum 'n Bass, Lounge, Dubstep etc. come and go.
Techno and house (variants) are permanent.

After 2014, EDM has clearly become less popular - at least in Europe. Virtually all of the genre's benchmarks were released between roughly 2009 and 2015.
But the designation EDM is confusing, because it is a collective name. In the US, EDM is often regarded as the successor to techno, which in my view misses the mark completely.

To add to the confusion EDM is also often called electro house, while in my opinion it contains only a few elements of original electro (breakbeat) and house.

Although this track wasn't released in the 80s, it's definitely electro:

 
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