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How To Set Up Your Studio Monitors | Simple 7 Step Guide

How To Set Up Your Studio Monitors

Are you having trouble with the quality sound you’re receiving from your studio monitors? It might be because it’s not correctly positioned or set up.

When your studio monitors aren’t precisely placed, you’ll end up with an unbalanced sound. Let’s help you get it right.

Table of Contents

7 Steps to The Perfect Studio Monitor Set Up

1. The Room/Studio

The first step is to select a suitable set up place and position in the room or studio you’ll be working in. Different aspects will have different outcomes on the quality of sound you’ll receive.

A larger room will, for instance, offer better frequency than a smaller room.

Other factors include:

The shape of the room

If the room is rectangular it’s advisable to place the monitors on the one end of the room if you’ll be on the other end of the room.

It’s also important to set them up in the length of the room instead of the width.

Symmetries of the room

Try to keep both sides of the room as similar to each other as possible.

If the one side of the room is, for instance, an open living area and the other side is closed off with walls or furniture your sound will not be as clear-cut and exact as it should be.

All objects will influence how the music “bounces” around the room. You can put a room divider at the open side to create a studio effect.

2. Speaker Height

Raise your speakers so they’re at ear level. The sound won’t be balanced if your speakers are placed either too high or too low.

You can use a speaker desk or stand to achieve the perfect height and true sound.

3. Correct Distance Between  Speakers

Is it your first time setting up studio monitors? The equilateral triangular method is a great place to start if you’re new to setting up monitors.

This is when you place the two speakers and yourself at the points of a 60° triangle. You’ll thus be at the closed end of the triangle and the two speakers will be at each end that forms the wider part of the triangle.

Using this method will create an accurate and precise sound.

The Ultimate Studio Gear Guide 

Complete Studio Setup Guide 

4. Speaker Position

Both speakers should be facing straight at you.

Make sure that you can’t see the sides of the speakers but rather the front part of the speakers.

soundproofing for music studio

5. Isolate the Speakers

Isolating the speakers is an important step to ensure you’ll have well-balanced bass sounds. Place memory foam such as acoustic foam underneath your speakers.

The protective layers between your desk and the speaker will prevent reverberating noise.

6. Space Between the Speaker and the Wall

If your speaker is placed directly against the wall without a space in between you’ll have imprecise bass sound. This is due to sound traveling backwards.

The sound will bounce back into the room if you don’t position it correctly. Create a 2-ft. distance or more between the wall and the speaker.

7. Isolate

Invest in acoustic panels for the room.

This is not a necessity but it’ll give you explicit sound.

producing beats in a bedroom studio black and white image

Conclusion

Taking the time to set up your monitors in the correct way can give you accurate and balanced sound with precise bass notes.

The best part is that you can use the monitor system you have and upgrade your sound without spending money.

That’s a good idea in anyone’s book, right?

About the author

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After becoming obsessed with the beats that were the soundtrack to his youth, Nick became a student of hip hop, digging for vinyl records, looking for the perfect break. Before he got his hands on an MPC sampler, he would mash these records, beats, and breaks into mixtapes and live DJ sets.