A friend of mine has recently had his
55th birthday. On the same day he
was made redundant by the broadcast
organisation for which he has worked
all his life.

He was too young to throw in the
towel, so he decided to set up his
own small studio, specialising in
baroque and small classical ensembles
- his area of expertise.

He found a very fine location, a small
deconsecrated church in a village environment.
It is a fine wooden building, and like many
Lutheran churches has a floor plan in the
shape of a cross. He intended at first, to use it
as a purely classical, but realises that with most
studios it is pop music that pays the rent.

He told me that he had always considered
the control room window to be not just a
physical, but also a creative barrier in the
music making process. So his solution was to
have the control area built on a large octagonal
wooden platform, on rubber wheels which enable it to be
moved to any position within the recording space.
At the northern end he had build a room with drum
booth, bass traps, acoustic tiles and curtains (velvet drapes)
for pop sessions, and the rest of the space is open plan.

To solve the question of monitoring while recording, he
decided to use cordless headphones. Together we tried
Bluetooth which proved to be acceptable in the close
vicinity of the source, as in the control area, but not
practical for foldback in the recording area.
So he bought 24 pairs of Sennhesier RS 140
wireless headphones.

Each headset comes with an inductive charging cradle
which is also the FM transmitter with a power of 10mW
working at three selectable frequencies 863-865MHz,
perfect for monitor, and foldback 1+2. So he set up a
groups of three transmitters at eight points in the
recording area.

The audio systems were wired and working, building,
airconditioning, and electrical contractors were still
on site when I last visited, with work on schedule,
and he plans to open in November.

He has a firm 14 day booking for his first project,
music by Johan Helmich Roman (1694-1756) -
the Swedish Handel.

And the client? His previous employer!

Nice:-)

Iain






Instead of having a sel

In article ,
Iain Churches wrote:

[snip]
To solve the question of monitoring while recording, he
decided to use cordless headphones. Together we tried
Bluetooth which proved to be acceptable in the close
vicinity of the source, as in the control area, but not
practical for foldback in the recording area.
So he bought 24 pairs of Sennhesier RS 140
wireless headphones.

Hmm. Pretty well known that things recorded on headphones will only sound
their best when listened to on headphones.

And if he his looking for pop work, can't think of any client who would be
happy with only this.

The idea of having the control area on some form of movable pod is novel,
but The problems involved in doing so make me ponder. ;-)

--
*You can't teach an old mouse new clicks *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Dave Plowman (Nutcase) wrote:



Hmm. Pretty well known that things recorded on headphones will only sound
their best when listened to on headphones.


** Only well known to lunatics like the Plowmaniac.


I am reminded of the advertising campaign used by JBL for several years where they claimed that since the majority of US pop/jazz music studios used JBL monitors in their for control rooms - it was only logical to use JBL brand speakers in your home, in order to hear the sound as the engineers intended.

Luckily, most audiophiles ignored this patent absurdity and used much better speakers instead.



..... Phil



..... Phil

"Phil Allison" wrote in message
...

I am reminded of the advertising campaign used by JBL for
several years where they claimed that since the majority of US pop/jazz
music studios
used JBL monitors in their for control rooms - it was only
logical to use JBL brand speakers in your home, in order to hear the sound
as the engineers intended.

Yes I remember that too. Clever advertising, and
by all accounts successful. A lot of people bought
the JBL Century 100's for home use.

The UK record company where I worked
had a monster pair of JBLs in studio II.
They were put up only when a client (usually
American) specifically asked for them.

The canteen also bought in Budweiser beer.
There is no accounting for taste:-)

Iain

Its a bit like Tannoy dual concentrics. I still use a pair, but i would most
certainly not call them uncoloured, but I happen to like the sound myself.
People tell me they sound metallic.
Brian

--
----- -
This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...

Blind user, so no pictures please!
"Iain Churches" wrote in message
...

"Phil Allison" wrote in message
...

I am reminded of the advertising campaign used by JBL for
several years where they claimed that since the majority of US pop/jazz
music studios
used JBL monitors in their for control rooms - it was only
logical to use JBL brand speakers in your home, in order to hear the
sound as the engineers intended.

Yes I remember that too. Clever advertising, and
by all accounts successful. A lot of people bought
the JBL Century 100's for home use.

The UK record company where I worked
had a monster pair of JBLs in studio II.
They were put up only when a client (usually
American) specifically asked for them.

The canteen also bought in Budweiser beer.
There is no accounting for taste:-)

Iain

Hello Brian,

I have top posted for you. Hope that is OK.

Speakers are so much matter of taste.
I have a pair of Tannoy Lancasters which I
listen to daily. They please me as much now
as the day I took them home. I also have some
large Kef (ex BBC monitors) and a pair of B+Ws
They all sound very good, but very very different:-)

When I was at Decca, Tannoy Lancasters
(and a few pairs of Canterburys) were the standard
monitor throughout the whole facility, studios, mixing
suites, cutting rooms, editing and copy suites. Thousands
of very fine recording were made on Tannoys.

We made a direct to disc recording for Peter
Walker, using Tannoy monitors. Even he admitted
they were "rather pleasing"

I have never heard anyone describe them at metallic.

Iain


"Brian Gaff" wrote in message
...
Its a bit like Tannoy dual concentrics. I still use a pair, but i would
most certainly not call them uncoloured, but I happen to like the sound
myself. People tell me they sound metallic.
Brian

--
----- -
This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...

Blind user, so no pictures please!
"Iain Churches" wrote in message
...

"Phil Allison" wrote in message
...

I am reminded of the advertising campaign used by JBL for
several years where they claimed that since the majority of US pop/jazz
music studios
used JBL monitors in their for control rooms - it was only
logical to use JBL brand speakers in your home, in order to hear the
sound as the engineers intended.

Yes I remember that too. Clever advertising, and
by all accounts successful. A lot of people bought
the JBL Century 100's for home use.

The UK record company where I worked
had a monster pair of JBLs in studio II.
They were put up only when a client (usually
American) specifically asked for them.

The canteen also bought in Budweiser beer.
There is no accounting for taste:-)

Iain

Iain Churches wrote:


Yes I remember that too. Clever advertising, and
by all accounts successful. A lot of people bought
the JBL Century 100's for home use.


** That would have to be a lot of Americans who bought them.

Back in the early 70s, I worked briefly for a store in Sydney that sold electronic components, kits for magazine projects and a couple of speaker kits.

One of these happened to be the KEF kit 3 containing the drivers and crossover needed for a KEF Concerto, minus box. Particle board boxes were also available as pre-cut kits.

A built pair kits was on constant demo, A-B switched with a pair of JBL L100s with their bright orange front grilles - see pic:

http://product-images.highwire.com/8593684/2748-2.jpg

Despite a price difference of more than 2:1, the JBLs sounded very poor, " thick and coloured like tomato soup" was one comment and with remarkably little bass. The store sold many KEF kit 3s and no JBLs on the basis of that demo while I was there.

I bought a pair of KEF kit 3s then too, later improving them with rebuilt crossovers plus massively deadened the cabinets. Sold them a couple of years on at a small profit, after buying a second hand pair of ESL57s.

I kept them for nearly 30 years.


..... Phil

"Phil Allison" wrote in message
...
Iain Churches wrote:


Yes I remember that too. Clever advertising, and
by all accounts successful. A lot of people bought
the JBL Century 100's for home use.


** That would have to be a lot of Americans who bought them.

Back in the early 70s, I worked briefly for a store in Sydney that
sold electronic components, kits for magazine projects and a couple
of speaker kits.

One of these happened to be the KEF kit 3 containing the drivers and
crossover needed for a KEF Concerto, minus box. Particle board boxes
were also available as pre-cut kits.

A built pair kits was on constant demo, A-B switched with a pair of
JBL L100s with their bright orange front grilles - see pic:

http://product-images.highwire.com/8593684/2748-2.jpg

Despite a price difference of more than 2:1, the JBLs sounded very
poor, " thick and coloured like tomato soup" was one comment and
with remarkably little bass. The store sold many KEF kit 3s and no
JBLs on the basis of that demo while I was there.

I bought a pair of KEF kit 3s then too, later improving them with
rebuilt crossovers plus massively deadened the cabinets. Sold them a
couple of years on at a small profit, after buying a second hand
pair of ESL57s.

I kept them for nearly 30 years.



A colleague of mine built a pair of transmission line cabinets using
the same kits based on the design published by Dr Arthur Bailey of
Bradford University in Wireless World in 1972. Whilst they were less
good at stereo imaging than many other (mostly two-way) designs they
produced a naturalness of sound that I have ever heard from any other
speaker save Quad ESLs and possibly one of the Philips MFB designs.

My colleague got married and moved into a terraced house where he did
not have the room for them so I bought them off him for £55 in about
1976 (the drive units alone were worth well over £100 retail) and we
kept them until my Management decided they were too big and had to go
somewhere in the early 90's. I was heartbroken and as I could not sell
them I removed the drive units and broke up the cabinets - I still
have those drivers boxed up in my (very dry) garage!

My F-in-L is an organist so there is a love of organ music around
here. I have never heard any speaker that can reproduce organ pedals -
particularly the reeds - with such clarity and realism. Real window
shakers at 10 paces from a 20W amp!

Since then I have had a pair of Spendor BC1's (still have them) and am
currently running a pair of KEF Q55's but neither were/are anywhere
near as pleasant and comfortable to listen to as those TL's.


--
Woody

harrogate3 at ntlworld dot com

I bought a pair of KEF kit 3s then too, later improving them with rebuilt
crossovers plus massively deadened the cabinets. Sold them a couple of years on
at a small profit, after buying a second hand pair of ESL57s.

I kept them for nearly 30 years.


.... Phil

Still got the ESL57's?...
--
Tony Sayer

In article ,
Phil Allison wrote:
Dave Plowman (Nutcase) wrote:



Hmm. Pretty well known that things recorded on headphones will only
sound their best when listened to on headphones.


** Only well known to lunatics like the Plowmaniac.

Some 40 years of actually balancing sound for a living tells me different.
That you've no experience of the obvious differences just tells me you
have ears of cloth.


I am reminded of the advertising campaign used by JBL for several years
where they claimed that since the majority of US pop/jazz music studios
used JBL monitors in their for control rooms - it was only logical to
use JBL brand speakers in your home, in order to hear the sound as the
engineers intended.

There is also some truth in that. Using exactly the same loudspeakers is
likely to give the most consistent results. But saying all models from one
maker sound the same is nonsense. Even before you take into account the
room acoustics.

Luckily, most audiophiles ignored this patent absurdity and used much
better speakers instead.

You think you need to be an 'audiophile' to realise advertising is not
always 100% true?

You must lead a *very* sheltered life.



.... Phil



.... Phil

--
*A day without sunshine is like... night.*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.