Are studio monitors more accurate than audiophile speakers? 

I couldn’t hear him talk coz my iPad only goes down to 100Hz.

I think i need to attach a subwoofer to my cell phone just to hear him talk.

Fascinating! This engineer really knows his stuff and explained it very well. Oh the irony, how the audio in the clip is not up to par, had to turn the volume up quite a bit to hear him speak.

I had to download this interview and then pitch it up in melodyne to understand this fella.

Hes a human subwoofer.

As an amateur musician / amateur recording engineer / quasi audiophile, I really appreciate the perspective Alex brings to your series of videos. When I was an aspiring recording musician back in the 70s, I was struck be the collision of realities reading stereophile, and then experiencing the recording sessions; nobody in the studio was ever caught saying, “turn up the transparency” on the bass guitar.

Steve, I'm really enjoying your segments with Alex. They are so compelling and I find what he has to offer so informative, fascinating and valuable. Please continue this series.

I want to sample this guy’s voice for a bassline. 808 kicks have never hit that deep.

Dude you should sell your voice to Hollywood for movie intros

LOVING this series! Well done, Alex and Steve!

I enjoyed the interviews with Alex. As someone who had a small recording studio I laughed when Alex said sometimes certain studio monitors didn’t sound very good at all. I immediately looked up at my shelf filled with old studio monitors and saw my trusty Yamaha NS 10’s. Sometimes I still hook them up to listens for old times sake. Thanks for making laugh.

I really like what Alex has to say and it makes a lot of sense to me. Having been involved in producing product for sale to fanatical listeners who are very serious about their gear, you want to know that your efforts are being appreciated and that your efforts make your customers happy. That is important Steve!

Educational dialogue and presentation Steve and Alex, thank you. Now I have to watch the previous episodes and looking forward to the future ones.

Stellar acoustic treatment in this room (and sound), beautiful studio, smart, well educated and well spoken fellow. Well played.

I'm really enjoying this series. Would be very interesting to hear Alex's thoughts on the loudness wars and how streaming services have influenced the music recording process.

Thank you Alex for your honesty and experience.

It's important to remember that ALL speakers are filters (without exception regardless of price). The art of mixing and mastering is to create a recording that isn't spoilt by generally accepted reproduction systems. That interview is a great overview of best practices in the studio. Like he says the mids are where the music is. Highs and lows are icing, not cake.

Great series. Keep up the amazing work. Very informative and transparent.

Excellent interview Steve! As an avid Hifi enthusiast, who's spent obnoxious amounts of time, effort and money on my systems, this is THE ONE context that I've always wondered the most about. One of your best ones ever!

Thank you Steve. Really enjoying your channel.

Excellent video, I've been thinking about using Amphion speakers as monitors in my home studio. I've always liked their sound. They even have a proper studio monitor lineup now.

Awesome vid, LOVE'D hearing his views and methodology. Alex, you must be a pleasure to work with. Kudo's to you. Steve, we need more of this!!!!...............

ATC in almost every high end studio for the past 30 years!

Really enjoyed this interview thanks Steve

Another absolutely excellent peek into the fundamental origin of the music we listen to. The translation of live music through the recording process simply can’t be “accurately” represented given the limitations of the technology but will be adjusted to suit the sensibilities of the artist and recording engineers to hopefully be appreciated by the very diverse ears of consumers using their various playback devices. Fascinating

This guy is respectable in my book Steve. He comes across as open and honest and I personally hope and wish him well! Good interview, highly informative and learned something which is always good!👍🏻

Wow! Great interview! Thanks Steve

I anticipated many of these comments about studio monitors in comments to your previous video that tried to say studio speakers and hifi speakers were different. As he says the goal is translational not informational. And as to there being a studio monitor sound, there is none. Large monitors with horns still exist: Tad, Augspurger, Westlake, Jbl, Kinoshita.

Really one of the best videos I came over since I’m on RU-vid

Aww, those ATC's are simply gorgeous!

Next video you could talk about good microphones for podcasts, youtubes videos and so on. Be sure to investigate thoroughly.

Alex sounds like a good engineer to work with for artists. He has a patient demeanor.

I love to listen 'out of the room' - on my veranda. It's like to have the band in my living room. I am regularly surprised at he subtleties that can be picked up with this way of listening when compared to sitting inside at the sweet spot.

Thanks for this!! As a home studio owner for 25 years, and an audiophile, I have 2 full range systems, and enjoy both audiophile speakers AND studio monitors. What I REALLY wanted to know though, is Steve's impression of listening to music in the control room, on those Amphions and ATCs. I can't believe you went all the way there and did not listen to some music!

Great interview 👍. Very interesting all of it.

ATC are consistently wonderful speakers. Great choice.

Excellent interview Steve

"The more things change, the more they remain the same!".. "Perfection is a road not a destination".. Once again there's only subjective judgements and compromises all along the way .. from the recording process through the design and listening of playback systems. As in most qualitative decisions in life, "beauty's in the eye of the beholder" and/or ... "one man's meat is another man's poison" ... lol ... As an audio enthusiast your only recourse is to find an acceptable combination of components that will allow a convincing fact-simile of true to life sound for the most number of your favorite recordings... whatever your idea of what true to life is.

This man is sooo knowledgeable in music engineering. I sure could use him in my room. Those PMC's are sure becoming popular on youtube reviewers.

Springsteen's "Born to Run" was mixed on the dash board of a Ford Maverick to sound good on the Friday night drive home from work in Cleveland Ohio...

Thank you gentlemen. Love the detail guys. Amateur myself and wondering what to buy. Cheers from Sydney Australia.

Yes! Lots more young people and women at AES! To add to the conversation on that, I think the recruitment of bringing younger people in by Student Delegate Assembly is in big part a reason. I went to my first AES in 2013 (and have been going back yearly since) as a youngster (lol even more of a youngster than I am) and learned a lot from my elders there, as well as got to go to commercial studios and hear gear and communicate with the other professionals there-- keeping up with the language. It helped me see/hear the standard for what I should be aiming for and keep me up to date on the tech.

Thats why i use vintage Auratone 5C speakers when mixing. Its all about the midrange,bass and highs are easy to set after the mids are good. All speakers sound different but the mids don't change that much in other speakers. And phasing issues is 1 of the big issues with speakers and its crossovers

ATC are absolutely stunning, in my opinion the only one that can replace my Tannoy maintaining the absolutely reference midrange performances and at the same time improving the base due to the three way design.

Excellent video and extremely well explained.

Big Alex ! Just love to hear his voice 👍👍

This shouts the need for equalization metadata and some DSP standards. If recording engineers are playing to the earbud crowd, it doen't bode well for high fidelity. It's now possible that the mix could be made for great full-range speakers, and include metadata to dynamically adjust for headphones and earbuds. There could also be data to talk directly to hearing aids to improve the experience for people with damaged hearing.

Awesome interview

Audiophile channel talking studio monitors and they can't even get the audio level correct on this video. Ozone called, your fired.

What a great interview with such unique insight from an engineering perspective

Thank You for sharing this useful insight from this talented creator ! This is exactly why we all need a Channel like the Audiophiliac originating from the World's Capitol of all things Audio Hobby Tony in Venice Florida

This was informative. I actually did kinda bought into this ideea of accuracy. Been owning a pair of Fostex PM2 mkIIs for 7 years . Was looking to upgrade to Newmann KH310 . But the last months between having bought high end audiofile headphones and following channels like this one, I've gradually changed my mind. I have upgraded to a high end DAC and things improved. When enoungh pennies will be made (it will take longer than I care to admit, sadly :( ) , I'll hopefully be owning a Hegel H20 amp + Harbeth 30.2 instead

Love ATC speakers!

The concept of a studio monitor is a “microscope” to see into the recording and get information is fascinating.

Used to have a buddy who was a mixing engineer for a not so small studio in Atlanta. The studio had 2 sets of monitors, and he'd mix on one, then test his mixes on the other set, then on two pairs of "studio monitor headphones", ear buds, his car with a killer aftermarket system, his wife's car with a stock crap system, and a home-theater-in-a-box system.

I feel the same regarding revisions of a mix. When I'm satisfied, I'm pretty sure I'm in the ballpark, and usually the artist will ask for minor changes here and there, which I very very rarely disagree with.

This was excellent!

Excellent video

Interesting, thank you both! Which amp is using Alex to listen to his headphones?

Do you know what model of acoustic panels are behind Alex?

I’ve been looking at acoustic panels for months and couldn’t find any that can stand up against the wall like the ones you have behind you. Can you please share what brands those are and where they can be purchased? Thank you! 🙏

Wow. He was very informative.

Steve - You should really try Amphion HiFi speakers. Handmade in Finland and sound wonderful.

That's why dsp in active speaker's is so good. Plus dirac software will help make your speakers work in your room. The future for audio finally looks good.😀😀😀😀😀

Great piece, very informative. I can’t help think of the teacher from Ferris Bueller whilst he speaks though.

How can I judge the tone of audio components via some (not all) RU-vid reviews? Just like I can recognize Steve’s voice in this series, however badly it is recorded.

You have a great voice for audio anything

I have found that listening level gradually increases in direct relation to the age of the engineer.

Steve Guttenberg Could you do a video about the sonical difference between studio/pro and audiophile cables?

Yes, Bob Katz book is amazing.

This guy confirms my worst suspicions about audio technicians: that they don't listen to music!

Great interview Steve!! I know a professional studio sound mixer who like Alex does not have a home stereo . I was kind of disappointed when I found this out. My way of thinking is what do they use as a reference ? Guess they just have to please the artist .

It's all about calibrating the producer/engineer's *ears* to the speakers as much as anything. As long as the speakers are of high quality and as "neutral" as possible (whatever that means) it's up to the listener to tune his/her such that the recording and mix will achieve the desired outcome.

Measure the room and Control for it or build a better room (and control it) for studios or home. The room comes first, understand it (and modify approximately , and then build your Hifi, home theater, or studio. Then comes the audio candy...something about reflections...

hi steve ,Can you review some atc speaker?

Cmon Steve - the volume level in this video was far lower than the ad preceding it :)

My dream setup: Meyer sound amie nearfields Barefoot micromain 27 nearfields PMC BB6 XBD-A mains with sub Single aurotone

The irony of an interview with a studio engineer, where the volume on the interviewee is too low is high with this one :)

The comments about this guy's voice are hilarious. His voice is really incredible, especially compared to Steve's super high voice

thanks for this video!!,

Interesting video. But how can you go thro that interview without asking about the 4 big flat speakers in the background. Are they electrostatic? When does he use those?

Its eerily quite, is it due to using enthusiast level shooting equipment in a professional grade studio room with virtually no echo/reverb ???

Your host is channelling Deep-Roy. I enjoyed the content. And he knows his craft. Bravo, eh.

Nice conversation topic!🤓😬

Pleased to see you have been in the same room as ATC active monitors Steve ! So, have you actually listened to them ? I have the 150 active anniversary towers at home and I am yet to hear a better speaker. They sound nothing like you would expect from studio monitors.

I absolutely agree that the iphone headphones sound pretty amazing considering their cheap price. Of course they are limited compared to a sennheiser momentum or something. But all things considered they are pretty darn well balanced and it's a good "default" for a lot of music listeners. The fact that most listeners never feel like they are missing out at all even though they probably hear the same pieces of music in their car, in a club, in a café or whatever reaffirms it. They get the music out there and in the end that's the point for most people.

Always important to listen to how pros work

i also like the hd600 more than the650.i owned the 650 and i have a 600 at the moment.

What brand are those headphone holders ??

What are those absorption panels?

Interesting conversation...

This man has a golden voice!

The idea that (some) audiophiles have about actual professional monitors being designed for sound studio use have flatter response curves, are less colored, more transparent and accurate on the whole, and live in an environment specifically engineered for them to operate with those characteristics intact, is absolutely correct. While they do sound somewhat different based on a range of other factors (especially nearfield monitors, which I'm not including here), including the size and purpose of the studio they are in, if they are _not_ designed with the above criteria in mind then they aren't designed to present the recorded signal as accurately as possible to the engineers and others in the control room--i.e., it's a less-than-professional control room and aware producers, engineers, and musicians on the outside (maybe not in-house) are going to prefer other rooms that are more real with them about their results. I live near a large city that has two professional, fully-engineered recording studios designed and built to purpose from the ground up, and about a dozen pretenders (more semi-pro, somewhat engineered, less expensive, just laying down decent enough tracks). If we're talking about the latter types of facilities, their monitors and room results can be all over the place, but not at the former two facilities.

What artists / albums has he mastered?

Any audio engineer is the lubricant between the audience and the artist.One that does it right no one notices, but if it is done wrong everyone does and it destroys the illusion.

Yup! I got into audio because I kept hearing crappy CD recordings of orchestras and decided to make my own!

Great topic

Would like you to ask him about compression and dynamics bad thing these days with engineers producers they use it like icing on a cake no no

What are those side acoustic panels called?

What are those on his wall and how were they acquired? They look like manufactured resonators 🤔