NEED HELP WITH STUDIO SUBWOOFER!
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Posted on Jan 09, 2010 08:38 pm
NickyPDizzle
Member Since: Jan 09, 2010
Hey everyone,
I just recently bought a Behringer Truth B2092A Active Subwoofer for my home studio. I am having trouble getting it set up because I honestly don't know if I have what I need to get it to work, or I am just not hooking it up correctly.
I have a Digidesign Mbox 2 interface, and Fostex PM0.4 MK2 monitors. I also have an XLR mic cable but I don't know if I need more than just one. First time messing with this stuff so any help would be greatly appreciated.
If it helps, here are some pictures of the equipment im working with:
Behringer Truth B2092A
Fostex PM0.4 MK2
Mbox 2
Thanks again
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Jan 10, 2010 02:03 am You need a pair of TRS to male XLR to go from the interface to the sub and a pair of female XLR to TRS to go to the monitors.
AND OF COURSE - You need to very precisely calibrate the system together - Or don't even bother plugging the sub in.
IMO/E, YMMV, etc., etc., yada, yada.
Subs usually cause much more problems than they could ever help unless the system (including the room, obviously) is spec'd out properly.
Jan 10, 2010 02:08 pm Deleted By NickyPDizzle
Jan 10, 2010 03:18 pm So the TRS to male XLR plugs into the sub left/right, then connects to which part of the Mbox? Then the female XLR to TRS plugs into the sub left/right out, then connects to left/right TRS monitor input, that correct? Like I said, I'm new to this so hopefully I'm getting the right idea.
After it is all connected correctly, should I be good to go? The IMO/E and YMMV is unfamiliar to me.
Thanks again MassiveMaster
Jan 10, 2010 06:02 pm Monitor out to the sub, sub out to the Fostex ins.
In My Opinion / Experience -- Your Mileage May Vary.
And no, you will be anything but good to go unless the system is very precisely calibrated to the space.
You've heard the phrase "shooting yourself in the foot" I'm sure -- Working in a space that isn't able to consistently support audio reasonably well is shooting yourself in the foot. Adding a sub to that scenario is more like repeatedly shooting yourself in both feet with a machine gun and then working your way up to the knees.
Even assuming that there's enough broadband trapping in the room to make it reasonably accurate and consistent along the audio spectrum (and again, if there's not - just don't add the sub), you can spend far more time and effort calibrating the sub to the system than you would calibrating the system to the room.
Setting up a room has a fairly simplistic 'starting point'** -- Setting up a sub involves very exacting and specific measurement. It's difficult enough with a matched system (although the sub manufacturers make it sound pretty simple - because they want to sell subs). With non-matched components, there's no baseline - It's all manual adjustment.
This isn't like putting a sub in your living room for watching movies... This can and will very easily measure the success or failure of everything single thing you work on.
** Starting point: www.massivemastering.com/..._Room_Setup.php
SIDE-NOTE: I don't mean to beat this like a red-headed step child -- I've just seen fat too many people add a sub to their setup thinking that it's the *cure* to their low end issues. 90% of the time, they're suddenly faced with far more problematic mixes. It's the *cause* of more low end issues than the cure UNLESS (of course) the system is well-calibrated and the room can support the system.
Jan 10, 2010 07:27 pm Can't thank you enough MassiveMaster. Now I know who to go to with my studio questions. Greatly appreciate it.
Jan 15, 2010 05:31 pm Hey MassiveMaster,
I finally got the cables needed and hooked up but I'm only getting sound out of the monitors. I have the settings on the back of the sub set to the typical setting but still not getting anything. Do I need the Sub In connection connected to something or is Left and Right In/Out all I need?
Also the switches on the back of the sub (Phase, Room Compensation, and Input Trim) like I said I have set to the typical positions. Which is 0,0, and 0. Would those switches have anything to do with the sub not working, or could it be a software issue? Im using Pro Tools 8 if that helps.
Thanks again
Jan 15, 2010 09:09 pm L/R I/O is all you should need.
The power is on, yes...?
The phase switch would be set via a comprehensive analysis of the room, as would the compensation switch, as would the trim. Anything else is guesswork (and can easily lead to audible disaster).
(I can't believe that thing doesn't have an adjustable crossover...)
Best I could tell you is to (carefully) try turning up the input trim (and maybe unplugging the monitors) to see if *anything* is coming out. You could run directly into the sub input also to check...
This is all assuming that you're feeding it something with some low end also... 20-20kHz pink would be ideal...
THAT ALL SAID - If your monitors aren't already properly calibrated, you might not be feeding enough signal to the sub in the first place. As I probably mentioned earlier (and if I didn't, here I go...) this is a VERY precise operation going on here - It's not time for "that sounds okay" and leave it at that...
Dematrixhttp://www.reverbnation.com/2ndgMember
Since: Nov 27, 2007
Jan 16, 2010 01:09 am i strongly suggest treating your room with bass traps dude.
i got 5 inch mons "with" a semi treated room and im still copping the bass smash if i go anywhere in the room but in front of my monitors.
Jan 16, 2010 02:15 pm Thanks MassiveMaster and Deon, i'll try some stuff out and see if any of it works.
