haha I just remembered my trusty Tascam PortaOne > Panasonic boombox I made my first mixes with. Talking about mixing into a compressor!!! But it took some time to realize that it was the “autolevel” thingie built into the boombox that created these … unpredictable results It didn’t sound all BAD though
Then I got a HiFi Video as a master tracker that at least sounded somewhat like what I’ve just heard in the mix. I also got a tape deck for duplication in an era when MP3 wasn’t even born haha!
My Klipsch promedia 2.1 speakers broke down some weeks ago so I have bought new monitoring equipment.
Nothing fancy but very much better especially in the mid tone area. More revealing so to speak, hehe
The new gear:
Some Yamaha YSY-M10 multimedia thingies to check compatibility with grot-boxes
Final test on the B&W Floorstanders in the lounge.
In answer to the poster who pointed out we don’t mix for high-end listeners, I fundamentally disagree. You should be aiming to mix so the end result sounds great whatever it’s played on, whether that’s some enormous PMC XBDS system costing thousands, or a pair of generic iPod earbuds.
Doesn’t matter that the vast majority will never hear all your nuances. Someone might, and if your mix is flawed in some way that is exposed on a high quality system, it might also have that flaw exposed on something a good deal more mundane.
My monitor chain is far from being the last word in transparency, but it’s pretty good and I’ll always be aspiring to better it if the opportunity/affordability arrises.
Why else would Abbey Road and it’s ilk spend thousands on their monitoring chain?
Back in my day … before there was light … we mixed using a shard of obsidian lava as a lathe, into a swirling quagmire of primordial, primitive, single-cell hammond-organisms drifting along on the boiling-hot tide driven by poisonous effluvia from ocean floor volcanos.
But you’re right … don’t even try to tell kids these days about how it was back then … they don’t believe in nothing! Heck … they don’t even know what music is anyway. At least WE know what music sounds like! These young, whipper-snappers today only know MPthis … and iThat … they ain’t never even heard REAL music … only ones and zeroes! Blah! Phoooooey!
i only use one pair , the idea was 5.1 but i haven’t got round to it so im just keeping them as spares as it would be nice that in 20 years time i can pull out a new pair and fix them to my zimmer frame for mobile monitoring
Unless I misread Mr Paul, I don’t think he has a problem exactly with MIXING using NS10m’s – but objects to MASTERING with them – which I agree with 100% and would think any serious mastering person would, too
Nothing wrong with mixing on NS-10s. In fact their low-fidelity was one of the reasons they became the industry standard in succession to the Auratone.
but the reason every studio has NS-10s and had Auratones was for consistency. engineers and producers travel from studio to studio and need that consistency.
Anyone who uses NS-10s to master on clearly doesn’t know what they are doing and cannot really understand what the mastering process is all about.
But it took some time to realize that it was the “autolevel” thingie built into the boombox that created these … unpredictable results 
It didn’t sound all BAD though 
