r/audioengineering 2d ago

Community Help r/AudioEngineering Shopping, Setup, and Technical Help Desk

5 Upvotes

Welcome to the r/AudioEngineering help desk. A place where you can ask community members for help shopping for and setting up audio engineering gear.

This thread refreshes every 7 days. You may need to repost your question again in the next help desk post if a redditor isn't around to answer. Please be patient!

This is the place to ask questions like how do I plug ABC into XYZ, etc., get tech support, and ask for software and hardware shopping help.

Shopping and purchase advice

Please consider searching the subreddit first! Many questions have been asked and answered already.

Setup, troubleshooting and tech support

Have you contacted the manufacturer?

  • You should. For product support, please first contact the manufacturer. Reddit can't do much about broken or faulty products

Before asking a question, please also check to see if your answer is in one of these:

Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) Subreddits

Related Audio Subreddits

This sub is focused on professional audio. Before commenting here, check if one of these other subreddits are better suited:

Consumer audio, home theater, car audio, gaming audio, etc. do not belong here and will be removed as off-topic.


r/audioengineering Feb 18 '22

Community Help Please Read Our FAQ Before Posting - It May Answer Your Question!

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45 Upvotes

r/audioengineering 10h ago

Mixing The Shape of Punk to Come by Refused - how does it sound so good?

83 Upvotes

I’ve been amazed by how this album sounds and feels in the past few months, and I’ve been trying to recreate it myself but i just can’t get it right. Everything sounds huge but it also has it’s on spot.

How would you guys try and recreate the sound of this album? Are there any tricks/techniques that are used for the sound of this album?


r/audioengineering 9h ago

Updated: EarFix - a free hearing loss correction plugin (Mac AU, VST/Win VST))

22 Upvotes

https://github.com/sneakinhysteria/EarFix

Last year I built this in order to enjoy the same hearing loss correction in my DAW that my AirPod Pros delivered in iOS.

Musicians and engineers are not immune to hearing loss (quite the opposite - we are a high risk group). Yes, you can wear your hearing aids in front of your monitors, but with headphones, applying correction in the DAW seems like a much better idea.

I've just updated the plugin, added Windows support and fine tuned the correction model and added a basic mode to get you started easier. Unlike a few paid alternatives, EarFix works on the basis of your audiogram - your hearing test result. No separate test in an uncalibrated environment needed.

If you like to use this across your entire system for all output, you can use Sound Source (paid) or check out Curve (free and works great for me).

Hearing loss correction should not be a business - so this is completely free and privacy-friendly (no server).


r/audioengineering 8h ago

Discussion I recorded this strange voice coming through my headphones while working in Ableton. Looking for a technical explanation.

8 Upvotes

I’m a musician based in Paris. This voice came through my headphones while I was working in Ableton Live.

The recording was captured by holding my iPhone next to the headphones, so you’ll hear room/street noise too. The recording you're hearing is the original, unprocessed recording.

I’m not claiming anything paranormal. I’m genuinely looking for technical explanations: RF interference, audio routing, radio bleed, language/accent recognition, any plausible explanation.

Full, clear recording starts at 00:31. If you're short on time, the clearest section is probably around 01:41.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neEhI-Q47hA


r/audioengineering 6h ago

What if you reversed the tuning on your toms and miced the reso head?

4 Upvotes

Just a wild thought. Had a recording recently and the drummer had his ride really close to the floor tom which made mic placement tricky, but we got it to work in the end.

But what if, I'd reversed the tuning, so the batter was high and the reso low, and miced the reso? Straight away I'm thinking you'd lose some of the initial transient, but surly nothing that couldn't be added in the mix, right?

Has anyone tried this?


r/audioengineering 2h ago

Discussion Ever recorded an insect sound?

2 Upvotes

Technically an arachnid. I work in the AV department at the Natural History museum in NYC. A grad student is recording the mating dances of a species of scorpions. The scorpions essentially thump their torsos against whatever they're on, and then a possible mate would respond. I have the IR camera, but as for sound I'm at a loss. All my knowledge is for sound reinforcement in auditoriums, not in picking up faint noises in cages. Anyone have any suggestions?


r/audioengineering 16h ago

Discussion The drum sound in The Flaming Lips - 'Are you a Hypnotist?'

24 Upvotes

The drums in this have been grabbing my attention recently. Not an AE sorry, not sure if this is a tracking, mastering or mixing etc question BUT to me, the average music nerd, it sounds like something that *could* be played but also could be cut'n'paste chopped in sections.

Question for anyone who: wants to guess / is the actual drummer / anything in between - how do you get that raw but distorted / noisy but defined sound?

Thanks!


r/audioengineering 10m ago

Mixing Platform from ~2020 where you could unpack/split every layer of a song??

Upvotes

Sorry, I don’t have the right vocabulary to describe what I’m talking about perfectly, but I knew this guy in 2020 who had this process using some platforms where he could unwrap every layer of a song and isolate every part like each vocal layer, the bass, guitar, etc.
I remember asking him how he did it and it was a lengthy process but I really want to try it out for this one song. I remember“Dolby” being significant for some reason. Does anyone know what I’m talking about??
He did it for Joji’s album “Nectar” if that helps. Thanks!!


r/audioengineering 1h ago

Discussion Looking for a short AuroCX demo with objects (for decoder testing)

Upvotes

I’m building an open-source offline decoder for Auro / AuroCX. Most public AuroCX samples I have are bed-only — no object groups — so object panning.

Would anyone here be willing to bounce a short AuroCX clip that actually includes objects (even 10–30 seconds is fine)? Ideal if it has:

  • discrete bed (+ height if you use it)
  • at least one linked / object group with clear motion or panning
  • lossless or near-lossless AuroCX in MP4 is perfect

Happy to credit you / the track. Not asking for commercial stems — just a legal test asset so object rendering can be validated against a real encode.

DM or reply if you can help, or point me at an existing public AuroCX object demo. Thanks.


r/audioengineering 8h ago

BeesNeez B67/269 Maintenance?

5 Upvotes

Looking at buying a BeesNeez B67/269. In terms of Maintenance, tube replacement ect. What is your experience?


r/audioengineering 2h ago

Live Sound Avantis FoH + Avantis Mon + Gx4816 setup

1 Upvotes

Hello

I was wondering if it is possible to use a GX4816 with 2 desks (one Avantis mon, one Avantis FoH). I can't wrap my head about this because there is only one Slink hole per element.

I'm aware i could do this withe the Dante card/tie lines and there is also a S-link card that i'm not sure what it is for...

Thanks


r/audioengineering 3h ago

Anyone using an AudioScape EQP-2A (stepped pots) in their mix bus or mastering chain?

1 Upvotes

I know it's stereo-only, so no independent M/S, and I'm fine with that. Curious what your experiences are with this unit when using it on a full mix. Overall thoughts?


r/audioengineering 23h ago

Discussion Do you know of any specific examples of releases using pre-autotune pitch-correction techniques?

20 Upvotes

We all know what AT sounds like and can usually recognise it in current releases even if it only doing a little bit of work. Some of us can hear the reconstruction of the sound in melodyne or repitch used in current releases.

But the older techniques were much 'cruder' shall we say. I've read of a number of techniques over the year used in the 80s/90s to fix pitch problems.. like sending small sections to H910s and recomping, triggering small samples stored in a digital delay and triggered with a gate (an IM90?).. maybe sections were tracked to another tape machine and one or two words was sped-up or slowed down?

So, I would have thought that those techniques would be reasonable audible, though not necessarily obvious (since they were professionals and wouldn't have wanted the sound of the technology to be heard) to our ears, which have been trained on up to 50 years of music releases using these various techniques to fix the recordings. But I can't really think of anything I've heard in the last 10 or so years (since I've been able to 'hear' the reconstruction of the sound from autotune etc) from the 80s/90s which sounds like pitch correction.

Do you know of any specific examples of pitch correction using these early techniques? I'd love to hear them

thanks! :)


r/audioengineering 8h ago

Software I built a nerd plugin. Because I'm stuck in the retro bubble...

1 Upvotes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozOzgUgzzAg

Hell, yeah, it's a silly, simple box. But maybe someone else might like it too? 🤔

( win32/64 avaspace.de/TomitaBells.zip )


r/audioengineering 8h ago

Software Online Plug in demo

0 Upvotes

Built a Spacial Micro Tuner and a free demo method on my website where you can actually try the beta version of the plugin with a few different tracks online. Curious if people like this method of discovery or not.


r/audioengineering 23h ago

Discussion how to make audio sound old and nostalgic

8 Upvotes

what is the easiest method to make audio sound old/low quality like in this ?


r/audioengineering 1d ago

Mixing Recording Acoustic Guitar with 1 SM57

10 Upvotes

Hello!

My room is not ideal but could be worse I suppose.

I have one SM57 and a Fender solid top Dreadnaught I'd like to record into Reaper.

I saw a guy on You Tube recording with his 57 just a couple inches away from the body of the guitar and it sounds great to me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fb1vOEIo5bw

This works OK for me but doesn't seem as great as what he's getting.

cheers


r/audioengineering 22h ago

Software Yamaha LS9 Monitor Mix

2 Upvotes

If you're running a Yamaha LS9 for monitor mixes, you've probably hit the same wall I did: **StageMix is free but only supports one connected device at a time.** If more than one musician wants to ride their own headphone mix from their phone, you're stuck buying something like AirFader Server (~$150) - which is a fine product, but not everyone has the budget for it, especially for a personal/project studio.

So I built a free, open-source alternative: **a self-hosted web app where each musician gets their own page** (works on any phone/tablet browser, no app install) to control the send level + mute for whichever channels matter to them, into their own MIX bus. Multiple people can be mixing at the same time.

**How it works, in short:** a small Node.js server runs on a PC connected to the console via Yamaha's Network-MIDI Driver, and translates touch/drag actions from the web pages into MIDI SysEx sent straight to the console. No app store, no license, no per-seat cost - just your local network.

**Some things it does:**

- One page per musician, color-coded channel strips, mute button

- Admin page to set up musicians/channels without touching config files (though you can if you want - it's just JSON)

- Announcement banner you can push to every connected page in real time

- On-screen clock + keeps the phone screen awake during a session

- "Reset my mix" safety button

- No console-side MIDI table setup needed at all - the protocol addresses are computed directly (details in the README, reverse-engineered by
watching real MIDI traffic with MIDI-OX)

**Honest limitations up front:**

- No live sync back from physical fader moves on the console by default (there's an optional, slightly fiddly workaround documented, using MIDI-OX as a bridge)

- No authentication - built for a trusted local studio/stage network, not hardened for anything more exposed

- Only tested with a couple of people mixing simultaneously so far - if you try it with a full band, I'd love to hear how it holds up

- Windows only for now, and there's a quirky 32-bit Node.js requirement because of how the Yamaha driver exposes its MIDI port (documented in the README, took a while to figure out)

Repo (MIT license):
https://github.com/nicoampli/ls9-monitor-mix

Not affiliated with Yamaha in any way - this is a hobby/community project built by reverse-engineering the console's own MIDI output on my own hardware. If anyone has an M7CL (same MIDI family, probably compatible) or another Yamaha digital console and wants to help extend/verify this, issues and PRs are very welcome.

Happy to answer questions about the setup, the protocol reverse-engineering process, or anything else.


r/audioengineering 23h ago

Discussion Ampsims vs Re-Amping

1 Upvotes

I’m producing for a client who loves my mixes and is very happy with the product, but mentioned to me about the other producer he works with has him spend hundreds of dollars on hiring a session guitarist and going through the process of re-amping the tracks he makes with the other guy. To be clear, this is not something I suggest he does or am involved in at all, they are two separate products.

However, it did raise the question to me, how common of a practice is this in modern/industry mixes? I learned a decent amount about guitar production through Joey Sturgis and the Nail The Mix channel on Youtube. Most of the guys on there are working with amp sims like NeuralDSP and PodFarm for now older videos.

I know bands like Dance Gavin Dance, Deftones, and a lot of guys who are more relevant these days are using these plugins, but are they still getting re-amped? Just curious about your guys thoughts and opinions and what your take on this is.


r/audioengineering 1d ago

Discussion What’s your favorite Neve clone? (Not just 73’s or which one you think does the best job)

37 Upvotes

To clarify, it doesn’t have to be the one that clones it the most accurately but your favorite. It also doesn’t have to be a 1073, it could be a 1081, 1028, etc, and can be a plugin, rackmount, 500 series, 80 series, interpret this question as you want! Have fun everyone!


r/audioengineering 22h ago

Software Tape plugin that can match this style?

1 Upvotes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zhLBe319KE

I really like the old crunchy sound of older films and want to figure out a way to replicate this digitally. A lot of the tape plugins I've used don't really cut it for this sound


r/audioengineering 21h ago

Does sites like SoundBetter make use of SEO?

0 Upvotes

It can be considered a null/dull question, but all websites for engineering or producing make use of SEO?


r/audioengineering 11h ago

EQ-treatment is more important than room-treatment

0 Upvotes

Edit: Since it seems that this post is triggering a lot of you guys, I want to apologize - I want to clarify, that this is my solution for not being able to treat my room. You guys made it clear that room treatment is the only viable solution for great sound. But this post describes my workaround for that. Hit me up with solutions/other ways, if you feel like this way is not good.

TL:DR: Use Room EQ wizard (REW) to measure your room and make an EQ preset - it's the biggest jump in sound quality I have ever had.

Disclaimer: This refers to bedroom/hobby-production, not studio-production.

While trying to get the optimal sound out of your speakers, one will ultimately get to the point of researching about room treatment (sound panels, bass traps etc.), speaker placement and so on.

When producing at home, many of us don't have the space, time or money to adjust our space to these standards. I myself suffer from this - but I found an amazing solution.

While it is undeniable, that good room treatment increases the quality of the sound, you don't need professional solutions for that IMO - anything that absorbes or disperses reflections is enough: pictures, clothing, carpets, curtains etc. are more than enough (I recently moved and the difference between an empty room and a fully furnished room in terms of reflection and reverb is immense!).

Also, speaker placement is important, I know that. Don't put it in a corner, right at the wall and so on. I guess this website is common knowledge by now: Link

But still, my sound wasn't great. I had frequencies, that were way too loud and overshadowed others. But then I stumbled across a free software called Room EQ Wizard: Link

It is quite complicated, but there a many tutorials out there, that explain how to use it:

- part 1
- part 2

Only caveat: You will need at least an external microphone (and AFAIK an audio interface). A mic arm helps aswell.

Measure your room, and invert the EQ response, and make a preset of that EQ for your master - suddenly, the sound is better than I could ever have imagined!

Also, you can use additional software like APO, to put that EQ on your system sound.

***

One more thing: While bass treatment for nearfield monitors is a thing I am not greatly proficient in, I always use my headphones for A/B monitoring - and IMO, that's a good way for me to get an understanding of how my songs sound in the end.


r/audioengineering 15h ago

Tracking Here’s an important video

0 Upvotes

A video I wish came earlier in my career, lots of great knowledge herehttps://youtu.be/-SgoCqulKTo?is=2GYMGS1BGF_UiQ9-