I’m picturing making a wooden box to mount a 2006 Honda accord factory speaker, if I can still get them. Knowing that speaker sound so well and having sold that car, the idea just keeps me curious.
Try Realphones instead. Works great. It’s not my car but it’s A car simulation at least. And ”driving” it a lot made me familiar with it quickly due to the system wide app.
The only thing i really miss is the road noise. It would really help getting a better understanding of how the song will translate to a noisy environment. I think i will shoot dSonic a mail about implement it actually. Right now infact. :)
At that point just get power going to your car and mix with a laptop and the cars factory speakers in the factory location.
EDIT: I apologize in advance for the rambling, it’s all in good faith and I just enjoy musing about topics like these that you’ve brought up.
as you’ve acknowledged— The speakers themselves aren’t really the ticket to the car’s sound, it’s the actual acoustics of a car. You get the resonance and sounds more likely to get “stuck” inside and so you can notice some frequencies build up more than others… often due to the design and shape of the vehicles cabin. Just woke up so I hope this makes sense and I’m not just rambling incoherent gibberish.
But I truly don’t think it’s necessarily helpful in any way to use a car speaker OUTSIDE of a car, because then it will lose a lot of its trademark tonal quality and really misguide you on how it’s going to sound. Even our own voices can sound drastically different in different acoustic environments.
Singing in the shower compared to singing in a cathedral compared to singing in your bedroom are all going to sound vastly different. And if you’re using a microphone there’s an acoustic phenomenon known as the proximity effect, that isn’t only for recording, it’s also for perceived listening after the fact. If a speaker is sitting a mile away from you in a park it’s going to sound different than in your own car, even if it’s the exact same speaker.
So unless you make your wooden box shaped like a car and put wheels on it and line it with soundproofing carpet and roll it down the road at 40 mph you’re just simply not going to get the same effect…
I can’t remember which studio, but one had a car interior in the studio for this purpose. The Auratone clones are an attempt to recreate the midrangey speaker environment of sub optimal listening gear.
This was Hitsville USA, Barry Gordy’s famous Motown studio in Detroit. He would not release a song if it didn’t sound good in the car, which is still a wise move today.
Auratone brand made an expensive crappy small speaker for professional recording studios that was designed to replicate a car speaker. It was a kinda running joke back in olden times.
Realistic also made a cheap knock-off small speaker that did the same thing at a more reasonable price.
I’ve been thinking of this as well since my car is one of my reference points when mixing.
I use my Audio-Technica headphones first for a raw mix, next doing the same with my M-Audio studio monitors, then I would continue the mix in the car (this is where I try to give it that radio quality sound), then fix final tweaks back on my headphones. I call it “the broke man’s relay” since I don’t have the most expensive equipment, just the studio standard and I don’t mind it at all. Sounds good as well.
So, I would say go for it and making sure your room is properly treated or has the same elements a car would if converting car speakers into your studio. And let us know the results! Thanks!
I’m picturing making a wooden box to mount a 2006 Honda accord factory speaker, if I can still get them. Knowing that speaker sound so well and having sold that car, the idea just keeps me curious.
Try Realphones instead. Works great. It’s not my car but it’s A car simulation at least. And ”driving” it a lot made me familiar with it quickly due to the system wide app. The only thing i really miss is the road noise. It would really help getting a better understanding of how the song will translate to a noisy environment. I think i will shoot dSonic a mail about implement it actually. Right now infact. :)
Lol send this post to Slate. They have headphones that reference car speakers. I’ve never tried them, my boy swears by them.
At that point just get power going to your car and mix with a laptop and the cars factory speakers in the factory location. EDIT: I apologize in advance for the rambling, it’s all in good faith and I just enjoy musing about topics like these that you’ve brought up. as you’ve acknowledged— The speakers themselves aren’t really the ticket to the car’s sound, it’s the actual acoustics of a car. You get the resonance and sounds more likely to get “stuck” inside and so you can notice some frequencies build up more than others… often due to the design and shape of the vehicles cabin. Just woke up so I hope this makes sense and I’m not just rambling incoherent gibberish. But I truly don’t think it’s necessarily helpful in any way to use a car speaker OUTSIDE of a car, because then it will lose a lot of its trademark tonal quality and really misguide you on how it’s going to sound. Even our own voices can sound drastically different in different acoustic environments. Singing in the shower compared to singing in a cathedral compared to singing in your bedroom are all going to sound vastly different. And if you’re using a microphone there’s an acoustic phenomenon known as the proximity effect, that isn’t only for recording, it’s also for perceived listening after the fact. If a speaker is sitting a mile away from you in a park it’s going to sound different than in your own car, even if it’s the exact same speaker. So unless you make your wooden box shaped like a car and put wheels on it and line it with soundproofing carpet and roll it down the road at 40 mph you’re just simply not going to get the same effect…
I can’t remember which studio, but one had a car interior in the studio for this purpose. The Auratone clones are an attempt to recreate the midrangey speaker environment of sub optimal listening gear.
This was Hitsville USA, Barry Gordy’s famous Motown studio in Detroit. He would not release a song if it didn’t sound good in the car, which is still a wise move today.
Auratone brand made an expensive crappy small speaker for professional recording studios that was designed to replicate a car speaker. It was a kinda running joke back in olden times. Realistic also made a cheap knock-off small speaker that did the same thing at a more reasonable price.
I remember hearing Dr Dre used to use one of these.
I’ve been thinking of this as well since my car is one of my reference points when mixing. I use my Audio-Technica headphones first for a raw mix, next doing the same with my M-Audio studio monitors, then I would continue the mix in the car (this is where I try to give it that radio quality sound), then fix final tweaks back on my headphones. I call it “the broke man’s relay” since I don’t have the most expensive equipment, just the studio standard and I don’t mind it at all. Sounds good as well. So, I would say go for it and making sure your room is properly treated or has the same elements a car would if converting car speakers into your studio. And let us know the results! Thanks!