Recently I published a tip on the NS-10 EQ method. In it I described how it works, but didn’t explore a lot of the reasons why it is so critical to mixing. That and I didn’t mention the pitfalls of using it without traditional reference monitors.
THE NS-10 EXPERIENCE
NS-10 monitors can be found in just about every major studio. They are a staple of the mixing industry. So what makes them so widely desired? If you look at the response curve of an NS-10 monitor, there are a few captured in the image below, you will see a pretty dramatic and deteriorating shelf in gain below1.5khz, and another at 5khz continuing until 9k, and lastly one around 12k and up.
And there are some interesting peaks as well. 1.5k, 2.5k, 3.5, 5k, and 12k that will stick-out more than the other bands.
All of this frequency tweaking may appear to be haphazard, but NS-10 was engineered this way. My only guess is the boosts were meant to prevent the engineer from pushing too much gain and the cuts were meant to help the engineer boost more gain in the frequency areas where most recording and speaker systems were deficient. If you shelf 4db from your lows on the master, you will likely add more gain to your lows in mixing to compensate. It’s like reverse psychology, but for music nerds. None of this is really needed any longer, or is it?
Fact is, today with digital audio we have equipment that is able to handle the full frequency spectrum. Years ago when NS-10s were in their prime, we didn’t. Why else would Yamaha discontinue producing the most iconic studio monitor in history!
If you were to take your current studio monitors and stack a pair of NS-10s against them, you might throw-up a little when you switch them on. This is because the frequency curve is so strange, it leaves out so many beautiful sub-lows and highs, that the NS-10 actually sounds broken.
So why would we choose to rely so commonly on a monitor system that very clearly does not respect a flat and complete 20-20k frequency spectrum? Even today, Anvantone makes a Chris Lord Alge version of the NS-10 called the CLA-10 that is nearly identical to the original. Why would someone use these speakers in their studio today? The easy answer is we shouldn’t. But it’s not that easy.
The NS-10 experience is a useful tool for the mixing engineer. In fact, in music today, so much power can be exerted between 20-20khz that it is easy to lose focus on the midrange. And that is exactly what the NS-10 experience is all about: Midrange.
WHAT YOU HEAR
I don’t own NS-10s, nor will I ever. Fact is, if you want to recreate the NS-10 experience with your DAW today, just throw-on a few EQs and set them to the curves above. But that is overkill and really just missing the point.
The first time I tried the NS-10 EQ I couldn’t believe my ears. Yes, it sounded like crap, but then I started really listening. Why would my snare have a ton of midrange? Same with my synths. Why was my kick just blasting through the mix? Or my guitars sounding like they were in a tunnel. Of course this wasn’t the result of the NS-10 EQ I employed. It was the result of poor mixing! And more importantly to my work, not respecting the magic midrange zone of the 20-20k frequency spectrum.
So then I switched-off the NS-10 EQ, and suddenly everything sounded good again. But did it really? Nope! In fact, as I switched back and forth, I could start to hear the problem areas from my speakers much more obviously. I started to get the feeling like I was overcompensating in my highs and lows for having too much midrange on some tracks. Now I was concerned!
No, I didn’t throw-out my speakers and replace them. And no, I didn’t start blowing money on room analyzers or anything else. I simply went back to each track and examined the EQ. I listened for the frequencies I was masking, covering-up, or overcompensating because my mids were so present. And boy was I surprised what I found. My mixing sucked! Not really, but that is how I felt at the time.
The good thing is, if you are a skilled mixer, you likely will not hear such a dramatic difference. Of course, there will be a difference, but the NS-10 sound shouldn’t leave you with a bad taste in your mouth. Yes, it will not sound as good as your normal reference monitors because the highs and lows are so poorly represented, but if you have balanced the midrange correctly, it should actually sound OK.
THE NS-10 EQ METHOD
So you want the NS-10 experience without the cost of NS-10 speakers eh? Well, here is an easy trick to get you there. Credit to Streaky (Streaky.com) for this idea! He's an awesome teacher and has a ton of great experience. Check-out his channel on YouTube.
Granted, the EQ curve is not exactly like the NS-10, but I find it actually helps me manage midrange even better than if I were to reference my music through actual NS-10s. Simply apply an EQ to the end of your Stereo Out or Master chain and set two shelves:
Bass Shelf: 100hz @ -24dB
High Shelf: 8khz @ -24dB
These shelves basically eliminate all lows and highs from your audio leaving you with a pure midrange spectrum. You can of course tweak these setting to your liking, but with these cuts, you can now concentrate of what some mixing and master engineers claim is the most critical area of music. And for me, this method was a huge game-changer.
As you work with your tracks, use this EQ as a reference. I wouldn’t mix through the NS-10 EQ exclusively. If you do, you will likely find your highs and lows will be extremely exaggerated and over-powering when you go back to your normal mixing chain. But it is an excellent way to allow you to keep your mids in check, especially as you try to prevent overcompensation on certain tracks.
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