Denon DJ SM50 Guide D'utilisation page 6

About the Rear-Panel EQ Contour Switches
These switches allow you to tailor the EQ curve of your SM50 monitors to complement the
frequency response of your studio. Since studio monitors (including the SM50) are designed to
have a flat frequency response, you may be wondering why these speakers include additional
EQ controls. They are included for three reasons:
1. Size, shape, and acoustical treatment of your specific studio: SM50 monitors are
tested and tuned in an anechoic chamber to be as linear (flat) as possible. This means
that leaving the switches set to their default settings will closely resemble monitoring in
an "ideal" environment similar to those found in high-end recording studios. In these
studios, acousticians carefully determine the size and shape of the control room,
placement of the studio monitors and large furniture, construction materials of the walls
and ceiling, as well as all acoustical treatments that must be applied to various parts of
the room. All this ensures that studio monitors will sound as flat and accurate as possible
at the "mixing position."
In the real world, however, many project studios are set up in preexisting rooms where
the size/shape of the room cannot be easily modified to improve acoustics. This means
that the design of the room itself may have adverse effects on the frequency response of
the monitors (i.e, sound reflections from flat surfaces in the room may cause the monitors
to not sound linear). For that reason, the SM50 features "corrective" EQ controls to
compensate for adverse effects that may be caused by your room.
2. Placement of the SM50 monitors within your studio: The proximity of your SM50
monitors to the walls (and floors/ceilings) may adversely affect the frequency response of
what you hear at the mixing position. This is because all speakers radiate low-frequency
sounds in all directions—not just toward the mixing position. If there are large, flat
surfaces (such as walls or ceilings) within one foot of the speaker, these surfaces act as
low frequency "sound reflectors" that return bass energy projected from the rear of the
speaker back into the studio. This can result in bass that sounds "tubby" and
exaggerated.
3. Using a subwoofer: If you plan to use a subwoofer with your SM50 monitors, you will
need to filter out low-frequency sounds so that only the subwoofer plays low-frequency
sounds (the SM50 monitors will only play mid-range and high-frequency sounds, in this
scenario). This needs to be done so that the subwoofer and SM50 monitors do not both
play the same low-frequency sounds, causing a greatly exaggerated bass response
within your studio.
The SM50 addresses all three of these issues with the following controls:
Proximity Control Switch
As stated earlier in this section, your SM50 should ideally be placed at least one foot away
from the nearest wall, ceiling, or other large, flat surface. In the real world, this may be
impractical due to space limitations within your studio. For that reason,
a Proximity Control Switch. This switch compensates for placement near walls by "shelving"
(reducing) frequencies below 200 Hz. This switch should be set as follows:
•
0 dB: This default setting should be used if the monitors are placed at least one foot
away from the nearest wall.
•
-2 dB: This setting reduces frequencies below 200 Hz by 2 dB. Use this setting if the
speakers must be placed closer than one foot from the nearest wall.
•
-4 dB: This setting reduces frequencies below 200 Hz by 4 dB. Use this setting if the
speakers must be placed within one foot of the corner of a room (i.e., the
intersection of two walls).
Tip: Be sure to leave at least 3" of space between the rear of the speaker and a wall to allow
the rear-firing port to "breathe" properly. Placing the speaker any closer than 3" may adversely
affect low-frequency response.
6
monitors feature
SM50