Subwoofer for Recording Studio

Occasionally we get some questions that we think are worth sharing because they can be helpful for others that are new to recording and this is one of those questions.  Today’s question is  “Do studio monitors need a subwoofer”?

What we typically say is yes in fact having a subwoofer as part of your recording studio setup is greatly beneficial to the creative process.   A subwoofer is important not just in your home theater but also for your recording studio as well.  Think about it the subwoofer takes away the super low frequencies from the studio monitors.  Letting the monitors do what they do best at all the other frequencies, and the subwoofer do what it does best at the low frequencies.  You then get a better fuller sound overall.

We preface this piece of information with the statement that you still need to have your studio room set up properly.  The bass frequencies should be something there but transparent and not in the way of anything else or overpowering.  So you need to tune your room to ensure that the room is neutral or flat.   Meaning that the area you sit in when mixing should not be colored by overdriven bass sounds, from standing waves or other frequencies.

How do you acoustically tune a room?

First, the best option is hiring a professional to get your best performance when building a recording studio, but if budgets are tight.   We can make some simple solutions that can fit almost any budget.  There are lots of tools to help you tune your room to get a more accurate room.   Neumann has a great post about it see it here but, these solutions don’t have to be overly complicated or expensive. You can even use tools from your mobile phone with an app like Impulso App, or iStroboSoft.

There are even some online sites that can help you like this DIY solution from WikiHow for making your room more acoustically appealing for recording.  If you want to know more about acoustically tuning a room tell us and we can do a more in-depth post for you.