Paul McGowan / PS AUDIO
Let me share an interesting experience.
At Octave Records, we have built a state-of-the-art mix room with the best equipment we know to exist: FR30 loudspeakers, BHK monoblocks, BHK pre, DSMK2, Audioquest Dragon cables, a pair of custom 21″ subs. Fed from Octave masters, it sounds amazing.
And in Music Room 3, we have worked hard to create the same system (different subwoofer) so that when we work on either new product designs or we wish to make a final check on an Octave release, we can be assured what we are hearing is of verified reference quality.
Two rooms with nearly identical equipment, yet they do not sound the same.
Sigh.
Tonally, they are very close. MR3 has better deep bass, and Octave’s mixroom has a bit more immersive intimacy in the imaging.
In each room, I hear qualities not present in the other.
The difference, of course, is the room itself. MR3 is much, much bigger than Octave’s mixroom.
Which all brings to mind that even with the best setups and identical equipment, the room plays a much more significant role than I would like to think.
Both rooms are amazing.
They are just different.
