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88 Chapter 4 Setting Up Your System
Ancillary Audio Devices
No discussion of a Logic Express audio system would be complete without covering a
number of options that you should seriously consider, in order to make the most of the
application.
Audio Playback System
Your audio interface provides inputs and outputs between the real world and your
computer. When performing audio playback, the audio interface translates computer
data into something you can hear and understand—sound and music.
To facilitate this, an amplifier and speakers are required. You can certainly use
headphones, connected to the headphone jack of your audio interface, or the home hi-
fi to monitor Logic Express playback, but this is not recommended in the long term.
You should look at a dedicated set of reference monitors (speakers), and a matching
reference amplifier. Many monitoring systems today have powered speakers, negating
the need for a separate amplifier.
Note: Reference monitors are specially designed speakers that offer a flat frequency
response across a wide range (usually 20 Hz to 20 kHz). These are not your average
home hi-fi speakers, and are usually only available from professional music and studio
equipment dealers.
This type of system is recommended due to the precision it offers. Logic Express is
capable of delivering CD or higher quality audio, and creating your mixes on a home
hi-fi will generally result in music that is not properly balanced.
Put another way, most home hi-fi speakers tend to enhance particular areas of the
frequency spectrum, resulting in mixes that have too much bass, mid, or treble
frequency when played back on other systems. Reference monitors and amplifiers are
designed to provide a flat frequency response, avoiding emphasis of particular areas of
your mix. This translates to a final product that will sound good (or at least, passable)
on most monitoring systems—car stereos, home hi-fis, portable players, and so on.
Headphones
A good set of studio headphones is handy for particular tasks, such as precise EQ-ing
and sample editing. Given the design of most headphones, and the fact that they’re
used so close to the ears, most people find that headphone mixes tend to be too
bright or too bass-heavy.
As such, they are not recommended for general monitoring duties, but they are useful
tools nonetheless. If you are recording groups of people, you will probably need several
pairs of headphones, a headphone distribution amplifier, and a mixing console.
∏ Tip: You should not use headphones for longer than ten or twenty minutes at a time,
as they can cause listening fatigue, resulting in you making poor choices for your mix.