al mcguire Posted August 19, 2013 Report Share Posted August 19, 2013 Remember Auratone speakers? During the 70's & early 80's they were a must have item in a recording studio. They were used to simulate what a mix would sound like in the real world. A friend of mine was clearing out a closet and found a set of them. He was about to toss them when he decided to do an ebay search and found sets were going for $600. I remember them costing $70 a pair. Amazing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikefilosa Posted August 19, 2013 Report Share Posted August 19, 2013 These were the standard in every television facility / control room I had worked in right up until the early-90s ... For "lack better terms":, they were the "lowest common denominator" of speaker that one's mix might be listened from, either from a car radio, a "hi-fi" (always loved that term!) or your state of the art 19" mono television. We were always instructed to mix, using them in sort of an A/B comparison... Primaries were usually JBL 4311s, I think. While everyone else was trying to be the high-resolution leader in control room monitoring, Auratone cubes stayed right where they were, filled the L-C-D "niche", and they sold thousands and thousands of them. As the quality of television speakers began to improve - Sony and Mitsubishi sets actually marketed with "best sound" in the forefront - I started to use them less and less, and instead would check my mixes off the nice cue speaker on the good old Ward Beck consoles, as these speakers were not only good, but I could easily get a mono mix by monitoring the tape recorders record heads... Good find Al, - But if I were your Auratone buddy, I'd take $600 in a heartbeat and can the nostalgia ! MF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Blankenship Posted August 19, 2013 Report Share Posted August 19, 2013 They were commonly referred to as "awful-tones." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al mcguire Posted August 19, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 19, 2013 Seems like they cost about $70 for the pair. I hated them. We relied on the little onboard speaker in the 2 track Studer A80 RCVU... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip Perkins Posted August 19, 2013 Report Share Posted August 19, 2013 I don't recall them being that cheap, but used a pair as "broadcast ref" monitors for years and years, until TVs started to have higher fi sound. I never liked the sound, but like the Yam NS10 they were cheap enough that everyone could have them and small enough that you could bring your own if they didn't. Radio producers especially liked them since they would be a consistent monitor sound for them from studio to studio. They also had a certain element of "if it sounds good on these, it will sound good everywhere"--an exaggeration of course but a comforting one in those times. Can't say I miss them. If someone wants to pay a lot of money for them, sell them! philp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVUrlacher Posted August 19, 2013 Report Share Posted August 19, 2013 Genelec were my NF of choice, but I always had a pair of Yamaha NS-10, and Auratone monitors for confidence checks. Weather mixing an album or a commercial for air, these nasty little monitors would give you a good representation of the "real world". 90+% of the masses enjoying our trade don't listen through hi-fi/quality monitors. They listen to the stock speakers in their TV's, laptops and their cars. Before I got the Auratone's I use to take my mixes out to my car, on cassette, and make sure that everything sounded balanced in the worst monitoring environment I had available (1968 Plymouth Fury III). Trust me, if the voice nicely cuts through the mix with good body or the bass sounds nice and round on Auratones... you've got a mix that works. To echo though... I think I only paid $70 or $80 for the pair, so if anybody wants them for $600+... good luck, and enjoy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVUrlacher Posted August 19, 2013 Report Share Posted August 19, 2013 Also... Quincy in THE MAN!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Feeley Posted August 19, 2013 Report Share Posted August 19, 2013 What surprises me is that there are two Auratone replicas made today (or at least really recently): Avantone MixCubes (several models, passive, active, etc): http://www.avantonepro.com/Avantone-MixCubes-Full-Range-Mini-Reference-Monitors.html Behringer BEHRITONE http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/C5A.aspx There are probably others. What an amazing world we live in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay Rose Posted August 19, 2013 Report Share Posted August 19, 2013 The great thing about Auratones wasn't that they were mediocre speakers that supposedly represented the real world*. It was that they were consistent. Between the care in their construction, and the fact that they were always used in the nearfield, any Auratone in any studio sounded exactly like the Auratone in any other studio. They could also handle a reasonable SPL without rattling or buzzing. You couldn't say that about any two random tv or radio speakers, or even about any two edit monitor speakers in a 1/4" deck. --- * You couldn't "represent the real world". No two TV models sounded the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikefilosa Posted August 20, 2013 Report Share Posted August 20, 2013 They were commonly referred to as "awful-tones." An old colleague of mine used to hate them, and due to the acute suckyness, called them "blow-o-tones" - he eventually left the south for Boston and over time became, and is still today, the lead sales and marketer for Genelec ! That's dedication for you... Philip and AVU - I forgot all about the Yamaha NS-10s ! Yes they most certainly overtook Auratones, and of course, the mandatory tissue paper "filter" that became the norm for many mixers ... a major trend - Who started that tissue paper thing? Lillywhite? Clearmountain? EVERYone was doing it.... MF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Blankenship Posted August 20, 2013 Report Share Posted August 20, 2013 ... Who started that tissue paper thing? Lillywhite? Clearmountain? EVERYone was doing it.... Kimberly-Clark? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Toline Posted August 20, 2013 Report Share Posted August 20, 2013 I seem to recall Bob Clearmountains name being attached to the tissue paper filter thing. Eric Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Feeley Posted August 20, 2013 Report Share Posted August 20, 2013 Who started that tissue paper thing? Lillywhite? Clearmountain? EVERYone was doing it.... Ya, I think I heard Clearmountian. But I recall a fun takedown article years ago in RE/P or somewhere...Ah (thanks Google): Examining the Yamaha NS-10M “Tissue Paper Phenomenon” An Analysis of the Industry-Wide Practice of Using a Tissue-Paper Layer to Reduce High-Frequency Output Recording Engineer/Producer Magazine, February 1986 – by Bob Hodas http://www.bobhodas.com/examining-the-yamaha-ns-10m.php Back to Auratones: Anyone know anyone who still uses them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikefilosa Posted August 20, 2013 Report Share Posted August 20, 2013 Jim - this is hilarious !!!! What a funny analysis - I hope everyone hits that link - the end is sweet! MF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip Perkins Posted August 20, 2013 Report Share Posted August 20, 2013 After the Auratones I went to JBL Control Micros as a "broadcast ref" speaker for the same reasons we used the Auratones--that peculiar combo of consumerish sound with the ability to play loud w/o rattling and hold up under daily use. (Even getting doses of high volume high-speed-wind "lifter drop" audio from analog multitrack decks!) They reflected the increase in clarity and top end that newer TV sound systems began to get in the late 1980s. I still have these in the studio, although they rarely get listened to anymore. philp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Reineke Posted August 20, 2013 Report Share Posted August 20, 2013 "Recording monitors for the real world" I still have the set or I bought back in the '70s. Many a record were mixed with the Auratones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mastermixaudiomedia Posted August 21, 2013 Report Share Posted August 21, 2013 I still have a pair on the meter bridge at work next to my Tannoy NFM-8's. I give them the occasional goaround. And I couldn't resist grabbing a bunch of them recently being thrown out... if I could get that mythical $600/pr., would be sweet! :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studiomprd Posted August 22, 2013 Report Share Posted August 22, 2013 Auratones and 4311's.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Feeley Posted August 29, 2013 Report Share Posted August 29, 2013 Speaking of Auratone... this showed up on my FB feed recently. Neato, but not sure I'm going to buy a pair... http://www.diyrecordingequipment.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al mcguire Posted August 30, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2013 Auraclones I love it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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