{"id":151,"date":"2017-03-26T22:05:16","date_gmt":"2017-03-27T05:05:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hexspa.com\/?p=151"},"modified":"2024-04-27T13:05:32","modified_gmt":"2024-04-27T20:05:32","slug":"how-to-k-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hexspa.com\/how-to-k-system\/","title":{"rendered":"K System: The Ultimate Tutorial"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The K system has been blown way out of proportion in terms of its complexity. Maybe it&#8217;s due to lack of understanding or the general difficulty of following how-tos in a forum but I think a video and blog post are much better media for communicating this idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Ultimate K System Tutorial\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/_LnicZNgoYI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">K System Simplified<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The K system is nothing more than using pink noise set to -20dB Integrated LUFS (or RMS) in your DAW and making that equal to a reference volume at your listening position. Depending on your room&#8217;s volume and personal tolerance, that can range between 70dB-85dB. You should aim for a level that feels &#8220;comfortably loud&#8221;.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">K-System Express<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><em>[20230923-This is an old post from 2017, abbreviated and meant to be a companion to the explaination in the video. Please keep this in mind while reading. Thanks.] <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why Pink Noise?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"448\" src=\"https:\/\/hexspa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/k-system-how-to-pink-noise-analyzer-1024x448.webp\" alt=\"k system requires pink noise which produces a flat, mostly invariant response like this\" class=\"wp-image-154\" srcset=\"https:\/\/hexspa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/k-system-how-to-pink-noise-analyzer-1024x448.webp 1024w, https:\/\/hexspa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/k-system-how-to-pink-noise-analyzer-300x131.webp 300w, https:\/\/hexspa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/k-system-how-to-pink-noise-analyzer-768x336.webp 768w, https:\/\/hexspa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/k-system-how-to-pink-noise-analyzer.webp 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Electronic Ocean Sounds<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Pink noise approximates music but without dynamics and harmonic &#8220;holes&#8221;. You don&#8217;t want to use regular music because the dimensions of your room will respond to different keys in unique ways. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What Do I Need to K-System?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>You&#8217;ll need an SPL meter (preferred, or phone app), a pink noise file, an RMS or EBU-R128 loudness meter (Meldaproduction has a free one in their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.meldaproduction.com\/MFreeFXBundle\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">MFreeFXBundle<\/a>) and a DAW. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How Do I K-System?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Import the noise, set it to -20dBFS RMS or -20LUFS integrated. Turn on your SPL meter, place it at your listening position and set it to C weighted, slow response. &nbsp;You&#8217;ll be aiming for a dBC level of about 72-76dB. &nbsp;Pick any level and stick with it for now.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Turn just one monitor on and play the noise. &nbsp;Turn up the volume until it&#8217;s at your target dBC value. &nbsp;Repeat for other speaker. &nbsp;Sub can be on.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Boom, you&#8217;re at K20. &nbsp;It&#8217;s useful for mixing and correlates roughly to 0dBVU.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In order to do K14, and from there you can figure out any other scale, just turn the noise UP in your DAW to -14dBFS RMS\/LUFS. &nbsp;Compensate by turning down your monitors until you hit your dBC target value.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Sum It Up<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The whole idea is that you want to be listening at the same volume no matter how hot the signal is in your computer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The main secret is to keep everything consistent &#8211; your levels but also the pink noise file you use, your SPL meter, your listening position and your loudness meter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hope this was helpful. \u00a0Let me know if you have any questions. \u00a0Consider subscribing on YouTube or joining the <a href=\"https:\/\/hexspa.com\/hexie-dose\/\">Hexie Dose<\/a> newsletter. \u00a0I&#8217;m generally focused on <a href=\"https:\/\/hexspa.com\/category\/music\/\">music<\/a> so expect more of that than <a href=\"https:\/\/hexspa.com\/category\/tutorials\/\">tutorials<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The K system has been blown way out of proportion in terms of its complexity. Maybe it&#8217;s due to lack of understanding or the general difficulty of following how-tos in a forum but I think a video and blog post are much better media for communicating this idea. The K system is nothing more than [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":153,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>K System: The Ultimate Tutorial - Hexspa.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The K System is an efficient way to make sure your monitors are set to an optimal volume. 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