Los Angeles-based producer, stage manager, backline crew chief and production manager Tremaine “Six7” Williams, who started his career with noted production team Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis in working on GRAMMY-nominated pieces for artists such as Janet Jackson, Usher, and 50 Cent, has since transitioned to the live events world where he employs KRK GoAux portable monitors.
Williams has worked on Mariah Carey’s Christmas shows for the past nine years in addition to touring with Bruno Mars and Swedish House Mafia. He notes that he doesn’t always have a traditional studio to work from, a factor in his desicion to utilize GoAux monitors.
“I’m moving around every day at this point, so I need consistent monitoring everywhere I go, but I also need to be travel-ready,” Williams says. “It’s the little things that help me — like not having to use an interface. I can just connect the speakers via USB and treat them as an interface. The ARC feature is also great because I’m in different rooms every day, and now I can get a more accurate bass response, which is what I need for the type of music I’m working with. Plus, being able to set up anywhere is a huge help, as is the travel bag that comes with it. With my previous portable monitors, I had to buy the bag and the accessories. The GoAux system comes with everything included.”
The all-in-one packaging of the system isn’t the only thing that sets them apart, he continues. “Compared to my old speakers, the bottom and top-end on the GoAux stand out for sure; they are both so clean. When I run greatest hits mixes, with songs and masters that span over many years, everything is clean, loud, and not distorted. It sounds really good, no matter what songs we jump to. It sounded great when we were mixing, too, and also translated when we moved into a different space. That’s the biggest part for me — who cares if it sounds great in front of you if it doesn’t sound great when you’re in another space?”
Williams also relies on his KRK ROKIT White Noise monitors and S10.4 subwoofer for at-home monitoring and referencing. “The way the ROKITs translated in my room, I knew they were it for me,” he concludes. “The digital EQ on the back is also great; I love having that to show me the graphic EQ, among other options, rather than having to flip switches up and down to find the settings I need. It’s brilliant. But, again, clarity and translation are everything for me. Since I move around so much, it has to translate from space to space. KRK just works exactly how I need.”
