Auratone, Avantone Mixcube—Same Thing, Different Decade (And Why They Still Matter in Mixing)

It’s a classic story: you’re deep into a mix, everything’s sounding solid on your main monitors, but after a while, your ears get tired and details start to blur. That’s why I’ve been using a mono Avantone Mixcube for over a decade. When I switch to it, everything feels clearer—issues in the mids, vocal balance, and low-end stand out in a way they didn’t before. I fix it here, and when I go back to my NS10s or Adams, the mix sounds fresher, tighter, and more balanced.

It’s not about making a mix sound good—it’s about making it work everywhere. And that’s exactly why Auratones, and their modern counterparts like the Mixcube, have been essential in studios for decades.

Red Avantone

Black Avantone

Cream Avantone

Why the Avantone Mixcube?

The Mixcube is basically a modern take on the Auratone 5C, the tiny but brutally honest speaker that engineers swore by in the ‘70s and ‘80s. It’s a single-driver, full-range speaker with no hyped lows or extended highs. Just midrange—the part of the mix that actually translates across all systems.

Because there’s nothing flattering about it, you’re forced to make better decisions. If the vocal is too loud, you hear it. If the bass is masking everything, you hear it. If your snare isn’t cutting through, you hear it. No sub frequencies to lean on, no fancy stereo imaging to get lost in—just the cold, hard truth.

The Legacy of the Auratone 5C

Before the Mixcube, the Auratone 5C was everywhere. These little boxes sat on consoles in studios working on some of the biggest records ever made. Quincy Jones, Bob Clearmountain, Bruce Swedien—these guys mixed using Auratones to make sure their tracks worked outside the studio. Michael Jackson’s Thriller, Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours—all checked and refined on these speakers.

The idea was simple: if a mix sounded good on an Auratone, it would sound good anywhere—from car radios to TVs to cheap home speakers. They weren’t designed to sound great. They were designed to tell the truth.

Modern Applications

The Auratone 5C eventually disappeared for a while, but the concept never died. Avantone brought it back with the Mixcube, keeping the same philosophy: simplicity, clarity, and translation. And honestly, it’s still one of the best tools for checking a mix. I start on my full-range monitors, get the mix feeling right, then flip to the Mixcube in mono. That’s where the real work happens.

Once I’ve made adjustments there, going back to full-range speakers feels like taking the weights off. The mix just opens up.

Virtual Auratone: The Slate VSX Surprise

When I switched to the Auratone emulation in Slate’s Virtual Monitoring system, I was blown away—it felt exactly like my Mixcube in my room. Same focus, same punch, same ability to make the mix fall apart in all the right ways.

Now, I actually use the virtual version more than my real Mixcube. It does the same job—exposing flaws—without needing to be patched in or physically switched over. It just works.

Final Thoughts

Whether it’s a real Auratone 5C, an Avantone Mixcube, or a virtual emulation, a mono, full-range speaker like this is an essential tool. It forces you to make better mixing decisions, exposes weaknesses, and helps you create tracks that sound great everywhere—not just in the studio.

If you’re not using one yet, maybe you haven’t felt the need for it—or just haven’t pulled the trigger on one. But it’s one of the simplest ways to make your mixes translate better.

Bonus: How to Make a Mono Summing Cable for Your Mixcube

If you’re using a single Avantone Mixcube in mono and need to sum your left and right outputs safely, you’ll need a simple passive summing cable. Without it, you risk distortion, phase issues, or even damaging your audio source.

Here’s how you can build one:

What You Need:

• Two 1/4” TS or TRS plugs (for the left and right outputs)

• One 1/4” TS plug (for an unbalanced Mixcube input) or One XLR male connector (for a balanced input)

• Two matching resistors (1kΩ to 4.7kΩ)

• Soldering iron & heat shrink tubing

How to Wire It:

1. Solder a resistor to each signal wire (Tip of Left & Tip of Right).

2. Join the ends of both resistors and connect them to:

• The Tip of the TS plug (for an unbalanced input)

• XLR Pin 2 (Hot/Signal) (for a balanced input)

3. Connect the ground wires from both stereo cables together and solder them to:

• The Sleeve of the TS plug (for an unbalanced input)

• XLR Pin 1 & Pin 3 (Ground & Cold) (for a balanced input)

4. Insulate everything with heat shrink tubing to prevent shorts.

Why Use Resistors?

Without them, directly summing left and right can cause distortion and signal degradation. The resistors help prevent overloading and ensure a balanced mix.

If you prefer a cleaner setup, you can build a passive summing box with a stereo input and a mono output using the same resistor network inside a small enclosure.

The Resistors Need to Be Matched

• Prevents phase shifts – If the resistors aren’t equal, the left and right signals won’t sum evenly, which can cause phase issues.

• Keeps the mix centred – Uneven resistance can make one side louder, shifting the summed signal off-centre.

• Maintains proper impedance – Matching resistors ensure both signals are attenuated equally, preventing distortion or level imbalances.

What Value Should You Use?

• Lower values (1kΩ) give a stronger summed signal.

• Higher values (4.7kΩ or more) reduce the summed level slightly but provide better isolation.