NancyJohnson Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 Looking for recommendations...I have a VERY small set up at home and generally we track guitars and vocals in a small spare room. It's very basic; Presonus Audiobox USB > PC. I use Adobe Audition and Beta Monkey drum loops for the drums. We're all on cheapish Sennheiser headphones while recording. It works OK and results are pleasing enough. Don't shoot me down, but for external monitoring I've stuck with a set of Altec Lansing sub/satellites (which came with an old PC). To be honest these have been adequate for external monitoring before the audio is fed over our home network to a bigger room, however these are now on the blink, so I'm looking to just keep it take a signal from the main out on the Presonus into some active speakers. Any info/experiences appreciated. Don't want to spend a fortune. £150.00. Thanks muchley P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tedmanzie Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 (edited) There's not a lot to choose from in that price range, unless you go secondhand. New I'd definitely go separate amp and speakers: £80 amp from Richer Sounds [url="http://www.richersounds.com/product/amplifiers-receivers/cambridge-audio/topaz-am1/camb-topaz-am1-blk"]http://www.richersou...b-topaz-am1-blk[/url] Speakers: £60 JBL Control 1 [url="http://www.richersounds.com/product/standmount-speakers/jbl/control-1/jbl-contorl-1-blk"]http://www.richersou...l-contorl-1-blk[/url] OR £90 Gale Gold Monitor Mk2 [url="http://www.richersounds.com/product/standmount-speakers/gale/gold-monitor-mk2/gale-goldmonitbch"]http://www.richersou...le-goldmonitbch[/url] Few quid on cable and you're sorted. + you can hook up a cd player etc without the bother of a mixer. Edited February 5, 2014 by tedmanzie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pendingrequests Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 KRK Rokits 5 are a great set of active speakers. Very popular I have the Mackie MR5's, which are essentially their version of the KRK's. Personally wouldn't go on separate amp and speakers since you are using this for recording purposes and it'll save a bit of room under your desk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tedmanzie Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 Agreed they are popular and pretty good I expect but both the KRKs and the Mackies seem to be around around £240 for a pair, which puts them well out of the budget unless going second hand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 not heard these but it looks like a good deal: http://basschat.co.uk/topic/228922-tapco-s5-active-studio-monitors-with-all-cables-and-manual-price-drop/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoonBassAlpha Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 http://www.red5audio.com/acatalog/Active_Monitor_Speakers.html They are doing a special for existing customers for £160 if you write a review... their other stuff is good value Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NancyJohnson Posted February 9, 2014 Author Share Posted February 9, 2014 Like anything, it's been a steep learning curve (while my Altec Lansings spit and splutter). Given the size of the room I'm in (small - 6'x'8'), I got it down to three - Presonus Eris E4.5 (£170), M-Audio AV40 or Alesis Elevate 5 (both under £100 - the price point of which surprised me). At the end of the day, I don't need ear-splitting levels of volume for monitoring or the buck$ to throw at high end stuff, especially considering the whole recording aspect of band membership seems to fall squarely on my shoulders. Ultimately, anything is going to sound better than what I'm using at the moment! I guess I will probably end up with either the M-Audios or the Alesis. I'll report back. P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 (edited) You may also want to consider the M-Audio BX5 D2 Bi-amped active reference monit[size=4][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]or, 56Hz-22kHz:[/font][/size] [url="http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/MAudioBX5D2.html"]http://www.m-audio.c...AudioBX5D2.html[/url] Thomann seem to be selling them at around £148 a pair... [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/maudio_bx5_d2.htm"]http://www.thomann.d...udio_bx5_d2.htm[/url] Edited February 21, 2014 by discreet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldG Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 [quote name='MoonBassAlpha' timestamp='1391971727' post='2363156'] [url="http://www.red5audio.com/acatalog/Active_Monitor_Speakers.html"]http://www.red5audio...r_Speakers.html[/url] They are doing a special for existing customers for £160 if you write a review... their other stuff is good value [/quote] Did you go for a set? I got mine last week - detailed review to follow, but these are stunningly good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoonBassAlpha Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 No I haven't, as I don't really need an active set, but it didn't stop me wanting them though. I wouldn't mind changing my monitors though as they are a bit bass heavy, and my mixes can sound bass light as a consequence. What are you comparing them against? If they really are that good, they must be something of a bargain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ambient Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 I had some KRK's, very nice and can be bought used. I currently have some Yamaha HS80M's that are really amazing, out of your price range maybe, but worth considering if you can up your budget at all. They're based on the old NS10's I believe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldG Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 [quote name='MoonBassAlpha' timestamp='1392021797' post='2363560'] No I haven't, as I don't really need an active set, but it didn't stop me wanting them though. I wouldn't mind changing my monitors though as they are a bit bass heavy, and my mixes can sound bass light as a consequence. What are you comparing them against? If they really are that good, they must be something of a bargain. [/quote] I was using a set of entry level M-audio StudioPro 3's ( forerunner of the AV30) for nearfield - and/or a Technics reference amp through Tannoy Mercury speakers. The M-audio's are now my TV speakers and the Technics/Tannoy rig is so far behind in sound quality as to be redundant.... Bass reproduction on the RAVM's is clear,detailed and full (floor shakingly so if you wish) - a delight to work with after struggling with the bass sounds on my previous setup. Seperation and detail throughout the range is stunning,worth mentioning that I can now hear andwork with reverb accurately. Yes.... They are that good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoonBassAlpha Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 Thanks for the review, I might take the plunge for that money! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NancyJohnson Posted February 11, 2014 Author Share Posted February 11, 2014 I'm erring towards the M-Audio BX5 D2s now. P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NancyJohnson Posted February 12, 2014 Author Share Posted February 12, 2014 ...and ordered! Will report back. P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NancyJohnson Posted February 21, 2014 Author Share Posted February 21, 2014 OK, here goes. M-Audio BX5s are run in and up and running. I made some stands from some pine 2x2 timber, ply and rubber feet. The stands are solid and lift the speakers around 7" so the tweeters are at ear-level. Of the speakers, they're plenty loud enough...I've tended to find that with headphones the EQ on final mixes is a tad bassy/boomy, the BX5s are more neutral and you lose that boom, so end mixes essentially sound better through other hardware. All in all, I'm pretty pleased and they will be an asset to the recording process. They do run a little hot, so as they're doubling as our PC speakers as well, it's just a case of turning them off when they're not being used.#P P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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