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Decent monitor speakers - any advice?


BassmanJN
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Hi,

I'm looking for a good but decently priced set of monitor speakers for a home recording set up. I'm not looking for anything outrageous, but I do like quality and clarity. To put it in perspective, I'm running a Presonus Audiobox USB in a MacBook, and using Studio One. The point being that I'm not going for anything mega professional. I'd prefer not to spend more than 200-300 quid...

...is this plausible?

Any advice much appreciated!

Thanks,

B

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Definitely post in the wanted section, i was quite literally unundated by lovely peeps of BC offering some good kit. Infact, have a search for my own post as ive just gotten a set of monitors for my macbook too!

Another £50 and you're in the region of a set of good second hand Adam A7's which are highly regarded. Ive got a set of Mackies that work really well for my set up.

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[quote name='BassmanJN' timestamp='1330383117' post='1556734']
Hi,

I'm looking for a good but decently priced set of monitor speakers for a home recording set up. I'm not looking for anything outrageous, but I do like quality and clarity. To put it in perspective, I'm running a Presonus Audiobox USB in a MacBook, and using Studio One. The point being that I'm not going for anything mega professional. I'd prefer not to spend more than 200-300 quid...

...is this plausible?

Any advice much appreciated!

Thanks,

B
[/quote]

A set of these won't do you wrong

[url="http://www.dv247.com/studio-equipment/yamaha-hs50m-powered-monitor-single--30743"]http://www.dv247.com/studio-equipment/yamaha-hs50m-powered-monitor-single--30743[/url]

It sort of depends on what you want/expect from your monitors. I personally a set of monitors to show up every flaw and know that if it sounds good on them then it will sound good damn near anywhere.

I have the Yamahas myself and have been using them for approx. 6 or 7 years and still no complaints at all :)

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Have you got an amp?

I use Mackie HR824s they are powered, have digital inputs and are completely flat response. They also do HR624s which are smaller and probably better suited to your setup. You may find some secondhand ones around too if your budget is limited. I was recommended these by a top engineer, he uses them in his own studios and specifys them in other peoples. The flat response means you hear everything.

The age of the old Yamaha white cones is gone. The only reason people used them so much is that they were so nasty sounding the theory was if you could get a mix to sound good on those they would sound good anywhere. The reality is ear fatigue after 15 minutes so everyone puts toilet paper on the tweeters!

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[quote name='brensabre79' timestamp='1330425130' post='1557078']
Have you got an amp?

I use Mackie HR824s they are powered, have digital inputs and are completely flat response. They also do HR624s which are smaller and probably better suited to your setup. You may find some secondhand ones around too if your budget is limited. I was recommended these by a top engineer, he uses them in his own studios and specifys them in other peoples. The flat response means you hear everything.

The age of the old Yamaha white cones is gone. The only reason people used them so much is that they were so nasty sounding the theory was if you could get a mix to sound good on those they would sound good anywhere. The reality is ear fatigue after 15 minutes so everyone puts toilet paper on the tweeters!
[/quote]

Wow, that's interesting. I don't have an amp. The [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]HR624s seem to have an amp built in, is that correct? Or am I barking up more trees than I think I am?![/font][/color]

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The more I read, the more I start to think that the M Audio BX5 deluxe or the KRK Rokit[color=#000000][font=Times][size=1] [/size][/font][/color]RP5 G2 might be what I'm after. I realise it's all rather subjective, but has anyone got any opinions about one over the other? The KRKs are slightly cheaper, but other than that I can't see much difference!

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In a choice between the Adams and the KRKs I'd go for the Adams, just a personal preference, but I think the Adams have a clearer, less coloured sound.
Also bear in mind the size of the room you're mixing in, A7s are lovely speakers, but can be a bit too much in a small box room due to the size of the woofer.

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[quote name='BassmanJN' timestamp='1330423002' post='1557041']
Thanks for the advice. Yeah, it's clarity and flaw-exposure I'm after. No point having it sound all nice only to pop your CD into the car stereo and then grind your teeth for the duration of the journey!
[/quote]

TBH the room will be affecting what you're hearing as much as the monitor speakers you use.
My advice is go for the speakers you like but acoustically treat your room in due course to get the best results. There's a great article about it all here:
[url="http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/feb06/articles/studiosos.htm"]http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/feb06/articles/studiosos.htm[/url]

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[quote name='jonthebass' timestamp='1330429845' post='1557235']
TBH the room will be affecting what you're hearing as much as the monitor speakers you use.
My advice is go for the speakers you like but acoustically treat your room in due course to get the best results. There's a great article about it all here:
[url="http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/feb06/articles/studiosos.htm"]http://www.soundonso...s/studiosos.htm[/url]
[/quote]

Makes total sense. Cheers!

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[quote name='BassmanJN' timestamp='1330429922' post='1557239']
Makes total sense. Cheers!
[/quote]

Another point you mention is listening to a mix in a car - When you have a mix you're happy with burn it off to CD and listen to it in cars/home hi-fi's/portable stereos aswell as iPods, etc as a confidence listen across those environments can give you ideas on where to tweak it to be a good overall balanced mix.

Good luck!

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[quote name='brensabre79' timestamp='1330425130' post='1557078']
The age of the old Yamaha white cones is gone. The only reason people used them so much is that they were so nasty sounding the theory was if you could get a mix to sound good on those they would sound good anywhere. The reality is ear fatigue after 15 minutes so everyone puts toilet paper on the tweeters!
[/quote]

I loved working with NS10's for years and could (and did) work happily on them for hours on end. So once I was sorting my home setup I wanted the same thing. Speakers which give me ear fatigue quickly were (in order that I remember):
Tannoy
Genelec
Mackie

It's a case of each to their own. I've done mixes on £12 headphones and just finished up the mix on NS10s before too. The end result is what matters :)

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Sorry Charic didn't mean to flame your monitor of choice.
I worked on NS10s for over 10 years and they do a grand job for the reasons I said, but I also only used them for reference. The main monitors (usually Genelec or Quested) did most of the work. The Mackies took over from the NS10s in terms of being the standard in a lot of the studios I worked in at the time they came out and they are still an excellent monitor. Although as others have said nowadays many have risen to the challenge.
But as you say to each their own :)

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It wasn't meant to come across as defensive :lol: monitors IMO is even more of a personal thing than the instruments you play on.

I've not tried Quested but I have to say, despite the price tag (and really wanting to like them) I really struggle to mix on modern Genelecs (some old ones I used were great). They made everything sound too nice, not bad for working on levels/dynamics/some effects but I didn't like EQ'ing on them at all.

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  • 2 weeks later...

[quote name='BassmanJN' timestamp='1330428451' post='1557190']
The more I read, the more I start to think that the M Audio BX5 deluxe or the KRK RokitRP5 G2 might be what I'm after. I realise it's all rather subjective, but has anyone got any opinions about one over the other? The KRKs are slightly cheaper, but other than that I can't see much difference!
[/quote]

I have friends with both. If I were you I'd go for the KRKs. People can often get put off by the fact that a lot of project studios have them, but it's just because they're really good for the price! I've been doing a fair amount of research in the same kinda of area. I saw people posting about the NS10s - The Yamaha HM50s and HM80s are in the same kind of bracket, they're supposed to give that classic high end sound of the NS10's but with an improved bottom end. I haven't heard them myself but apparently although they're a big improvement, they're still not the best. Problem with the NS10's (and you can also find with the Adams) is that they can become fatiguing to the ear. That said, I love the A7Xs! Beautiful speakers.

Check out KRK Rokit 5's, Yamaha HM50's, Mackie MR5's and Samson Rubicon R8A's.

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You might wan't to read up on how to set them up properly within you room as it can make a lot of difference. Also use reference tracks that you know well on every system, that way you'll be able to pick up on your monitors characteristics and mix accordingly. Good choice on the Rokit 5's. I'm tempted to get some myself once the student lifestyle stops butching my finances! How much did you get them for in the end?

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[quote name='jonthebass' timestamp='1330429845' post='1557235'] [snip]...My advice is go for the speakers you like... [snip][/quote]

Sorry but I gotta correct this one so that misinformation is not sitting here to be picked up by others in the future. As a broad rule the human ear prefers an eq 'smile' curve (low and high frequencies louder than mid frequencies) so you are more likely to 'like' a monitor with such an eq curve than a flat monitor. It is much harder to mix on these than a flatter monitor because if the bass and highs you are hearing is boosted you are likely to back off on those bass and high frequencies in the mix. When you then play your mix elsewhere it will sound light on bass and highs. Make sense?

As for the room treatment bit of jonthebass's post, I couldn't agree more. You would be stunned at how much difference a bit of rockwool carefully positioned in your room will make to your production capabilities,

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Can't recommend room treatment enough, I got HS50m's a few months back, and it wasn't until I had the room positioning and the treatment sorted that I was able to fully appreciate them.

[color=#333333][font=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif][size=3]Here's a post I did about some treatment that I did in my room a while back[/size][/font][/color]

[url="http://talesfromthepartydungeon.wordpress.com/2011/11/04/therell-be-no-first-order-reflections-in-these-here-parts/"]http://talesfromthepartydungeon.word...se-here-parts/[/url]

[color=#333333][font=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif][size=3]and there's some great information on this site about placing monitors[/size][/font][/color]

[url="http://www.realtraps.com/art_room-setup.htm"]http://www.realtraps.com/art_room-setup.htm[/url]

[color=#333333][font=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif][size=3]I've done a bit more since then, including getting monitor stands and making a panel behind the monitor speakers. In terms of results, I would put them in this order, from most to least[/size][/font][/color]

[color=#333333][font=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif][size=3]1. Speaker Placement[/size][/font][/color]
[color=#333333][font=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif][size=3]2. Bass Traps[/size][/font][/color]
[color=#333333][font=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif][size=3]3. First Reflection Panels[/size][/font][/color]

[color=#333333][font=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif][size=3]Proper placement will make a huge difference, I found reading the above link and learning the rules will get you in the general ballpark, and then some trial and error will fine tune the placement.[/size][/font][/color]

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[quote name='Alex Spencer' timestamp='1331330041' post='1571650']
You might wan't to read up on how to set them up properly within you room as it can make a lot of difference. Also use reference tracks that you know well on every system, that way you'll be able to pick up on your monitors characteristics and mix accordingly. Good choice on the Rokit 5's. I'm tempted to get some myself once the student lifestyle stops butching my finances! How much did you get them for in the end?
[/quote]

Hey Alex, I picked them up on eBay for GBP240 (my keyboard is Spanish for some reason, has no pound symbol!)

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[color=#333333][font=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif][size=3]Wow, that's really interesting. The last time I got jiggy with some rockwool, I was 17 and we were building subwoofer boxes for our VW Polos, in order to best presuage the invention of the ASBO... That's class though![/size][/font][/color]

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