Compact Home / Studio Desk Monitors

[Al Krow]

I've been using a pair of Creative Gigaworks T40 ii for home / studio desk use for several years and they're not too shabby at all. But I wouldn't mind stepping up a level in terms of sound quality, whilst keeping things compact. 

What are you guys using that you could recommend that delivers a great sound with a meaty low end?

Edited May 6, 2020 by Al Krow

[Al Krow]

My research so far has identified the iLoud MMs as being decent - they seem to stand up well against the well rated Genelec 8010A and certainly have a fuller bass. They're also half the price!

 

[Bobthedog]

Adam Audio T5v user here. I did a compare with the Yamaha equivalent and, whilst these are not as loud, the sound is better, for my ears. I play 5 string so did end up having to buy the T10s sub however to get a better reproduction of the b string. 

Very happy with the set up now. 
 

Edited May 6, 2020 by Bobthedog

[songofthewind]

Yamaha MSP5's here. Good monitors, and I use them with a Fluid Audio F8 sub for bass extension.

[Jack]

FWIW the produce like a pro guy has spoken several times about how much he likes the ilouds.

Is this just for audio work or also for listening to music? I find studio monitors fatiguing for actually listening to music or watching films as they're far too harsh. I spent a few years messing with eq profiles or trying to have two sets of speakers but eventually just settled on some pretty-flat hifi speakers, in my case Microlab Solo 9C. I'm over 90% listening for pleasure and less than 10% audio work though, and when I do it's just for me so I decided that them not being reference-grade was worth it over trying to listen to youtube/spotify low-quality mp3s on studio monitors!

 

EDIT - Interestingly I loved studio monitors for the (tiny bit of) video gaming that I do. Bottomless bass and extended highs make for some really cool sound effects and foley that you miss out on using standard 2.1 pc speakers.

 

Edited May 6, 2020 by Jack

[Jack]

43 minutes ago, Bobthedog said:

Adam Audio T5v user here. I did a compare with the Yamaha equivalent and, whilst these are not as loud, the sound is better, for my ears. I play 5 string so did end up having to buy the T10s sub however to get a better reproduction of the b string. 

Very happy with the set up now. 
 

How do you find them generally? I've long fetishised Adam Audio but they've never had a product in that price bracket before. I wondered if they were a bargain as a big player develops a great smaller speaker or if they were a cash in on the name and not actually very good..

[Bobthedog]

33 minutes ago, Jack said:

How do you find them generally? I've long fetishised Adam Audio but they've never had a product in that price bracket before. I wondered if they were a bargain as a big player develops a great smaller speaker or if they were a cash in on the name and not actually very good..

Coming straight from a set of Bose computer speakers, these were a revelation. I only auditioned couple of other brands though. Note too my room is not set up acoustically and speaker siting may not be ideal but then  I only use them to listen to music and mix my bass into pre recorded tracks on Logic Pro via a 2nd gen Scarlett 2i4. I am very happy with them though. They get very good reviews on YT so they must be reasonable at least. 

[Al Krow]

43 minutes ago, Jack said:

FWIW the produce like a pro guy has spoken several times about how much he likes the ilouds.

Is this just for audio work or also for listening to music? I find studio monitors fatiguing for actually listening to music or watching films as they're far too harsh. I spent a few years messing with eq profiles or trying to have two sets of speakers but eventually just settled on some pretty-flat hifi speakers, in my case Microlab Solo 9C. I'm over 90% listening for pleasure and less than 10% audio work though, and when I do it's just for me so I decided that them not being reference-grade was worth it over trying to listen to youtube/spotify low-quality mp3s on studio monitors!

EDIT - Interestingly I loved studio monitors for the (tiny bit of) video gaming that I do. Bottomless bass and extended highs make for some really cool sound effects and foley that you miss out on using standard 2.1 pc speakers.

Cheers Jack - actually for both audio work and probably even more for listening to music e.g. playing tracks to practice along to at home.

Yeah - interesting you comment on the Produce like a Pro Guy - it was actually one of his other videos that got me thinking about this in the first place. He seems to be pretty "independent" i.e. doesn't have a particular axe to grind which makes his reviews that much more useful.

I'm thinking that the iLouds should be a very decent step-up from the budget Creative Gigaworks I've been using for the past few years though.

[Al Krow]

1 hour ago, Bobthedog said:

Adam Audio T5v user here. I did a compare with the Yamaha equivalent and, whilst these are not as loud, the sound is better, for my ears. I play 5 string so did end up having to buy the T10s sub however to get a better reproduction of the b string. 

Very happy with the set up now. 
 

1 hour ago, songofthewind said:

Yamaha MSP5's here. Good monitors, and I use them with a Fluid Audio F8 sub for bass extension.

Seems like an additional sub is probably the way to go then?

One of the things about the iLoud is the bass reflex port, which seems to really help with the lows from the clips I've seen so far. I suspect it's not going to be in same league as the Adam T5V or the Yammy MSP5s with their 5" speakers but on the plus the iLouds are more compact, which is going to helpful for me, and I suspect half the price (which doesn't hurt either  ) 

Edited May 6, 2020 by Al Krow

[songofthewind]

I find having a sub makes all the difference. Without one, I would rather just use headphones. As pointed out above, studio monitors can be brutal, and headphones are a bit more forgiving.

[BigRedX]

For monitoring you want brutal rather than forgiving.

IIRC the point of those nasty Yamaha NS10s that every studio had in the 80s was that if you could make your mix sound good on them then it would sound good on everything else.

[Matt P]

2 hours ago, Jack said:

FWIW the produce like a pro guy has spoken several times about how much he likes the ilouds.

Is this just for audio work or also for listening to music? I find studio monitors fatiguing for actually listening to music or watching films as they're far too harsh. I spent a few years messing with eq profiles or trying to have two sets of speakers but eventually just settled on some pretty-flat hifi speakers, in my case Microlab Solo 9C. I'm over 90% listening for pleasure and less than 10% audio work though, and when I do it's just for me so I decided that them not being reference-grade was worth it over trying to listen to youtube/spotify low-quality mp3s on studio monitors!

 

EDIT - Interestingly I loved studio monitors for the (tiny bit of) video gaming that I do. Bottomless bass and extended highs make for some really cool sound effects and foley that you miss out on using standard 2.1 pc speakers.

 

i've got a similar setup, using a pair of JPW Minims and a class T amp, not the flattest sounding speakers but i am very familiar with them now and most of the time it's just me listening to music rather than mixing, i have a graphic eq that i switch in for listening purposes and a second set of really nasty speakers ( from a £10 5.1 surround set) that i use for double checking the mix similar to the little auratone speakers used in big studios.

 

Matt

[Muppet]

Two weeks ago I did the same thing - the Creative T40s went in a box and I replaced them with some Steljes Audio NS3 small desktop speakers. Not really studio monitors in the true sense but really nice sound, great connection options and they're really nice lookers too! I think they were What HiFi recommended...

https://www.steljesaudio.co.uk/docs/products/NS3.shtml

steve

[Al Krow]

3 hours ago, Muppet said:

Two weeks ago I did the same thing - the Creative T40s went in a box and I replaced them with some Steljes Audio NS3 small desktop speakers. Not really studio monitors in the true sense but really nice sound, great connection options and they're really nice lookers too! I think they were What HiFi recommended...

https://www.steljesaudio.co.uk/docs/products/NS3.shtml

steve

Cheers Steve, I'll check those out. Spooky coincidence on the Creative T40s! Did you consider / compare any others in arriving at the NS3s? If so, be very interested in which ones were on your list and why you went for the NS3s over them. 

[Al Krow]

The Digital Stereophony site is just excellent (through a decent pair of headphones). Even had a comparison of my current T40s against the iLouds I was thinking of getting! The iLouds do have a bigger bass (e.g. at 02.30) but I'm not convinced they are going to be a significant step up. Back to the drawing board! 

 

Edited May 7, 2020 by Al Krow

[Muppet]

8 hours ago, Al Krow said:

Cheers Steve, I'll check those out. Spooky coincidence on the Creative T40s! Did you consider / compare any others in arriving at the NS3s? If so, be very interested in which ones were on your list and why you went for the NS3s over them. 

I wanted the Ruark MR1s really but then decided purely on cost they were a bit OTT. I set myself a £200 limit. I have a number of Bluesound Pulse Flexs around the house too so I didn't need to spend masses.  I didn't want 'PC speakers' but I did want some that can connect to my PC, something that was reasonably small and had good bass response but also looked stylish.  And it's got a brilliant all aluminium remote control.  Top end is a tad harsh if I'm critical. It's got RCA connectors too and you can attach an active sub if you really need to.

steve 

[Al Krow]

Came across one comment on one of the YT reviews in response to another post.

"Tell us more about the equipment behind your friends' Yamahas? I guess they're using a computer. So the audio interface, settings, even cables and especially audio drivers. Connected directly to the PC, my Yamaha HS8's sound like a mid-priced gaming speakers without ASIO driver. The difference is dramatic."

Got me thinking that as I'm going to be connecting to my PC, getting better quality speakers may just be a waste of time?!

Edited May 8, 2020 by Al Krow

[dave_bass5]

Just buy another Fearless F112 and use them as a stereo pair 🙂

[Al Krow]

19 minutes ago, dave_bass5 said:

Just buy another Fearless F112 and use them as a stereo pair 🙂

Not sure they would fit comfortably on my little bass-ment desk 😁

[dave_bass5]

14 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

Not sure they would fit comfortably on my little bass-ment desk 😁

One in each corner of the room. Sorted !!!!

[dave_bass5]

1 hour ago, Al Krow said:

Came across one comment on one of the YT reviews in response to another post.

"Tell us more about the equipment behind your friends' Yamahas? I guess they're using a computer. So the audio interface, settings, even cables and especially audio drivers. Connected directly to the PC, my Yamaha HS8's sound like a mid-priced gaming speakers without ASIO driver. The difference is dramatic."

Got me thinking that as I'm going to be connecting to my PC, getting better quality speakers may just be a waste of time?!

As per our background chat, I’d like to ask those who know about these things if this is possible?

Ive used ASIO since it first came out or low latency. The question is, is there really a huge difference in sound quality with using ASIO drivers? Maybe ive just always used them without releasing for playback, but i thought it was just a high quality way of bypassing the audio system bus and talking directly with the sound card. 

[Al Krow]

On 07/05/2020 at 19:43, Muppet said:

I wanted the Ruark MR1s really but then decided purely on cost they were a bit OTT. I set myself a £200 limit. I have a number of Bluesound Pulse Flexs around the house too so I didn't need to spend masses.  I didn't want 'PC speakers' but I did want some that can connect to my PC, something that was reasonably small and had good bass response but also looked stylish.  And it's got a brilliant all aluminium remote control.  Top end is a tad harsh if I'm critical. It's got RCA connectors too and you can attach an active sub if you really need to.

steve 

When I was listening to the micro iLouds vs the Creative T40 ii on the Digital Stereophony site I couldn't hear very much difference at all and I'm now thinking that unless you have a decent driver which you'll get in a decent amp but not likely in a PC, then upgrading the speakers from decent --> high end is not going to be that noticeable. But obviously hearing something "in the flesh" vs over headphones on a YT recording is not going to be the same.

Steve - so my key question for you, if you don't mind, before I take the plunge: would you mind A/Bing your T40s and your NS3s and letting me know if there is a noticeable difference in the sound?

Edited May 10, 2020 by Al Krow

[dave_bass5]

I think, as with bass cab, we will have different preferences and shouldn’t rely too much on YT, etc.

As you said, in the flesh might be very different. You cant really portray the kick and punch you will get in the room. I’d say the review are helpful to point out negatives, like not being able to handle certain things. As with headphones some are better than others with different genre’s.

im starting to warm to the MTM’s now, but cant help feel they are over priced and you are paying for the compactness and fancy DSP. I cant get my head around them being good for accurate recording though. I know you wont need that feature, but they seem to be sold as such.

End of the day, we have an abundance of EQ options so i don’t think you can go too far wrong. I do like the idea of slightly larger speakers on small stands either side of the desk. This is will cut down on any vibrations. 

[Muppet]

55 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

Steve - so my key question for you, if you don't mind, before I take the plunge: would you mind A/Bing your T40s and your NS3s and letting me know if there is a noticeable difference in the sound?

Yep no problem I’ll get on it later today!

[Jakester]

I recently picked up some Tannoy 402 Reveals from eBay for basic home studio and general PC use. Unfortunately, one of the pair was destroyed by the courier in transit, but the other one when fired up sounded pretty good, and they do have good reviews, so I'm on the look out for another orphan to complete the set.