home studio playback monitors

[scantron81]

Hey, guys, I need to buy some REAL and affordable home studio playback monitors. My crappy altec lansing speakers just don't cut it. Plus, I'm pretty sure I fried one of them earlier. My music professor says Yamaha powered monitors are the best right now. I'm looking at the 5" Yamaha HS50M set. They run $400 for the pair. Is it worth it or is there another affordable alternative?

[bootlegger1929]

yamaha makes good stuff.
mackie as well.
spring for the best you can get.
JBL makes some great stuff. Especially in their LSR series, but they start closer to $1000 for the pair.

[rangercaster]

do a little research ... and check your local Craigslist and the TDPRI classifieds ... check out the big online dealers GC and MF ... especially B-Stock and Scratch and Dent Specials ...

[StuH]

Sound On Sound magazine and website is a real good resource for reviews.
These guys are about the best info source I am aware of.
Here's a link to their reviews on monitors. Most of the more current reviews can't be accessed.

http://www.soundonsound.com/search?u...42&Summary=Yes

I need to replace my crappola Edirol MA 15d monitors and have been leaning towards something from KRK.

[octatonic]

Dynaudio and Adam are what I would recommend to someone around $1-2k.
Under that then Tanbnoy, Mackie, Yamaha all do decent models.

I wouldn't bother spending less than $500- you won't see a huge difference compared to what you currently have- it might sound different but likely to be problematic to get a balanced sound.

Don't forget some acoustic treatment. Not foam.

[Mike Bruce]

I'm using Yorkville powered near field monitors and they have been great.

Mike Bruce

[Higgs F. Boson]

Sounds like you may have the same monitor needs I do - currently I'm doing everything via headphones. I've researched this and it looks like the Mackie MR5 may be the best for the money. I haven't tried em out yet though.

[scantron81]

I sprang for the Yamaha monitors for about $375. I'm loving them. I've been going back and remixing a lot of older projects and I'm very happy with the results.

[Old Cane]

When you get ready to move up, move up. Don't move from what you have up to a $600 pair. Go for the A7s or on up to some Focals. Dynaudio nad Genelic also have some in those ranges that folks really like. That said, the Yamahas will last you a good long time.

[woodman]

for those of us who can't spring for pro quality ($1K and up), the best bet is to learn how to work with what you got. once you know what a good mix sounds like in *your* monitors, it becomes second nature. not a perfect solution, but at least a realistic one.

[T Prior]

Woodman raises an excellent point. I have a pair of MAudio powered SP-5's. I like them enough but I also know they are not accurate. I don't actually record anything that will hit the streets so it's not that important, I compensate the final mix.

Mix a few tracks differently, put them on a CD and bring them in the car and listen back, you will learn a bunch.

I paid less than $200 for the pair , they were on a GC blow out a few years back.

Pick up a pair of 2 or $300 monitors and "learn" what they do, they will serve you well.

Years back I had a pair of JBL 3-way 12" studio reference monitors. They were big and heavy ! I don't miss them.

t

[Martin R]

I'm using a couple of those big and heavy monitors...JBL 4410's. Just love 'em. They seem to be really accurate. I've had CD's mixed with them played all over and everything is pretty consistent, (okay, in the '96 Isuzu Trooper with the water damaged door speakers the mix sounded a little off).

But I am a little old school, I've got Advent Loudspeakers in the front room.

Martin
E. Christina Herr & Wild Frontier

[Beatbx]

Decoupling my monitors from their stands really helped in hearing low frequencies more accurately. I used some really stiff, thick, gray foam pieces I had laying around.

[woodman]

a lot of your monitor placement depends on the characteristics of the room you're mixing in. try different placements until what you hear in the room equates roughly to how you hear it on a car stereo, ratty computer system or boombox. (if it sounds good on them, it'll sound good anywhere).

[Old Cane]

Wood, what I always did to haul my Nakamichi around and run through the board in whatever studio I was using, playing Steely Dan tapes I made and also tapes of something Jimmy Bowen produced like Back to the Bars from Merle Haggard. I used that as a reference because I knew (and still do) what this stuff is supposed to sound like. So regardless of speakers or control room acoustics or eq settings I knew what needed to be backed off or boosted. I had to do this because 1) I didn't have time to flatten every room the way I wanted it 2) the room/speakers may not EVER get flat 3) a lot of people didn't want a 16 year old producer moving speakers around even though i was paying.

I think we're on the same wavelength here. I'm just saying the Yamahas will do fine. BUT, if/when you decide to move up you won't gain a lot by getting some $600 KRKs so save up and really move up.

[Tim Armstrong]

Not having the budget for active studio monitors (nor having an acoustically treated room that would make them actually accurate), I run the signal from my computer to a nice old 70s Sansui stereo amp feeding a pair of decent but not terribly expensive bookshelf speakers (Cambridge Soundworks Model Seventeens). Like Woodman and Old Cane, I play a bunch of different reference recordings through them before mixing, just to calibrate my ears to their idiosyncrasies, and I also listen to my mixes in some other places (the usual: car stereo, boom box, etc).

Didn't cost me much money, and it works...

Tim

[TNO]

I wouldn't go for anything less than a pair of rp5s. VERY nice for around $300.

[woodman]

Originally Posted by Old Cane

3) a lot of people didn't want a 16 year old producer moving speakers around even though i was paying.

hahaha! what's wrong with those people — don't they appreciate art???

in scantron's situation, i got the impression he's setting up a stable/fixed environment (my interpretation of "home studio") ... so in the early going, spending a little time fiddling around with speaker placement can save hours of headaches down the line.

[Higgs F. Boson]

I'm getting ready to spring for some monitors (I'm currently mixing in headphones and getting poor results) and I'm looking in that same sub-$500 range. The salesman at GC said the Yamaha HS50M's were "flatter" and better for mixing than the MR5's or comparable price-point KRK's.

I read up on the HS50M's and this seems to be the consensus - apparently they are modeled after Yamaha's passive NS-10's which are somewhat legendary for pro mixing? From what I've read, they accentuate mid and highs which can be ear-fatiguing, thus encouraging you to get the mix right for even the least flattering systems.

From what I could tell from listening in the store, this seems to be the case. The Mackies, M-Audio's and KRK's seemed to have a much more v-shaped EQ curve and lots more bass. The Yamahas had lots of mids and top end and seemed to be a lot more transparent and less flattering.

[woodman]

i don't think you can go wrong with any of those at that price point, but if you like the Yamaha approach, go for it! whatever you end up with will take some adjusting your ears to learn what a good mix sounds like in those particular speakers ... once you nail that, you'll be all set. mixing at a lower volume will help you get the true picture.

[Higgs F. Boson]

So, after spending another lengthy session comparing various monitors at GC, I went with the Mackie MR5's. I'm REALLY digging being able to hear my mixes, and I'm hearing TONS of stuff in professional music that I never heard before.

Having previously recorded/mixed/mastered everything in headphones, these things are a revelation!

[woodman]

Originally Posted by Higgs F. Boson

So, after spending another lengthy session comparing various monitors at GC, I went with the Mackie MR5's. I'm REALLY digging being able to hear my mixes, and I'm hearing TONS of stuff in professional music that I never heard before.

Having previously recorded/mixed/mastered everything in headphones, these things are a revelation!

yeah, life after headphones really opens up your recording world. glad it worked out and you got no buyer's remorse!

[Del Pickup]

Thought I might resurrect this thread as I'm in the market for some decent but reasonably priced monitors for my home studio.

I've got a pair of Edirol MA15's on loan from a local store where they're on 'special' at the moment but in the short time I listened to some tracks through them earlier today I realised that these are very limited in their capabilities and I don't think I'd have them for long before wanting something better with more clarity.

So I've been reading up on M-Audio Bx5's and Bx6's and also KRK RP5G's.

Being on a limited budget I want to spend the least amount I can get away with (hence trying the Edirol's) but I still want decent quality that will give me easier mixing than using my existing headphones.

Has anyone got experience of these M-Audio or KRK products (these are the ones that I can get my hands on locally and try for myself)?

I have always been reasonably successful with the mixes I've done using my Sennheiser headphones but it gets a bit wearing using these all the time. And I do appreciate the comments made about learning to hear your equipment and mixing accordingly. I think that's what I've been doing so far.

[sonicland]

Originally Posted by woodman

yeah, life after headphones really opens up your recording world. glad it worked out and you got no buyer's remorse!

Mixing with headphones is a completely different beast than mixing with speakers and the two should not be confused. It's not the sound quality itself but the spacial info that is lost with headphones. With headphones, you hear 100% of the left side in your left ear and 100% of the right side in your right ear. This is not true with speakers where both ears hear some of both sides and the brain puts quite a bit of effort into sorting that info out (without our knowing it, and yes, even musicians exhibit this high level of brain function). That's not to say you shouldn't mix with headphones (I do) but it is impossible for headphones to mimic what speakers do no matter how good they sound.

[Jahmbie]

I don't have experience with the M-Audio monitors, but I've used some KRK and thought they were very decent.

You might also want to look at Wharfedale Pros. I have the Diamond 8.1 Active and have been extremely pleased with them. They are neutral sounding, but have a pretty wide sweet spot for near fields. They are around $300US for a pair and tend to fly under the radar of other major brands.

And yeah, knowing the limitations of your gear is the key to getting translatable mixes. My final audition room is a 2002 Honda Civic!

[Del Pickup]

There's no more useful listening environment than your car!

I've always tried to achieve mixes that work on my good hifi separates system in the living room, the run of the mill mini system and the average car system. If I like what I hear through all of these then it's probably OK.

Having said all that I do feel that the Edirol monitors are more akin to the car system quality than decent studio monitors should be.

[Ormond]

The Yamaha's are very good - but in the end I settled on the M-Audio EX-66's.
Stay away from the little Rokit speakers they sell at GC. It is the "tourist trap" of monitors. The much lager monitors by that company are OK.

[Del Pickup]

Ormond,
Thanks for the input here. I know you get what you pay for but the EX66's are way beyond my budget - I've just checked the price on them and they're NZ$1100 - each!!

The max I can afford to pay is NZ$800 for the whole shebang!

I may be skimping here but I just ain't got the money for top of the range stuff at the moment.

[weakendwarrior]

I bought a pair of Event ALP 5's off E-Bay and they were definitely a step up from my old stereo amp and Paradigm Micro's (which really weren't all THAT bad either). These are bi-amped, small, and powerful enough for the usual sort of hobbyist/musician type studio. You can probably get a pair for less than $500.00 (probably a LOT less). To get better sound would likely cost me 3-4x as much as I paid (as prescribed by the immutable "law of diminishing returns").

[Del Pickup]

The local store let me borrow a pair of M-Audio BX5a's as well as the Edirols and I've now spent some time A/Bing these using the tracks I'm working on for (hopefully) an album.

Initially I thought the Edirols were a bit muffled sounding in comparison to the BX5's but the more I listen the more I hear the BX5's being rather harsh in the highs and being fairly light in the mids and bass areas.

The Edirols sound very similar to what I hear in the Sennheiser phones but then I think I'm hearing more clarity and distinction between notes in the BX5's!!

So I guess the question is do I go for the Edirols as they are sounding similar to the headphones and seem to have perhaps an overall better balanced sound or do I go for the BX5's because they are giving a different sound to the phones and therefore letting me hear different things that might otherwise get missed?

I've read reviews of the BX5's and they don't seem to be particularly liked by the vast majority of reviewers and users - the lack of mids and being light on bass and harsh highs being the common complaints. But I'm trying to form my own opinions here rather than being influenced by others - although these others may very well know a whole lot more about it than I do!! And I guess my own conclusions here may well be influenced by what I've already read!!!

My gut reaction at the moment is to go with the Edirols and put the money saved towards a bigger standalone recorder in the near future which would give me some more tracks to play with and also give me vastly more memory to store ideas and tracks than I have with my old Korg D8. And then save some more cash and go for better monitors than the BX5's - maybe the KRK's that everyone seems to love!


Decisions, decisions..................!!!!!!

[Del Pickup]

The saga continues!!

After spending more time with the BX5's over the weekend, I decided that they weren't for me and took them back today. I asked the store to get me a pair of KRK RP5's for comparison and hopefully they'll be here by the end of the week.

However, I also took a look at another store today and they had a pair of Wharfedale DS5a's in stock - which are now sitting in my studio waiting to be hooked up!

They're in the same price range as the KRK's so it'll be an interesting comparison when they're side by side.

In the meantime, does anyone have any experience of these Wharfedale monitors and, if so, what do you think of them??

[ADK Teleman]

I learned early in my recording career to have several sets of monitors...and...ready for this..I even mix on a crappy set of Radio Shack specials...if I am able to make the song sound good in them...I know I have a great mix...because when it comes down to it most folks don't have the great quality near field reference monitors that we do in the studio...just a technique I use that has worked well for me...hope that this helps.