I'm lookin to buy some new studio monitors shortly and I want to know what everyone here is using. So in this thread, let's hear what you have, how you like it, what the pros/cons are, and what you reccommend.

I'm currently looking at the Behringer "Truth" monitors. I want active (amplified) monitors, and under $400 for sure. Also I want as much low end response as possible without getting a seperate sub, but i may add one in the future.

Please post!

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Last edited by danieldavid on Nov-18-2003 at 05:03

i got a pair of yamaha msp5 active monitors for 240$ used


excellent sound. w/ frequences similar to the lengenedary Yamaha NS-10m

very small in size but big beautiful sounds

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"I'm making love to the music man. And believe me, I can go all night. "

I have the Truths and I love them .... quite a difference going to them from shitty bookshelf speakers. They have them for $350 at Audiolines.com Thats where i got mine

try the search button it reveals "hidden" threads

but because i started to write a post, i'll give you an advice: don't buy the cheapest monitors.. it's one of the importants point in audio producing! so you better buy some good monitors...

i've the genelecs 1030 here (around 800$ ONE monitor / pair -> ~1600$)

so long
cYrus

I'm still using my Jamo 3-ways. Why? Becasue they actually represent the spectrum really well. The bass was a bit weak so i just turned it up on the amp and they sound fine. After 3 years of playing records on them, I know how they sound.

Was thinking about getting the active truth monitors but in Aus' they go for around US$700 dollars, which is an absolute rip-off. Everything here is twice the price and no ebay.com

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1 out of every 4 people in this country are mentally disturbed. Look at your 3 closest friends. If they seem okay, then you're the one.

to be honest, there are no one pair of magical studio monitors that will be the best. Even if a pair of studio monitors are perfectly flat (does not colour the sound at all), it all depends on your representation of what is "flat". Your mix isn't what sounds good on YOUR monitors solely, but it should sound good on the car stereo, in da club , on a boombox, using earphones, etc...

There are a pair of absolutely HORRIBLE sounding speakers (i think it's made by yamaha) and it was purposely designed to boost the mid range frequencies to make it sound horrible. The reason behind this is if you can get your mix to sound good on THOSE speakers, then you've really done a hell of a job mastering your mix well.

The best way to find monitors that suit you are by going to the local store, bring a CD of your favourite tracks as well as music from all sorts of different genres and listen to a bunch of various monitors for an hour (if they allow you). If you find that you are getting "ear fatigue" from any monitor, than it's not for you. If you find that any of the songs you are playing on the monitors that just doesn't sound right, it's not for you.

Kewlness, that's some good advice. Thanks.

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quote:

Originally posted by kewlness There are a pair of absolutely HORRIBLE sounding speakers (i think it's made by yamaha)

They would be the Yamaha NS-10s monitors. They were notriously louder in the mids, causing everyone to exagerate the low and high frequencies. All the songs made on these had heaps of bass and treble. I think the result was called the "disco smile".

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1 out of every 4 people in this country are mentally disturbed. Look at your 3 closest friends. If they seem okay, then you're the one.

It's true that different people preffer different monitors, but there are still certain facts that you need to know before buying a pair.
First of all, you need to know how much money you're willing to spend. More money will give you better monitors...Period.
Second, if somebody tells you 'if you make your tracks sound good on bad monitors, your material will sound good everywhere else' it simply isn't true. You need good monitors, so your mixes translate well into different environments-car audio systems, clubs, radio, TV and especially mono sources. What do you think, how many people will listen to your music on flat response speakers?
Third, whatever monitors you get, you need to learn to recognize various frequencies when being played over it. That's called 'ear training' and is a mandatory subject for audio engineers. Since most of us are amateurs here, try listening to as many different tracks and genres over your monitors as possible. Try to notice the amount of bass, treble, reverb, imaging, etc.
Fourth, you can't have a weak link in your audio chain if you want to produce high quality music. That's if you have a $1000.00 audio card and $400.00 monitors. It just doesn't work.
Fifth, DON'T buy Behringer monitors.

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entranced

Why not buy Behringer monitors? Do you have some sort of explanation for that?

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Maybe because Behringer are dodgy cheap rip-offs that colour the sound. I don't know, just a guess.

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1 out of every 4 people in this country are mentally disturbed. Look at your 3 closest friends. If they seem okay, then you're the one.

I had Behringer Truth 2031 studio monitors for 2 years. In those two years I was struggling to properly mix my tracks. Whenever the end result sounded good on Behringers, it sounded muddy or lacking in definition on other speakers. The best environment to check the final mix was my car and it was very hard to obtain satisfying results.
Then my woofer stopped responding and I could not find a dealer to replace it for me.
After everything, the decision was to buy quality monitors to complement quality hardware in my studio, and I opted out for Dynaudio BM6A's.
The price of Dynaudios is much higher but you get 10 times the results. When the two set of monitors are compared this is my explanation why:

1. Frequency response
Behringers have exaggerated low frequency response. The frequency in question is higher bass frequency (200-500 Hz). Even after you attenuate the bass response, it's hard to judge how much bass you need. Also, the mids are shrill and not clear, in other words too much treble and you can't get rid of this frequency by playing with filters in the back.
Dynaudios have punchy and clearly defined response in any frequency department.

2. Imaging
It's hard to locate sounds in space with Behringers.
Dynaudios imaging is precise and outrageously accurate.

3. Dynamics
If you want to use the compressor you have to be able to hear your compression. Compressors are used to make the material (especially drum tracks and bass) more punchy and defined. You can easily distinguish this with Dynaudios but not with Behringers.


These are some of the main reasons for a switch to a different set of monitors. That is not to say that Behringers are very bad speakers. They are actually better called hi-fi speakers than near field studio monitors. It's possible to get good results with these, but the question is, how long will you need till you get used to their sound and is 'good' good enough for you.

Regards
Design

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entranced