No sub required if your monitors are decent enough. Bass traps help with hearing lower frequencies as well, I also like to put a low pass cut on my tracks to do a 'bass check' periodically.

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I have the HS80M's along with an ESI JULI@ sound card. Running TRS.

Was wondering if there are any trips & tracks and do's / dont do's for these monitors

Here is a link to my soundcard....would love to hear some feedback from you autophiles to see if you think it is a good back for the buck.



http://www.esi-audio.com/products/julia/

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quote:

Originally posted by Stephen Wiley I have the HS80M's along with an ESI JULI@ sound card. Running TRS. Was wondering if there are any trips & tracks and do's / dont do's for these monitors

They are rear ported, so don't put them in front of a window. Also, make sure they are at least 50cm away from the back wall.

Other than that, the normal monitor positioning rules apply:
1. equilateral triangle with listening position, 90-120cm at all lengths
2. decouple them from your desk or use stands.

I always recommend using passive volume control. Most affordable controllers aren't that good quality though (eg. SM Pro Audio), so you are probably best off buying an attenuator and making it yourself.

quote:

Originally posted by Stephen Wiley Here is a link to my soundcard....would love to hear some feedback from you autophiles to see if you think it is a good back for the buck.

The Juli@s have decent enough ADC/DAC, for a home studio. You shouldn't need to ever upgrade, unless you need more IO.

dude just get monitors, they are sweet

a room treatment is for later!

Well I'd say that you'll notice a huge difference with some proper monitors, but they won't shine to their full potential in an untreated room.
You'll be able to do better with monitors, you'll just have to realize that you're missing on 40%-ish of what you can get out of them.
Some acoustic foam placed with a mirror test (generally you go around the walls with a mirror and wherever you can see the position your monitors are in the mirror, there's the place for foam or carpets&likewise high frequency absorbant material), with assuring you at least break the 90 degree angles of the corners, not necessarily those really expensive proper bass traps, you could treat your room from crap to pretty managable for I'd say 100euro.

TL;DR: monitors now will surely be better, you just won't get the maximum from them without at least basic acoustic treatment.

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I got by on producing in untreated rooms for years, so it's certainly not impossible to get good mixes.

Just makes sure of the following:

* If possible sit at 40% of the length of the room.
* Make sure your monitors are facing down the longest wall of the room.
* Have your monitors set up in an equal triangle from your seat.
* Try to avoid a room that has all walls/ceiling of the same height.
* Take your mixes & check them on as many other systems as possible, this will help you learn the pitfalls of your room & how to get around them until you get treatment.

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thanks for the tips guys

quote:

Originally posted by Getafix * If possible sit at 40% of the length of the room. * Make sure your monitors are facing down the longest wall of the room.

hey getafix, what exactly do you mean by this? i think i know what you mean but i'm not quite sure.

yeah, i think i'll be going with hs80m..shit, i keep jumping back and forth.

This picture might help clear out what i meant.


So like in the picture, you should make sure that your monitors are facing the wall that is furthest away from your seating position.

The 40% rule is also easy, suppose your room is 10 feet long. Your seating position should be 4 feet from the wall facing you. Hope this helps.

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