i am planning to buy some good monitors and i´ve been searching all over internet and gathering information about home studio monitors.
i already know that there are two kinds of monitors for home recording: active and passive. (active includes an amp on monitors and passive you have to connect an external amp). but which of those two are better for studio recordings?...

when i am buying some studio monitors.. what i have to see first?,, crossovers?, limit on both frequencies?, bandwidth?, dimensions?, etc...
can somebody explain me what things i have to see, what should i have to know before buying some good monitors.. i really will appreciate.

by the way.. i found some monitors that maybe you can give me some information of, for example the M-AUDIO BX5, what do you guys think about this monitor?:


and what about a BEHRINGER B2031?:


peace...

Rialdo

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havent heard the m-audio ones....but im guessing they suck.......the Truths are pretty good.......pretty similar to the mackie hr824's (very good monitors)....they were modelled from them...maybe a bit to much low end for my liking

quote:

Originally posted by Rialdo i already know that there are two kinds of monitors for home recording: active and passive. (active includes an amp on monitors and passive you have to connect an external amp). but which of those two are better for studio recordings?...

Neither one is better really. I usually prefer passive speakers, because you can upgrade and switch amps. Also with an external amplifier you can usually get more power than with a built in one. Also, its alot easier adding in a subwoofer with an external amp.. and I personally recommend monitoring with a sub. You can't expect a midrange driver on a monitor to produce sub-base frequencies.

quote:

can somebody explain me what things i have to see, what should i have to know before buying some good monitors.. i really will appreciate.

It's impossible to say whether a speaker is good by it's specs. Companies have a tendancy to stretch the truth when it comes to specs, so you can't rely on them at all. The most important feature is the sound. Each speaker has a characteristic sound, and you either have to listen to them, or hear good things about them from other people. When buying studio monitors the most important thing is that there is a very flat frequency response, making it neutral sounding, without any kind of colouration to the sound. For example, many consumer speakers have increased treble and bloated bass, because that gets people's attention, and they mistake it for good sound. Being neutral isnt the only quality you should look for though. Definition is very important. Many speakers lack the precise definition that is important for monitoring. Soundstage is also important. Making sure all the sounds have a presence in the room, without it being obvious that they are coming out of 2 distinct locations.

As always, I recommend the passive Axiom M22ti speakers. I personally use them and I think they do an excellent job as studio monitors (especially for their price, $400 usd).



Axiom M22ti

Another good one is the Paradigm Reference Studio 40's. From what I've heard they are pretty much comparable to the Axioms, but carry a higher pricetag.

Paradigm Reference Studio Series

If those two don't interest you, I recommend going to a local audio shop and listening to some. either a pro audio/recording store, or a hometheater type store that sells mid-end speakers (usually in the $500+ price range is decent).

dj Chrono........while were talking about this im gettin a new sub to go with my YSM1p's......can you recommend anything? ive been told that 2 10's or something in a car box is probly the cheapest way....and i dont see why that wont work...since it is only for sub frequncies i want............but maybe you can recommend somethng else? .....(oh....and wanna race sig's?)

Everyone pitches what they like... or tried.

Here's my take on it:

Initially, if you are on a budget get what you can - don't let monitors become a barrier to your producions. Should you have the cash to buy something decent, consider the following:

Mackie HR624 - $800/pair
Mackie HR 824 - $1300/pair
KRK A4, A6, A8 (just like AUDI!) - nice monitors but a bit on a "bright" side
Sky Blue


The problem with monitors is that some tend to color the sound one way or the other - which makes your mix sound too bright or to dark or even introduce some unwanted sound in your mix if the frequencies are outside the range for your monitor (though not likely to happen on most).

What you may want to do is take a CD that has plenty of Bass, then take another one that has plenty of high and mid frequencies - such as classical music and listen to it through the monitors for at least 15 minutes. Make sure monitors are not going through EQ, if they are - make sure all pots on EQ are set to "neutral" - so that there's no coloring. If after 15 minutes you are feeling "ear fatigue" - that means "don't buy it". Good monitors will let you work for a long time without ear fatigue.

Most producers swear by Mackies or Tannoys (but Tannoy is expensive) and of course, there's always classics - Yamaha NS10.

One more thing - when you do make a track, be sure to listen to your final mix on every kind of speaker you can - your car, alarm clock with CD, boombox - if it sounds like it's not about to blow up the speaker - you haven't done your job... (j/k)

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Proud member of the "Filthy Zionist" coalition

very good explanation dj chrono & CynepMeH, so what i´m going to do is go to the store, take some music samples that i know and play them to see which one can fullfill my needs.

Actually i can understand that passive and active are not better than the other.
but then, i have another question...

ok well the thing is that somebody also told me that there are monitors for producing and monitors for djing, the thing is that, i want a producers monitors but if they were passive, which i will have to buy my external amp, then it can be great if i connect my turntables to my amp then. do you guys think that is gonna be ok or do you guys think that it will be a bad idea??..

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monitors for DJ use dont have to be as good as production monitors, simply because you are not using them as a sound reference to make changes in the audio. They are just meant to let you hear a nice clean audio signal.

I have my mixer and turntables hooked up to my amp, as well as my computer sound card. This way I can use the speakers for both producing and DJing. There is no problem with this at all. Almost all amplifiers have inputs for more than one audio source.

quote:

Originally posted by DJSound dj Chrono........while were talking about this im gettin a new sub to go with my YSM1p's......can you recommend anything? ive been told that 2 10's or something in a car box is probly the cheapest way....and i dont see why that wont work...since it is only for sub frequncies i want............but maybe you can recommend somethng else? .....(oh....and wanna race sig's?)

I just ordered an Adire Rava subwoofer on sunday, and should be getting it sometime next week. It's a 250watt 12" driver in a sealed enclosure, 65 lbs. Costs $400 usd. I purchased this based on the amazing reviews I have read about it, I've never actually heard it.


The recommendations that I have are these:

Adire Daeva $600.00
SVS 25-31PCi $550
Hsu VTF-2 $500.00
Adire Rava $400.00
Vance Dickason Titanic (kit) $350.00

These have all been highly regarded on other forums I have visited, and reviews I have read. If your budget alows for higher prices, check out more Hsu and SVS products that I havnt mentioned.

If you want to go the other route and build your own system, be carefull because enclosures can have a big impact on sound. If the enclosure isnt perfectly suited for the sub in terms of volume, dimentions, ports, etc, you can have pretty adverse effects in quality. Also be carefull what driver(s) you buy. Bad drivers can produce horrible slow boomy one-note bass. The driver from the Adire Rava is called the Shiva, and it's for sale on the adire site for about $125 I think. Its very well regarded.

But then you also need an amplifier for it.. so really you're gonna be spending alot of money for a driver, amp, and box, and you wont be sure how the product will sound in the end. I recommend going with a prebuilt model.

Here's the product links:


titanic

adire rava

hsu

svs

I'll post a review on the Rava after I get it and give it a good listen.

quote:

Originally posted by Rialdo very good explanation dj chrono & CynepMeH, so what i´m going to do is go to the store, take some music samples that i know and play them to see which one can fullfill my needs. Actually i can understand that passive and active are not better than the other. but then, i have another question... ok well the thing is that somebody also told me that there are monitors for producing and monitors for djing, the thing is that, i want a producers monitors but if they were passive, which i will have to buy my external amp, then it can be great if i connect my turntables to my amp then. do you guys think that is gonna be ok or do you guys think that it will be a bad idea??..

quote:

Originally posted by DJ Chrono monitors for DJ use dont have to be as good as production monitors, simply because you are not using them as a sound reference to make changes in the audio. They are just meant to let you hear a nice clean audio signal. I have my mixer and turntables hooked up to my amp, as well as my computer sound card. This way I can use the speakers for both producing and DJing. There is no problem with this at all. Almost all amplifiers have inputs for more than one audio source.

For production go for quality... I am bias but I do love my HR824's which I just upgraded to from HR624's. I tried KRK's and I did try Alesis - they were not my bowl of soup. Bit of advise, if you are going to take some samples with you make sure you don't take any metal or stuff that has no clearly defined frequency (like thrash metal). take something that you could listen to feel the bottom "oomph" and cripsness of the highs. And my advise, ask the sales person what's the best one - listen to that one last. Finally, listen to Mackies last - they are trully industry standard and for the money you just can't get any better. I was able to get mine from ZZounds for $556/EA new!!!! WOW you may be able to as well..


Regardless, choose what's best for your ear and try to buy from the store where you may be able to return them if you don't like 'em. Stay away from Sam Ash by all means.

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Proud member of the "Filthy Zionist" coalition

i was just thinking, on the sample cd that i will take to the store, some very good productions like:

afterburn - summer sun
solar stone - solar coaster

which i am possitive, those two has a very very good use of different frequencies on low, mediums & highs.

i will also take some samples of chill out music and classic.
i was thinking on Yanni too.

there r so many things i will like to listen on good monitoring sounds and i will take the advantage now that i can

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quote:

Originally posted by CynepMeH Mackie HR624 - $800/pair Mackie HR 824 - $1300/pair

Hey, i too am most likely to be buying a pair of HR 824's, but why did you upgrade from the 624's? I mean, they're pretty fuckin good too.

Also, id like to ask everyone how long it took them to get adjusted to the sound of their monitors Becuase i'm not sure if ill be able to tell what sounds good or what sounds bad considering my ears have been trained using my old speakers

i'll buying the genelecs 1030 for my home studio.. they sound very very nice..