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Monitors vs speakers
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| roosh |
What advantages do studio monitors have over regular speakers? From my internet research, monitors are mostly used in recording songs to simulate the sound that will be most commonly played on consumer speakers. How do they help the DJ?
Roosh |
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| Ibiza Dreams |
stfu n00b
lol, i don't know bro, I'm wondering the same thing... the M-Audio monitors seem to be the most popular... BX5 or BX8... hmmmm. |
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| calldown |
My understanding of it is that 'normal' speakers color the sound - as in they boost certain frequencies and such. Like they might have brigher hi's or such - so in other words it's not *quite* what's pressed on that vinyl in your hands there.
But monitors are 'flat' or as flat as they can get - they don't add or take anything away from the sound, they provide a true representation of the sound.
How would this help? Well I dunno about experience-wise, cause all I have is really cheap headphones and speakers, but I'd imagine it'd let you hear how the frequencies are going together 'for real.'
Correct me if I'm wrong please. :D
-calldown |
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| auujay |
Ya, that is basicly it. Of course then there is the question of what is the difference between good speakers that give a flat reponse, and monitors. So what I did, instead of getting "reference monitors" I went out and got a good power amp and good "bookshelf" speakers that give a very flat frequency response.
Then there is the issue that most monitors people talk about on here are "near field" which simply means that the optimal listening position is a couple feet from the speakers (compared to a couple yards for most stereo systems). The speakers I have do sound good only a few feet away (even though they are not billed as near field monitors), but a friend of mine also has some really nice bookshelf speakers (that have a flat response) and they sound WAY better sitting 6-8 feet away then they do 2-3 feet away.
While I am not an audio engineer or anything, I did a decent amount of research when I got my setup and I think what I said is true. But if someone (who knows what they are talking about) disagrees please speakup. |
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| Vlad |
Im getting biamplified Event TR8 reference monitors. They are versitile enough to handle DJing and producing.
Event TR8 |
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| Gluegun |
| Studio monitors are made so that (generally), you can set them up in the near-field, on a shelf, and they will have a specific sound... this sound is made so that, as you change a mix, if you get it to sound good on those speakers, it should sound good on anything. They might not have the same types of detail as many types of audiophile speakers, and they might not work as well in a larger room, but they are made to be tuned and tweaked to work in that specific work environment.. |
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| audiotherapy |
any review sites for monitors?
im lookin at some used alesis mk2 active...
my price range is ~280 |
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| IntegraR0064 |
But...that raises the question.
If normal speakers "color" the sound....and 99.9% of the population will be listening on normal speakers....shouldn't you record it using those normal speakers?
Otherwise it won't sound the same to them as when you recorded it? right?
That's the only thing I don't understand. |
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| auujay |
| The problem is that they do not color the sound the same way. But if you are using s flat speaker it you will hear what is going on, even if it it covered up by one pair of consumer speakers another may emphize that frequency. |
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| Widget |
so essentially, think of it this way:
if it sounds good on monitor speakers, it'll sound good on most (if not all speakers).
Just because it sounds good on standard speakers, there's no guarantee that you'll hear it the same with other speakers.
hence why production should always be done on monitors - make it sound good there and you'll be fine on every other system.
This is also the reason why many DJs are starting to use headphones that are more representative of the true sound. They know then that what they are hearing in their headphones will be what the crowd hears from the speakers, but if they use heavy bass headphones (Sony MDR-V700), then it may not sound the same out of the speakers. |
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| T:REBEL |
JBL EON-G2
'nuff said. |
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| VIO |
| studio monitors are the best choice for practice and they'll make you a better dj. now here's why. studio monitors are much more accurate and you can hear every nuance in the recording. you can also hear if the beats are even ever so slightly off. you'll become more accurate in your mixing skills. this is especially important when recording promo and production cds. club speakers are muddy and you can be a bit sloppier with your mixing because they tend to cover up mistakes since they are so muddy compared to studio monitors. imagine this scenario. you buy club speakers and you practice. you mixes sound good. right on, now you're ready to record a promo. you spend an hour laying down what you think is a perfect promo. you burn it to a cd and then go to play it in your car or your home stereo only to find out that the beats are not lined up anywhere near perfect but you couldn't tell because you have club speakers. now you have a sub-par promo that people will listen to and they *will* pick out the fact that the beats aren't perfectly lined up and you don't get booked. practicing on studio monitors will make sure your mixes are tight and clean and they will make you more precise. cheers. |
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