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moving out for college and need to choose a pair of studio monitors before leaving
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| utdarsenal |
Hey, so next month i'm planning on buying some studio monitors that I can take with me when I move out for college in a couple of months.
These will be the first pair of studio monitors I've ever purchased, so I might need a bit of help choosing.
I'm looking to produce some sexy, groovy tech house/funk/electro/techno (popof-ish?) - basically all those combined in one.
I'll be moving into an apartment so I'm not sure if that will be a big issue for producing because of the volume levels and stuff (mean neighbors possibly?)..
I don't want to waste over 500 for a pair, i'll consider it if it's near 500 but I want to buy something lower or much lower if possible. I obviously want the most accurate studio monitors that won't lie to me. If I can get cheap monitors that are very accurate, that'd be great.
The ones right now that have caught my attention due to some reviews i've read are the Alesis M1 Active MK2 Studio Monitors ($250 for a pair on ebay.) and the Mackie MR8's ($420 for a pair on ebay).. I've heard mixed reviews about the Rokit's by KRK so i'm not so sure about those.. What do you guys think about those studio monitors? do you guys suggest any other ones?
also, do you guys know what type of studio monitors certain famous producers use? just curious.
thanks!! |
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| Beatflux |
HD 650
Apparently Tocadisco and Pryda use them, and then were highly rated by Sound on Sound.
They are pretty nice. Got them on Amazon for 350. |
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| J.L. |
| Go for the Rokits.. they aren't greatest, but for under 500, they are pretty decent... You can usually find a recording package along with them or a deal with them and sound isolation pads bundled along with them. |
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| utdarsenal |
| quote: | Originally posted by Beatflux
HD 650
Apparently Tocadisco and Pryda use them, and then were highly rated by Sound on Sound.
They are pretty nice. Got them on Amazon for 350. |
I looked them up and they are headphones? I already have a pair of sennheisers I can use for producing but i'm looking to buy monitors
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@ J.L.
- the reviews of the rokits are really kinda scaring me away, I've read that they are more for making a song good to listen to rather than getting accurate sound, that a lot of people use the monitors for DJing rather than producing..
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I know bart B more uses the alesis M1 Active MK2 monitors and Felix Cartal uses Mackie MR8's.. It kinda inspires me seeing the monitors that other famous producers have because well if they're trusted enough by them, I'll probably trust them.. know of anyone famous who has rockits? |
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| J.L. |
The rokits do lack in the low end which makes monitoring those frequencies more difficult. I know you don't want to hear this, but you'd really be hard pressed to find an 'accurate' monitor for under $500. I find doing lots of A/B comparisons to tracks where you like the sound over and over again gets the job done with any lower end monitors $500 and below. You also have to consider what kind of music the reviewers are doing. Someone monitoring for rock would have a very different taste than someone monitoring for dance music.
I still always recommend going to your local music store with an ipod and ask to see if you can listen to a bunch of tracks on different monitors.
There are those that argue that you need a perfectly flat monitor, others argue otherwise, but I think the best pair of monitors are ones where you can accurately hear as much detail in the music and mixing style of producers who have mixes that you find are good. I find on completely flat monitors, my ears have a tendency to reduce the harsh mids too much giving my tracks a very disco smile effect (which sounds absolutely trash on another system).
With that in mind, when I went to the store with my ipod and listened to about 5 tracks on a bunch of speakers in the $800-$1000 range, I quickly found that I liked the KRK VXT6's and I've found them to be a world of a difference (but also double the price) compared to Rokits or m-audio AV-40's. In that range, the Adam A7 has a slightly better review, but I knew I couldn't stand to listen to dance music on those speakers for an extended period of time. I still can't hear every detail possible, and will eventually need a sub to my setup but it sure makes mixing easy for me when the sound I want in my mixes is represented well in the monitors I'm listening from. |
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| DJ RANN |
From a recent thread:
| quote: | Originally posted by DJ RANN
I've written so many threads on this subject discussing all the choices in this thread and I'm trying to refrain from my usual posts on the subject of monitors (LSR 2325p, HS80's, FocalTwins, Barefoots in that order relating to price group) but whatever you do stay away from KRK period. The VXT's are just as the rest of the range.
the BM5's are great, as are Gene's. Adams, whilst they present great detail, are too bright IMO and I've tested them extensively.
My advice is to: either go all the way and get focal twins, or to go for HS80's and room treatment. If you can't produce on either those then it's a problem with you, not your kit.
Oh, and palm is exactly right in that Subs will not help your produce in stereo, as there is no discrete LFE channel. |
Apologies for the wall of text but it's worth it:
| quote: | Originally posted by DJ RANN
quote:
Originally posted by Zombie0729
def try the Focal's man and the Adam's. You can't trust online reviews until you've heard them yourself. I abused guitar centers 30 day return policy, i tried 4 sets of speakers before i picked
Same here. I drove my local GC's (two of them) ing crazy testing for hours over several weeks.
Nik, here's some previous posts to save you trawling through tons of threads.....
quote:
Originally posted by DJ RANN
tbh, the mackie HR824 are known for, if anything, sounding a bit too sweet (if you disclude that muddy bit and scoop between upper bass and lower mid), so you're going to be hard pushed to find something that rapes you less.
The only monitors I can think of are going to set you back some serious coin:
Focal twins ($2k).
Quested VS2108 ($3k pair)
Barefoots ($4k)
PMC MB2's ($10k pair)
I've used all of them (the Quested and PMC's we have at the studio) and I think the first three on that list would be a great upgrade (especially the Focals or Barefoots) but honestly I would exhaust all other possibilities first - If you're getting fatigue with HR824's then maybe your room and listening position need to be looked at.
Is your monitor system calibrated to the K ssystem - if not I think this is probably going to change everything for you as you physically can't clip without making your ears bleed an it teaches you monitor at suitable volumes.
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Originally posted by DJ RANN
I explained everything in this thread. You can't ever really do a fully scientifically controlled test unless you had a completely controlled environment and the space to set them up so you could A/B all of them without interference.
The best I could do was a comparitive test, taking the environment and placement in to consideration, so really they were all subject to the same disadvantages, then seeing if that same flaw (and positives) presented in the other listening environments, to really see if they were common traits of each monitor. I'm also an engineer so I've used a lot of monitors professionally and some of my feedback is based on my experience in professional studio environments (not bedroom or project studios).
http://www.tranceaddict.com/forums/...d=&pagenumber=5
And from the above thread.....
quote:
Originally posted by DJ RANN
Finally, I've had time to sit down and write a review.
Preface: I listened to every monitor they had at two different guitar centers and one other pro audio store. I listened to mainly electronic music (becuase the whole point of this was it's for us) but also checked some classical such as Chopin, Bach and Bartok for more diverse reference. I used the same music sources and went on several occaisions. Bear in mind this is a comparitive test in every sense; going from my hifi speakers at home (Scnadyna Minipods) and Custom Quested VS2108's and B&W 802's (albeit less experience on the latter two for electronic music but still having referenced all the test material first on these several times). This was not a blind test but but I tried to remain objective between models on really noting differences first then overall perception. I set the monitors and the system so the volumes were as equal as could get them so A/Bing would be accurate with the same material. I don;t care for aesthetics ubnless the thing is just plain fugly, in which case I'll state it. Finally this is all my own subjective opinion.
This thread is about monitors, for the studio to the review I did is with that in mind as the primary requisite.
I'll start with the most noticeable things in no particular order:
Firstly, nearly all the 5 inch monitors, from every brand fell short in bass and/or mid reproduction. The ones that really felt lacking compared to their larger same brand alternatives were the KRK's and the Yama's, partly becuase the larger version were quite good and partly becuase the smallers were so bad.
The mackies/tapco's in 5 inch sizes (mr5's etc) were lacking a lot of detail but probably good for small home DJ setup and these went seroiusly loud before distorting. The HR624 were very crisp in the upper mids and hi's and but had so much bass response lacking they would be unusable for a serious monitoring setup. I would find it quite difficult to get a bass mix right on these without secondary referencing.
The bluesky monitors were good, if not some of the best smaller monitors but not quite enough to challenge the bigger monitors. They wer well balanced with good detail and a good amount of bass for their size but it did get a little muddy in the upper mid and the very low bass rolled off sharply. These were also quite pricey for what they were bearing in mind their competition.
The mackie HR824's were, at one point my monitor of choice, and even though a large part of mixing with monitors is knowing them, the more I've got to know them the less I like them. I find their mids very pronounced, bass hugely extended and hi's generally good. However, they have one of the biggest (and misleading) stereo spreads combinedwith a hige sweet spot meaning mixes done on them that sound wide and full come out narrow and lacking on most other systems. Also the bass is becoming my main gripe with these. I used to love it, but now I find a definite muddyness in between the lower mid and bass and have problems listening to subtle differences in these bands to the point I can;t hear what's going on. Don;t get me wrong - these are good monitors, but personally, I wouldn't shell out the $1000 per pair anymore as there's others that do a great job....
The KRK's: I would go through the models individually but all them (yes all of them) suffered from one common problem: there was this lack of fine detail accross the whole rnage of frequencies. It's wierd - none of them stood out as terrible but because of this problem, none of them stood out as fantastic. It's like a screen of material was placed over the driver. In fact the VRX8 were quite difficult to hear what was going on at all becuase like the mackies they suffer from the huge and unnatural stereo image. They were my least favourite 8inch monitors.
of the larger monitors (6inch+) , the ones that stood out were the Dynaudios BM5A, BM6A, Adam A7, Quested F11, Yamaha HS80m.
The dynaudios were superb in detail with strangly enough the BM5a's sounding slightly more natural than the BM6's due to the overall balance of the frequencies. The BM6 have more bass but the detail was just outstanding on the BM5's. The only critiscism of the BM5's was that they did lack bass slightly - It's like they slowly roll of at 100hz but that was the only flaw I could find and that can be adjusted for. They also did not change frequency balance depending on gain, which the BM6's did ever so slightly (bass got a tiny bit more pronounced as you went higher).
The Adam A7's were simply incredible with Hi's - crisp and sizzling, nothing else came close but the mid and bass felt lacking and they were not as clear as the Dynaudios and would not give a true representation of bass frequencies I felt.
The HS80's were quite great in general. The bass full and deep without being muddy or overpowering, the mids nice and clear and the hi's just nice and present. I felt you could listen to these for hours and they wouldn't even take long to get used to. The only problem is that you need a bog room as they begin to boom in a smaller room (as one of the test sites did). They don't have a misleading huge stereo image and I felt quite comfortable hearing productions I've made. These were in my top three especially as they are cheaper than a lot of other monitors.
Alesis m1 mk2 - not massively impressed but the again I never have been with these. They're not terrible and you can mix on them but again I find the lack of definition annoying, especially in the bass frequences.
Now for the surpise.....the moonitors that got me to part with money?
JBL LSR 2325 - New 5 inch monitors from JBL. Why? becuase for $400 (less with my discount ) nothing else in that price bracket sounded anywhere near as good. I was torn between the HS80's (too big) the BM5's (too much $$$) or these. They are small, clear powerhouses! The bass is sharp and defined, the mids clear and punchy without being boxed in and the hi's are just right to give detail without inducing fatigue (hi's are what always get me tired in a session). The main thing I like is that it's like having larger monitors wihout needed the space for them, They sound like 6 or 8 inch monitors in terms of bass response but can be used in small room. The stereo image is broad but not too wide and so far translation is so easy. No weird spikes or compensation. There were no reviews on these anywhere (they were only out for 4 days when I bought them) so I was taking a big chance but I can say that after two weeks of owning them I am seriously pleased. honestly nothing comes close at this price and they just destroyed every other monitor in terms of perforamnce at that price range.
Sorry for the wall of text, but honestly it's all been covered before. I may do an update in the next few months to see if any new offering change my mind but for the mmediate future this info still stands completely true for me.
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Simply put STAY AWAY FROM KRK. Buy HS80's if you have a big room, JBL LSR 2325P is you're on a tight budget and Genelecs or Dynaudio if you have a bit more money, and focals or barefoots if you have a ton of money and a professional grade audio interface. |
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| utdarsenal |
| quote: | Originally posted by DJ RANN
From a recent thread:
Apologies for the wall of text but it's worth it:
Simply put STAY AWAY FROM KRK. Buy HS80's if you have a big room, JBL LSR 2325P is you're on a tight budget and Genelecs or Dynaudio if you have a bit more money, and focals or barefoots if you have a ton of money and a professional grade audio interface. |
thanks a lot, read the whole thing.. really helped.
My neighbor used to have HS80's and I think he was happy with them, and i've also read pretty good things about those JBLS (seem pretty good and good price)
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this is what the room of where i'm currently gonna be using the studio monitors looks like (brick walls, carpet-i'm assuming the sound is going to reflect a load unless i buy sound traps and ..)... when I move out though, the room will probably be about the same size-but wooden walls.
(from one side of the room looking to the other)
(from behind the drumset looking to the other side)
from corner..
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| kitphillips |
If you're moving into an apartment and going to college, I wouldn't buy monitors at all tbh...
You have to consider that you're going to be short on time, and that means you'll do most of your producing at night, which means you won't be able to turn them up anyway. |
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| dj_alfi |
| quote: | Originally posted by Conway Twitty
you get some smaller monitors like Focal CMS40. Doesnt play loud or with alot bass but definitly plays clear as hell. Which is most important imo. Especially in a small college apartment. In the same class (direct oponent) you have also the Genelec 8020. And the smalles DynAudio of course. Remember you are looking for desktop nearfields. 8" woofers is not recomended for that. |
I have the 8020a's. They sound awesome, but they are mixing on because they are just too damn honest, so something that would sound like teh awesome on monitors like the rokit's etc. will sound really flawed on these.
That, and the fact that they are a little short on bass, are the two only things I don't like about them.
Other than that, they are freakin awesome. Would buy again. |
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| dj_alfi |
| oh palm. always getting into all sorts of ban-worthy hijinx. |
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| utdarsenal |
| quote: | Originally posted by Conway Twitty
you get some smaller monitors like Focal CMS40. Doesnt play loud or with alot bass but definitly plays clear as hell. Which is most important imo. Especially in a small college apartment. In the same class (direct oponent) you have also the Genelec 8020. And the smalles DynAudio of course. Remember you are looking for desktop nearfields. 8" woofers is not recomended for that. |
too expensive man.. theyre like 400 a monitor lol |
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| Notle |
I love my 8040īs but only speakers i trust is my car speakers. That point i always hear if the mix aint right. Too bad i cant connect my laptop to it. I wouldnt buy krks myself but even one of my favorite producers fonzerelli uses them so i guess they cant be that bad.
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