Monitors

[robsawinner]

Hi

I use a spare bedroom in the house to create and master music on a pc. I want to buy a pair of monitors for mastering but not sure which type to get. e.g near field, passive etc. I am also on a tight budget, so any help and advice would be much appreciated.

Rob

[jalapeno]

There's quite a lot of choice from Behringer, Samson, Tannoy, JBL, Alesis, ESI-Near, in the £80-£120 bracket. I wouldn't go cheaper - little more than PC or HiFi speakers.

Edirol always seemed very tinny to me <dons flak jacket>

[JOBU]

http://mixguides.com/studiomonitors/...udio-monitors/
http://psbg.emusician.com/ar/emusic_...nces/index.htm

[AlternateRealityNemmo]

Nearfield, active. That's what you are looking for.

Most people here use Samson Rubicon, KRK Rokit 5 or 8, Yamaha MSP5 or Behringer Truth (as a last resource, they sound good but they have a serious RFI problem).

If you choose any of those, you'll be on the right track for computer music.

[JOBU]

I still living happy with my 25 year old Hi-Fi speakers. Honestly!!!
They colour the sound ok, but I appreciate the sound anyway.


It's my HOME studio, for Gods sake.

[Cloud]

I just use hi-fi speakers as well. I'd rather have monitors, but there's no room in here for anything else (I'm in a tiny room). Although I keep wondering if this is why I'm rubbish at mixing, etc... or maybe I just need more practice...

[JOBU]

Me and most of the people in thes forums have a lot to learn in the basic and next knowledge stage when it comes to mixing, and even more so when it comes to mastering. I don't think the the speaker types are too relevant at this stage (I'm not saying irrrelevant). The finer nuances and and adjustments you can achieve with the right monitors are not the first priority in our learning process. If you can afford decent monitors it well worth the money , indeed, but it's not crucial at our level.
I'm doing ok with mine. I checking mixing on other systems and find that it's not that far from what I should expect.

I do want to get a pair of nearfield monitors myself tho.

[AlternateRealityNemmo]

It's necessary to have good monitors. It's exactly as if you were a movie director and you were working all the time with a 14 inch screen.

I didn't believe that, until i bought my monitors. Then i discovered all the horrible mistakes i've been doing with my audio all these years. Previously i monitored using PC speakers with a subwoofer.

It's like having LASIK and discovering that you married an ugly girl.

Anyways, most people are happy to spend US$ 400 in a new synth (not that they need another VA) but everyone leaves the monitors (probably the most crucial part) for the last. I made the same mistake, that's why i'd advice getting a good pair of active nearfields.

I'd certainly avoid m-audio. I listened to them and didn't like them at all.

[Danny1969]

There isn't much difference between Hi Fi speakers and supposed studio monitors at the low end of the market, neither will be completely accurate but usable if you give the room some treatment and monitor at low volumes. One of the hardest things to judge in mixing is the amount of low end, mainly due to an untreated room producing standing waves that will vary frequencies below 100Hz ish by as much as +/- 20dB. Theres a few things you can do to get this under control, buy or make some basstraps for the corners, make your mix position about 1\3 of the way down the room lengthways, hang another basstrap above the mix position. Once the rooms under control you can judge things a lot better.

My choice of monitors would be Yamaha NS10's, simply cos they are very easy to learn and a song mixed on those will normally translate well onto most Hi Fi's. It doesn't hurt to have a few monitor systems though, not expensive sets but things like an old Ghettoblaster with an Aux in socket, something mono with a small speaker like a clock radio or similar. A pair of rubbish computer speakers and a set of iPod phones maybe.

[Hypagen]

Originally Posted by AlternateRealityNemmo

I didn't believe that, until i bought my monitors. Then i discovered all the horrible mistakes i've been doing with my audio all these years. Previously i monitored using PC speakers with a subwoofer.

I was in exactly the same situation, writing with the PC speakers and subwoofer using hi-fi speakers for reference.

I've treated my room now and had to borrow a set of monitors from the shop while I waited for mine to be delivered (I got them last week after waiting 3 months!!!), the difference in what I could hear was unbelievable!
Now I've got my own monitors after borrowing some cheap ones, the difference is almost the same again, the only issue is now, I've never finished a track since, due to finding so many problems with tracks I'd started before getting any monitors.

I borrowed a set of Alesis Prolinear 820, these are retailing at about £299 a pair and these really helped my mixes, quite detailed mids (compared to hi-fi speakers), but top end was quite harsh and the bass end wasn't very capable (capable down to 50hz according to Alesis), they were front ported and blew air in my face regulary without actually making any audible sound!