studio monitors

I know this may be beating a dead horse, but I highly value the opinions of my fellow MTS'ers. I'm looking for something for a home studio around $300-400 range. Here are my top choices so far: Yamaha HS50M, KRK Rokit 5, and Alesis Monitor 1 MKII. The room is open untreated for now with a dedicated room in the future (I apologize for this blasphemy in advance).

Forget the Yamahas, the small ones are real crap imho.....
I'd either go for Rokit 5 or 8 or ESI near 08 experience.

I have them myself and was in our biggest german musicshop a week ago because we looked for some low budget monitors for a friend of mine and settled on the rokit 5.

The ESI 08 xp had the most linear and pleasable frequency response in my perception, the smaller esi where quite round (compared to other 5" monitors in that price range) but had a nasty mid-freq spike.
The rokit sounded good but a little bit like loudness (nice highs and lows but not so much mids).
Probably will buy some Rokit as a second monitoring system

Or save the money and get Dynaudio instead

Thanks for the reply! I'm surprised to hear that about Yamaha but I haven't heard those particular ones in person. At this point I can't see me spending more considering my limited recording. I just want something that will help me translate decently to car stereos.

IMO, you should treat the room first with bass traps, diffusers over your mix station and purchase a pair of PrimeAcoustics R7 angled Recoil Stabilizers.

Once that's complete, audition monitors. Otherwise, IMO, you're wasting your time because you'll never truly know what the monitors sound like in your space.

And without proper treatment, it's going to be extremely difficult, if not impossible, for your mixes to translate properly.

Good luck!

I will speak blasphemy....here I go...
its about accuracy, NOT about pleasing what you "like"
its about what you can afford
its about what is working for you across 3 systems, or 4 or 50
and if you dont know which way to turn and don't have money to burn..
its always best to start RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE.
I agree with a number of very successful mix engineers and suggest that you use what you feel is accurate and affordable and as you discover what aspects of what you need..go out and get those things. (acoustic traps, or different monitors, or change placement of speakers or listeners etc
Great mixes have been done on crap speakers, Poor mixes have been done great speakers.
Its not about the bike, Its friday (ya know, Payday..) go out and buy what you need..used is ok,too!!! and get on with it!!!!!!!!!
GtrGeorge

Just got a used pair of KRK RP8's and they are not too bad. They can be found pretty reasonable. I also have a pair of older passive Tannoy PBM 8's and Tannoy PBM-6.5s that sound great. I have a pair of JBL Control 5's you can have cheap or trade for a module. Just get something and get used to them. Learn your room and learn your mixes. Like George says just do it. You have to start somewhere.

BTW the KRK's to me are a bit "woofie" but I work on lots of techno/industrial type stuff so I like the added LOW....

Funny thing about monitors. If your monitors and room allow too much bass you will cut bass from your mix, and may end up cutting too much. If your monitors are weak in the bass you'll leave too much in the mix. Too much below 50 Hz turns mixes to mud. Most hi-fi speakers have a peak around 62 Hz. Most car speakers, unless there's a subwoofer, won't go below 100.

Thanks everyone!

Mike P, George and Julia, you've really made me put a lot of consideration into treating the room. Excellent advice. Time to rearrange the house...

Katash and Ibenhad, thanks for the monitor model advice. Hoping to treat the room properly to get the bass just right. I do want powered. I'm pretty set on the KRK line. I'm fine with the Rokit 5's at this point.

I'll report back with some pics of my setup when it's done

Jacksauce said:

Thanks everyone!

Mike P, George and Julia, you've really made me put a lot of consideration into treating the room. Excellent advice. Time to rearrange the house...

Katash and Ibenhad, thanks for the monitor model advice. Hoping to treat the room properly to get the bass just right. I do want powered. I'm pretty set on the KRK line. I'm fine with the Rokit 5's at this point.

I'll report back with some pics of my setup when it's done

Click to expand...

Definitely check out Auralux Corner Traps, Bass Traps and Metro Diffusers. I'd also recommend GIK 2'x4' 705 panels. They come in a variety of colors, are easy to mount and work extremely well. I have 12 in my room, in addition to the Auralex in every single corner.

Personally, I'd avoid a 5" speaker as your main monitor. You're just not going to get much detail on the bottom end and most likely, the top end, either. I'm sure they'd be fine as secondary monitors in which to "check" the mixes, but I'd look at a 6 or 6.5 as your primary.

And if you're doing any genre of Rock (metal, modern, classic, indie, etc.), I'd avoid the KRK's. They're more suited to synth pop and rap.

Or make your own panels and save a bundle like I've done... I'll post a pic of my setup tomorrow..

Kapo_Polenton said:

Or make your own panels and save a bundle like I've done... I'll post a pic of my setup tomorrow..

Click to expand...

I priced out the difference between purchasing Owens-Corning 705 and building 2x4 foot panels and covering them with nice fabric versus purchasing them for $69 each and the difference, IMO, was negligible.

If you have time, you might save $10-15 dollar per panel but that savings is offset by manual labor. Time is money. My time is worth more than $10 dollars an hour, so it was an easy decision.

It was a ***** to build and waste time doing so but unfortunately SHIPPING items this large made the cost difference more than worth it. They shipped in packages of two panels but the cost was equal to more than one panel to ship not to mention canada customs asking me to please bend over so they could rape me. Unfortunately by law they are allowed to do this..... and they aren't gentle. :shock:

5 - 4 inch panels of rigid roxul
10 - 2 inch panels of roxul
about 210$ I think it was

material was about 4.35 a yard i think it was and I have purchase about 22 yards total = 110$ tax in

1 x 2's and some 2 x 4's for larger standing traps i can move around was maybe 35$

Some screws and nail gun $?

In the end for 500$ (and still haven't finished all material and roxul) I have wall to ceiling corners on both sides of my listening area (4 inch) and 6 panels that are 2 inch on the wall, and one free standing 4 inch trap to use around drums. (making matching pair for that use.

Yeah they don't look as good but on the wall and wrapped tight, they look pretty damned good! The material is really where the costs are on those panels... shipping is absolute lunacy but i understand the cost based on size of item.

I've got a pair of KRK Rokit 6's and for the price they sound better than the 8's.Alas my room is small 9'x11' but I think my system sounds great and for me and what I do recording it's suits me perfectly.

Mike P, thanks for the fantastic advice! Especially on treating the room. I like how you gauge your time - very logical. My genre is rock so I did some more research and came across Adam Audio. Out of my range of course, but the ribbon technology was very interesting. Other companies using this were Behringer, Prodipe and Samson. I'm always hesitant to buy Behringer...

Kapo, I don't have a lot of free time for DIY but I'd still like to check out what you've done with your room!

Walshinator, the price is definitely in my range. i wonder if the 8's were just too much for your room.

Monitors (pair) I'm interested in (in order)
Prodipe Pro Ribbon 8 $300
M-Audio Studiophile CX8 $260
Behringer TRUTH B3030A $400

As far as monitors go on the low end; the Samson Resolv A6 are surprisingly good. Next step up are the M-Audio BX8. Whatever the current version are. To get any better than that you've got to move up to the Yamaha HS80s. These don't have much low end, but they are very accurate on mids and highs. I recommend using the sub with the Yamaha monitors.

I've heard a lot of good things about Yamaha HS80. A touch out of my price range for the moment which is why I was considering the HS50 to start with. I just came across a used Adam A7 for a ridiculous price... only one mind you but I'm going to check it out and start into treating the room with the great suggestions from Mike P. New module and a monitor on their way. I feel like a kid waiting for Santa...

Jacksauce said:

Mike P, thanks for the fantastic advice! Especially on treating the room. I like how you gauge your time - very logical. My genre is rock so I did some more research and came across Adam Audio. Out of my range of course, but the ribbon technology was very interesting. Other companies using this were Behringer, Prodipe and Samson. I'm always hesitant to buy Behringer...

Kapo, I don't have a lot of free time for DIY but I'd still like to check out what you've done with your room!

Walshinator, the price is definitely in my range. i wonder if the 8's were just too much for your room.

Monitors (pair) I'm interested in (in order)
Prodipe Pro Ribbon 8 $300
M-Audio Studiophile CX8 $260
Behringer TRUTH B3030A $400

Click to expand...

Thanks, Jack. Please, don't buy monitors right away. Treat your room and let me check around for adequate 6" monitors in your price range. I know a few dealers and may be able to recommend something better.

Also, I'd HIGHLY recommend being patient: Record in headphones for a few months in order to save some money towards better gear. There's an old saying that holds true which is "Don't spend good money after bad".

This is especially true in pro audio- high end or prosumer. Thanks!

Thanks for the great advice Mike! Anything you can recommend would be very appreciated! It's difficult to be patient but I'm keeping busy laying out the floor plan and pricing some panels. That's a great saying - which I believe I've already violated a few times. I think I'll take your advice with the headphones and start out slow.

Jack..
its all good...but be aware to check your headphone mixes against speakers before you release material to the public...sometimes people get a lot of bass in their headphones and as a result pull down the bass frequencies in their mixes.
But the point is.....
keep going, doing learning.
GtrGeorge

Just figured I would add. Yamaha HS80's are definitely some of the best budget speakers around. A little out of your range but pickup a pair that are used.

I'm currently using M-Audio BX8as for my mixes and they sound great, even for movies and just listening to music.

I went from an untreated room to a treated one and i think my mixes are fine. Just make sure you check them with headphones when you are done to make sure everything sounds like it's in the right place.

I'm definitely just a hobbyist when it comes to recording so if you are too don't worry about doing big treatments and stuff like that.