Studio Monitors

RFR said:
Thats a good price. And even though they aren't accurate for mixing, they'll make good tracking monitors. Replacement drivers are cheap enough so if you're running some volume through them and blow one up, it's not the end of the world. :D
Click to expand...

They are friggen loud beasts...And I did get a learning experience with them. Don't get me wrong, they don't altogether suck. Just a stepping stone for myself...

---------- Update ----------

Well, those sold quick.
 
miroslav said:
Going back maybe 5-10 years...that price point was like $1200 for a pair of monitors...might be higher today.
TBH...it wasn't off the mark. I spent a lot of time auditioning monitors...in store and in studio...and that was the price line that started to make the difference between good monitors and make-do monitors.
Click to expand...

In the past (5+?) years there's been an influx of good, lower end models (and makers) entering the market. That number is likely lower for comparable quality to what you were hearing 10 years ago. Just a trip to Guitar Center will reveal that a pair of $600 monitors would do most anyone in their home studio justice. Sure, more is more but I was specifically only thinking of entry level, and $100 monitors are not at that level (not even for 'home recording'). So somewhere between $100 and $1200 is the likely quality/performance price point. My relatively recent Guitar Center visit determined that performance level was around the $600 ($300/ea) mark.
 
I was going to say...$1200-1500 is now Genelec/Dynaudio areas. Would be happy to have either...the KH120s we were talking about earlier are under $1500. You could almost afford Gibson Les Paul monitors for that. (anyone heard ANYTHING about those. I've been curious)
 
KRK has some upper end stuff in the $800-1000 a speaker bracket as well.

Hey, one of the speakers that I thought deserved a second look when I went through my monitor buying phase was Behri's B2031 Truth whatever. They were very flat on the sweep and had pretty decent low end coverage. I think they're still $400 a pair. Worth a listen in the lower end...
 
I've run into at least 3 persons online with the tribute 120s and they are almost obligated to say they are great. But the distortion specs looks pretty outstanding to me, alone. Most consumer MFG don't even mention those specs. Feel free to compare distortion spec against the 800 B&W types
 
What the hell is the tribute 120? I did a Google search and it came up with kayaks. Who in their right mind is going to mix in the water. :D
 
Sennie kept the KH on the KH120
Georg Neumann GmbH - Professional Monitoring

EDIT: I see they don't have the distortion numbers in the specs anymore

Oh, something up top instead of towards the bottom this time;

"Bass capability: Max. SPL in half space
at 3% THD at 1m 104.8 dB SPL
(averaged between 50 Hz and 100 Hz)
 
Wow, this is quite a topic hey. I'm not the OP, but did chime in a few pages back.

For many years previous I've been an avid home-recorder, and smashing out sub-standard songs left-right-and-and centre - using a knackered Apogee MiC and trusty garageband on my iPad. Oh to hear the music that I made ....... monitors - pahhh, the good old iPhone free headphones.

Why, because I love making music. That's all. I know that I'm never going to make a £ out of it, and I'm not doing it for the fame or the birds - just to give me something to do when I get home from work and don't want to watch some murder/mystery that the Mrs is watching on the TV.

If I'm being 100% honest - previously when I was reading forums / posts on various home recordings 'things' and when someone said about 'studio monitors' - I honestly believed that they were talking about what you looked at when you made your music - y'know, a computer monitor. This confused the hell out of me as I couldn't see the benefit of 'some decent monitors' - it wasn't as if I was intending to edit HD Photography or anything.

It was only recently that I learned that 'monitors' are what I usually call 'speakers'

So, when I got a iMac for work - and then thought that I should upgrade Garageband to Logic Pro X - I was missing the speakers (for my home-studio). So I went in to the local music shop and grabbed the cheapest ones that I could find - that was my only criteria - the cheapest. I'm lucky enough not to have 'many' budget constraints, and this was coming out of my 'smile money' account, so yes, I could have chosen some really expensive ones.

The reasons why I bought the ones that I have: 1) I thought that I should as that's the norm 2) They were literally the cheapest I could find 3) I though that anything would be better than listening through my iPhone headphones.

Having said all that - in about 5 years time when I've started to understand Logic, and what mixing/mastering is all about (I've watched youtube videos on this - and it's like a total foreign language to me at the moment - what happens at different frequencies etc) then, I'm sure that I'll upgrade as the ones I have wont suffice.

"Go to the local music shop with a cd and an SPL meter. Put a 200 Hz, a 2k and a 10k test tone on the CD. Add to that a sweep from 200 down to 20 (the top end is usually not an issue)" means absolutely nothing to me at the moment - I literally don't have a clue, apart from the 'CD' part.

I suppose it's all down to what point you are along the journey, and where it is that you're planning to end up.
 
Geez, if the OP read through all these pages he's probably shooting himself now for spending what he could afford rather than going into debt ...

What has been said already - you have to learn your monitors. It doesn't matter if they are $100 or $1000. Listen to commercially released music similar to your own through them. Make a mix, throw it on a USB drive or CD and listen in other places - just another way to learn your monitors, not the be-all end-all solution. Anyone who says they 'don't need to do this' anymore have learned what their monitors sound is.

Not everyone here is trying to record to 'commercial standards' (however they're defined) - many are just trying to their own music recorded to let others hear it. And don't forget that a majority of people who do hear the music aren't musicians or home recordists, and wouldn't notice the difference. Just listen to some of the crap mixes on commercial 'indie' radio these days - the mix is less important than the artist/song.
 
mjbphotos said:
Geez, if the OP read through all these pages he's probably shooting himself now for spending what he could afford rather than going into debt ...
Click to expand...

If you had read through all these pages you would have seen that the member with the $100 monitors wasn't the OP. ;)
 
mjbphotos said:
What has been said already - you have to learn your monitors. It doesn't matter if they are $100 or $1000. Listen to commercially released music similar to your own through them. Make a mix, throw it on a USB drive or CD and listen in other places - just another way to learn your monitors, not the be-all end-all solution. Anyone who says they 'don't need to do this' anymore have learned what their monitors sound is.

Not everyone here is trying to record to 'commercial standards' (however they're defined) - many are just trying to their own music recorded to let others hear it. And don't forget that a majority of people who do hear the music aren't musicians or home recordists, and wouldn't notice the difference. Just listen to some of the crap mixes on commercial 'indie' radio these days - the mix is less important than the artist/song.
Click to expand...

So mixing, as a technical form (and art form), is graded on a curve? I wasn't aware, I should just do it any which way then. By your account, my half-hearted D will be a B- with the curve.
 
Last edited:
.."commercial 'indie' radio these days"

Gotta have NS10, though : ) I get C&W with good mixes - arguably some outstanding stuff at times and the Mexican stuff is good mixing standards - seemingly better than the broadcast standards : )

It should be noted that what passes for nearfield mixing monitors are supposed to be tools and don't always have the requirement of sounding good. In other words, your favorite music suddenly sounds like crap. If a good String Quartet recording sounds like real acoustic instruments, then it may have something going for it. A lot of that will be materials in the cones, etc.. Different materials do different things and you may be buying materials that appear as Fidelity, but might not be.

Mixing needs flat for levels, and low distortion in the bass and mid bass
 
RFR said:
I still love my NS10s, have two pairs. But I also use bigger monitors to check bass, and also have a set of Eguator D5s.
Click to expand...

I couldn't get too silly on a disability check, so I have to do bass on fones that are flat in the low mids down to 100, or so. I proof on 12-inch, 3-way. I'm hooked up to 8-inch, 3-way sealed boxes that were not designed for the bookshelf, but the meter bridge - they're just way too much for my little room. I keep 'em in there because they are a challenge. I can afford to play those games. haha I only have one co-ax type in this location - a old lorenz 8-inch. I'm a closet radio speaker enthusiast, though
 
Pinky said:
If you had read through all these pages you would have seen that the member with the $100 monitors wasn't the OP. ;)
Click to expand...

Sorry, I got confused with 'witm8' who got the MAudio speakers, and that's where this whole thread really took off - when I commented about the 75Hz low end on those..

Pinky said:
So mixing, as a technical form (and art form), is graded on a curve? I wasn't aware, I should just do it any which way then. By your account, my half-hearted D will be a B- with the curve.
Click to expand...

I don't know WTF you're going on about. :yawn: Some people want to be able to record their music so others can hear it. They're not concerned that the 'kick could use a little bump at 800Hz' (for example) and don't want to spend more than their monthly mortgage/rent on a set of monitors to be able to (maybe) hear the difference.
 
Too much elitism in this thread. Show me a Grammy.

Too much "gotta have before you can do" going on here.

There is a forum member who posts mp3s regularly who mixes on headphones (supposedly a no no) yet he gets great mixes.

There's a name mixer who mixes on 6 Inch KRKs. (Shit speakers in my eyes) Yet his stuff is on the radio

Countless records have been mixed on NS10s over the years. Many still to this day use them.

It aint the meat, it's the motion. Its skill.

The only way to get the skills is by practicing. By doing it.

Anyone promoting that you have to have the best before you can start is providing a disservice to a newcomer wanting to make some music.

No need to put up roadblocks.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top