In a bind with monitors

[breadbox]

Hi,

I'm quite short on money, and long on need for decent monitors. What do you think about using a pair of Bose MediaMate computer speakers until I can pick up a real set of monitors?

breadbox

[mocharock]

Man I would sell the Bose speakers and buy some monitors. I bet that you can get a really good price off the Bose speakers.

[breadbox]

Well....so much for not getting ragged on in the Newbie forum.

[Massive Master]

I wouldn't call it "ragged" - We're here to help. Mixing through Bose (almost ANYTHING by Bose) is like...

Hmmm...

Driving with a boat? Playing basketball with a soccer ball?

It's simliar, it's just not quite right -

Bose products, by design, tend to greatly color sound. They're made to make bad stuff sound good and good stuff sound good.

They're in now way accurate enough to judge with during mixing for the most part.

Of course, if you can work past that, there's no law against it. I'm just figuring that if you do some mixes through them and listen to them on other systems, you'll see that they don't translate well.

John Scrip - www.massivemastering.com

[The Green Hornet]

Yo Pan-container:

You can use anything when $$ is short -- it just doesn't give you the performance you may be looking for.

For the bucks, when you are ready, a pair of Yorkville passives will serve you a long time. I'm still using mine.

Massive Master made an interesting comment in another post about monitors -- he doesn't like powered monitors because of "crossover problems."

Also, with an integrated amplifier or a regular power amp, you can connect two sets of speakers, which I have connected. Gives a good perspective from monitors to commercial hi/fi speakers.

I was thinking about getting a pair of York powered monitors but I think I'll hold off and perhaps get a better pair of passives.

You can get Yorkville on the net and they will point you to your closest dealer.

Green Hornet

[Gidge]

one option (if its available) is a regular home stereo....i did that for awhile before i got a pair of decent monitors......i set the EQ to flat....it usually took a few mixes and tests on other stereos to get it half right.....i can tell you that once you get real monitors and learn them, mixing will be ALOT easier.....

[breadbox]

Okay. Now THIS is helpful. In the future, just assume my understanding of "Newbie" is "honestly doesn't know because he just started learning".

All I know about Bose is that it's expensive, no matter what the category of equipment. So, thank you for that additional information.

[homerecor]

breadbox, you could always turn to headphones in a pinch. For about $99 you can get a set of high quality studio monitors for the head. Some of them are quite gorgeous sounding and crystal clear to boot. My SONY's have deep, rich, and full bass. They are silky smooth and mostly flat accross the whole spectrum.

[Blue Bear Sound]

Originally posted by homerecor
breadbox, you could always turn to headphones in a pinch. For about $99 you can get a set of high quality studio monitors for the head.

No - I wouldn't recommend that at all.......

Article --> Whad'ya Mean I Can't Mix With Headphones????

[breadbox]

Yeah. I was pretty sure I didn't want to use headphones. Every time I'd try something using headphones, and then listen to it on my computer speakers, it sounded like crap! I knew that's not what happens with professional recordings, so I figured the problem was that the headphones were lying to me.

[homerecor]

Well, okay. I stand corrected.

Of course, I assumed you were not doing paid projects just yet. If all you want to do is get to know your gear and/or software, anything will do. If, however, you are gearing up to do Christina Aguilera’s next major release, then you should probably invest more wisely.

In the mean time, there are a few low cost monitors that will do a reasonable job for newbies. For example…(Dare I say it?) Okay, I’ll spell it out just in case anyone here is listening. B-e-h-r-i-n-g-e-r has a $300 pair of monitors called the “Truth”. They get good reviews but not on this here discussion board.

Okay, I’ll probably get shot at for that one. EVERYBODY DUCK!!!!

[Stealthtech]

Originally posted by homerecor
Well, okay. I stand corrected.

No...nothing wrong with phones for rough mixes and quite time....just not on the final.

[Gidge]

Behringer Truths are a pretty decent monitor, esp at that price......

[regebro]

Yes, you *can* mix with the Bose's. But getting new monitors should be your first priority.

[breadbox]

homerecor (home-wrecker???) :-)

My a cappella group intends to cut a short sampler of some of our stuff. It will be for sale, yes. Cheap....but for sale.

And Christina A. keeps hounding me to do her next project in my new walk-in closet studio in my basement, but I'm not returning her calls. It's turning into a "stalker" situation, too. Pretty intense. I think she wants me. But I'm not giving in, dammit! I've got a hot a cappella group that nobody's ever heard of just knocking down my door to record a sampler!

[homerecor]

Yup! The same thing happens to me all the time. I feel your pain. Tee Hee!

(Homerecor = rec at home)

[breadbox]

Yeah, I'm just messin' with your handle. Thanks for responding to my post.

Looks like I found a bit of wiggle room in the budget. I'm going to do a bit of shopping tomorrow morning and pick up some monitors. Probably the Behringers.

[homerecor]

Cuwel, let us know how you like them.