Please help me pick one of these monitors

[Joe-H]

First time poster here. Been a lurker for a week.

Please advise as to which one I should go with. I'll be listenning to music and occasionally mixing vocal track with it mostly. My budget is tight, so the better bang for the buck item, the better it is for me. Trying to save some money to get a good effect processor.

1. Fostex PM05 ($250)
2. Samson Resolv 65a ($300)
3. M-Audio BX5 ($300)
4. Tapco S5 ($350)
5. Event PS6 ($375)

I'm leaning towards the Event PS6, as I think it's a nice deal. But is it worth to shell out the extra buck for it? Being poor sux...

EDIT: I should also add that I listen at a fairly low volumn level (don't wanna piss off the neighbors), so loudness of a speaker doesn't really matter to me.

[Massive Master]

Joe - I don't want to sound... What's the word... Eh, forget it.

Anyway, if you've got a chance to save a little extra and take a step up in your monitors, you WON'T regret it.

Your monitors are the only link between "everything else" and your ears. The greatest processors, mics, consoles, effects - Worthless if you can't hear them accurately.

The models you listed (if I'm not mistaken) are all of the "small" variety. As you stated that you listen at low volume, you're serving yourself a double-whammy. A larger monitor - Even the Behringer Truths - would arguably seve you better at low volume if for no other reason than the low end response. I'd either go used, go Truths, or save up a little more and go with a KRK-8 or a BX8 or something in that range.

[Joe-H]

Massive Master,

Thanks for the reply. I now realized that I made a mistake in purchasing all the other gears (Rode NTK, dbx 376, Mackie 1202VLZ Pro, Lexicon MPX1) that I didn't leave much money for monitors. Probably like most noob, I didn't think much of studio monitors. I figured I could get away with my hi-fi stereo speakers and headphone. I don't listen loud to not disturb my elderly neighbors, so it is kind of tricky to crank up the volumn for mixing. I do most of my mixdowns with a Sony 7506 headphone, and most of my mixes were terrible, as you might have guessed.

I dunno. I'm kind of in a tricky situation in that I don't have much left to spend (probably $400 max), and I don't want to listen loud so I don't know if I would be wasting my money on monitors that will just be louder. I would need to "sound proof" my room as much as I can, but I have no means or desire of doing that now. This is just a hobby to me.

Would the Beh Truth be my best bet? I've read bad things about Beh products so... Would the Event PS6 be at least decent for my kind of mixing (vocal)? The PS6 has a 6.5" woofer, I believe.

[Lorde]

Massive Master is right! I know you don't want to hear that maybe, but he is! I think the Truths( even though I have't heard them) would be alright! You can get them at www.BPMmusic.com for $279 new! I think that is worth it! I am selling my Alesis M1 Actives on ebay soon to upgrade my monitors as well. Good luck....Lorde

[deepwater]

The Behringers' are very good for the money. For what it's worth I just got a pair of KRK RP8's and love em. Best monitor I've heard for under a $1000.00. Now the Mackie Tapco's are very good too.

[Joe-H]

Okay, you guys talked me into it. I ended up getting the Beh Truths for $300. I almost, almost got the Event PS6. I hope the Beh Truths was the right choice.

Lorde, BPMmusic.com didn't have the Truths for $279. When I added it to my cart, it was $309.

[deepwater]

You'll be very happy. Just cut the Highs by -2db on the back.

[Joe-H]

I sure hope so! Man, I sure am a compulsive buyer. I admit it. Whenever I like something, I buy it right away without thinking of what I can get for a better value. I'm not rich! I'm getting better at it though. This board helps.

Oh, and I'll tell you guys how I feel about the Truths once it arrives.

[guhlenn]

please do.

[Middleman]

Just a thought for future reference. If I had it to do all over again I would set up my listening environment as follows and this for home mixing. In this order:

$500 for foam and bass traps to balance the room.
$1000 for really good AD/DA convertors ( mabe $600 for a Lynx stereo card)
$1000 for monitors. (possibly lower cost monitors with a sub woofer $600 minimum)

After this mics, preamps and compressors.

But as most newbies do, I dinked around for years recording things that just did not turn out right until I got my environment stable and predictable.
Recording and mixing for desired results is pointless if you can't hear the recording properly to make the correct adjustments. Now, it can be educational and fun up to a point, but happiness and confidence is a well tuned environment i.e. room control and monitor balance.

[guhlenn]

thanks. point is I don't have the cash. SO I just have to sit on my ass till i find it? (don't mean to be agressive, probably looks that way, serious question though.) OR will getting the event TR-8 or M-audio's BX-8 and adding a sub when i have the money be anywhere near decent? And again; room treatment is not allowed where i live (but then again i will probably move soon anyway)... All that comes later.

[Joe-H]

Originally Posted by Middleman

Now, it can be educational and fun up to a point, but happiness and confidence is a well tuned environment i.e. room control and monitor balance.

I'm awared that acoustic treatment is vital. I record in the same room that my computer is in and the fan noise get into my recordings. That can be very frustrating. This is after I have the computer put in my new desk that have a supposedly "concealed" CPU storage. Also, I get a lot of unwanted ambience in my room. A lot of my vocal recordings I have to be real close to the mic rather than to back off 10 to 12 inches like most suggest. I would love to have a small vocal booth, but I think that would cost me at least 3k. Even if I could afford it, which I can't, I would have to order a customize vocal booth. I don't think those vocal booths you can order online fit a person in a wheelchair.

[apl]

Originally Posted by Joe-H

...I would love to have a small vocal booth, but I think that would cost me at least 3k...

I get a half a booth by opening my wife's closet door, and placing the mic stand up against her clothes. Then, I sing facing the closet. The bedroom is kind of dead acoustically with the closets open and the bed doing good absorbing. There are no significant reflections coming back out of the closet since the sound is absorbed by the clothes, and there isn't much left to bounce around the room. You can hear the results by listening to the song in my signature line.

[Middleman]

A closet with a $20 auralex foam pad, 2x4, on the back of a door can actually provide a very good vocal booth. It's hard to get the guitar in there, but for vocals, it works.

guhlenn,

Any 6 inch monitor requires a sub to hear bass and kick acurately. Some of the 8 inch monitors, if they port out the front can get around this. If they port out the back, in my experience, they provide a smeared bass response which can be tightened up with a sub.

You can learn to mix around bass definciency but why? Save yourself some time and frustration by getting something that reveals the whole sound spectrum, but in budget of course.

[Lorde]

Hey Joe-H.....the truths were $279 for the 2031....you got the 2031A which are new! They are $309....Good luck with them! Behringer says they are better than the first....you tell us when you get them....there aren't any reviews out on them yet?

[Lorde]

Hey Joe-H.....the truths were $279 for the 2031....you got the 2031A which are new! They are $309....Good luck with them! Behringer says they are better than the first....you tell us when you get them....there aren't any reviews out on them yet?

[Lorde]

Hey Joe-H.....the truths were $279 for the 2031....you got the 2031A which are new! They are $309....Good luck with them! Behringer says they are better than the first....you tell us when you get them....there aren't any reviews out on them yet?

[guhlenn]

Middleman; fiar enough. point taken. I read somewhere you use 5" m-audio's and a sub... Wil getting 8" woofers in combination with a sub be a waste of money or is overall sound better too? Those BX-8 look sweet and have been getting good reviews, room tuning and lots of other neat things. But i could save 130,- if i get the BX-5... I could put that money in other stuff (lots on my list so no lack in "things i want")

[Richard Monroe]

Guhlenn, I use SP5B's (basically the same as BX5's) and added the SBX sub later, which made a world of difference. You can make perfectly good mixes on that setup. I dealt with the SP5B's without the sub for quite a while. Without the sub, they will cause serious bass envy.-Richie

[guhlenn]

thanks. the BX-8 are on sale nearby where i live (well, at least relatively nearby) for 499,- . BX-5 are 389,-... I guess that little extra money will be a good investment. right?

[MichaelM]

How I feel on this what to spend thing. I'm 19, and I'm a uni student. Between paying bills and buying food it doesn't leave much over to spend on recording gear. I only really work in the holidays to get some cash to spend on gear.

Anyway, I know I'd get better gear if I saved up for longer. I know it will be easier to get good recordings and mixes if I treat the room. At the end of the day though if I saved up for that I wouldn't have any gear for ages. What about the EXPERIENCE GAINED from at least having some gear to use. I'm mixing using my computer and a Behringer UB-2442FX mixer. I know what many people here think of a lot of Behringer gear, but if I didn't have it the best gear I would be using is my Tascam 4 track. I would much rather record and mix using lower end decent gear than sitting around all year twiddling my thumbs. When I've got the cash I'll get something better, and I'll appreciate the difference, but not be stuck learning something I could have on lower end gear.

Sorry if this is a rant.... Its getting pretty late..

[Middleman]

Originally Posted by guhlenn

Middleman; fiar enough. point taken. I read somewhere you use 5" m-audio's and a sub... Wil getting 8" woofers in combination with a sub be a waste of money or is overall sound better too? Those BX-8 look sweet and have been getting good reviews, room tuning and lots of other neat things. But i could save 130,- if i get the BX-5... I could put that money in other stuff (lots on my list so no lack in "things i want")

The BX8s will be better but they are back ported which means the bass throw is out the back and not toward your ears. Your imaging will be smeared and the Sub would improve this. However, it will be much easier than the BX5s and you should be able to learn the lo end curve over time to compensate. Actually if you put a couple of bass traps in your room the BX8s might tighten up a bit and be fairly accurate.

I know it may be costly but being able to hear down to 50Hz prevents you from leaving excessive bass in a mix. Bass just eats up excessive energy overall and if you can tame it your translation results and mixing time goes down.

[germanium]

Hello I'm new to this forum but not new to audio. Though I'm not into recording myself I have had exposure some very very fine equipment some of which blows the big name high end audio systems out of the water so to speak. As a result I started seaking out pro type equipment to make my audio system. Though I see the pro market going south as expectations get lower & lower (more & more people listening to mp3's) at least at the affordable end anyway. At least most of it still has a lot of potential that goes way beyond similarly priced consummer gear.

That brings me to the BX5's. These speakers have many pluses on thier side Like smooth sound at least from 100 cycles up & good dynamics for such a small speaker. They tend toward being slightly midrange foward with good but not great extension on the top. They have a slight peak at 8 KHz then falls about 6 db by the time it reaches 20 KHz. This is largely due the the amps inside. The Amps are well built with huge (for it's power rating) transformer. The power supply caps are adaqate but could have been beefier, however the transformer helps a lot here.

When I received them they had a good tonal balance but you could tell something was missing as there was just absolutely no depth to the sound at all. Some may say this complaint is hogwash that that is how monitors are supposed to sound. After hearing some other monitors myself I have to say that is not really true as both the KRK KR8's & the Event Monitor reference series with the 6.5 inch woofers did display at least some depth though there was other qualities I liked better in the BX5's compared to the Event Monitors. The depth did not improve at all with breakin. I could easily tell there was a lot of potential in them to be found with a little work however as I have done this with many componants before. It's the degree of potential that awaits you that would truelly amaze you.

I went ahead & modified them to my own likes keeping in mind thay the response when done has to be as flat if not even flatter when done (frequency response). the mods cost me only time, solder, wire & a couple of small capacitors. the results were a reach out & touch the performers soundstage & pinpoint depth in the soundfield that even many systems that cost as much as 100,000 dollars or more don't seem to be able to ferrett out of the recordings. (I've heard a few of these sytems myself) $300 & a little time of my own plus some effort of coarse is well worth the bargain to get these results I might add.

By the way it is not just my oppinion as to the improvement others have heard these qualities too. My boss at work heard them a couple of days ago & said the he really got the feeling of being there (note the word there as in at the studio not that the musisions were here in the living room which is usually a result of a dry sounding recording or playback chain but that he felt as if he was there experiencing the acoustics of the studio as well as the instruments) instead of just listening to a recording (granted it takes a really great recording to bring this out in this case it was Pulse on Classic Records 24bit/96KHz DAD played on my modified Panasonic DVD A7 DVD Audio player though a Onkyo Integra p-304 preamp & connected directly to the BX5's, there is not enough difference to reliably tell which is which, the preamp is that good). I also have a modified Sony SCD222ES that does very well too especially with Lizts's Dante's Symphony On Telarc SACD. No flat pancake soundstages here.

[Middleman]

Sounds like a sales pitch in there somewhere.

Ok, just to test the waters, if your not selling something here, why don't you tell us more about your mod.

[germanium]

Originally Posted by Middleman

Sounds like a sales pitch in there somewhere.

Ok, just to test the waters, if your not selling something here, why don't you tell us more about your mod.

No it isn't for sale unless one lives close & wants to hear them. & wants to buy a pair of stock ones after hearing them to have modified. I don't sell them myself so you would have go to a store to by them & the mods would be rather inexpensive. Not selling them over net as too many phonies out there. the mods are rather simple though disassembly is somewhat complicated by glued & soldered parts on the pc board to the rear panel.

Most of it means tracing the signal & eliminating various capacitors namely the electrolytics that are in the signal path by removing & puting wire in there place as well as removing some 22pf & 220pf capacitors entirely. I also remove an output resistor-capacitor network as well as bypass the power supply fusses (very important as you would not believe the distortion these cause when they rapidly heat & cool to the signal as the power passes them to the amplifier ,it is very audible, power line fuses are left intact as they cause almost no deterioration.

The reason I eliminate the electrolyitics is because it is a known fact that electrlitics have 5% dielectric absorbsion, in other words they absorb 5% of whatever goes through them signal wise. When they are featered in the negative feedback loop of a high gain amplifier to controll gain they muddy the sound so badly that its worse than stuffing cotton in your ears . Fortunately these are not particularly high gain amps so they don't suffer quite as badly but they do still suffer a lot.

The reason I remove the output network is to eliminate an unnessessary power drain as well as allowing the amp to settle faster after the signal has passed which improves the retrieval of low level detail under all conditions.

One of the 220pf capacitors gets replaced with a 100pf capactor (on the tweeter amp). This levels the high frequency reponse above 8KHz. All others are just removed period for the same reason. the 100 pf cap was chosen to give the max extention without incurring any harshness from the tweeter. Do not remove any similar looking ones from the woofer amp.

With these mods you should be able to hear what I hear if you have a good cd player & preamp. Cheasy stuff may even sound cheasier than before, an example of good would be a meridian CD player or perhaps Marantz $1000 minimum. Don't put your $98 k-mart special on it & expect to comeup smelling roses, it won't, it will sound like the garbage it is (very revealing of the fact that its gargage where a lesser speaker will let you get away with it as it will at least only sound mediocre instead of truly bad).

Please note: that I do not take any responsabily for damage or injury for those who do these mods on there own....