poor mans delima

[dolecek1]

I'm very happy with my studio with one exception.My monitors.I had bough behringer monitors a few months ago.It like when im jammin my my guitar thru my amp it sounds awesome but if i record iyt and play back thru monitors sounds like crap.I payed 340 for these monitors which is a complete gold mine for me. and im recording with an audiophile 2496 should i just invest in a decent pair of headphones? i just cant afford a good pair of monitors? and if i should buy good headphones any reccomdations? thanks

[Walrusgumboot]

I'm no authority, but there might be something else in your signal chain causing the problem. I have a pair of Behringers and I've been quite impressed with the sound of them. My mixes suddenly started sounding more consistent. But, admittedly, I've made some other major changes in my studio too that have contributed to that. But, one of my Behringer monitors just went kaput after only a year of light use and I am not going to take them to a repair facility if they are not reliable. So, I was on this site hoping to check out some forums for monitors.

[HapiCmpur]

Originally Posted by dolecek1

It like when im jammin my my guitar thru my amp it sounds awesome but if i record iyt and play back thru monitors sounds like crap.

Dont' throw out the monitors yet, dolecek. I don't know how much recording experience you've had so far, but I do know that when I got my first pair of monitors I thought they sounded like crap, too. But they're supposed to (sort of).

If you already know this, I apologize because it may seem like I'm talking down to you. That's certainly not my intention. But studio monitors aren't supposed to sound like guitar amps or stereo speakers. Monitors are supposed to give you a flat, unenhanced, brutally honest replication of what you've recorded. Amps and stereo speakers are supposed to smooth out rough edges and make improvements that would interfere with your ability to mix accurately.

You'll hear a lot of guys in this forum talking about how well their monitors "translate." What they're often talking about isn't related to their monitors so much as it is to their hours and hours of experience with those monitors -- which eventually gives them a better idea of how the sounds they're hearing from their monitors will probably "translate" to a different environment, such as their car or home stereo.

It might be very worthwhile for you to visit some places where you can listen to a variety of comparable monitors to see how yours really measure up. If you do this, be sure to take along a CD that you are very familiar with and that you've listened to on your Behringers quite a few times. Also be sure that whoever is demonstrating the other monitors hasn't hooked them up to any additional equipment that's going to make them sound richer than they would in your studio. You will probably find that your Behringers do pretty well against the competition.

[MadAudio]

It would also be helpful if you listed your whole recording chain, not just the monitors.

[apl]

Are you running the guitar through the V-Amp, directly to the 2496? If you record that and play it back, it should sound pretty much the same.

How do the monitors sound when you play a CD?

Are the monitors hooked into the outs of your 2496?

[MadAudio]

Apl - I don't think he has a VAmp. I think you misread that. I think he's playing through a real amp.

At least I think I think so!

[apl]

Hey, MA.

I was guessing based on the list in his signature.

[MadAudio]

If it was a snake it would have bit me!

In the words of Homer, "D'oh!"

[reshp1]

How do the guitars on your favorite commercial CD's sound. I'm speculating here but it might be the way you are recording the amp/v-amp not the speakers. The difference from a "budget" to a "good" set of monitors is going to be noticable, but it shouldn't make a guitar sound good or crappy. You tend to notice more detail, not a drastic change in tone. On the other hand many people, myself included, have trouble capturing the way an amp sounds in a room.

[dolecek1]

my bad i havent updated my sig, im playing thru spiderII.now im starting to get the general idea with monitors.soryr for the confusion, but now i need decent headphones for recording, any decent ones around for 50?

[giraffe]

Originally Posted by dolecek1

when im jammin my my guitar thru my amp it sounds awesome but if i record iyt and play back thru monitors sounds like crap.

it may be you're tone, recording is not the same as live sound.

with some people thare can be a brutal re-adjustment peroid when they start to record thier sound (sometimes) they find out it's not at all what they thought..... if that makes any sense.

what git, amp, mic are you useing??
describe the sound please.

(thin, brittle???)

[dolecek1]

i play only esp, amp is spiderII 1-12, and im not using a mic to record im going direct

[Alexbt]

Well, there you go.

Recording direct from an amp generally sounds like crap, as you lose the speaker modeling.

Pick up an Shure SM57 and mic the amp. If you're on a budget, there are some 57 clones that can do the trick. There is a topic in the Microphone forum on these. Make sure to read that so you get a good brand clone, as there are some bad brand clones.

[apl]

I record with a Spider II 112 direct, also. You do get the speaker emulation. If you listen to My III you'll hear the results. As I said before, the guitar part should sound the same when you're monitoring your recording and when you're playing that back.

Do you need headphones because you're unhappy with your monitors, or because you don't wanna disturb the neighbors?

[amra]

I guess the best way to find out how your monitors sound, is to pop in a real, "store bought" CD and listen to it. If it sounds good then you know it is not your monitors.

One thing about getting 'real' monitors as opposed to computer speakers, is they really expose bad sounding recordings that might not have sounded bad before. To be more specific they might have sounded bad all along, but your PC speakers might have made everything else suck just as bad, so you might not have noticed... lol.

[TFunkadelic]

I agree with what's been said alread. Monitors are not meant to pretty up the sound and make it appealing the way your typical stereo speakers are. They are meant to show you what you have, and nothing more. Some of the studios I've visited have heaps of different monitors, all connected at once so the engineer can switch back in forth between pairs and see how the mix sounds on different speakers. They often even have cheap department store shelf systems to listen to the mix on.

If you're looking for headphones, the sony MDR series are decent (I think they make some in the $50 range), but you're not going to find anything special. If you want to spend a bit of money I'd reccomend the Sennheiser HD-600's. I've had mine for a few years now and love them.

[GOODLAND]

Good studio monitors are just suppost to give you a clear, flat sound and not a sound that lets say you would get out of a $3000 Bose stereo system.

[TFunkadelic]

So you're telling me I shouldn't be monitoring on my Bose Lifestyle system? Upgrade to their flagship 300 driver stereo speakers maybe?

[GOODLAND]

Ha!!!! Maybe you should. lol

Originally Posted by GOODLAND

Good studio monitors are just suppost to give you a clear, flat sound and not a sound that lets say you would get out of a $3000 Bose stereo system.

By the way that last post was not directed at you it was for DoleceK1.

[mr.rich]

do you have a pair of speakers that youve used for a long time with your stereo? if so id suggest setting those up with your studio monitors and begin a/bing mixes back and forth. you use your old pair as a referance to your new ones. in time this will allow you to gain insight into how to make a mix on your studio ones that will translate well to your home ones.