my first day with real monitors...

[treymonfauntre]

got a used pair on ebay, m audio sp-5bs. the price was damn fine so i decided they'd be good first monitors (and i've been lurking for months, got a great deal)
i imagine its gonna take a good week i imagine to tune my ears to the lack of boomy bass these things have

[distortedrumble]

Originally Posted by treymonfauntre

got a used pair on ebay, m audio sp-5bs. the price was damn fine so i decided they'd be good first monitors (and i've been lurking for months, got a great deal)
i imagine its gonna take a good week i imagine to tune my ears to the lack of boomy bass these things have

yeah thats the one thing i'm trying to limit is boomy bass...i think it'll kill my samson 65as to keep doing that.

[mikeh]

The key to any monitor system is to understand how that system relates to other systems (car stereo, boom box, etc).

I'm sure you've figured out that the "lack of boomy bass" may not be a flaw in your new speakers but rather reflective of the fact that near field "monitor" speakers are designed to give a relatively flat frequency response (rather then the low end hype that "consumer" speakers are designed for).

Select a commercial CD that you know very well, which is commonly referred to as a reference CD (preferred that it be in the same musical genre you plan to record). Listen to that CD on your new speakers and then on other reference speakers (the car, a boom box, your main entertainment system, etc.).

You will likely find that the CD doesn't sound like the low end is hyped on your monitors, but is plenty there in other systems. You will quickly learn to determine how mixes need to sound on the monitors so that the mix will sound "right" on other systems.

Once you get use to monitors you'll wonder how you ever tried to mix without them.

[mrface2112]

Originally Posted by treymonfauntre

i imagine its gonna take a good week i imagine to tune my ears to the lack of boomy bass these things have

it's gonna take more than a week.

i've been mixing on the 5b's for a couple years now. i STILL don't think i'm totally used to their bass response. they have a very round bass response that lets you see "inside" the bass, which helps a LOT with the tone of the bass.....but doesn't help much at ALL with the punch. i have a hard time compressing and eqing a kick drum, for instance.

placement is *crucial* with these monitors as well. put em near a wall to take advantage of the ports. listen to LOTS of material you know VERY well on these things to help you learn their response.

i think these monitirs are excellent for acoustic music, and excel in the mids and highs......but personally, i'm looking for something with 8's to better handle the lows. i'll still keep the 5b's, though, b/c i love the way they sound.


cheers,
wade

[KonradG]

i do acoustic music (with bass, light drums and piano on some songs), what kind of monitors do you all suggest with a tight budget?

[jeffree]

Hey, guys. Do a search here for Sp5 or BX5 + sub, and you'll find posts from others, like me, who really like the sound but have decided to add a sub to round out the picture. While a pricey M-Audio sub would probably be best, I use a low-cost Wharfedale model ($125) with excellent mixing results. With a sub, these 5" M-Audios really shine in small studios.

J.

[Monkey Allen]

There's no way I'm adding a sub to my BX5's. Jesus, they have plenty of bass and I'm not making music to keep snakes out of Springfield.

[mrface2112]

Originally Posted by jeffree

Hey, guys. Do a search here for Sp5 or BX5 + sub, and you'll find posts from others, like me, who really like the sound but have decided to add a sub to round out the picture. While a pricey M-Audio sub would probably be best, I use a low-cost Wharfedale model ($125) with excellent mixing results. With a sub, these 5" M-Audios really shine in small studios.

yeah, i've been VERY pleased with the sound from the sp5b's.....it's just the low end isn't as "present" as i would like--which is to be expected from 5" cones.

can you point me to where you got the wharfdale sub?

and where do you have it positioned? on your desk, under the desk, etc?


cheers,
wade

[jeffree]

Yo, Wade. For my very small studio, I bought the Wharefedale Powercube 8 (100 watts) for $99 from the Audio Advisor six months ago, and it's a great fit. In particular, it has line ins and outs so no speaker cables or tricky connections are necessary. There's also a Powercube 10, which is larger and more powerful, but I wanted to keep things tight and punchy and thought the 8" might be best for me. I have it centered, near my feet, and spent many hours with reference CDs to integrate it smoothly with my BX5s. The sound is basically seemless now, with those deep lows there only when needed. My mixes have never sounded better, overall.

Do a search and you'll find these subs available somewhere. Good luck.

J.

[fernandoesmaron]

look at the new fostex 0.5 sub also. Seems to be a good deal. 250 €

[5ergo]

From my experiences i found out that bookshelfs sound quite the same in big room as monitors in small room.