Monitor Questions

[legionserial]

Hi, sorry if these questions are answered somewhere really obvious. I had a bit of a search and couldnt find everything I needed to know so...

Basically I'm looking at getting some monitors, but I know very little about them at all ie what to get, what type is better etc.
What in your opinion is better? Active or Passive, near field or um...the other. I suspect near fields would be good for me but I have no clue about these things.

Any recommendations for monitors at a low end price range, and recommendations for high end price range. Just trying to get as much info as I can before I dish out my cash. I'm kind of on a budget but havent set a limit. Don't want to spend too much tho.

Cheers in advance...

[scrubs]

The reason there are so many options when it comes to monitors is that there is no such thing as "best," only what is "best" for you. Monitors range in price from less than $100 per speaker to >$4000 per speaker, so having some idea of how much you could potentially spend is critical. The active vs. passive debate also largely depends on your budget, with actives probably being the better option in the low to mid price monitors, but passives may be better if you can afford a really nice amp to drive them. The best advice I can offer is go to a music store that carries several sets of monitors. Take some CD's that you are very familiar with and listen to them on all the monitors in your pricerange. Pick the ones that sound most natural to your ears. Then, take them home and listen to the speakers in your room to confirm that they sound good there as well. That will give you more information than anyone here can offer.

[Fishybob]

Hi,

The difference between monitors is largely down to personnal choice. I have recently been doing plenty of research into this after my old ones died.

If you're budget is low (under £300) then I'd say stick to powered nearfields. There is always a trade off with cheaper speakers. Some have less bass, some have harsh top end, some have poor build quality. This is a quick list of ones that I found most recommended. Shove their names in the search function and see what people say for yourself. BUT, essentially you'll want to get down the shops and demo some to see what you fancy.

One thing to note is the size of your room. Big speakers in a small room = big problems with bass!

Tapco s5 - £230
Alesis M1 MK11 - £230
Wharfedale 8.1 - £200
Wharfedale 8.2 - £250
Behringer Truths (I don't recommend after all they were the ones I had and they died on me! - I said is was personnal taste!)
KRK Rokit 5 or 6
Event TR5 or 6

That should keep you busy in the search section for a few weeks. Please note this is just a quick list. There are other VERY good monitors, but you'll find mension of those during your search.

I hope it helps.



*** If your budget can stretch to more, quality improved dramatically around £400 - £500 (bluesky media desk)

[jimfrusciante]

Hi, I had a similar life experience last week.
Still no conclusions for me though, I got to feeling like I was just learning how marketing works rather than monitors. I have a feeling that theres fierce competition to make sales of monitors, but despit all the advice against it, I'm considering getting NS10m's still, I don't believe the hype that others are cheaper and better, cuz they seem to all be more expensive, and my Uni buddies all used the yamaha's without complaint... I believe its one of them things in life where you must become familiar with the imperfections and limitations of your hardware, and even though they might not sound balls on accurate, you must be able to transgress the quality difference with guesswork and experience.

If I'd found anything in my budget I'd be sailing. Anyway heres a link to the replies I got.

http://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=169662

[bigtoe]

Originally Posted by jimfrusciante

I believe its one of them things in life where you must become familiar with the imperfections and limitations of your hardware, and even though they might not sound balls on accurate, you must be able to transgress the quality difference with guesswork and experience.

really well put. don't forget the room they're in.

I'd advise mixing on some...listening alone didn't cut it for me.

just a word on the ns10's- i used ns10's for years...if you start there and learn on em -you may likely have a really hard time getting away from them...which you'll have to do as they aren't being made anymore as I'm sure you know...

they have a midrange thing that is the curse and the blessing of the whole package. once you rely on them for guitars and vocal balance or any kind of midrange balance...it's hard to find/get used to another tool that will work as well. If you come up on something different…you'd never be the wiser...

anyway - good luck - thoughts from the pod...

Mike

[djdocrok]

that seems to be the whole thing with monitors... it doesnt really matter what monitors you have as long as you know how listen to them. Spend enough time and listen in enough systems and you'll know that the behringers are quite muddy while the KRKs have almost no bass response. I find that the most important thing is to have a number of different sources ready to go - from a club system, to home stereo, and the ol' cd player. If you can figure out how to make it sound good on whatever someone is listening on, it doesnt matter what you use.

[legionserial]

Thanks guys Much appreciated