buying mid-priced near-field monitor speakers

[pgibson2004]

Hi all,

I am a newbie here...just getting started in this home-recording thing...here is my question:

I need to buy mid-priced (say; USD$500) near-field active monitor speakers. Is my budget reasonable?

I have a small room, a Mackie 1402-VLZ3 mixer, going into garageband software on a MacBook Pro.

Can anyone please advise me on good, solid brands and good model numbers I should take a look at?

Any other tips or hints?

Thank you!

Cheers,
Peter

[mwthompson]

Originally Posted by pgibson2004

I need to buy mid-priced (say; USD$500) near-field active monitor speakers. Is my budget reasonable?

I hope so! I just ordered a pair of KRK Rokit 5's for $300.

My decision was based on what I've heard on this forum regarding the KRKs and the positive bang/buck ratio. I could have gone with the Rokit 6's, but I decided the extra $100 will go toward my room treatments next month.

I've read that the Rokit 5's are lacking a bit in the low end but I decided to risk it since I'm only going to be mixing my own stuff and do not count on that low end like I would if I were playing rap or hip hop. If this is a mistake, I feel confident that a KRK subwoofer will fill that void later.

But, had I gotten a $500 Musicians Friend gift certificate for Christmas, I'd have probably gone with the Rokit 8's.

Hopefully someone else will chime in since this is my first monitor purchase and I haven't even listened to them yet, so obviously my opinion is worth less than a hill of beans.

[TyphoidHippo]

Well...the KRK Rokit-8s are right at your budget line (about 500 a pair), and I used to have a pair. They're not too shabby at all. As with any monitors - you just have to learn how to use them. If you can learn how what you hear on your monitors is going to sound on a crappy mono radio in a kitchen, or in a car with 6 18" subs and 12 tweeters, or when played through cheap computer speakers attached to a monitor (the visual kind), or when played through a nice home theater system, and then make your mixes to sound good on all of them - then at that point you have exactly the monitors you need. You can learn those things with just about any halfway decent set of studio monitors... You don't really need Genelecs or anything super-expensive like that to make great mixes....the Genelecs would just be easier to do it with. It's a tradeoff between your one time investment in your monitors and your long-term time investment in learning how to use them. But (within reason) the same results can be achieved after learning to use any pair of monitors.

I know I didn't really say anything super helpful there, but hopefully something I said will help you grasp the idea you're trying to grasp with this thread.

[SonicAlbert]

I wouldn't call a $500 pair of monitors mid-priced, that's still firmly in the low end budget category. I say that just so your expectations will match what you end up having in your studio for that money.

That said, you can indeed get decent monitors for the price. KRK is a good place to start, as others have already suggested. I have a pair of KRK V4's which I use as my small check mix monitors, and I'm quite happy with them.

I don't think you should go smaller than a 6" woofer though, unless you use a sub. So for KRK that would leave you with a pair of V6's or the RP-8's. Between those two I'd probably go for the RP-8's, which are right at $500 for a pair.

This is a bit above your budget, but the original Mackie HR824's (which have been discontinued) are being blown out for around $800 for a pair. You might still be able to find a pair at that price, which is a real steal in my opinion.

[ofajen]

Before you part with your dollars, check out the Blue Sky EXO and Media Desk systems. The EXO is actually cheaper ($350 now, IIRC) and the Media Desk sells at about $500. Both are well-designed acoustic suspension satellite/sub systems that will give you the whole picture at reasonable volumes when used at 1 meter or so in a typical room. Good luck!

Cheers,

Otto

[COOLCAT]

There's a set of Mackie Demo's at my GC for some time...probably can be had for $450pr....the caps are pushed in, but as I posted not only using tape to pull them out, I found using a hair dryer (heat) the things are gently, and perfectly returned to the caps roundness.....

I been looking at them, for some time.... Their asking $600 pr, but its been a long time. and most people are afraid of the dust caps being poked in.

unfoirtunately I don't need them and am a gearaddict for monitors. so its like purgatory.

[Twinnesota]

We got the KRK entry level NFMs after listening to Yamahas, KRKs, and M-Audios. It is a must to listen to your NFMs if possible...
The KRKs had a nice flat response, and were audible at even low volume levels.
They were the best of the 3 entry level NFMs we auditioned.
Good luck !!
T

[pgibson2004]

Thank you all very much - as a Newbie it is great to get any information....many thanks one and all!

[picadogrueso]

Im new to but i can say that i have a pair of M-audio bx8a and they sound very good. But you should try to compare it yourself