powered or non powered monitors???

[howlin'dog]

I am about to buy a new pair of monitors. i have in my rack a yamaha 3200 power amp and was going to use it to power my monitors.

How do you all feel about powered monitors vs. un powered monitors? Is there any diffrence?

Howlin' Dog

[Gidge]

I believe biamped powered ones tend to do better in certain situations, but in most pro studios youll find passives with an amp......if you already have a good power amp? it would be crazy to not utilize it......

[Gargamel]

Power. Power. What happens when you have the power??? You are the man!!!! Seriously though.....type of amp are you using? If you have the cash look into the Mackies (hr824) -- My local funeral parlor said they can bury them with me for an extra fifty. If you have a good pwr amp spend what you can. Honestly, I have a pair of CerwinVega home stereo speakers that I do most of my final mix tests on......what you here is what you mix, played, tracked., tweaked, wanked.......

[Leeking]

if you're new to recording, with no amp yet, then get powered monitors and don't have to bother about amp config/cabling so on, and you'll be able to save some extra bucks as well.

but if you already got an amp, it's a good idea to get unpowered ones that matches your amp as they are pretty cheap now!

[Gargamel]

Good call leeking......uh oh thats #100!!!!!!!!!!!

[warlock]

A bit OT but in the same area anyway:
I use BIG (1mx0.5mx0.5m) Sansui 105W speakers with a Alesis RA100 amp at the moment (I have a Dualfex in the chain so if I turn it on I'll get more of a "home" sound and if I turn it off I'll have a flat response). So to add to that I'll get the Tannoy Reveal Actives so I don't have to put them in the same chain as the dualfex, but probably do two lines with a speaker switch:
Mixer out > switch > dualfex > Ra100 > Sansui
Mixer out > switch > Tannoy Reveals
Now I have three different monitoring possibilities.
The Sansui (with Dualflex on or off) has very good bass response so I wont mix too heavy on the bass and the Tannoys will be my studio reference.

Keijo

[barefoot]

Howlin' Dog,

You have a halfway decent amp already, so I would definitely recommend buying passive monitors.

The amps built into most of the cheaper powered monitors are really not that great anyway. Active crossovers and bi-amplification is potentially much better, but if the electronics or most especially the speakers drivers are cheap, a comparably priced passive speaker with higher quality components will have better performance.

Think of it this way. Your amp is rated THD=0.05% from 20Hz-20kHz. The average 8" midbass driver like those used in the common passive and active monitors (Mackie, Event, Yorkville) have numbers like THD=1% 100Hz-1kHz and THD=5% 45Hz-100Hz at only 5 watts input power!

Amplifier specs are usually quite misleading and don't give an accurate representation of how they behave actually driving a complex speaker load. So lets just assume the real world specs of your amp are a whapping 10 times greater than what Yamaha claims - THD=0.5%. This is still 10 times smaller than the speakers low frequency spec for very moderate power input.

From microphone all the way down the audio chain, speakers are by far the weakest link. They are your ears to your music, so try to get the best you possibly can. Even if you pay $10,000 for monitors, they will still likely have the worst specs - unless you have absolute shit for equipment. Whatever you were considering to spend on powered monitors, spend the same or more on passive monitors and use your Yamaha amp.

What would I suggest?

How about the Quested VH2108 at $1900 a pair? (Quested makes top of the line pro monitors)

Can't afford this? How about something far better for $1700?
Here's a kit from Speaker City. Choose the 9900 "Revelator" tweeter option. http://www.speakercity.com/scan_mtm_18.shtml
The ScanSpeak drivers used in this kit are some of the most advanced today. If you built this kit you would have a world class set of monitors.

Still too much? How about something still better than the Quested for $1300?
The Raven 7 kit. http://www.speakercity.com/sc_kits.shtml

Still too much? How about something comparable to the Quested for $800?
The ScanSpeak 7 kit. http://www.speakercity.com/sc_kits.shtml

What's the catch? None really. These are outstanding kits with exceptional drivers and crossovers. All of the ones I have mentioned are far more linear and accurate than any Mackie, Event, Tannoy, Yorkville or other such monitor you can buy. My only criticism is the quality of the cabinets. But, for less than $50 in materials I can show you some relatively easy modifications to the cabinets to make them world class as well.

barefoot

[howlin'dog]

Thanks for all the great info and opinions.

I have been looking at a new pair of Yokville's YSM1 monitors.

locally i can get them for a steal of a price at my favorite music store. (also known as the suppliers of my habit) at least better price than the comparable yamaha and tannoy monitors.

they are in my budget and i have heard good things about them.

if there are any scarry things about them please let me know.

Thanks again, Howlin' Dog

[The Green Hornet]

Yo Howling Canine:]

I have the YSM-1 monitors -- absolutely great for the price. I had a non musician friend over and played a few bars of cassette for him and his wife through the YSM-1's; he listened, smiled, and asked me to order him a pair for his home system. I was there last week and heard them via his system -- very nice vibes.

Interesting criticisms on some very high priced monitors by the crew. Can't help but learn on thise site.

Until you HEAR something better, you'll be happy with the YSM-1 monitors. And, so will your wallet!

Green Hornet

[howlin'dog]

Thanks,

i am VERY happy to hear that.

mine are on order and should be hear very soon.

Howlin' Dog

[Queue]

You know too much....

Thanks for sharing.

How's those custom "dream monitors" coming along?

Queue

[barefoot]

Then why do I feel like I know so little?

The prototype drawings and schematics of the monitors is complete. I can build the cabinets and specialized signal processing circuitry myself. At this stage though, it's much easier to buy modular amps and power supplies. I don't really know how to design that stuff anyhow.

Now the problem in money (isn't it everyone's). Plus I have two other designs I really want to build - a completely new kind of hi-fi sound reinforcement speaker, and a new kind of Dj mixer.

I'm not very good at SELF promotion, which is how I think one gets people to hand over their money. All I know how to do is design very cool equipment and talk enthusiastically about my ideas. Still, I'm not giving up. Maybe when the economy turns back around it will be easier.

Thanks for asking.

barefoot

[Queue]

Then why do I feel like I know so little?

Because, as you learn more, you also learn how much more there is to learn!!!

I have a friend who you remind me of. He's been working on building Guitar and Bass amps for years. He keeps getting closer and closer to production, but he's not quite there. I hope he gets there, as I'd love to see him do well. Plus his amps are great. At one point he had a whole line of models worked out. Now he's decided to focus on just a few, and grow when necessary.

He is very enthusiastic about his amps, and he should be. He knows so much about amps that he quickly loses me during technical discussions. If I start to feel bad, I just start talking about computers or website design.

Enough digression...

Howlin' dog,
Enjoy the new monitors! Post up a mix in the clinic when you get them!!!

Queue