HELP! urgent on purchase!

[PRiZ-one]

So I finally went to pick up what I thought would be the delta 66 and the tannoy actives...which the active's ended up being about 400 more than when I went their a few weeks ago and said I was going to buy them later probably, coincidence of some sort...I think not!

Alright, here's my monitor choice's...

1Tannoy Sysytem 600 A - $1495 (Can)
...are these the Reveal actives? I think the lady their didn't know shiet really. but if these arn't the Reavel Actives are another option for me.
2)The Alesis M1A - $1025 (these are the new versions)
3)Mackie HR824 - $1160 ...don't know about these???

I'm doing hiphop, so alright bass would be nice too : )

Also they said I wouldn't need the delta 66 becasue I wouldn't need a digital I/O... So please! please! help me not buy the wrong card. I'm going to use it for recording a mic only with a preamp to a computer, that uses a pair of powered monitors...and mayby a korg keyboard in the future.

Do I need the digital I/O...? They said it's only needed for a dat or to record off a cd player etc or somehting to that degree.

Also I'm using win 2000 on new a 930 athlon, or close enuff to that. Will tehir be any problems with the delta's known?

Aight...I'm nervous sorta with the purchase because it's alot of money for someone like me to not get what's best and what I need. thanks, pEaz!

sorry for the long post... greatfull for the long answers....

[darnold]

Ok. Lets try and clear up some confusion here. First of all, the Tannoy Reveals Active are called "Tannoy Reveals Active", and nothing more. There are two types of the Tannoy Reveals, active and passive. I believe what must have happened, is they told you the price of the passive ones before, which are about $400 cheaper than the active's. The difference between the actives and the passives are, to put it simple, the actives have an amp built into them, so you can plug your Delta 66 right into them. The passives do not and require a seperate amp (preferably larger in watts). The passives sale for about $300-400, and the actives are probably around $600-800 at mars, sweetwater, Zzounds, etc.

Next, if you dont need digital in our outs, dont get the Delta 66, get the Delta 44. However you might have something digital later on that would be alot easier to transfer over with the digital input and out on the 66. But thats up to you. The delta 44 is a great sound card for the money, very nice D/A converters and i use two of them in my studio. So yes, you will not go wrong with this card and you will have 4 inputs which seems to be enough for you.

I believe delta series do have good win2k drivers. Im not positive because i havnt tried them since their early beta drivers but ive heard they are good.


I think thats it. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Darnold

[PRiZ-one]

If I ever wanted to use some instruments... like live drums etc, would I need a digital I/O...?

Is the "tannoy system 600 A" and teh "Tannoy Reveal Actives"
The same thing, the site seems to say differernt.

what should I get out of the monitors I listed...?
I want around the $1000 (canadian) range in price.

I'm thinking the Tannoy Reveals, but wondering if any of you'll think there's something better, what about the Mackie's HR824 active for around the same price.

uhhm, yeah, any more advise is good. thanks!

[darnold]

no. digital is not used for anything like that, unless you use a digital mixer. With the 4 analog inputs you should do be able to do drums if you have sub groups on the mixer. the digital would be good for some keyboard synthesisers that have a digital out. However, digital is never required and you can have a few other problems if you dont sync them correctly. But if you have the money, go ahead and pay the extra money to get it because some day you might need it.

As far as the Tannoy Reveals, they are great monitors for their price. I dunno really if you can get better monitors for the price but their might be something out there. You should go and test some monitors in the price range. You should look for the most ACCURATE monitors. They are not necessarily supposed to sound good or loud. They should normally sound flat, have a good stereo field, and have good dynamic range. The bass frequencies should sound tight instead of boomy that you would normally hear (in other words you should be able to actually hear the base). If you get monitors that sound like your home stereo speaker set then you are waisting your money. They should not sound the same. You almost could say they sound awfull, but its actually the true sound that has been recorded. If you can get it to sound good on the monitors, it will sound good on any system.

Ask me if you have any more questions. The Tannoy Reveals are great monitors ( i own them myself). However, if you are doing any pop and rap, etc. I would look into saving money for a near field sub woofer also. I think there is a Tannoy Reveal Sub woofer. But for anything else, these monitors should work pretty well for you.

Darnold

[PRiZ-one]

I am doing hiphop, so I'm not sure if they'll have enuff bass to satisfy me... I guess I'll try and test them out before with the rest.

Hmmm, I'm going to proabbly purchase them today if i can.
If any one has any other suggestions for monitors reply at will.
Or reasons why I shouldn't get these monitors for some other active pair...?

[Cave Dweller]

i have a pair of active reveals, and i had to play around with the palcement a little to get them to translate into accurate mixes....but you should have to do this with any set of monitors...when they were clase to the wall of my studio, they sounded bassy, so the stuff i was doing didnt have much bass...then i moved them away from the wall and they had little bass, so my stuff sounded bassy on other systems...now they sound great at about 15" away form the wall....just remember too much bass will make them sound thin on other people's systems, and vice versa


Matt

[PRiZ-one]

Thanks!

They sold out of the Reveals so I' gotta wait...
The mackies are way too expensive...
They might also order a pair of the Event 20/20 bas which would be perfect if I could comkpare the two.

Has anyone used teh Event 20/20 bas and the Tannoy reveal Actives who could give their preference...

Since again, I'm dealing with hiphop, I'd like more bass...but overal the best monitor. Which has better bass representation?

Thanks, hopefully I might be able to convince this store to order both for me to see for myself, but I'm really unsure which is the better of monitors. The events are also about 200 hundred more i think, so there si a downfall, but if their better I'd gladly spend the extra and be happily ever after story.

[ausrock]

As I understand it, monitors are supposedly designed to give a true representation of what has been recorded without any excess colouration (bass, mids or tops), that is left to whatever the music is played on by the end-user.

So, whatever monitors you buy will need time for you to educate your ears to their characteristics and then mix down accordingly to achieve to desired results.

Personally (as a Tannoy Reveal owner), I would heartily recommend them as possible the best "bang for buck" monitors around. And no, the Tannoy 600 series are not Reveals. The 600's use Tannoys Dual Concentric speaker design...........the Reveals have a seperate tweeter.

Peace.......ChrisO

[Roel]

You should think about what you're buying these monitors for... Since monitors are for giving an accurate representation of what you've recorded, and are thus lineair, they won't have alot of bass. Especially not the nearfields...

So what do you want? You want accurate monitors, that are a good reference to mix on and will get you good results with what you make, on every system you listen on? Or do you want good speakers that will give you alot satisfaction from listening to what you make, and alot of bass?

Don't by monitors because you think they will sound good. Monitors aren't designed to sound 'good'. They are designed to sound accurate.
Most commercial stereo systems/headphones etc have speakers with a nonlineair freq respons, and these will exagerate the bass and highs. A V-kinda curve...

[PRiZ-one]

come on guys, I know what monitors are for!!!

I realize no monitors are going to give me that homestereo bass, i don't want that, what i want is soemthing that clearly portrays a good refernce of deeper bass aswell because it is very important in hiphop.

Monitors can sound good too also...do you really think that the badder they sound the better they are, it should still be listenable...this wouldn't make it very hard to rip off anyone that wants a pair etc, or hard for the companies haha.
but on the reals I know what you are all saying, I've been researching monitors for about atleast 3 months.

I'm actually thinking I'll spend the extra to get the Event 2020 bass, because I sense the need for good monitors.
yes, you have to learn you monitors, but they also arn't going to be better than knowing a good pair.

The only thing that worries me about the events is that they heat up and I'm worried that this will effect the different times I monitor changing the ay the monitors represent through out different times in the day, meaning they show a differernt picture int he moring after a long night sesh???

I'm just looking ofr any precautions etc...???

[darnold]

I do not believe the Event 20/20 is a better monitor. Every monitor will give you (or at least should) a very flat response. You will not get more bass from any other good nearfield. Not even the Event 20/20 will give you what you are looking for. What you need to get is the Tannoy Reveals with a nearfield sub, that is closely identical to the original speakers. I believe there is a Tannoy Reveal Sub Woofer that goes with the original Tannoy Reveals. You should be alright with the Tannoy Reveals without the sub until you can afford the sub. But yes, you are correct that you need to have the good bass preference for hiphop. But buying a nearfield monitor with an extended low boost will not give you a true bass preference that you need, and completely goes against the reason of nearfield reference monitors in the first place.

The place i recommend calling for these kinds of purchases, is Sweetwater. They also give great pricing and the best customer service i have ever seen. If there is a matching sub for the Tannoy Reveal monitors then they will surely know.

SweetWater - 1-800-222-4700 (http://www.sweetwater.com)


One way you might be able to save money is to get the passives instead of the actives and use a good amp. Of course its a little more inconvenient having another amp out there on the rack (or table) but it could save you money.

Also, i just checked on sweetwater's website for the subwoofer for the Tannoy Reveals. They are called Tannoy PS110B. They are made to go with the Tannoy Reveals and will be perfect for what you want. They are active and are about $410 (US) at sweetwater.


I hope i helped you out. Let me know if you need anything else.

Darnold

[PRiZ-one]

yeah, A sub would be good, i understand the concept you give.
I like the Reveal with sub idea, but i have the feeling the Event 20/20 bass will kill the reveals as monitors anyways.

I'm just wondering if it's worht it to get the events over the tannoy's...?

[sjoko2]

If you're after pretty god bass from nearfield monitors, the Mackies will give you more bass than the others mentioned

[PRiZ-one]

Thanks Sjoko! I know you got the good advise...but It actually turns out that was teh price for only one of the makies, so it's not meant to be. But your the one where I read about the heat of the Events changing the monitors representation as it heats up during the day from...

So in general do you think this is not worth buying them for?

I don't really think I'd be using them any longer than a max of 5 hours without taking atleast a 15 min break, and even if I was using them straight it wouldn't be constant sound coming from them, but more bassically half and half playing with beats etc, samples, slicing etc, and listening to the results.

The jbl's you mentioned I considered but they deffinitely came off as lacking in teh bass representation etc, so i decided to not bother since I need to order them, and no stores would proably give them a chance just so I could try them.

thanks! keep the sdvice coming if you have any, One!

[sjoko2]

I think you ought to start changing your thinking as far as "lotsabass" is concerned. I do quite a bit of HipHop (some demo samples on http://www.mp3.com/uru listen to You Know and I'll be good to you). Mixing HH does NOT mean you have to have max bass on your monitors - it means. like everything else - that it should sound GOOD on your monitors, just with perhaps a bit more bass, which should be clearly defined whatever you play a mix on.

Please note that the above is ESSENTIAL for producing any quality work. I can be working on an HH track one day, next day I might be tracking a string part with cello and violin. That does NOT mean my monitors change from their, flat, calibration.

In other words, stop thinking "I wanna be able to groove out to my monitors" - start thinking "I want my monitors to reflect what is on the tracks, accurately".

Considering that, I would suggest that you find somewhere to listen to monitors. If you cannot get some to try at home, at least go somewhere with your favorite music and listen. Don't discount the JBL's either, but in the end its between you and your budget

[PRiZ-one]

I know what you mean, I don't even want bass that's gonna be unrealistic to the truness, and therefor getting a bad mix in the end. but on reviews for alot of monitors, despite their untrustiness, say some monitors are lacking on the bass...mayby the reviewers are just not knowing why, but I'm sure some have better translations of bass references than others although they arn't rattleing my roof off.

Anyways I think I'm gonna try for the event's 20/20 bas.
mayby even just order them and take my chances. I don't see how all the good opinions of these monitors could possible not mean something.
Thanks!

[PRiZ-one]

Stores don't take Event around me, and the rest doesn't even know a compnay called Event exists. It's all tannoys, yorkvilles, mackies etc. I don't understand...I tought Event where known as some of the best, why does know one have them or know about them. I live in Canada, and i think I can only get them in Vancouver and Toronto. Doesn it have something to do with the connection betwenn teh states and Canada?
They sell the mackies and they tell me to got to a higher end store for the Events, the mackies are twice as much!!!
I don't get it ya'll...???

[sjoko2]

The only real reason for the popularity of the Events is their widespread availability through Event's deal with GuitarCenter.
Why don't you go to http://www.musiciansfriend.com and find out how / how much for shipping them to you in Canada?

[Blue Bear Sound]

Both Steve's Music Store (Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal) and Long & McQuade (West thru East) carry Events... and both will ship anywhere in Canada.................

Bruce

[PRiZ-one]

that place really sucks for the event bas monitors, I know the price american and canadian, they should be 660 each Can, which I'm okay with at most. thanks anyway though.

I think I'll see if I can order them from a store where I live and if not just get them from Van, it's not that far from me. two weeks at most.

Also I'd like to know still if anyone has used the event 20/20 bas and the tannoy reveal actives, for a comparison...?

[sjoko2]

Originally posted by PRiZ-one
it's not that far from me. two weeks at most.

Thats one friggin' long walk to get a pair of monitors!!!

[Blue Bear Sound]

Originally posted by PRiZ-one
that place really sucks for the event bas monitors, I know the price american and canadian, they should be 660 each Can, which I'm okay with at most. thanks anyway though.

What place sucks? I deal with Steve's in Ottawa all the time - my sales consultant, the ass't manager and the store manager are all very professional.... Long & McQuade seems similar from the occasional dealings I've had with them.

[Rev E]

Originally posted by PRiZ-one
Also I'd like to know still if anyone has used the event 20/20 bas and the tannoy reveal actives, for a comparison...?

PRiZ-one,

I've used the 20/20s, extensively in the past. I currently own and use Tannoy Reveal Actives. For what it's worth, I liked both of the monitors. The 20 20s had a certain harshness that made listening to them for long periods difficult at times. However, we were able to get mixes that translated very well from the 20 20s. It's a well-balanced monitor for the price.

I currently have the Tannoy Reveal Actives, because I like the sound and the price was right. If money was no object, I would have bought the Mackies. In fact, I can see getting those a year or two down the line. However, my Tannoys do a great job. The mid-range on the Tannoys are a bit smoother, IMO, than the Events. This makes listening to them for long periods a bit easier to take. The mixes translate well. Although, Tannoys are notorious from being a bit bass shy. This may cause a novice mixer to create mixes with too much bass. Like everything else, you have to get to know your monitors in order to start making decisions on them.

Regular listening and comparing of your mixes against your favorite commercial mixes will help you to learn your monitors. All in all, I'm very happy with the Tannoy actives. They were the best that I could do for the money and performance. If, however, you want to do things right from the start and you have the money, the Mackies would be the absolute best that you can do, especially for hip hop. With hip hop, which I do some of, you need monitors that are true in the low frequencies. The Mackies do this better than most other monitors in its price range.

However, if you don't have the Mackie money, the Tannoys are a good choice. BTW, the Tannoy Reveal Actives have a subwoofer that you can buy for extended bass. I think it's about $200 US. So you could later get some more low-end performance if the Reveal Actives can't do enough bass for you. I've used many monitors in my tenure (from K-Roks to Yamaha NS10's to Alesis monitor1's and Point Sevens). Thus far, the Tannoys are my favorites in this price-range. The 20 20's are a good buy also, but for me they are a little harsh (although there is a knob to tune the monitors) and there is an unexplained mid-range frequency weirdness that I can't explain. But...... you make the choice. You should find a place to actually listen to these monitors before buying them to make the decision for yourself. However, these monitors are among the best in their price range.

Enjoy.

Rev E

[PRiZ-one]

hahaha, well I gald you gave your advise, but somehow I just don't beleive the tannoys sound better than the events in the mid range since their more expensive by about 200, which isn't much, but I've heard with monitors you get what you pay for.

Where you were testing the same sound source for each monitor during the comparison?

Your absoloutely right about the mackies. but in general, the events are quite high for someone who works min wage...these would be around 1400 i suspect with tax, and the mackies would probably be atleast 2500 for the pair with tax.
That's another grand...and well, I actually have doughts about how much I even need monitors since most of the sounds I get in general are sampled. I know though that if I get the events, I'll never get the mackies probably for atleast another 5 years I assume.

blue bear, I'm talkin about long and mcquade, they aint all bad, but some of them i wonder if they know anything at all about what they do, when I know more than them it makes me think. I think they have a good return policy from my klnowledge, although they wouldn't order the event 20/20 bas for me to test :

Actually I'm going to Van in a week or two, I guess i could stop off at the store and give them a listen and go off pure memory of how they sounded compared to the tonnoy's, but wouldn't it really depend on the listening envoronments anyways...???
Then if I did I like them more, I'd take those 27 pound or whatever tridiculous weight home with me and skip waiting two weeks. I'd get my friend to carry one haha.

Actually I might have to wait since I'm looking for a job right now, and after I give my rent in, I don't think i'll have enuff to get the monitors and the delta 44, which is pointless for either if I don't have them both.

I'd still like more oppinions on comparisons of these monitors, if any newjacks to this thread are reading and have the insight.

thanks!

[Blue Bear Sound]

Originally posted by PRiZ-one
hahaha, well I gald you gave your advise, but somehow I just don't beleive the tannoys sound better than the events in the mid range since their more expensive by about 200, which isn't much, but I've heard with monitors you get what you pay for.

This simply is not true... the price for the most part is not a good indicator of the sound quality of the speaker.

Look at the Yorkville YSM-1s - if you judge simply by costs, they should sound like crapola, but they don't at all... they sound quite decent.

You gotta watch those "generalizations" - listen with your own ears, not your eyes (on the brand name or price tag), and not someone else's opinion. Monitors are pretty subjective, so you have to choose a pair that are good for YOU.........

Bruce