q? about monitors

[UTheMan]

is it really necessary to have those special monitor speakers when ur doing recording? or does an amp and a component system w/ 6 speakers work almost as good? i'm only using my 15w fender amp and my component system to monitor my recording. it sounds okay to me but is it the best way to go about it? my component system has 2 of those subwoofers or whatever then i have 4 more big vintage acoustic speakers. i get a nice clean and crisp sound but some guy that i met at a music store told me that he recommends buying real monitors that are made for recording.

so if i do need monitors, what's a good one that i can get for about $250 USD or less. and how do u power those things up? i obviously don't know much about speakers and audio equipment so plz help me. thnx! peace!

[Barometer]

Welcome to the board. Far as I know monitors are very important in the post stages of audio. I'm not sure about the monitoring while you record, I would assume the amp and your levels are a good indication (but someone might say different). But as far as mixing and mastering are concerned you must have good quality sound. I'm not sure of your components you may want to give details about the system.

I use Alesis Monitor One MK2s, got them pretty cheap on eBay. They may not be the best, but they deliver me really great quality audio and I never have to worry about how it sounds on other systems. I'd wait for some more suggestions and then check eBay for some deals. Good luck

[regebro]

Monitors are not neccesary. But they are one of the most useful tools you can get to improve your sound.

The only necessary thing when recording music is something to record on, and music to record. Go from there.

[smilestoned]

It depends on what you want to do with the recordings.
I've used my hifi speakers for years, but the recordings where only for songwriting.
Now I want to produce a cd and, especially for mixing I needed some uncolored monitors.

[James Argo]

I recomend PSB Alpha monitors for beginner (~ $200), combined with Pioneer A35 Amps. They're also ~$200. Use MOSFET, so the sound similiar to tube amps worth >$1000. I think it's not worth to add 5-6 X the prices, while you'll get only 2-3 X sound quality. IMHO...

[Roker1]

Monitors are good when you have good environment to set them up in...otherwise, if your room is bad accoustically, and position of your monitors is bad...not $250, but $2500 monitors won't help you....just a little thing to keep in mind...