Samson resolv 50a monitors

[Toker41]

Anyone familiar with the Samson Resolv 50a active monitors? I've been offered a set, but don't know much about them, and don't want to go thru the hassle ( it does involve a little hassle ), if no one has a kind word about them. I've been in the market for an active set of monitors to mix on, but haven't checked these out. I was looking in a slightly higher price range, however if these are decent I can just deal with the hassle (because other than a bit of personal family hassle, they would be free )and use these for the time being and spend the money on a Bass Pod Pro instead.

[pjabber]

I auditioned these small 50a Samsons, as well as the 65a and the larger 80a. I wound up buying the Resolv 65a as the best alternative in terms of price/performance.

If you are really short of space, or need to carry them around from place to place, the 50a is not a bad mini-monitor but it is lacking in bass. It performs better than most any computer speaker setup, but I wouldn't make it a first choice or even second for critical monitoring if used by itself. In the Samson Resolv line the 65a is your best bet.

The 80a is interesting cause it puts out a deep bass but they do have a fairly large footprint, comparable to a lot of subwoofers. Then again, with the 80a, you probably wouldn't even consider a separate subwoofer. I found the 80a to be muddy sounding as the mids were not reproduced with the same clarity as the 65a.

I am not running down the Samson 50a. Definitely take them if you can get them for little to no cost. If you feel the need for more bass (and you will if you do almost anything other than vocals recording) then pick up a decent subwoofer. The Samson 120a is there if you want to stay in the Resolv line, but really any good subwoofer will fill in those missing bass lines.

[Toker41]

Yeah, I'll be running a sub with those. I've always frowned upon subs when mixing, though. Always afraid it would cause me to mix things that wouldn't sound right on a system without one.

[LooneyTunez]

Originally posted by Toker41
Yeah, I'll be running a sub with those. I've always frowned upon subs when mixing, though. Always afraid it would cause me to mix things that wouldn't sound right on a system without one.

A correctly implemented sub will not cause the problems your concerned with...in fact, there are many advantages to adding a sub...obvious bass extension (NOTE: not extra/overlapping bass...just that it will extend lower), improved midrange clarity from your satellite speakers (because you're not asking your little 5 or 6 inch drivers to produce lower frequencies it's not very good at), more headroom, etc.

On a side note, I almost always prefer satellite speakers that use 5 or 6 inch drivers versus 8 inch (or larger) drivers. Upper midrange frequencies (near the crossover point) are usually much more accurate and have less distortion from smaller drivers versus the bigger ones.