7enderbender
New member
Hello recording experts,
I know that this is a common question and, yes, I did a lot of reading on the subject here already and found many useful hints.
I am just starting with setting up a little recording area in our house in a small room that houses my home office/guitar gear/photo gear/microscope/golf clubs - you get the idea. My wife calls it "man town". There you go.
I am not a professional musician and make my livelihood in a different field but I do have high standards and have in fact recorded in professional studios in the past as a guitar player with my band several years ago. So I kind of know how things work generally and how pro gear sounds. I am however not expecting to produce professional recordings at home (hence HOMErecording) but look at this more like a way to collect ideas, play around, have some fun and personal satisfaction.
And I also want to keep cost under control to avoid spousal wrath (and I really need a new camera next year...) - you get the idea.
What I think I need next for my little work space are decent speakers. I want to use them to record and mix stuff but also to listen to music while I sit at my desk and work on other things. Ideally, I'd get two pairs, one HiFi pair (I like the little Paradigm Atoms) and a set of nearfield monitors. But that would be too expensive and eat up too much space.
So I am off the HiFi idea a little, especially since I have a nice HiFi setup in my living room already.
After reading a few things on nearfield monitors, I went out today to listen to some in the $100-$300 price range for the pair. On my shortlist were the JBL Control One and the Alesis Monitor One Mk 2, both on sale at various places at the moment. And passive. I figured, I may get mot bang for the buck, if I pay the same for passive speakers and recycle my old NAD Hifi amp instaed of paying for the speaker with build in amps (I may be wrong though).
The JBLs I am familiar witj and I know their weaknesses. However, I always liked the overall quality of JBL products and had some good customer service experiences in the past. The Alesis I don't know from experience and I could not find them in a store today.
What I did find though was a pair of KRK ST6. I was not expecting too much for that kind of money ($99 a piece), but WOW - I was blown away given the price tag.
So here are the problems that I could not figure out quite yet:
Will the KRK ST6 also sound ok with my NAD Amp (low powered at about 2x25W but very linear) or will they require a real power amp ultimately which kind of defies the purpose of not buying active speakers. So maybe I should consider KRK Rokit 5 or something like that. How would those compare to the ST6 or the Alesis?
Again, these are not only for listening during a mix/recording session, but also while I am working on other things.
In order for the KRK ST6 to sound good, you have to sit very close. I know - nearfield. But that was closer than I thought. My desk is rather deep and I guess it would be pretty awkward to have them sitting in the middle of my desk. Has any one ever seen a movable solution where speaker stands (or so) can swivel BACK and FORTH?
With all this in mind may I be better of going back to my original idea and jsut get the Paradigms Atom which sound good (probably a little "too good") without sitting right with your head between them.
Is there any other way to make nearfield speakers sound good at longer distances (e.g. place them further apart etc). Or are there speakers that have a larger "field" compared to others?
I know, a lot of questions, but any hint what to look for will be appreciated.
Thanks.
I know that this is a common question and, yes, I did a lot of reading on the subject here already and found many useful hints.
I am just starting with setting up a little recording area in our house in a small room that houses my home office/guitar gear/photo gear/microscope/golf clubs - you get the idea. My wife calls it "man town". There you go.
I am not a professional musician and make my livelihood in a different field but I do have high standards and have in fact recorded in professional studios in the past as a guitar player with my band several years ago. So I kind of know how things work generally and how pro gear sounds. I am however not expecting to produce professional recordings at home (hence HOMErecording) but look at this more like a way to collect ideas, play around, have some fun and personal satisfaction.
And I also want to keep cost under control to avoid spousal wrath (and I really need a new camera next year...) - you get the idea.
What I think I need next for my little work space are decent speakers. I want to use them to record and mix stuff but also to listen to music while I sit at my desk and work on other things. Ideally, I'd get two pairs, one HiFi pair (I like the little Paradigm Atoms) and a set of nearfield monitors. But that would be too expensive and eat up too much space.
So I am off the HiFi idea a little, especially since I have a nice HiFi setup in my living room already.
After reading a few things on nearfield monitors, I went out today to listen to some in the $100-$300 price range for the pair. On my shortlist were the JBL Control One and the Alesis Monitor One Mk 2, both on sale at various places at the moment. And passive. I figured, I may get mot bang for the buck, if I pay the same for passive speakers and recycle my old NAD Hifi amp instaed of paying for the speaker with build in amps (I may be wrong though).
The JBLs I am familiar witj and I know their weaknesses. However, I always liked the overall quality of JBL products and had some good customer service experiences in the past. The Alesis I don't know from experience and I could not find them in a store today.
What I did find though was a pair of KRK ST6. I was not expecting too much for that kind of money ($99 a piece), but WOW - I was blown away given the price tag.
So here are the problems that I could not figure out quite yet:
Will the KRK ST6 also sound ok with my NAD Amp (low powered at about 2x25W but very linear) or will they require a real power amp ultimately which kind of defies the purpose of not buying active speakers. So maybe I should consider KRK Rokit 5 or something like that. How would those compare to the ST6 or the Alesis?
Again, these are not only for listening during a mix/recording session, but also while I am working on other things.
In order for the KRK ST6 to sound good, you have to sit very close. I know - nearfield. But that was closer than I thought. My desk is rather deep and I guess it would be pretty awkward to have them sitting in the middle of my desk. Has any one ever seen a movable solution where speaker stands (or so) can swivel BACK and FORTH?
With all this in mind may I be better of going back to my original idea and jsut get the Paradigms Atom which sound good (probably a little "too good") without sitting right with your head between them.
Is there any other way to make nearfield speakers sound good at longer distances (e.g. place them further apart etc). Or are there speakers that have a larger "field" compared to others?
I know, a lot of questions, but any hint what to look for will be appreciated.
Thanks.