need help/info on which studio monitors i should use

well for starters... active means they have amps in them and therefor are powered.
i would recomend some of the behringer 2030a's or 2031a's , you could probibly pick a pair up for about 200, they have a pretty flat response and include an eq on the back for room compensation.

i would stay away from cheaper m-audio or fostex moniters,.. or any other cheeper moniters for that matter, anything below 150 dollars is probibly just a glorified pc speaker, and probibly a waist of your money.
its really not worth your time or money to buy a moniter that doesn't give a true response, remember, there is a diffrence between hi-fi speakers, witch are built to make your music SOUND good, and moniters witch are supposted to be built to let you hear what your music REALLY sounds like.

the flatter the response the better. if your monitering with speakers that hype the bass, then your probibly going to cut back on the bass alot when mixing and then when anyone else listens to your song, their going to be like.. ''wheres the bass?"

your better off saving your money and getting something good, or atleast decent.

the behringers (2030a's and the 2031a's) were reviewed by sound on sound, and a few others and were rated pretty highly. i have used them and put them along side my mackies and they quality blew me away. i havn't seen a better speaker for under 300

but thats just my $.02
good luck
-Matt
 
my m-audio system came with a graph from when my speakers were tested before they left the factory

its flat enough for me and i would bet good money that they run flatter than ns-10's the classic nearfield monitor

they started life as home stereo speakers anyway so whats the diff

home theater installers like to install studio monitors for home systems now

if you have good ears you can mix on just about anything by using reference cds

professionally produced cd music that has the kind of sound you want to go for

play the cd then play your song make your song sound like the cd

on the other hand if you can afford it go for something nice

events are nice as are mackies and adams

if i had a lot of money i would probably go for tannoys

as long as you reference you cant go too far wrong
 
groovyisland said:
my m-audio system came with a graph from when my speakers were tested before they left the factory

its flat enough for me and i would bet good money that they run flatter than ns-10's the classic nearfield monitor

they started life as home stereo speakers anyway so whats the diff

home theater installers like to install studio monitors for home systems now

if you have good ears you can mix on just about anything by using reference cds

professionally produced cd music that has the kind of sound you want to go for

play the cd then play your song make your song sound like the cd

on the other hand if you can afford it go for something nice

events are nice as are mackies and adams

if i had a lot of money i would probably go for tannoys

as long as you reference you cant go too far wrong
Click to expand...


yah i agree, if you cant afford someting decent than you can make a comprimise, but you dont want to make to many of those. your moniters are one of the most valuable tools in your studio (as i understand), so try and get good ones, but dont make to many compromises on them. if you have to get some cheaper moniters, i hear it helps to add a graphic eq into the moniter chain. thats going to cost a little extra (200-300) and as i said before the behringer truthes accually come with some sort of eq built in. im sure theres numourous others that also come with something like that but im not really shopping around for moniters at the moment so i wouldn't have a clue.

good luck
 
You'll be using enough bottom-of-the-consumer-recording end equipment that you want to use monitors of some kind (not PC speakers - compensating is difficult and not an exact science).

The KRK RP-5s are nice - a pair will run about 300, but they are well worth it, in my opinion. I've heard some decent things about the Behri's recommended as well. Do a title-only search on "monitors" - you'll get about 3,000 threads just like yours from this forum, regarding the want to buy monitors for X number of dollars, and the pros and cons therein.
 
the problem with 5 inch woofers is youll never be sure about the bass

on the other hand my m-audio system is 3 way with satellites and a sub

you have to be sure the sub is balanced correctly

i only paid 200 shipped for a system that i first saw for 350

i think its discontinued now

when i first saw it i thought hmmm that looks like the ultimate cheapie space-saver system

you get an 8 inch powered subwoofer with 2 lx4 passive satellites. i actually like the sound of the 4 inch driver better than say a 6.5 inch. to me it sounds less boxy. the resonant frequncy is gonna be a lot higher.

i have the 8 inch woofer depth with a very focused sound field.

i cant believe they discontinued the system. i must have gotten a closeout price.
 
frequency analysis is what the pros use

you get a little omni mic like a earthworks. behringer makes a copy. reference mic.

then you play white noise through you system or maybe pink noise

the analyzer tell you what your problem frequencies are and you can eq them out

jbl makes some lovely nearfields that do this automatically and they have the analyzer built in. they come with everything you need and are not that expensive.

if i had the money i would be tempted to go that route also
 
I like my behri truths a lot. I listened to some of the better brands with 5" speakers, and I found the bass too light. My only advice is if you buy behri's, buy them new from a legit retailer, in case they crap out, you can get them replaced. One of my tweeters blew about a week after I started using them. Fortunately, Zzounds was awesome and replaced them and paid shipping both ways. You won't get that kinda service from ebay, obviously, and Behri's are known to crap out fairly often. If you get a good pair, though, I think they're decent - actually really good - for the price.
 
ha ha i was gonna say i read about the beri's blowing up and catching fire

apparently there have been problems and concerns for life and limb

i didnt want to put the downer in there but since you mentioned it...
 
heres a pic from the m-audio site

the sub is a monster

it has 5 amps and you can get an expander pack so you can have 5 of the lx4 passive satellites for surround mixing
 

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  • lx_421.jpg
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full fidelity 2.1 monitoring with subwoofer and two satellites


LX4 Surround Expansion Satellites adds 3 satellites for complete 5.1 surround system


60 watts for sub, 27 watts per channel for satellites


8" subwoofer with 6 power amps for 5.1 Surround support


satellites feature 4” polypropylene drivers and 1” mylar drivers


small enough to fit anywhere (no AC routing)


satellite power supplied by subwoofer


ported enclosures for optimal fidelity


six 1/4” TRS balanced inputs





dynamic range (satellites and sub): 100dB (A-weighted)

frequency response (satellites and sub): 40Hz–20kHz; +1dB, -3dB

mid-range/ tweeter crossover frequency: 2.9kHz

RMS SPL @ 1 meter: 102.5dB (satellites); 105dB (sub)

signal-to-noise ratio: 82dB @ 1 watt (typical, A-weighted)

crossover frequency: 140Hz

low frequency -3 dB cutoff: 40Hz with 6th order alignment

satellite size/weight: 8.5” (h) x 5.75” (w) x 6.25” (d); 4.4 lbs. each

subwoofer size/weight: 15.6” (h) x 10.63” (w) x 12” (d); 30.86 lbs.
 
anteroom123 said:
i would stay away from cheaper m-audio or fostex moniters
Click to expand...

I'm also looking for my first set of monitors and so went to my local Pro Audio shop and they technician there told me that the Fostex PM04's are the best around for their price. He said (apparently) that they supply or design the parts for all the other lower end monitors or something like that. Have also heard good stuff about the Behringer's but again I can't comment personally.
 
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