I’m getting tired of mixing on my terrible home stereo and would like to buy some studio-monitors. Since I don’t have a decent homestereo I would like them to sound good (on professional recordings, but hopefully reveal everything thats wrong with my mixes). My room is a resonably small one and I will be moving to a small dorm-room in a couple of months.
It’s really hard for me to get to listen to the monitors since the nearest music-shop is 100km away and they only have m-audio, tannoys, events, and alesis monitors. I went down to our capital city, Stockholm, and it wasn’t much better there. Some monitors I’ve ruled out because of either the price or how they sounded. My remaining choices are these.
Esi Near05: 324$
Tannoy Reveal: 576$
Behringer Truth: 708$
Yorkville YSM-1p: 960$
Mackie 624: 1092$
Dynaudio BM6a: 1614$
Studiophile BX8: 720$
Prices are the cheapest i’ve found on internet sites in europe. They’re a bit different than the prices in the US. KRKs and Events are really expensive, but the Tannoys and Dynaudios are cheaper I think.
Here are my comments on the monitors I’m choosing between. I’m also specifying what I’ve compared them to. You have to have in mind that I'm an absolute newbie to studio monitors and have very limited experience with recording and mixing.
Esi Near05 (formerly known as Studiophile SP-5b): 324$
A/B comparison: Tannoy Reveal
Comments: These are way more accurate than the cheapass bookshelves I am monitoring on right now, but the bottom end is lacking. I think they sounded fine for the money, but kind of two-dimensional, no depth and I doubt I would be satisfied with these for a long period of time.
Tannoy Reveal : 576$
A/B comparison: Esi Near05, Event 20/20 BAS, Studiophile BX8, Alesis monitor ones
I think these were more ”revealing” than the Near05:s (SP-5b), they had more detail, I belive I could find more "problem areas" of the songs i heard, but it somehow at the same time sounded like someone had put a towel or something over them. I didn’t like the sound of these, but then it may have been the others I compared them to that sounded like hifi-speakers.
Behringer Truth: 708$
A/B comparison: none
My stephdad, who I off the record think is a real idiot, owns a pair of these and tells me that these are, absolutely, the monitor to get. He says that these are so good that you have to buy something like genelec 1031 to get better monitors. He also says that preamps don’t matter, and that it’s possible to get professional sounds through his Behringer MX9000 console. He's been working as a local sound engineer for like 10 years, but to be honest, his stuff sound like a pile of shit, so I doubt I could trust his opinion. I tried to audition the truths his studio, but as soon as I put my CD in, he was there with his fingers on that dreadful MX9000 eq, turned the highs up by a mile, and it sure didn’t sound good. I also think they would be a bit big for my room, but they're on my list anyway.
Mackie 624: 1092$
A/B comparion: none, but the 824 sounded superior to Event 20/20 bas, spirit absolute zero, studiophile sp-8b, tannoy reveal, samson resolv.
I’ve only listened to these ones, for a very short time in a very bad room. I think the room and the monitor-placement made it impossible for me to judge them correctly. I have listened a good deal to the Mackie 824 though, and those were by far the most impressive monitor I’ve ever heard. The detail was amazing and imaging was amazing. (I've never heard Dynaudios, Genelecs or ADAMS). If the 624 has the sound of it’s bigger brother and a resonable bottom I really want this speaker!
Yorkville YSM-1: 960$
I haven’t heard these, but everyone seems to recommend them around here. The price here in Sweden isn’t as nice as in the US though.
Dynaudio Bm6a 1614$
I understand these are really good monitors. From what I’ve heard they´re supposed to be better than the Mackie824 and Genelec 1030 that both are much more expensive than the dynaudio over here. The Dynaudios are a bit smaller than the Mackie824s I think, but are they still to big for a small room? This one is by far the most expensive of the monitors I am considering, but my ears could probably never outgrow them and they would be an investment that would last for years. Unfortunately I probably wouldn’t afford to buy anything else if I went this route.
Studiophile BX8 720$
A/B comparison: Event 20/20 BAS, tannoy reveal, alesis monitor one.
I’m not shure about these. I liked the sound of these better than the tannoy reveals and monitor ones but liked the 20/20 BAS better, but they are twice the price here 1400$. I’m afraid I think the m-audios sounded like they had a little smiley face response-curve and I don't know how accurate they are. They're probably better than the Esi nEars (studiophile Sp-5b) though. This one may be to big for my room, don’t you think?
Conclusions:
I know monitoring is important and would preferably like to get a pair of monitors that would last me a while. As I said, I really liked mackie 824, but they are too expensive (1700$) and probably to big for my room anyway. I imagine that the 624:s would be perfect my room and more easy on the wallet than the 824, even though spending a thousand dollars on a studiomonitor I haven’t heard much of would feel a bit strange .
I wasn’t really impressed with the reveals, studiophiles, truths (from what I could tell) or the Esi nEars, but then I’m just a newbie and probably don’t know what to look for in a monitor. I’m thinking that if I would go the cheap route it may be best to just buy the Esi nEars and spend money elseware, and probably upgrade later. The Dynaudios would probably be exellent but they’re very, very expensive.
Even though my mic cost me 30$, my monitoring chain is the weakest link in my setup that consists of:
Delta 1010lt
Cakewalk Sonar
Roland RS-5
Behringer XM8500 mic
Audio Technica atm40fs
Cheap ass home stereo for monitoring
I'm mostly recording my keyboard, trumpet or singing.
What do you think I should do? Should I take out the plunge and buy the mackies or go the cheap route with the Esi nEars (studiophile sp-5b)? Would you have done something else? Please think about the european prices when you answer.
It’s really hard for me to get to listen to the monitors since the nearest music-shop is 100km away and they only have m-audio, tannoys, events, and alesis monitors. I went down to our capital city, Stockholm, and it wasn’t much better there. Some monitors I’ve ruled out because of either the price or how they sounded. My remaining choices are these.
Esi Near05: 324$
Tannoy Reveal: 576$
Behringer Truth: 708$
Yorkville YSM-1p: 960$
Mackie 624: 1092$
Dynaudio BM6a: 1614$
Studiophile BX8: 720$
Prices are the cheapest i’ve found on internet sites in europe. They’re a bit different than the prices in the US. KRKs and Events are really expensive, but the Tannoys and Dynaudios are cheaper I think.
Here are my comments on the monitors I’m choosing between. I’m also specifying what I’ve compared them to. You have to have in mind that I'm an absolute newbie to studio monitors and have very limited experience with recording and mixing.
Esi Near05 (formerly known as Studiophile SP-5b): 324$
A/B comparison: Tannoy Reveal
Comments: These are way more accurate than the cheapass bookshelves I am monitoring on right now, but the bottom end is lacking. I think they sounded fine for the money, but kind of two-dimensional, no depth and I doubt I would be satisfied with these for a long period of time.
Tannoy Reveal : 576$
A/B comparison: Esi Near05, Event 20/20 BAS, Studiophile BX8, Alesis monitor ones
I think these were more ”revealing” than the Near05:s (SP-5b), they had more detail, I belive I could find more "problem areas" of the songs i heard, but it somehow at the same time sounded like someone had put a towel or something over them. I didn’t like the sound of these, but then it may have been the others I compared them to that sounded like hifi-speakers.
Behringer Truth: 708$
A/B comparison: none
My stephdad, who I off the record think is a real idiot, owns a pair of these and tells me that these are, absolutely, the monitor to get. He says that these are so good that you have to buy something like genelec 1031 to get better monitors. He also says that preamps don’t matter, and that it’s possible to get professional sounds through his Behringer MX9000 console. He's been working as a local sound engineer for like 10 years, but to be honest, his stuff sound like a pile of shit, so I doubt I could trust his opinion. I tried to audition the truths his studio, but as soon as I put my CD in, he was there with his fingers on that dreadful MX9000 eq, turned the highs up by a mile, and it sure didn’t sound good. I also think they would be a bit big for my room, but they're on my list anyway.
Mackie 624: 1092$
A/B comparion: none, but the 824 sounded superior to Event 20/20 bas, spirit absolute zero, studiophile sp-8b, tannoy reveal, samson resolv.
I’ve only listened to these ones, for a very short time in a very bad room. I think the room and the monitor-placement made it impossible for me to judge them correctly. I have listened a good deal to the Mackie 824 though, and those were by far the most impressive monitor I’ve ever heard. The detail was amazing and imaging was amazing. (I've never heard Dynaudios, Genelecs or ADAMS). If the 624 has the sound of it’s bigger brother and a resonable bottom I really want this speaker!
Yorkville YSM-1: 960$
I haven’t heard these, but everyone seems to recommend them around here. The price here in Sweden isn’t as nice as in the US though.
Dynaudio Bm6a 1614$
I understand these are really good monitors. From what I’ve heard they´re supposed to be better than the Mackie824 and Genelec 1030 that both are much more expensive than the dynaudio over here. The Dynaudios are a bit smaller than the Mackie824s I think, but are they still to big for a small room? This one is by far the most expensive of the monitors I am considering, but my ears could probably never outgrow them and they would be an investment that would last for years. Unfortunately I probably wouldn’t afford to buy anything else if I went this route.
Studiophile BX8 720$
A/B comparison: Event 20/20 BAS, tannoy reveal, alesis monitor one.
I’m not shure about these. I liked the sound of these better than the tannoy reveals and monitor ones but liked the 20/20 BAS better, but they are twice the price here 1400$. I’m afraid I think the m-audios sounded like they had a little smiley face response-curve and I don't know how accurate they are. They're probably better than the Esi nEars (studiophile Sp-5b) though. This one may be to big for my room, don’t you think?
Conclusions:
I know monitoring is important and would preferably like to get a pair of monitors that would last me a while. As I said, I really liked mackie 824, but they are too expensive (1700$) and probably to big for my room anyway. I imagine that the 624:s would be perfect my room and more easy on the wallet than the 824, even though spending a thousand dollars on a studiomonitor I haven’t heard much of would feel a bit strange .
I wasn’t really impressed with the reveals, studiophiles, truths (from what I could tell) or the Esi nEars, but then I’m just a newbie and probably don’t know what to look for in a monitor. I’m thinking that if I would go the cheap route it may be best to just buy the Esi nEars and spend money elseware, and probably upgrade later. The Dynaudios would probably be exellent but they’re very, very expensive.
Even though my mic cost me 30$, my monitoring chain is the weakest link in my setup that consists of:
Delta 1010lt
Cakewalk Sonar
Roland RS-5
Behringer XM8500 mic
Audio Technica atm40fs
Cheap ass home stereo for monitoring
I'm mostly recording my keyboard, trumpet or singing.
What do you think I should do? Should I take out the plunge and buy the mackies or go the cheap route with the Esi nEars (studiophile sp-5b)? Would you have done something else? Please think about the european prices when you answer.
