All About Monitors

guitargirl7

guitargirl7

New member
I'm quite new to the recording world and have heard a lot about monitors lately. I read in this forum that while studio headphones are useful, they aren't going to help you as much as monitors will when it comes to mixing and mastering a song. I know that monitors can range from $100 - 500+, but I'm coming from a student budget. With that being said, I don't want to settle for cheap monitors that are going to hurt rather than help me in the long run. My question is what are the best monitors you would recommend for this situation?

Gear:
Toshiba Satellite L775D laptop
Scarlett 2i2 interface
PT 10
sm57 mic

Recording:
Guitar
Vocals

Budget limit: $150
 
I know that monitors can range from $100 - 500+
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Monitors can range from "really cheap" boxes under $500 to "really nice" boxes at around maybe $2-3,000 and upwards of $25,000 or more also.

I'm not saying to buy $25,000 monitors (although I wouldn't argue with you if you did - Your monitoring chain is far and away the absolute most important part of your recording rig). But if you have a budget of $150, you're going to get (sorry, I'm going to say it) garbage. There is nothing out there worth a bowl of warm sinus fluid in the $150 range. At least $500 for "cheap" monitors is a reasonable place to start IMO/E. Save up, even if it takes a year.
 
This is great advice.
I worked my way up to Mackie Hr monitors and for a brief period believed that I'd never need to upgrade them.

While I do like them, I'm starting to realise that monitors like those Mackies really are more like an absolute minimum in terms of quality.

I'd rather mix on headphones or Hifi speakers that I know than any Alesis or Samsons or whatever.
 
Massive Master said:
Monitors can range from "really cheap" boxes under $500 to "really nice" boxes at around maybe $2-3,000 and upwards of $25,000 or more also.

I'm not saying to buy $25,000 monitors (although I wouldn't argue with you if you did - Your monitoring chain is far and away the absolute most important part of your recording rig). But if you have a budget of $150, you're going to get (sorry, I'm going to say it) garbage. There is nothing out there worth a bowl of warm sinus fluid in the $150 range. At least $500 for "cheap" monitors is a reasonable place to start IMO/E. Save up, even if it takes a year.
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Steenamaroo said:
This is great advice.
I worked my way up to Mackie Hr monitors and for a brief period believed that I'd never need to upgrade them.

While I do like them, I'm starting to realise that monitors like those Mackies really are more like an absolute minimum in terms of quality.

I'd rather mix on headphones or Hifi speakers that I know than any Alesis or Samsons or whatever.
Click to expand...

Thank you both for your help! I'm sure ya'll laughed when reading this, haha. I'll probably stick to my headphones and or hifi speakers for now until that glorious day comes. :)
 
Even $2500 monitors aren't going to do great if the mixing space is not treated/set up well. As a student, you are probably going to be moving around a lot over the next few years, so any room treatment you do is going to be minimal - at best.

The best advice (which I got here) is to learn your equipment (headphones/monitors) so that you know what a mix on them sounds like on other systems. A reference mix is one tool, but after that, when you are mixing down a song, burn it do disc then listen to that disc on as many different systems as you can - your home hifi, your DVD player/surround sound system, a friend's stereo, out in the car, a friend's car, etc. Do it at different volumes, too. Make notes on what sounds good and what doesn't. Go back and adjust your mix, burn another disc and do it all again. You will find that over time you will be able to get a good starting point using what you have, then only need to make small adjustments based on listening on other playback systems.
 
guitargirl7 said:
hifi speakers for now until that glorious day comes. :)
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forget that term 'hi-fi' speakers.
The only important terms are good speakers and bad speakers.
I can guaruntee you that expensive 'stereo' speakers are just as flat as any monitor.
And at lower prices 'monitors' are just as NOT flat as 'hi-fi' speakers.
Really, the only exceptions I can think of are things like Bose which are basically horrible at all their price points.

The biggest thing is to 'know' your monitors and how mixes done on them translate to other sound systems.
Once you know that you can mix on anything really.
Yes ...... a $5000 pair of Focals or something will let you hear things better but it's mostly a matter of knowing how your monitors sound.

As for room treatment ..... it's important but when people are struggling to raise enough money to buy any monitors at all, room treatment isn't gonna happen except for hanging tapestries and such.
In fact, there's also a matter of learning your room in the same manner you learn your monitors. You learn how mixes done in your room translate to other systems/rooms.
I've had a home studio since 1969 and I know a lot about it and have, to this date, never done any kind of room treatment at all although i always have 6000 record albums on shelves which is actually a fairly decent room treatment.
 
Gotta agree with Bob.

The last CD I mixed was done on a pair of wharfedale dovedale IIs and an old Leak hifi amp, purely because I'd had them set up for a few months and felt like I was really used to them.

I probably should have set up the Mackies and spent some time with them, but for me I just felt like I was really used to hearing music on those Wharfedales.

Ok, I'm no seasoned professional, and I did reference the final mixes in a few places, but looking back, I don't think I could have done much better with any other setup.

Do as much as your budget permits, but either way, definitely get to know your gear.
I sorta laugh now because I was really half assed about the whole project compared to others, and it's getting stacks of local airplay now! :p
 
Home recording covers a surprizingly wide gamut of people and by extension, situations. Taken on their own in context, all the statements here are true. But you have to go with where you're at. Start small, write your songs, get your recordings done, learn the process and learn your speakers or cheaper monitors if that's what you're going to start with.
The one thing that hobbyists have {if you are indeed one} that we rarely consider is............time.
The world isn't going to end just yet.
 
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