decent budget monitors for mixing?

haroldstaam

New member
right now i am using a pair of mackie cr3s and they are ok for listening to music but they are hell to mix with. i have been looking at possibly getting a pair of kali lp-6s as an upgrade. have any of you had any experience with these or comparable speakers? i am on a tight budget and probably the highest i can go right now is 400 bucks. I mean what would be a good option for used i guess?
 
right now i am using a pair of mackie cr3s and they are ok for listening to music but they are hell to mix with. i have been looking at possibly getting a pair of kali lp-6s as an upgrade. have any of you had any experience with these or comparable speakers? i am on a tight budget and probably the highest i can go right now is 400 bucks. I mean what would be a good option for used i guess?

Howdy Harold. If that is your name. :)


I get your budget and that is what it is. In that price range, you will very likely need to second guess what your monitors are telling you by listening on other systems outside of your mixing room to make good decisions.

Very important is how the room you are mixing in sounds with 'any' audio monitors.

I posted just today on another thread how 3 pairs of low budget/upper rated monitors that I owned and used, taught me what they were useful for. The end result for me was that it taught me that you get what you pay for.

Bad analogy coming: Reviews of low budget monitors is like asking what the best paper towel is. Yes, you can get the high end Viva cloth ones, that clean up a mess like a cloth towel would, or you can buy the cheap store brands. They will all suck up the wet mess, but it takes more time to get the job done...

Similar to quality in studio monitors. The lesser expensive ones tend to either hype the low end, or leave you wondering where the low end is. In my experience with the 5" and 8" KRK's, or the Event TR8's, there was always a disregard for what was actually going on in my mixes. They were not giving me accurate 'translation' to other systems. In other words, I would mix in studio (well acoustically treated BTW), but everything sounded off balance in the car, the living room stereo, the neighbors home theater system, etc.

It wasn't until I upgraded to the ADAM A7x monitors, that suddenly things just made sense.

I am not suggesting that you need to spend $1700 on starting out monitor speakers. Well, maybe. Wish I had the money then.. But I am suggesting that a $400 budget will be your learning expense that you will not get back @ resale. You might sell whatever you spend for half of what you paid.

Ebay and Craigslist are sometimes good sources to find used higher end monitor speakers that could help you get further with your budget. Just be careful of used gear being what it is and pay with credit card so you have a recourse if you get defective shiz.


Anyway, take what I say as my personal experience. I can in no way feel comfortable telling anyone what to do with their own money.

Best!
 
The Kalis come highly recommend by Warren Huart (produce like a pro YT channel)
 
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