Monitor = Speaker ??

[heaven]

To be honesty, I dont have any idea of the below. so, anyone please give me
some idea,

1. Is a Good Speaker(e.g. JBL, Tannoy) can used as a Monitor? Or whats the difference between Monitor or speaker?
2. Is it any standard terms to measure how good a monitor is? e.g. hz,
2. For Computer recording, whats is better for me to do the recording ,
a entry level Monitor (e.g. Roland DM-20) or some good earphones (e.g AKG K240)

DM-20 : http://www.roland.com/products/en/DM-20/index.html
AKG K240 :

http://www.akg.com/products/powerslave,mynodeid,186,id,252,pid,252,_language,ENUS.html

3. What should I test for the final version of the recording? My idea is If I got
a good monitor, then the playback sound from the monitor should be good. But if play with a poor speaker, the sound should be crap and distorted (The problem I am facing now). So, how to make a right decision?

Thanks.

 

[Agent47]

1. Yes, monitor means speaker. Just sounds cooler when you say 'monitor' because civilians get confused.

2. 'SPL' (basically loudness), 'crossover' (where the frequencies of the woofer and tweeter meet, or, er, crossover), 'bass response' (whether the bass is well represented or just bloated and woofy), 'honesty' or 'neutrality' (how faithful it is to your audio).

2. Depends. If you're recording live musicians in the same room as your computer, then you'd need headphones on otherwise feedback happens. If the performer is in another, then monitors will suffice. Ideally you should have 'phones and monitors.

3. You'll generally mix and master on a good pair of monitors. But to test the final recording you should hear it on as many speakers as you can get access to.