Monitors......

H

HAWLK

New member
I need a new set of monitors but i'm limited by two major things Budget and Quality (same as everyone elce). At the moment im looking at the 20/20bas and the Spirit apsolute 4p.
I got worried when i first saw Dragons msg's saying studio monitors wernt supposed to sound good. When i go looking for monitors i look for somthing i like the sound of. Are studio monitors supposed to sound bad or is that just on unmixed peices?

Also does anyone know the price of the Apsolute 4p in AUS$?

If anyone can enlighten me/give me suggestions/ solve my queries pleez write back?

Thanx,
 
Hi,
Monitors, weather audio or video, are designed to emphasize things in the sound (or video) that you can't pick up with "speakers" (or TV)
This way, the sound can be picked apart better and more finely tuned in the studio, so that when pumped through "speakers" there are no surprizes. The opposite is true for "speaker" design.
I have heard stuff like Van Halen playing their working mixes on verious speakers ie: home, car, as well as studio monitors, just to get a good sense of the sound coming from the differences in speaker design.
 
"I meant what I said and I said what I meant...an elephant faithful one hundred per cent!" -- line from an old cartoon that maybe only drstawl will remember

It's not that they're supposed to sound bad, it's that they're not supposed to sound good.
They're not supposed to sound bad either. They're just there to reproduce accurately how the music sounds, at close range.

Most high-end "speaker systems" are set up for theoretical flat response in anechoic chambers and other details that impress the hi-fi buffs. And in truth, most people who are listening (rather than mixing) diddle with their EQ settings to make the music sound the way they want to hear it. And they rarely sit a meter or so away from both speakers at once as we generally do when mixing.

Near-field monitors are made to reproduce music in your studio in such a way so that when you hear it sounding good, it will sound good on boom boxes, stereo systems, and truck radios too.

So when you listen to monitors, listen with a number of your favorite tracks on CD to make sure that you hear all the bass and treble and stuff you expect. Crank it up to make sure that nothing rattles or buzzes, even at VERY LOUD VOLUMES.

When you hear good monitors, instruments may jump out at you without warning, you may hear subtle things you never heard before, or hair may suddenly grow in strange places on your body. But they won't necessarily make you want to dance, because they don't emphasize frequencies at either end of the spectrum (or the middle, for that matter) the way "listening speakers" tend to do.
 
Ah I get ya,
So when i look at monitors look for somthing i like, and make my mix's sound good on them (this is what i have previously done i just didn't know that monitors wern't suposed to make a track sound good). Then when i play it on a normal sound system it should sound awsome. But i still need to know which monitors to go with? and the price of the 4p?

Thanx for your help guys, now i can see some value in a monitor.
 
And how many hats did Bartholomew have? And what unpleasant substance did poor Bartholomew have to deal with in another book with his name in it? But what I really want to know is: does my mixer come into the picture in mixing down, or is it all done with the soundcard and the software? Oh yeah, I'm an anorak.
 
That's it!

SONG FOR A FRIEND
"Although I've forgotten
How to play thees childish games
I can't forget
I remember them and say
My childhood games
I can't forget them
I can't forget
This bear I've befriended
And though I've grown
You've grown too
I'll never let go of Pooh"

-Joshua Ray
My older brother.
 
Dobro: AA Milne and Dr. Suess aside:
I mix down entirely in SW. I assemble a bunch of synced mono tracks inside Vegas Pro. Then I adjust the volume and pan and effects for each track. Then I monitor the results. Repeat the process. When I've got it right, I hit "Mix to New Track" and select the format. If there are global adjustments that need to be made, I can remix to another track with those applied. Then I inspect, tweak and normalize the file in Sound Forge and the file is ready to burn to CD or upload to my server.
 
drstawl - thanks. Straightforward approach. I'll try it, with or without the S/W you've got.
 
Yo all of you:]

"somehow" = one word.

Somehow I believe that I've grown more in my cognition of monitors. Alas, I have the Alesis 1 set and they are not very good.

Planning to go to Event monitors because I keep hearing very good things about them.

Cheers,
Green Hornet
 
Well, like Dragon I have the Tannoy Reveal's and omg.... I love them for mixing AND just for casual listening.

I would suggest the Tannoy's although I haven't heard the Event 20/20's yet so I don't really have anything to compare minus I am very happy with how these sound.

No bitter monitor stories here,

Sabith
 
cheap monitors

I went into my monitoring purchase with one intent, tonally flat. not sure of exact figures of many professional monitors, and i'm not out the beat "the best" by .02 dB's, or argue perfect tonality. this is what i found

I bought a set of paradigm titans for 200$ just two weeks ago. they boast just +-2dB over the covered spectrum (I think 50-20someoddk Hz), and for the price, i head to check them out.

for an amp I use a yamaha natural sound receiver that i found on the roadside (probably due to a euro-spec power supply, bought a decent converter for 40$) which has the 'direct sound' feature to by pass tone controls and circuit. not 'studio quality' but maintains that tonal flatness i'm looking for.

as a review, I listend to some hip-hop from betalounge.com, just to check the bass response and highs, and was pleased to hear midrange like i've never heard before. a synth bassline that would have normally disappeard as it climbed up the octaves maintained it's volume in the ascent, probably a good 3-4 octaves.

i am about to test them in a mixdown from a 424 mk3, and hope to post good results.

you can see the budget i'm working with warrents 200$ monitors and a roadside amp ;)
 
I have a pair of Paradigm Self-Powered Studio Monitors and they sound killer! I also have a pair of Paradigms in my living room. I would highly recommend any Paradigm product.
 
JBL LSR25P.....good monitors..bigger price

HAWLK said:
Ah I get ya,
But i still need to know which monitors to go with? and the price of the 4p?

My system uses JBL LSR25P Monitors. They are higher in price, but do the job well. Fit right in with computer work sitting right beside the computer screens. Their shielded case keeps away any video interference. I don't regret the price or my choice they do a profession job.

Choctaw
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this thread is so old that both dragon and recording engineer have posted in it!
i'm fairly new but i've never seen dragon post...... and a moderator? well really now..........l :rolleyes:
 
Ive got studiophile sp-5b and Truth 2031a The truth are 10x better and I paid less than $300

My input into this ancient thread
 
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