5.1 surround monitoring, 4" satellites

[pandamonk]

Hi,
Ok I've been told a few times that it is not good to mix on 4" monitors, even with a sub, is this true? The reason I ask is because i fancy getting the M-audio LX4 surround set for my home studio. The frequence response seems good enough at 40Hz–20kHz; +1dB, -3dB(satellites and sub). I have quite a tight budget, so need the cheapest but best i can get. My room should have a flat frequency response(being totally dead)if that's any help. I know a dead room isn't great for mixing in, but it's too small for the reflections to be any good.

 

[mshilarious]

I wouldn't mind 4" for rear surrounds. But for L-R mains, seems a bit short of adequate. To get a flat system response, it would probably require a crossover frequency for the sub that is high enough to be perceived as somewhat directional.

Actually looking at their specs, I see the crossover is 140Hz. I would have guessed they used 160Hz, so that's in the ballpark. Also the sub is 8", which means it won't be good for true LFE monitoring, which needs to go down to 20Hz, and M-Audio don't claim that, and they also state that 40Hz is -3dB. Since it sounds like they are being honest, I'd say you can expect what they claim in their specs.

I guess my concern is what happens if you decide you want to upgrade your mains? It sounds like the crossover frequency is fixed, that would make the sub tough to integrate with other speakers.

I think you have to weigh how important 5.1 mixing is vs. stereo mixing, and how much you really need the low lows, down to 20Hz.