Are these worth it

  • Thread starter Thread starter dirtyp
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I would try my best to add a sub to these. then you have the low freq ability and reduce the workload of the small cones/ drivers. A small cone just can't produce the lows, and a huge speaker can't do the highs... like a BASS guitar, Six String guitar analogy...it's just a different tool.

without a sub, it might take more work on your part to learn them, especially the bass translation. though it's been said gold records mixed on Radio Crap Opti 7's before. (skills)

In all reality, another option maybe get to a pawn shop or garage sale and find a nice 1970's Amplifier, discrete components, built like a tank with huge transformers for $50 and some $75 old speakers that cost $1200 in 1980.

STUDIO Actives is IN, it saves table space, simple etc.. but theoretically a $99 pair of actives is probably closer to a pc speaker amp than a Hi End rack Studio monitoring system.

unfortunately there is no laws on Marketing bullshit and slapping STUDIO labels on everything and spec sheets are only as good as the data collector.

your left with your ears to decide.
 
I didnt think they would be that good, but desktop speakers damm.
I heard good things about the bx5a, Thought they might be ok.

""spec sheets are only as good as the data collector"".
So I cant trust the freq response?

I looked for some amps and even sub plate amps, I was going to build a speaker but decided against it.
But who knows there using 4" paper cones wich cost $10 each.
They crossover at 2300 doesnt that force the tweeter to do mids?

I can build monitors 20 for wood,40-100 for amps,30-100 for speakers and tweeters,crossover 1-25.
With the cheapest combinations will run 80-100 maybe.
not bad for 6.5''.


The main reason I dont is cause I have nothing to refrence them on.
 
here's what I meant...with the spec statement.
 

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here's the actual speaker this 50hz to 20khz spec belongs to....
 

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going to be enough for what?

let's use coolcat's specs from those ratshack speakers for an example. sure, that 50Hz-20khz is nice and all.....but what does the actual response curve look like?

we don't know.

are they +/- 1dB throughout that response? or are they +/- 35dB? do they have a flat response? or are there wild peaks and valleys randomly throughout the response? is there a rolloff in the low or high ends? if so, where? frequency response means nothing unless you've got a graph (or a +/- at minimum) to go with it. and even then, a graph doesn't really tell you a whole lot--hearing is believing.

the 4's don't even give a frequency response in the item description--that's a warning sign. the 3's do give one, which shows 100Hz as far as they go down. you have to assume that this likely after a rolloff (and probably a significant one), which i would expect to start somewhere around 400. the 3's do also give a spec of +/-3dB......but is that flat or peaky? and where do those +/- 3dB points actually live? is there a +3dB peak in the vocal range which will make all of my mixes vocal light? or is that a -3dB at 300 which will make me add a little to compensate and therefore end up with muddy mixes? i could go on, but i won't.

in short, those monitors are probably fine for playing computer games or watching multimedia content, but i wouldn't try to mix a damn thing on em.

the lowest end maudio monitors i'd try to mix on are the bx5 series, and even then you'll be making significant guesses below 200Hz on em. i mixed on their predecessors (the sp5b's) for several years. as i learned them, i got some good mixes b/c over time i learned what i wasn't hearing, but i still had to guess a LOT about the low end (anything below 250 or so)--i just got better at it. fwiw, i always felt that the sp5b's sounded better than the bx series (5's or 8's)--the bx series just sound harsh to me.

i've since upgraded to Event ASP8's and there's no comparison by a long, long, long shot. then again, i'd suspect that to be the case.

the best advice i can give you is to demo any of the monitors you're looking at in your space and give them a test run, and buy the ones you "get along with" best. monitors are a VERY personal choice.


good luck!
wade
 
"going to be enough for what?"
For mixing but you pretty much said that wont work.

One of the graphs I was looking at -+3db in the low end theres a slight dip in the 300-400 range, and a peak around 18.
So what your saying is ill have to add to the dip and subtract the peak to balance them out.
The vocals are around 10-12? so whats around 18-20 would that be high pitch sounds.

This whole monitor thing sucks, I want a pair of rokits cant afford them. I would buy one at a time but that would be a waist a time.

I guess ill keep mixing on my 2.1 desktop speakers for now.

Is there any equipment used to measure the response that I could use for ones that dont provide the info?

I tried going to my local recording store, They only have a pair of bx8s, and $600 mackies on display. I listen to them before and they sounded nice but even with the 100 off he offered me they were still to much. I tried finding passive speakers thinking I could save money that way but it aint happening.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/prod...-Surround-Sound-Monitoring-System?sku=603703V

this looks like the 4" with a 8" sub. 40Hz–20kHz; +1dB -3dB
one good thing I see is it has power for up to 5 speakers, so down the road I could add 3 passive speakers. This is slightly out of my price range I could get the bx5 for 50 bucks more.
 
dirtyp said:
For mixing but you pretty much said that wont work.

please understand that i didn't say that you couldn't mix with those monitors.....what i said was that *i* wouldn't *want* to. :p

personally, i like tools that make my job easier. call me a skeptic, but something tells me that these monitors would probably not make that job easier. i don't want to discourage you from trying.....but i don't want you wondering "why did i bother?" after you've already spent money on em, either.

keep in mind i DO have experience mixing with the sp5b's, and know exactly what the problems mixing with them were......and i just think that trying to mix with something "less" would be a losing battle. but that's me--YMMV.

[QUOTE = dirtyp} So what your saying is ill have to add to the dip and subtract the peak to balance them out[/quote]

no, i'm saying you need to be able to trust your monitors (and, more importantly, the room in which they're in).

the goal with monitors is not necessarily to find ones that sound good--but rather to find ones that allow your mixes translate well to other systems. there's nothing worse than spending hours and hours recording and mixing a song only for you to take the cd to the car or a friend's and have it sound like crap b/c you can't accurately hear what's going on.

dirtyp said:
This whole monitor thing sucks

this whole recording thing sucks. what starts out as a harmless hobby and desire to "save money by doing it at home and not going to a 'real studio'" becomes a very large hole in which you just throw your cash. i know guys with coke habits that aren't costing them as much. :D

dirtyp said:
I want a pair of rokits cant afford them.

you know, there IS this old timey practice called "saving up". the concept goes like this--you put a couple dollars a day into a jar that you can't easily open (typically made out of pink porcelain and shaped like a pig), and after a few months or a year you have a solid chunk of change to spend on something. :D

dirtyp said:
I would buy one at a time but that would be a waist a time.
there's nothing that says you need a *pair* of monitors. i start ALL of my mixes in mono--and only once that mono mix is really happenin, that's when i switch it over to stereo. i'd say that 75% of my mixing actually happens in mono.

then once my mix is done, i take it to a little RCA boombox that is stereo, but the speakers are so close together that it's practically mono. that thing really helps me hear any problems with mono compatibility in my mixes. best $35 i've spent in a long time.

so no, buying one for now and buying a second later is NOT a waste of time. you'd at least be able to use one in mono and use your existing speakers as a second, stereo reference.

dirtyp said:
The vocals are around 10-12?

vocals typically live in the 1-2.5k range. that's why the crossover location (frequency) is very important. if your monitors have a crossover that's not very good and negatively influences what you're hearing at the crossover frequency, i'll make your job harder. some crossovers are so cheap that it actually sounds like there's a *hole* right at that crossover frequency.

dirtyp said:
so whats around 18-20 would that be high pitch sounds.
that would be a bunch of stuff that you probably couldn't hear, anyway--most people can't. however, the energy up there can definitely affect the clarity of a mix.

for example, a kick drum usually has a fundamental frequency around 80Hz. but there's some deepness around 40Hz, some body around 1k, and the beater snap tends to be somewhere between 3 and 4k. believe it or not, boosting or cutting even something at 12k can actually affect the sound of the kick drum. you might not be able to hear *what* is happening at 12k, but you can hear what boosting or cutting that 12k does to the rest of the sound. so having a clear (and non harsh) upper high end is very important.

i'd suggest saving your pennies and buying the ones you want. as the old saying goes, "buy cheap, buy twice."

anyway, enough out of me. ;)

cheers,
wade
 
my 2 cents is don't worry about the measuring tools $$$ yet.

save and get some KRK rockits you said you like.

keep an eye on the FREE ads... or run a WTB or trade... a lot of people upgrading all the time...endlessly.... :confused:
 
Im probaly going to just get the rokits, I didnt know I could get use out of one.I havent heard them yet but most people say good things about them.

I was looking for something for now wich is why I was going so cheap, What im using just isnt cutting it. I actualy have money saved its just unexpected expensives and lack of work is cutting in to it, If I get a job I would buy them the same day.

The reason I want the monitors is to make the mixing go quicker, So if it dont save time its a waist of money and time. The process im using mix check on boombox, check on car stereo, go back and remix sucks.

I need other stuff to I could use a mic upgrade and a better soundcard im trying to get one of the used delta 10/10s from the free ads. Looking to get the monitors first cause I think that would help the most.
 
dirtyp said:
Im probaly going to just get the rokits

out of curiosity, which ones?

dirtyp said:
I was looking for something for now wich is why I was going so cheap <SNIP> The reason I want the monitors is to make the mixing go quicker, So if it dont save time its a waist of money and time

that's what we're trying to help you with. :D there's nothing worse than spending a couple hundred dollars and having it not really make that much of a difference.

buying cheap (and i don't mean "inexpensive" or "low budget", i mean *cheap*) will mean that ultimately you will end up throwing that money away.......and usually, along with that money, your valuable time. i hate wasting time even more than wasting money.

there are probably even better deals out there used if you look around some. as coolcat said above, people are constantly upgrading.

dirtyp said:
The process im using mix check on boombox, check on car stereo, go back and remix sucks.

hate to break it to ya, but everyone does the "burn cd, check in car" with mixes, even the "pros". the difference is that good monitoring and a trustworthy room will simply help you get there more quickly and more consistently. of course, so do a great song, a practiced band, a well-recorded track and an excellent mixing engineer. :D :p


cheers,
wade


good luck in your search!

cheers,
wade
 
rp-5 are the only ones I can afford, I found these Event 2020 V2 for 269 used, but it would leave me with next to nothing for a amp.
The event alps are in that price range too.
The eventS would be alot better right? Its either one of these or the bx5.
 
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