best moniters for 350

  • Thread starter Thread starter bad intentionz
  • Start date Start date
And here we go again trying to impart some freaking pro shit into the throat of another youngling...Yeah electronics are cheap now...still CHEAP electronics...

A friend of my daughter works in a restaurant 2-3 days a week cuz of school and he works usually the weekend...brings home around $150... Yeah he might be able to hold a whole month on one shot and get 600 dollars worth of monitors, but how about him helping his struggling parents with bill, hey how about his own bills ie cell phone, ride to work etc... etc...

The point is, you guys already made the point... yeah on the first reply you made to this post... stop trying to push what it's a fact about anything you buy!

I went and bought 3 years ago a 36" RCA, a downgrade from the 51" hdtv i wanted...but 700 dollars less... at the time i just had the money for the 36" and that's what i bought... yeah i would love to have been able to actually save for the big screen... but like everything in life, situations are different for everybody and i have a 6 member family with 3 growing teenagers to feed and no expectacular job whatsoever... It was a miracle i could dish the 800 bucks i spent...not to mention save 700 dollars more...

My point is... every freaking thread becomes a " Save some more " bull crap fest!
He only got 350 if he wanted to wait and save for more he would have done so or stated his reconsideration after your first "Save some more" reply!

Damn!!!

BTW save some more and buy some 8" monitors =)
 
me and my buddy got these for our studio... first set of monitors... their awesome for the price. like 140/speaker Canadian i think

Yorkville
YSM2P - Powered Monitor - 46w, 5.25 inch / 1 inch

System Type 2-Way
Active or Passive Active
Program Power (Watts) 46
Biamp Operation Only Yes
Max SPL (dB) 113
Frequency Response (Hz +/- 3db) 70 - 19,000
Crossover Frequency (Hz) 2,000
Driver Configuration 5.25-inch / 1-inch
HF Driver(s) 1 inch Polyester Dome - Medium Viscosity Ferrofluid Cooled
HF Program Power (Watts) 14
LF Driver(s) 5.25-inch Woven Laminate cone - Ceramic magnet
LF Program Power(Watts) 32
Sheilding Bucking Magnet
Total Power (Watts) 46
HF Power Amplifier (Watts) 14
HF Amplifier Type AB
LF Power Amplifier (Watts) 32
LF Amplifier Type AB
Cooling Scheme Convection
Power Cable Removeable IEC
Power Switch Yes
Power Consumption (typ/max) 36VA / 72VA
Inputs 1-XLR / 1-1/4-inch TRS
Inputs - 1/4" Jacks 1 (TRS)
Inputs - XLR 1
Input Sensitivity (Vrms Sine) 0.25
Level Controls Input Sensitivity (off/-10dB)
Enclosure Materials MDF Wood
Baffle Material Gray PVC Clad MDF Wood
Port(s) 1-inch Vented
Covering / Finish Charcoal Gray Laminate
Other Details Shipped in Mirrored Pairs.
Dimensions (DWH xbackW, inches) 10.5 x 7.6 x 11.5
Dimensions (DWH xbackW, cm) 26.6 x 19.4 x 29.2
Weight (lbs/kg) 12 / 5.4
 
Hey Butthead (bigj),

The first n responses were ALL within his price range before his "these are going to be my frist moniters and im not looking for TOP LINE PRO SHIT" retort, and he asked for the best he could get for that amount.

Please read a thread before going off on your rant.
 
bad intentionz said:
im serious about mixing i been mixing/ recording for almost 2 years just i never had moniters. its just that money for a 16 year old is hard to come by now adays
Click to expand...

Nah you're probably just lazy like most of today's teenagers. When I was 16 I worked from 5 til 11 eventhough 9 was the legal cutoff on a school night and made 7 bucks an hour. After taxes that was 170 bucks a week. All that was after 3 hours of football practice. I left my house at 6:30 every morning to go to school and got home at 11:30 every night. Its good your serious and if you really are then try some decent monitors or you'll regret it, especially when your mixes don't translate. Since you've gone 2 years without monitors certainly you can wait, and you can buy some monitors one at a time. So go get some krk v6's. One is 350 wait a couple months then buy another. Right there would give you some good sounds.
 
Intentions, you have not yet gotten a single piece of good advice in this thread, I'm sorry to say. :(

First of all, screw the size of the woofers; while on paper the larger the woofer, the better the bass response, in real-life commercial loudspeaker design there is NO DIRECT RELATIONSHIP between woofer size and quality of bass response. There are 5 inchers out there that blow away some 6" designs, and vice versa. I've heard some 4" speaker designs that give better, more accurate response than some 8" ones I have heard. The whole "6 inch woofers are better" is one of those bad information myths that floats around forums like this, that originally sprung from a kernal of truth, but has been blown way out of any truthful proportion because it sounds like it should be right and it makes the owner of the information feel clever. Don't worry about woofer size.

Second, do you live anywhere within a two-hour drive of a city or town that has a retail outlet that sells loudspeakers? If so, go to it with a couple of your favorite CDs and do some A/B comparison listening for a while. Don't worry about whether they are "studio monitors" or "stereo speakers". At that price range it frankly doesn't even matter; your average $175 "studio monitor" is going to be every bit as colored (or "hyped", as many mistakenly call it) as your average $175 stereo speaker. In fact, I'll bet that you can get bookshelves that perform every bit as good in freq response as your average "studio monitor" in that range, and pay a lot less for it in the bargain.

Just go and listen, and get what sounds "right" to your ears, will fit right in your room at home, and will fit in your budget. What my ears like are different from the next guy's, and his are different than yours. When it comes to sound reproduction, Tannoys are not "better" than Wharfdales, and Wharfies are not "better" than Events; it all depends upon who is listening to them.

If, OTOH, you live on a potato farm in the middle of Idaho's panhandle and it's just too much of a hassle to drive three hours into Boseman, Montana and visit their local Tweeter outlet, then just order whatever seems best to you from what you read. It'll work fine for you if you just take the time to learn them and learn how to translate their sound to the real world.

G.
 
  • Like
Reactions: apl
thanks for the back up big j and glen yeah i think imma just get the m aduios bx5as. and to the guy who was saying i have it good, back in ur time taxes and atc were ALOT less, i have bills to pay ( car insurance and cell fone) i work at burger king at 6 50 ahour so sorry if i dont pull 4000 dollars out my ass and tell u give me moniters
 
Not to jack this thread more than it already has been, but... it REALLY pisses me off when I see "cell phone" included as a must have expense today. The same way it pisses me off to see people jawing on their cell phones while they drive a car that resembles a go-cart and is as safe as one. I know this rant doesn't fit the bill for everyone, but in most cases it does. I'm basically saying that it needs to be pushed WAY down individual's necessity list (food, shelter) and back to the luxury list.
 
car insurance and cell fone
Click to expand...

ah.. bless...

I couldn't afford a car until I was in my mid twenties... and cell phones... hadn't even been invented ;)

anyways... didn't mean to upset you young dood :)


And Glen, thanks for the input... it's why we need people like you hanging around a "Home Recording" bulletin board. If it wasn't for the pro's around here us "Home Recordists" would be still back in the stoneage so to speak. Thanks:)
 
SouthSIDE Glen said:
First of all, screw the size of the woofers; while on paper the larger the woofer, the better the bass response, in real-life commercial loudspeaker design there is NO DIRECT RELATIONSHIP between woofer size and quality of bass response. There are 5 inchers out there that blow away some 6" designs, and vice versa. I've heard some 4" speaker designs that give better, more accurate response than some 8" ones I have heard. The whole "6 inch woofers are better" is one of those bad information myths that floats around forums like this, that originally sprung from a kernal of truth, but has been blown way out of any truthful proportion because it sounds like it should be right and it makes the owner of the information feel clever. Don't worry about woofer size.
Click to expand...

My comment on 6" woofers was primarily in regard to Event line. Which 4" blow away which 8"? Surely the 8s weren't serious monitor picks. The physics of reproducing lower frequencies require moving a lot of air, and as drivers get smaller they just don't have the capacity. Engineering of speaker systems matters too, of course. A Formula One engine has less displacement than the one in my car, yet makes better than five times the horsepower.

SouthSIDE Glen said:
Don't worry about whether they are "studio monitors" or "stereo speakers". At that price range it frankly doesn't even matter; your average $175 "studio monitor" is going to be every bit as colored (or "hyped", as many mistakenly call it) as your average $175 stereo speaker. In fact, I'll bet that you can get bookshelves that perform every bit as good in freq response as your average "studio monitor" in that range, and pay a lot less for it in the bargain.

Just go and listen, and get what sounds "right" to your ears, will fit right in your room at home, and will fit in your budget. What my ears like are different from the next guy's, and his are different than yours. When it comes to sound reproduction, Tannoys are not "better" than Wharfdales, and Wharfies are not "better" than Events; it all depends upon who is listening to them.

If, OTOH, you live on a potato farm in the middle of Idaho's panhandle and it's just too much of a hassle to drive three hours into Boseman, Montana and visit their local Tweeter outlet, then just order whatever seems best to you from what you read. It'll work fine for you if you just take the time to learn them and learn how to translate their sound to the real world.

G.
Click to expand...

I agree that $350 new is a tough price point, but used is a completely different issue. He could probably find a pair of Event 20/20 passives that would be very good monitors. I have good semi-audiophile speakers that are worthless for mixing because they make everything sound better than it is. He shouldn't listen for what sounds right. He should listen for what sounds wrong in the mixes that he brings for evaluation.

Monitors are not supposed to sound good. They're supposed to be honest arbiters of a mix.
 
apl said:
Monitors are not supposed to sound good. They're supposed to be honest arbiters of a mix.
Click to expand...

Isn't it possible for a beginner home recorder to be confused by that statement? They most definitely should sound good when a good mix is played through them. Even NS-10s. :)
 
I own the KRK Rokit RP8 monitors. They were 250 a piece. I know they are not the best by far. The main thing is that you get to know what you have and know what your monitors lack so you can correct in the mix or mastering.
 
caryindy said:
Isn't it possible for a beginner home recorder to be confused by that statement? They most definitely should sound good when a good mix is played through them. Even NS-10s. :)
Click to expand...
Well, it all depends on what you call "sounding good".
To me, a good sound is a flat, honest one. For some, it's full bass and treble shite.
What should have been said was probably "monitors should be as flat, honest and discolorful as possible".
And NO, NS-10 are NOT flat at all and are poo for mixing unless you don't care about the low end or are completely used to their lack of low end response.
I would never suggest any beginner to mix with NS-10.
 
I would never suggest any beginner to mix with NS-10.
Click to expand...

... and I've heard that statement more than once... not just here but at a number of BB's
 
Synkrotron said:
... and I've heard that statement more than once... not just here but at a number of BB's
Click to expand...

Thats right. I wasn't suggesting he get NS-10s.

SouthSide glen made the best point on the thread.. IMO.
 
apl said:
He shouldn't listen for what sounds right. He should listen for what sounds wrong in the mixes that he brings for evaluation.
Click to expand...
When I said "right" I meant "correct", not "good".

Monitors are not supposed to sound good. They're supposed to be honest arbiters of a mix.
Click to expand...
This is one of those points that is not incorrect and has the proper intentions behind it, but depending on how it's phrased and in what context it's used, it can really cause one to miss the real point and to screw logic around like a swimsuit model asking to be bought a drink.

The one and only point to monitors is to allow the engineer to do his job without giving too much resistance. Whether the monitor sounds good or bad, whether it is colored or flat is really a secondary consideration. What matters is a) how hard the engineer has to work using the monitors to get a mix that translates well to the real world, and b) how fatiguing is the sound of the monitor to the engineer. That last point is an important one that is under-reported, in my estimation. The most accurate monitor in the world is not worth it if the engineer fatigues after sitting in it's crosshairs for an hour. If a loudspeaker sounds "right" to you, is comfortable to you, and allows you to make mixes that translate properly, then that is what you should use as your studio monitor. Not just one that has the flattest response curve printed in it's sheet or that has the label "studio monitor" stamped on it's box

The infamous NS10s are/were and absolutely horrendous sounding speaker for whom an "honest arbitration of a mix" would be an absolute joke. To call them flat would be to call Dolly Parton flat. They were neither accurate nor good sounding. You couldn't get me to sit on one, let along use it as a monitor. Yet many a gold and platinum record were mixed on NS10s.

On the other side of the nearfield coin you have somthing like the HR824 (which I happen to use). Now, the 824 has its supporters and detractors, as all loudspeakers do. I'm not here to defend the 824. But what I an here to say is that they are so supposedly "consumer sounding" as to have been given very quick THX certification. I have heard them used as surround speakers in a home 5.1 entertainment system that absolutely blew me away. Does this make them "hyped"? Does the fact that they sound great as home stereo or 5.1 speakers make them unsuitable for use in the studio? Of course not. Are they "hyped"? No more or less than any other loudspeaker design by any maker. (Pssst. There is no such thing as "hyping" in consumer loudspeakers. That is another myth.)

You ask about which small speakers beat which large speakers or which consumer speakers beat which monitors? Just a few examples off the top of my head. My brother has a pair of MK speakers that he uses as the rear channel on his Nakamichi surround system. These are your typical-looking metal cabinet 3" 2-ways that all look like Realistic Minimus 7s but all sound different. I'll take these MK 3 inchers and put them up against BX5 any day of the week. I have a pair of Klipsch KG.5 consumer bookshelves bracketed to the wall over my head right now as backups/crosschecks to my 824s. These cost me about $99 each when I bought them several years ago. They are 5" or 6" two-ways in a cheap-black-paint-finish wood enclosure that I'd prefer to mix on over most of the 6" "studio monitors" available at twice the price. Their bass is *not* hyped and translates extremely well to the real world. Bose mini-cubes give better bass response than 70% of the 8" 3-ways on the market even though the 8" woofers are pushing over 50 times the air. I could go on...

Please understand, apl, that I was not singling you out with the 6" statement. I hear that all the time on these forums and elsewhere, that you have to get 6" studio monitors because anything less just won't cut it, and the reason is that only 6" or above can handle frequencies below 80Hz well enough, and they have to be studio monitors because consumer speakers are purposely "hyped" to sound like the physical equivalent of a loudness control. It really starts tasting like grape koolaid after a while.

The thing is, little nuggets of information like "the larger the woofer, the better the bass response" or "the flatter the speaker, the better the monitor" are nice, clean theory that sound wonderful. But they are to knowledge what presets are to a compressor plug. Thay are nice and easy to work with, but they don't necessarily work best in the real world, and they tend to divert their users from attaining higher truths.

Stick to the two guiding principles. Will the speaker allow you to make translateable mixes that sound good, and will it do it without wearing your ears out? And of course the third elephant in the room, will they do that within your budget? That's all that matters. The rest is wallpaper.

G.
 
Last edited:
caryindy said:
Thats right. I wasn't suggesting he get NS-10s.

SouthSide glen made the best point on the thread.. IMO.
Click to expand...

OK Cary:)... and likewise, I wasn't suggesting that you had suggested he get NS-10's... I was just adding to what t'other guy said :cool:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top