Compact monitors in a very small "difficult" room.

B

bradch00

New member
Although I have been able to get "acceptable" mixes from my very small, square space. It's really difficult and a long process, because as much as I try, I can never get it quite sounding right until I get the mixes out of the room and played a) in the car b) stereo in a bigger room c) ANYWHERE else.... at which time I go back and try to calculate what needs to be tweaked and what I was hearing too much of, or not enough of, in my room. Although outside of the space my Dynaudio BM5A's sound good, I believe the rear ported bass is just giving me too much grief.

So, I have been looking at replacing them with something considerably smaller placing 2 products at the top of the list.
Genelec 8020b and Focal CMS40 monitors.

Anyone using or having experience with either of these products, I would really like to hear from you.
(Or anything else that fits into that category of monitor).

Thanks
 
Why not spend the cash on some room treatments? Obviously, small and square isn't ideal but it sounds like you are going to continue to mix in there. So why not try and make it a little better? I am no expert but I bet room treatment will yield more noticeable results than changing monitors.
 
Thanks for replying. Yes, treating the room was the first thing I did before moving any gear in, been tweaking it ever since. Unfortunately it's a small square room, with baffles, bass traps, etc... I'm still not hearing what I feel I need to. Using rear ported speakers so close to the wall seems to be the culprit (if I knew 5 years ago what I think I know now). However the size of the room pretty much dictates that the unit stays where it is. So monitors not ported out the back may be the answer. I demo'd several monitors and have a short list. We'll see how it goes.
 
I'd say you're on the right track... rear ported, closed to a back wall, just won't do, regardless of the room size
 
bradch00 said:
Thanks for replying. Yes, treating the room was the first thing I did before moving any gear in, been tweaking it ever since. Unfortunately it's a small square room, with baffles, bass traps, etc... I'm still not hearing what I feel I need to. Using rear ported speakers so close to the wall seems to be the culprit (if I knew 5 years ago what I think I know now). However the size of the room pretty much dictates that the unit stays where it is. So monitors not ported out the back may be the answer. I demo'd several monitors and have a short list. We'll see how it goes.
Click to expand...

Try the Wharfedale Diamond Pro 8.2a's they are ported in the front. I'd stay away from any monitors made by Beringer though. They all sound like ass.
 
Rear ported & gap from the wall is designed to generate bass. Is your space relatively neutral with a stereo playing in it?
Most folk still take mixes for a walk out to the car, livingroom, boombox, walkman or media player for reference & tweak ideas.
Behringer monitors aren't the ant's pants BUT they were a step up from what I was using & made a world of difference for my mixes. Ask the place you're shopping at for a pair of whatevers to try out at home. If they have demo sets or display models you might be lucky. Other than that it's a best guess lottery about what will work for the space.
Good Luck.
 
Thanks to everyone for their input.

Well after 2 weeks of demoing different monitors the decision came down to KRK VXT4s and Focal CMS40s. In a blind test, in the room, surprising me especially. The KRK's won out.

Oh I still take the mixes out to the car and listen in a system that has way too much bass in it and makes most everything sound horrible. Ear buds through the iPhone, iPad, some really cheap MP3 player, mid-80's component stereo. Dixie cup and piece of string....

But ... the KRK's at least give me a fighting chance...
Cheers
B.
 
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