Help me buy monitors I can use

  • Thread starter Thread starter kidkage
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kidkage

kidkage

Bored of Canada
I bought some alesis passive monitors a few months ago. they were useless- too big, and since im recording and mixing through a tascam dp008 (it only has rca outputs) it was too much of a hassle to connect them. and my room was full of crap so i had no room for them. Ive converted it now. I'd like great quality monitors, but also moderately affordable... im thinking $400 price cap.
any more info needed? just ask :)

any help you can give is appreciated
 
The Yamaha HS Series has gotten great reviews by lots of people. I know of some people that use the HS-80M and put out some really good mixes. Another good option is the older KRK V series (Not VXT, those are the newer revision and would fall out of your price range). the V series is out of production and you would have to buy them used. I know several people using either the V4, V6, or V8s that also put out quality work. Maybe buying used isn't your cup of tea though.

I used a set of KRK Rokit 8 G2s for about 2 years and I had learned their sound pretty well and was starting to put out decent mixes after a while with them. I recently upgraded to ADAM A7s and the difference in clarity and mix translation was like night and day, but the ADAMs are also in a significantly different price range than the Rokits, so it's understandable. The KRK monitors have a great build quality to them, but I found the sound quality lacking (especially in the midrange/highend compared to the ADAMs.

This is just what I think though. The best thing for you to do would be to go to a music shop that has pro audio gear and test lots of different monitors directly against each-other. Use test material that you know inside and out to compare the sound of the monitors. Try to listen to how the big picture, and individual things in the mix sound through different speakers. For example when I A/Bed the ADAMs against my KRKs before I bought them, When listening to a quiet section of a mix with an exposed lead vocal I thought the ADAMs sounded like a singer, wheras the KRKs sounded like a good recording of a singer. The stereo image was wider, and the accuracy in the midrange was a whole different animal than the KRKs. Listen for yourself, and then decide what you like! :) Another thing that is important for me is that the monitors are pleasurable to listen to. You don't want them to be pleasurable in the sense that they make a bad recording sound good, but in a way that your ears just enjoy hearing for long periods of time. The ADAMs did this for me, perhaps something else will do that for you! :cool:
 
Monitors are such a personal choice. Plus that, the room makes a HUGE difference.

A few years back I wrote a very indepth report on my hunt for new monitors after years with a pair of Mackie HR824's. I ultimately ended up with a pair of KRK VST6's. After a month or so with them, my mixes started translating better and now 3 years later, I have zero regrets. The report I posted here got me all sorts of rep points and kudos. But in the years since, I've had a couple PMs from folks who found that post, bought the KRKs and hated them. In every instance, they all described very different acoustical environments.

A friend of mine who works at VH1 doing audio production stuff (ie. I trust his ear) borrowed them and couldn't do crap with them at his "real" post-production room, but for some reason with my bass traps, the shape of my room, the 9 year old carpet on the floor, the KRKs just work.

My advice, get your room right, THEN start looking at monitors. If you don't have bass traps, I'm not sure you can really get to the point where you can 100% trust what you're hearing.

There's also a huge element of what you're used to. It sucks since most places have 30 day return policies. You have to spend a fair amount of time on a set of monitors before you really get to "know" them. Remember, more Grammy award winning songs have been mixed on Yamaha NS10's than any other monitors and the first time I heard a pair of them I thought they were broken...
 
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