Home Studio/Reference Monitors

  • Thread starter Thread starter Friday
  • Start date Start date
grimtraveller said:
My wife was a Robinson. Anything but Swiss !
Click to expand...

LOL! I remember from my childhood, a LP, that you listened to while you looked at pictures from a book. It was called Swiss Family Robinson. Or I think so anyway.

Man, my memory is playing tricks on me. Or was it the recreational drugs???
 
jimmys69 said:
LOL! I remember from my childhood, a LP, that you listened to while you looked at pictures from a book. It was called Swiss Family Robinson. Or I think so anyway.

Man, my memory is playing tricks on me. Or was it the recreational drugs???
Click to expand...
No, you're right. It's a well known kids' book. swiss.webpIt was one of those books I avoided like a rabied dog.
 
I've got a KEF 30B 200w sub-woofer,Kef Audio Subwoofer 30B 200W Max | eBay
if those Yamaha turn out to be bass deficient at times would I be able to hook that sub in?
I mean is all this kit fine tuned to only work brand with brand or is there some flexibility?
Thanks again.
 
There's a Yamaha HS10W sub as part of the range so I guess all the sockets are there and you can probably dial in to a decent volume and response from one of the cabinets.
 
Friday said:
I've got a KEF 30B 200w sub-woofer,Kef Audio Subwoofer 30B 200W Max | eBay
if those Yamaha turn out to be bass deficient at times would I be able to hook that sub in?
I mean is all this kit fine tuned to only work brand with brand or is there some flexibility?
Thanks again.
Click to expand...

In theory, yes. I have a home theater sub in my rig. An old DCM. You may be best served by doing tests on your room after adding anything to it. REW is the most used program. In my personal opinion, my ears tell me what I need to do, and I don't rely on the software to tell me. However, before I knew what I was listening for, the testing was necessary.
A simple sweep of a tone generator can tell you more about your room. If you hear drops or peaks in the volume of certain frequencies, then you have an issue to deal with. It is common to have 30db peaks and nulls in a small/untreated room. Ideally (in a perfect world), you want under 6db of variance to achieve 'close' to flat. Most small rooms are not even capable of this with any amount of treatment.

Knowing what you have and getting it useable is the key.
 
Thank you,that looks like a useful program.
What kind of cable do you use to make that connection though and how is the signal controlled or does the REW program do that?
In fact thanks all for your input,I was beginning to feel a bit on the edge of the world not really having anyone to bounce off about this stuff but this feels like a comfortable and helpful forum.
 
Well, most of us here have been through the ringer of researching and trial and error ourselves. Experience can be hastened with good advice. Not that mine is the greatest, but it does come with much research and use.

REW uses a microphone to create data based on the frequencies returned to it from it's tone generator. A flat response mic is recommended, but any decent mic will tell you where the problems are,
 
The place in Bristol has the KRK's Rockit's and a set of HS50M's then it goes up to the Adams stuff which I know is out of my reach at present.So no Mackie's to try or Yamaha HS80M's......I think I'll give that a miss and keep on checking the classifieds for a week or two.

I've not got too much experience but I'll chip in what I have plus I gave myself a huge great blister on my finger from too much guitar playing yesterday,lost my callouses from not playing for so long and I'm knackered for a few days to play again now.

I've seen some Samson Resolv8's for £65,if I can get them today I think I will that's not much more than a full tank of fuel for me so I could handle taking that as a loss if they're totally rubbish.
 
In my local classifieds today there are a pair of Tapco S8 which I believe are Mackie only made under a different name so I may have to go check them out.
 
and rubbish too according to a lot of forum posts I've found today (tapco S8)

Also considering Tannoy 501a now as well
 
miroslav said:
I was refering to...

View attachment 68411

...and his man Friday.
Click to expand...
I caught the Man Friday reference, it was Jimmy I was responding to. For some reason, when I was at school, this teacher would aim vague "Man Friday" comments my way.

To the OP, hunting down monitors when you've never had them before is trial and error, lucky hit or educated guess......or as you've done, informed opinion of others. But ultimately, it doesn't really matter what others think or what our experience has been because you might go with a recommendation and think it's a load of rastapopolous in practice. So really, take a plunge and see how you think they sound and whether or not you feel you can get somewhere with them.
I don't know how my monitors would rate among my peers and the mixing cognoscenti, probably 9 below zero. But they sound OK to me because I didn't know what monitors are supposed to sound like ! I've learned that a mix done on them will be punchier and boofier on my stereo. Which isn't too bad, I like a boofing bass drum. But at the same time, I have to remember to adjust.
I'm not saying ignore what you've read, quite the opposite actually. There's been real good stuff in this thread. Just that at some point you have to take the plunge and only you can take it.
 
Well said,if I can find a shop within a 90 minute drive where I can compare a few that's what I'll do.
I used the name Friday in a browser game I used to play,chose it because it had something to do with norse legend and the like but I'm happy if it's giving you guys a boost.
:laughings:
Fritag in german,something to do with a goddess named Freya if I re-collect. Odin,Thor and all the good ones were already gone :(

The prices on some of these monitors are just scary.
 
I paid £106 for a pair at this shop called Studiospares. They're made by the store themselves. Not at all bad. I've been using the shop for the best part of 19 years. I still have and use gear I bought from them in '92~'93. When I was researching monitors, the prices were scary. Being a cheapskate, it was good because tons of monitors were out of my league before I even started !
 
Lmao,that's a good point.My e-bay list is now a 4 full pages of monitors. There's an Alesis M1 320 for £85 tempting for someone like me with no clue as yet but only the 1 amp in the one speaker then cabled signal over to the other speaker so a bit off-putting. Intimidation XS6 around £250, Citronic ST6 at £230, Audix Ph15 at £200,ESI near05 £190,something with Ibiza written on the front for £140 and a set of Studiospares Aktiv6 for £240.
A pair of Behringer Truth BT 2031 just sold for £82 with stands but was a pick-up only a good way from me.

I'm familiar with the name Mackie as I came close to buying an audio interface built by them.I know guys who've had high quality Yamaha AV gear for years and Yammy always have a rep as making warm sounding hi-fi gear so the reviews of the Yammy monitors saying they're harsh is perplexing to me. I know Tannoy make serious PA kit so I found a place that sells both the Tannoy and the Yamaha and I'll give them a ring in the morning to see if I can demo both at the same time and if I can I'll get over there and see for myself.I have more faith in those 2 as brands if you like.
I hate paying top dollar for anything,often you can find the same product leaving the same factory but branded under a less well known name and find huge savings doesn't seem likely in this case though.
 
for classifieds check out preloved website and to check the book prices on used audio gear try prepal
hope this helps
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top