Monitor advise

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gavantia

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Hello, I'm new here but I have been recording and involved with music for well over 10 years.

I'm looking to set-up a home studio and would love it if you guys could give me some general pointers as to which of these monitors would suit me best.

I can't decide between

KRK RP6, Dynaudio BM6a MKii, Adams p11a or possibly Mackie HR 824

My room is about 5 meters by 3.5 meters and not treated.

The main problem is not being able to directly test these myself. I need to know if the KRK RP6 do as good a job as the adams and dynaudios, or is there an obvious gulf in sound difference.

I'd rather spend £330 than a grand if the sound difference is negligible.

I've heard good reviews for the RP6s so I'm guessing they will do a good job. However I know full well that monitors are the most crucial part of your set-up so I wanna get this right.

The dilemma being if the RP6s suit my needs, I could spend the extra money on mics and other things, or is there really a difference in sound that warrants all that extra money. I am generally good at mixing once I get used to what I'm mixing on.
 
What kind of music are you doing?

I have only used KRKs a couple of times, but they seem fine, unflattering, not hypey.

The Adams are probably the most accurate, but it may be money out the window, depending on your skill level, other gear, and type of music.

If it were me, I'd buy the KRKs, spend some time listening to them and get to know their quirks, then go a head and record some stuff.
 
I'll be doing a mixture of music, but mainly guitar based stuff.

Acoustic guitar/vocal tracks with ambient stuff going on, full on rock stuff with drums: classic rock, metal, punk, jazz, blues etc

a big mix of stuff mainly on the instrumental side of things ie not hip hop or electro
 
I've just got the RP6s and really liking them so far.


I auditioned the KRKs, A7s, HR624(mk2), BM5a and a cheap pair of M-audios (as a reference-point) beforehand...

I didn't really like the Mackies at all, though I couldn't put my finger on why; the low end was quite boomy, which was probably down to their placement and the passive bass radiator on the back, though it was similar placement to how they would have been in my room at home so I decided to cross them off the list.

Adams and KRKs are front ported, so I deemed them to be a bit more suitable for my room. Overall a very close call between the Adams and Dynaudio, though I think the Adams probably won out - there was something about the high-mids on the BM5a that my ears didn't like, though in reality this is probably something that would have been a benefit in the long run - after all monitors aren't meant to sound pleasing, they're meant to be reveal the music in all its ugliness!

But all the time, the KRKs were sat there, not standing out as being anything amazingly special, but nothing particularly wrong with them either! In the end I decided that any small differences would probably have been negated the acoustics of my room and positioning once I got them out of the nice listening room and shoved them in my bedroom.

They're obviously not the best, in fact they would probably still be classed as 'budget gear', but if you can't achieve reasonably consistent, balanced and translatable mixes using them then you've got far bigger issues than your monitors :p

So for what you pay for them, they're brilliant.

Maybe in a few years time I'll head back and pick up some Adams, but for now I don't think the KRKs are limiting me in any way. I've found I no longer reach for the headphones when I need to listen analytically whilst EQ'ing or something, whereas before I couldn't accurately judge what I was doing without them.
 
Thanks for replying.

Its good to hear opinions from people who have actually heard the speakers. I just need something I can mix on, I wanna work up to pro sounding mixes. I could achieve a pro sound now if I had the gear.

I have been trained in sound engineering by professionals at 2 different colleges, so I know my way around a studio. Setting up a good one at home has so many headaches though.

Room treatments and good quality gear in order to make pro sounds will take a while to build up. Thats why I wanna start with good monitors; I wanna make sure I'm getting a good quality set so as at some point in the near future I'm not gonna think what the hell did I buy these for.

I wanna make my own album over the next year or so and then pay for it to be professionally mastered. I'd rather make it myself then go into a studio, there is something self fulfilling about knowing I recorded it.

Do you think the KRK RP6 will suit me still? As long as they are clear across the mids, highs and lows with a good stereo image I don't see why not. Even though the Adams will be alot better at doing it, surely its still just a case of getting to know your monitors no matter what they are (obviously there has to be a certain standard met)
 
I apologize to others for my copied post (another thread), but here's a tip that helped me a lot...

I'm in the camp that thinks it's important to try monitors in your own studio space, especially if you're unable to change the acoustics of that space very much. When I bought my last monitors, I did a lot of research, here and elsewhere, and then chose three models to compare at home. One highly recommended model sounded terrible in my place; one was just OK, but the third was the charm. I returned the others for a few extra bucks in gas and shipping--a small price for long-term satisfaction. I'd suggest doing the same if you can swing it, regardless of which boxes you're considering. Comparing them is actually a lot of fun, too. Just be sure to check return policies, of course. Good luck.
 
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