I realise that Monitors are your "ears" but how important would it be for me to buy monitors right now (considering i dont have much money and only work a little in school holidays). I currently have yamaha YST-MS55D speakers. I only have a small mixer B-602a, nt1, other dynamics and k5000w workstation. I'm just doing small stuff for myself. How much of a difference would real monitors make?
Monitors - How important?
- Thread starter Mealz
- Start date
Blue Bear Sound
New member
Well.... what's the difference in sound quality when listening to a portable transistor radio vs. a good-quality home stereo....?!??! Pretty significant...
Same with monitors... how do you know if it sounds good if you can't hear what's going "to tape"?
You need to hear what you're working with to be able to track properly or to create a good mix.....!!!
Same with monitors... how do you know if it sounds good if you can't hear what's going "to tape"?
You need to hear what you're working with to be able to track properly or to create a good mix.....!!!
Slackmaster2K
Gone
The difference is night and day. The difference is being able to be fairly confident that your mix will sound the way you would expect it to given a wide range of playback systems. The difference is being able to hear your music and not something that kind of sort of sounds like what you might have recorded.
Once you can hear what you're really recording, your mixes will improve very quickly. I would say that the two most important things I have purchased in my short time recording have been monitors and a decent soundcard. Recording is no fun when you can't reproduce the sounds your making, and mixing is no fun when you can't really hear what you recorded.
I can almost guarantee that if you purchased a pair of monitors and played back one of your mixes you'd be able to hear about a dozen ways in which the mix could instantly be improved.
Note that monitors are not necessarily flattering either. They don't always sound as good as high quality hi fi speakers for just listening to music. However, they will be consistant and make all those little imperfections stick out like sore thumbs.
Slackmaster 2000
Once you can hear what you're really recording, your mixes will improve very quickly. I would say that the two most important things I have purchased in my short time recording have been monitors and a decent soundcard. Recording is no fun when you can't reproduce the sounds your making, and mixing is no fun when you can't really hear what you recorded.
I can almost guarantee that if you purchased a pair of monitors and played back one of your mixes you'd be able to hear about a dozen ways in which the mix could instantly be improved.
Note that monitors are not necessarily flattering either. They don't always sound as good as high quality hi fi speakers for just listening to music. However, they will be consistant and make all those little imperfections stick out like sore thumbs.
Slackmaster 2000
christiaan
Active member
Too bad that the hifi speaker -> monitor upgrade is the most expensive one to make for some...
Paying at least €/$400-500 for a pair that would be considered remotely decent is for some a big deal.. Like me. Are cheaper monitors really as worthless as some try to believe us?
Paying at least €/$400-500 for a pair that would be considered remotely decent is for some a big deal.. Like me. Are cheaper monitors really as worthless as some try to believe us?
Aaron Cheney
Favorite Chord: C 6/9
Yes, they are.
You should build your studio from the "outside in". i.e.: Make good monitors your first and greatest priority.
The reason I say this is becuase without good monitors you have no way to make sound judgements on any other piece of gear you own, let alone your mixes.
Aaron
http://www.voodoovibe.com
You should build your studio from the "outside in". i.e.: Make good monitors your first and greatest priority.
The reason I say this is becuase without good monitors you have no way to make sound judgements on any other piece of gear you own, let alone your mixes.
Aaron
http://www.voodoovibe.com
Chibi Nappa
New member
How important are monitors?
*stretches his arms way out*
Thiiiiiiiiiiiisss important!
Recording and mixing was almost random hit or miss luck before I got my monitors. The most important part of a good mix is propper recording before hand. If you don't know exactly what you recorded in the first place, how do you know if it's right? A bad monitoring situation hits durring the recording, and comes back to hit you again at mixdown time.
*stretches his arms way out*
Thiiiiiiiiiiiisss important!
Recording and mixing was almost random hit or miss luck before I got my monitors. The most important part of a good mix is propper recording before hand. If you don't know exactly what you recorded in the first place, how do you know if it's right? A bad monitoring situation hits durring the recording, and comes back to hit you again at mixdown time.
So the difference between hi-fi speakers and monitors is significant. What about the difference between a $200 pair and a $600+ pair of monitors (passives)?
A monitor should not color the sound. Is it correct saying that to not color the sound it should have a flat frequncy responce curve? If so shouldn't all monitors sound about the same? If monitors don't all sound the same, how do you know what is recorded?
A monitor should not color the sound. Is it correct saying that to not color the sound it should have a flat frequncy responce curve? If so shouldn't all monitors sound about the same? If monitors don't all sound the same, how do you know what is recorded?
Aaron Cheney
Favorite Chord: C 6/9
Calibrate your ears...
A truly flat frequency response is sort of like absolute zero: it only exists in theory. Every monitor pair is different, based on a million different factors. Given that, some are going to do a better job than others. You should purchase the best you can afford, and then calibrate your ears to them.
Most people regard them as sub-standard these days, but lots of great mixes have been done on Yamaha NSM10's. That's because many engineers are intimitely familiar with the way they sound, know their shortcomings, and have learned to mix around them.
On the other hand, many cheap monitors will never give you a clear enough picture for you to make good mixing decisions, no matter how familiar you are with them. (particularly in the low end.) They simply don't have the freq. response or imaging to tell you what you need to know.
Aaron
http://www.voodoovibe.com
A truly flat frequency response is sort of like absolute zero: it only exists in theory. Every monitor pair is different, based on a million different factors. Given that, some are going to do a better job than others. You should purchase the best you can afford, and then calibrate your ears to them.
Most people regard them as sub-standard these days, but lots of great mixes have been done on Yamaha NSM10's. That's because many engineers are intimitely familiar with the way they sound, know their shortcomings, and have learned to mix around them.
On the other hand, many cheap monitors will never give you a clear enough picture for you to make good mixing decisions, no matter how familiar you are with them. (particularly in the low end.) They simply don't have the freq. response or imaging to tell you what you need to know.
Aaron
http://www.voodoovibe.com
Aaron Cheney
Favorite Chord: C 6/9
BTW, by "calibrating" your ears, I mean listening to lots of good mixes through your monitors so that you become familiar with what they sound like, and then try to pattern your mixes after that.
Aaron
http://www.voodoovibe.com
Aaron
http://www.voodoovibe.com