Monitors: What's Important?

[mrface2112]

Also, I sort of get the feeling that I don't know what I don't know. There's no way for me to know what I'm missing, since I'm missing it; ya know?

i hear THAT loud and clear. that's *exactly* what i experienced when i upgraded from my maudio sp5b's to ASP8's. i heard so many things in both my mixes and commercial recordings that i had never heard before that i was really, really amazed.

bottom line, i always knew there was a significant difference between $300 and $1200 monitors.....i just didn't expect it to be the dramatic difference that it was.


cheers,
wade

 

[Nate74]

Wade, can I consider that a vote for ASP8's?

BTW, the guy at the local 2nd hand guitar shop says that if I pay cash, he'll do the set of 824's for $750. I'll be swinging by there tonight after the SC game.

Fight On!!!

 

[mrface2112]

you can consider it two votes, actually--one for each ear.

that's a pretty good price on the 824's. i've never been a big fan of them myself--something about them doesn't fit with the way i work. a buddy's got a pair and they work real well for him, though (plus, he's been "getting to know them" for 6 or 7 years now). diff'rent strokes and different ears.

personally, i think the ASP8's were designed for/targeted at the people who disliked the 824's. it's all a conspiracy.

i assume you've taken them for a test-drive in the store? and can you return them if you want (or need) to? (just making sure--sometimes GAS-inspired excitement overrides the rational brain )

congrats in advance and good luck!


cheers,
wade

 

[Nate74]

you can consider it two votes, actually--one for each ear.

that's a pretty good price on the 824's. i've never been a big fan of them myself--something about them doesn't fit with the way i work. a buddy's got a pair and they work real well for him, though (plus, he's been "getting to know them" for 6 or 7 years now). diff'rent strokes and different ears.

personally, i think the ASP8's were designed for/targeted at the people who disliked the 824's. it's all a conspiracy.

i assume you've taken them for a test-drive in the store? and can you return them if you want (or need) to? (just making sure--sometimes GAS-inspired excitement overrides the rational brain )

congrats in advance and good luck!


cheers,
wade

Wade, thanks for the input. It's really really appriciated.

I'll confirm I can return 'em, but at $750, I could probably put 'em on ebay and make $100 or so.

So um... what are some of the differences between the ASP8's and the 824's?

 

[mrface2112]

So um... what are some of the differences between the ASP8's and the 824's?

the differences are subjective and dependent upon the set of ears making them, as essentially they're aimed at a similar target audience and seek to fill a similar market niche in the 8in $1000 mid/nearfield monitor category.

personally, i *really* like the way the ASP8's sound and the way they help me get my mixes to a place where they translate well. some folks want something like NS10's where you have to really work to get a good mix and nothing ever really sounds very *good*. the ASP8's will give you immediate feedback if something's not well-recorded (it just sounds bad), but overall they're a lot of fun to listen to--so when something sounds good on em, it just plain *sounds good*. this really helps me when getting sounds--if the guitar sounds great then i know i'm there.

there's something in the lows on the 824's that i don't like--like maybe they're overinflated or flabby (floppy?) or something, whereas i find the ASP8's to be tighter sounding as well as more natural sounding as you hit the sub-100Hz range. i also find the highs on the 824's to be strident or hard sounding, whereas the ASP8's are clear and present but not overly so.

keep in mind i've heard the exact same things said with the names swapped, so YMMV. this is why monitors are such a personal choice. you can only trust your ears.

i hope the 824's work well for you and give you improved results! that's the point of upgrades, after all, isn't it? and if they don't, yeah, you can prolly make a few pesos on ebay.


cheers,
wade

PS--one tip: you may need to place these further apart (and therefore you further back) than your yorkies. i've found that my ASP8's are *not* happy any less than 4ft apart--the stereo image collapses. i've got mine about 5.5ft apart. so if things feel a little strange, move em out a little bit.