Nearfield monitors

[suprstar]

I know it's dumb, plz be nice:

Why do I need actual monitors to listen to during tracking/mixing/mastering? I have a million store bought cd's, I know what all kinds of music sounds like on my PA, PC, car, boombox, home stereo, etc. I know all these systems color the sound, while monitors have theoretically totally flat response curves. So what? I have a set of logitech Z2300's that sound awesome, why can't I mix/master on those until the levels/eq'ing/whatever are comparable to other music? Other ppl don't listen to music on flat response monitors, so why should I go spend hundreds of $$s when I already have lots of other good-great sounding speakers?

 

[Dogman]

Actually, there is no reason why you can't just do it on a system you like, regardless of what speakers you have. It's whatever works for you. I used pc speakers the last couple of years. I only just now got some inexpensive desktop monitors, as I wanted to try and make the sound where I mix as close to my home stereo as possible, as that is what I was using to listen to stuff I thought was close to done. But whatever gets the job done for you is the right way.

 

[jakestevens]

If you can get great mixes that sound good outside of your studio, go for it! If not, a good pair of nearfield monitors can let you hear exactly what's coming out of your system. A lot of consumer grade speakers do not represent what the actual sound sounds like. They may hype up the high and low frequency to make things sound better. So when you mix, you may think, cool, I have lots of bass and my mix is clear. Then you take it outside and play it on someone else's system and it sounds thin, no bass, too much bass, or too much treble. You then find out that your speakers lied to you. They put sonic make-up on and then when you played it outside, the ugly truth came out.

In the end, learn what your speakers represent and mix accordingly.

Good Luck!
Jake