Need choice on great quality but cheap, first studio monitor. And few questions..

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1jordyzzz

New member
This is my first post, hi i'm jordy, and i came from korg forums and gearslutz also (but i'm a noob).

I currently want to buy my first studio monitor.. My room is untreated (for not long), now i want to buy a monitor.. Awesome folks at gearslutz recommend an Equator D5, which is cheap, but had many good reviews.. Is is good?? BTW I'm not going to KRK's, as i've heard it and many people said mixes on them will not sound so good on other system.. I'm also leaning towards HS80, but due to my small room, and it's backside ports, it probably won't do well on my room, but i have read good reviews on it also.. Anymore recommendation??

And while browsing on Gearslutz also, i've learned that people, when they bought a new monitors, they listen to a pink noise for a long time through those monitors.. What's the purpose of that??

Anyway, thank you very much.. I hope i can learn much from here :D
 
You should listen to a number of commercial songs you're familiar with (reference tracks) through any monitors you use. The reason those folks said their KRK mixes don't translate well to other systems could be because they've never heard what a professional mix sounds like through the KRKs.
 
1jordyzzz said:
well like i said, i'm a noob :D
So, i suppose you are recommending a KRK?
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I'm not recommending anything, except that you listen to your reference tracks on the monitors you intend to use before you start mixing. That goes for the best, most expensive monitors as well as the budget models.
 
My problem is that i live in a province on Indonesia, not it's capital.. Few people here had a decent monitor speaker and no shops provide a floor model... So i need recommendation from expert..
 
No offense here, but you're not helping me...

I know you're an expert. I just want to know a good monitor recommendation..
 
1jordyzzz said:
No offense here, but you're not helping me...

I know you're an expert. I just want to know a good monitor recommendation..
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You have been given some good advice. Here it is again: whichever monitors you end up using, make sure you listen to commercial tracks through them as a reference so you know how your song should sound to be comparable and sound good on other systems.

More advice: once you've made a mix, listen to it on other speakers & headphones to see how it sounds, then go back and adjust the mix to make it sound better on multiple systems.

Nobody has said to buy or not buy KRK monitors. They will do the job as well as many others in their price range. Whatever you do get, you need to learn how they sound and therefore how to mix well on them.
 
What people are telling you is very true, The key point is REFERENCING your mixes against commercial mixes and on different systems, I mix in a very small room and my acoustic treatment leaves a lot to be desired, and I have the KRK rokit 5's. But I know the sound of my room, because I've referenced so many of my mixes on other systems, i.e. playstation through the television, home stereo, laptop and car. I also know how commercial mixes sound on these systems. So go out and buy any studio monitors you like, KRK or otherwise and reference, reference, reference, reference and reference. Also what I do is listen to mixes from different places in my room, for example I know how a mix should sound when sitting in my mixing position, and when I'm standing in the corner behind my left shoulder or when I'm standing at the door of my room, and a mix generally sounds different in each of the three places, but I know how a mix should sound in each of these three places if it's gonna be any good and balanced on other systems. So go and buy some monitors and spend the time to do the above and you'll begin to get better mixes that translate to different systems..... And just one little tip I want to throw in, Listen to your mix from outside the door of your room, this will show you if there's anything sticking out in your mix, I find this is particularly useful when deciding on the level of my vocals.....

So here's the short answer to your question, and no offense, It doesn't matter what monitors you buy just learn how to use them.
 
sausy1981 said:
So here's the short answer to your question, and no offense, It doesn't matter what monitors you buy just learn how to use them.
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This is true enough.
Sure, there are 'better' and 'worse' monitors out there, but your listening environment and position therein is likely to have a greater impact on your judgement than the difference between monitor A and monitor B.

Whatever your buy, spend hours listening to commercial music through them. This will make you familiar with how things should sound through those monitors in that environment.

I mixed the CD in my sig through a big ol pair of wharfedale HIFI speakers because my monitors were in storage.
When I finally got my monitors back and checked the mixes I was actually happy with them because I spent the time referencing commercial material through the wharfedales before making any decisions.

Bottom line - I got to know them.
 
I use KRK Rokit 5's. Prolly pay around 300 for the pair. I love em.

Here's the deal though... before you mix ANYTHING through them, listen to music through them every day for like, a week, so your ears get used to how music sounds through them.

ALSO if you aren't working in a tempered room designed for mastering you WILL have to go back and fix stuff.
 
1jordyzzz said:
No offense here, but you're not helping me...

I know you're an expert. I just want to know a good monitor recommendation..
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No offense taken. I'm not an expert and don't claim to be. I do know that the one piece of advice you're going to hear over and over again on these forums is "use your ears". Don't get hung up on brand names. There probably isn't that much difference among the powered near field monitors in a given price range. No one can tell you over the Internet which ones will work best in your studio environment. For that reason, it's important to know what a good commercial mix sounds like when played back in your environment. It will help adjust your ears to the characteristics of the monitors and the room so that you're not deceived by them.
 
1jordyzzz said:
Awesome folks at gearslutz recommend an Equator D5, which is cheap, but had many good reviews.. Is is good??
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Probably not if they're cheap. Cheap and good just do not go together with monitors. Can you make great mixes on cheap monitors? Absolutely. You can make great mixes on a pair of cheap Senny headphones. I've done it a couple times here, posted the results, and no one noticed. The only important part is what everyone else keeps trying to tell you- learn the monitors, headphones, whatever so you know how your mixes will translate to other systems.

Tell Gearslutz we said hi.
 
diggy_dude said:
If you don't have access to "monitors", a good stereo amp and speakers will do.
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Stereo speakers and headphones are configured through their EQ curve to enhance the sound coming out through them where as studio reference monitors are not configured for enhancement but to allow you to hear all the little nuances within the recording which will then allow you to set these parameters and hopefully sound fantastic through stereo speakers or headphones.
I personally use a pair of Roland DS90A digital reference monitors (1000.00) for the pair and it took me quite a while to adjust my ears to these guys before I was getting some decent mixes.
Have used the KRK's in the past and really liked the sound of them but got the Roland's because I thought I needed something better but more expensive doesn't always mean better...it's all what you attune your ears to and what really sounds good to you.
And yes, I would recommend the KRK's.
 
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