New monitors or D-A or both?

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laptoppop

Musical Technogeek
I'm trying to figure out what the next purchase should be to improve my listening.

My room is suprisingly good - just a household room, but its about 20x20x20 with big doors to other rooms and various furniture throughout - causes a nice mixture of absorbtion and diffusion. No echo that I can tell.

My current monitoring is very low end. I'm running a pair of powered monitors (Audix Ph15)that I got for $100. directly off my computer's sound from the motherboard (C-Media on an Asus P4 mboard). OK, yah, I know - if I can't HEAR it, how the HECK can I mix it?

My question is - with a budget of about $500 or so, should I replace just the monitors, or should I also change to a different D-A setup? If I do change the D-A - what's cheap and good? In other words, should I spend $500 on new powered monitors, or ?$400 on monitors and ?$100 on improving the D-A chain?

The music I mix is typically folk and acoustic right now, if that makes a difference.

Thanks,
-lee-
 
I just got a pair of M-Audio SP-8B monitors and I like them better than the Alesis Monitor Ones I was using. Musician's Friend may still have a pair of SP-8Bs on sale for $300 - worth checking out. M-Audio also makes audio cards worth checking out but I have no personal experience. You may be able to get both within your budget.
 
Dan, I would never discourage anyone from spending more on monitors, but the Audix aren't bad. What does alarm me in reading your post is that your sound is coming from your motherboard. Blech!

If you're using a computer for playback monitoring, get a decent audio interface. I don't know what you're requirements are for channels of A/D and D/A, so I hesitate to make recommendations. If it's just stereo in and out, you can easily get decent quality for the budget you state. Lynx makes a helluva card.
-kent
 
I'd like more, but for right now, my primary *need* is clean stereo out.

Of course, the answers raise more questions :)

How are the converters in a couple of the popular control surfaces? In particular, the Tascam 428 or the Event EzBus? The EzBus in particular looks quite interesting. If I can get a full control surface for just a bit more than the Lynx (albeit fewer channels)....

Opinions?

Thanks,
-lee-
 
I have no experience with any control surfaces, so I've no comment to offer as to their value. I can only repeat my point. While upgrading monitors is almost always desirable, yours is a case where the signal you're feeding them is severely compromised.

I'd venture to say that almost any pro audio (non-gamer) interface is going to be a worthwhile upgrade. Quality a/d and d/a is one of the nicest things you can do for computer recording.
-kent
 
Yes, Kent is right.

Though it pains me to say, don't upgrade your monitors just yet. Buy a decent sound card and save for better monitors later.

I always say that speakers are the weakest link in any audio chain and therefore should likely be the single most expensive components you buy. But, that statement contains the unwritten assumption that none of the other components are complete crap. Onboard sound cards are almost always complete crap.

barefoot
 
id go for both converters and monitors......

Delta Audiophile2496 and a pair of Tannoy ProtoJ's and a small Hafler amp wont set you back much more than your $500 budget.....
 
Agreed. That would do the trick. This needn't be an either/or proposition.
-kent
 
OK, I've got my new monitors, and MAN what a great difference!

I'm sure Audix makes some other gear that's OK, but these little monitors are not very good for mixing.

I went to a bunch of stores in the area, but no one had the Yorkvilles or the Tannoys, but I took some of my own mixes and some reference CDs and auditioned what they did have. I ended up with the Fostex PM-1's and they sound great to me. Specs: +/- 2dB from 50-20K, +/- 10 dB from 38-23.5K. All I know is that I am really hearing my music clearly now with no hype. I really knew these mixes, because I've been carrying them around to different environments, from cars to home stereos to boom boxes to high end monitors, and the Fostex speakers seemed to be able to reveal all the warts in the mixes that I would hear on other systems. I'm sure I'll get better to where they aren't good enough, but for now, I'm a happy happy camper.

I'm still pumping it out from the integrated sound (crystal) on my Asus motherboard. What would you recommend as the best way to get good analog out of my PC cheaply? Would the converters in a cheapo tascam mixing surface be better?

Thanks,
-lee-
 
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