Studio monitor adivce, please.

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B.A. Stone

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I'm looking for monitors for a small home studio, 12X14 or so, for pop/rock. Have about $500 to spend and am considering KRK V4 Series 2. Anyone have any experience with these? Anyone have alternatives in the same price range?
 
even though I can't stand krk, the v4's are a decent option if you want to save space. otherwise, for $100 more, the tr8xl by event are fantastic for that price. And I guarrantee if you walk into a guitar center and say you'll by these if they give them to you for 500, they will do it.

i should also mention, if you want a sub, blue sky makes a fantastic set of speakers for 500. I think its the media desk 2.1
 
I am a KRK user from way back.

I have a pair of Rockit5's --- which are the smallest ones they make --- here at home and wouln't think about trading them in for anything else because I listened to everything else out there just to be sure I wasn't missing anything before parting with my dough. I was underwhelmed, to say the least, by the whole Event line, and found Blue Sky too insubstantial for the kind of music I usually mix.

If the speakers sound bad with commercial music going thru them, your mixes don't stand a chance. Take a favorite CD or three to your local pro audio store and have them play it for you over the systems you are considering. Listen for detail as well as balance. When you've found the one that sounds good to you, you've found your monitor.
 
n8tron said:
i should also mention, if you want a sub, blue sky makes a fantastic set of speakers for 500. I think its the media desk 2.1
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good suggestion.... I payed $480.00 shipped off of ebay...I'm really happy with them.
 
ssscientist said:
If the speakers sound bad with commercial music going thru them, your mixes don't stand a chance. Take a favorite CD or three to your local pro audio store and have them play it for you over the systems you are considering. Listen for detail as well as balance. When you've found the one that sounds good to you, you've found your monitor.
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This is about the worst advice there is!
Don't ever buy a monitor that sounds "good", buy a monitor that is flat, accurate and true.
The only way to be sure it is accurate and flat is to look at the specs and run an RTA in your room and see if what you got is flat.
Buying monitors for their sound is like buying a car for its looks....yeah it might look good, but in the end it might not gonna ride good and cost a lot.
 
On three occasions I listened through every monitor available at the Guitar Center. Each time, I left believing that the M-Audio BX8a's were the clear winner. I finally bought them for $500 (pr) and I'm very pleased. My mixes have traveled extremely well since I started using them.

I recommend these as the best monitor for that price range. The next time you compare monitors, listen to these and compare them to the KRK's. I think you may be as surprised as I was. The M-Audio's were undoubtedly the better near-field monitor. What I noticed most was how clear and accurate they were. The balance between the lows and hi's was noticeably better than its peers. They reveal everything in the mix, both good and bad.

Regarding the previous post, I agree to an extent. Flat, balanced, and accurate is the standard criteria for good studio monitors; however, I trust my ears. Even flat, balanced, and accurate monitors will sound great when playing back a professionally mastered commercial CD. I never rely on specs alone. Everything has to be taken into consideration, but in the end, all that matters is how well those monitors represent the true audio you are producing. When you achieve that, then you'll notice that your mixes will sound great on all playback systems.

Having said that, it's very subjective. KRK's are great, but in this case, not the best choice for me. I hope this helped.
 
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TheDewd said:
Don't ever buy a monitor that sounds "good", buy a monitor that is flat, accurate and true.
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Hmmmmm.

If I'm going to spend 8 hours a day sitting in front of a pair of speakers I want ones that sound good. I believe in trusting my ears first and gadgets --- like an 'RTA' --- second if at all.

OK with you?

Good.





.
 
Personally, I do not care for the Event's, the Mackie's, or the M-Audio's. I like the KRK's OK, but would reccomend holding out until you can get something larger than the V4's. You might also want to look into used Tannoy. SOmething like the Reveal's or the System8's:)
 
ssscientist said:
Hmmmmm.

If I'm going to spend 8 hours a day sitting in front of a pair of speakers I want ones that sound good. I believe in trusting my ears first and gadgets --- like an 'RTA' --- second if at all.

OK with you?

Good.





.
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Well for a guy named "ssscientist" I think you rely on subjectivity a little too much :rolleyes:
Ears are about the most subjective thing there is.
 
There is certainly at least one thing far more subjective than ears... that would be what sounds good or bad as far as audio is concerned. It is important to remember that specs are tools. In the audio industry however even given specs are subjective. Flat is not the only consideration to look for in a monitor. If that was true than there would only be one brand and model of monitors on the market. If you can't use your ears in this industry, than you have no business being in this industry.
 
xstatic said:
There is certainly at least one thing far more subjective than ears... that would be what sounds good or bad as far as audio is concerned. It is important to remember that specs are tools. In the audio industry however even given specs are subjective. Flat is not the only consideration to look for in a monitor. If that was true than there would only be one brand and model of monitors on the market. If you can't use your ears in this industry, than you have no business being in this industry.
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Ears are used to make mixing and mastering decisions, but shouldn't be used to assess the quality and flatness of monitors.
Flat is not the only consideration? Explain how and why please.
 
Ask any engineer who makes a living making music. Ask them if their monitors are flat? They will all tell you that they aren't (assuming they know any better). So what exactly is flat? How is it measured? In what acoustic scenario? based on what scale? etc... etc... etc...

I do firmly agree though that the quality speakers typically avoid having extremely hyped areas, strive for uniformity at different output levels etc... There are MANY more qualities to a speaker besides just "flat".
 
xstatic said:
Ask any engineer who makes a living making music. Ask them if their monitors are flat? They will all tell you that they aren't (assuming they know any better). So what exactly is flat? How is it measured? In what acoustic scenario? based on what scale? etc... etc... etc...

I do firmly agree though that the quality speakers typically avoid having extremely hyped areas, strive for uniformity at different output levels etc... There are MANY more qualities to a speaker besides just "flat".
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In my mind, you have to strive for the flattest, truest, most honest monitors you can afford and even then, save up some more since flat monitoring is essential.
Of course, no monitor is 100% flat, but with measurement tools available today (ask Coolcat) you can fine tune the room and the monitors so that you have a near perfectly flat frequency and phase response.
Mixing and mastering is about taking actions which require judging how the mix sounds.
Honest and flat monitors allow this, while "pleasant" monitors always sound good to the ears, which is clearly NOT what you want.
 
Dewd, I do agree with you strongly, to a certain extent. Flat is definately an important aspect to look for, but there is so much more than just that in a speaker. Two speakers can meter nearly the same, yet still sound VERY different. The same goes with mics, converters, preamps, etc... I know that in a way (scientifically) that does not make sense, but it certainly does not mean that it is not true. For instance... two monitors specs may be nearlky identical, but one of them tires your ears out after 1 hour, and the other takes 10. I know for certain which one of those I want;)
 
xstatic said:
but one of them tires your ears out after 1 hour, and the other takes 10. I know for certain which one of those I want
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So do I! What a co-inky-dink!









(And I'm not really a ssscientist, Mr. Dewd. I just play one on TV.)
 
xstatic said:
Dewd, I do agree with you strongly, to a certain extent. Flat is definately an important aspect to look for, but there is so much more than just that in a speaker. Two speakers can meter nearly the same, yet still sound VERY different. The same goes with mics, converters, preamps, etc... I know that in a way (scientifically) that does not make sense, but it certainly does not mean that it is not true. For instance... two monitors specs may be nearlky identical, but one of them tires your ears out after 1 hour, and the other takes 10. I know for certain which one of those I want;)
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Who care if it tires your ears?
The point is not for monitors to be "soft" on the ears, rather to be accurate and hard on them.
 
If you live in the real world, than you certainly do care. If a monitor is dead ass flat it won't mean a damned thing if your ears are shot after 1 hour. Unless of course you plan on always doing all of your work in one hour sessions.... What good is a flat monitor if what you are interpreting is skewed?
 
xstatic said:
If you live in the real world, than you certainly do care. If a monitor is dead ass flat it won't mean a damned thing if your ears are shot after 1 hour. Unless of course you plan on always doing all of your work in one hour sessions.... What good is a flat monitor if what you are interpreting is skewed?
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Ask this question to all NS-10 users and we'll see... :D
The NS-10 is far from flat and far from non-fatiguing, so it's about the worst monitoring device ever!
People who master (are capable of doing good things with...) those monitors are geniuses.
 
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