Studio Monitors on a budget

C

Captain Whisky

New member
Hey folks,

So been needing to get myself a pair of studio monitors for some time now. Have a fairly large room to mix in that is well sound proofed so need some good speakers for mixes and just for general use. So many choices it's hard to know where to begin. Are KRK's as great as people make them out to be? My budget it around £200 so needing some suggestions for this price range. Would really appreciate some advice on this from some more experienced people on here.

Many thanks
 
KRKs are not well loved here - but every person has their own likes/dislikes.
That's a fairly low budget for a 'large room' and I assume when you say 'sound proof' you mean you have acoustic treatment (I.e rockwool traps) in the room?
My JBL LSR305s cost about that for the pair. FOr a 'large room' I'd recommend 8" speakers, but don't think you have the budget.
 
mjbphotos said:
KRKs are not well loved here - but every person has their own likes/dislikes.
That's a fairly low budget for a 'large room' and I assume when you say 'sound proof' you mean you have acoustic treatment (I.e rockwool traps) in the room?
My JBL LSR305s cost about that for the pair. FOr a 'large room' I'd recommend 8" speakers, but don't think you have the budget.
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Hello, thanks for the reply. I have heard mixed things about KRK's but somehow they kind of became the trendy go to monitors which is why I am wanting to avoid them. The room isn't actually treated but it is very isolated from outside noise disturbance. So I have been looking at the Yamaha HS5's and HS7's, judging from the reviews they seem to have a pretty flat response and are good value for money. What do you think?
 
Equator D5's are about the only "really budget friendly" monitors that I didn't want to throw into a tire fire.

Your monitoring chain is far and away, without question, the absolute most important part of your rig. If there's one place not to be overly frugal, that's it. Well, and the space, of course -- The best monitoring chain in the world is only as accurate and consistent as the space they're in.

Blah, blah, blah -- Even if it takes you extra (weeks? months? YEARS?), take the time and get something that will be worth the purchase.
 
You've got to look at acoustic treatment, or it won't make a big difference how much you spend on your monitors.
 
mjbphotos said:
You've got to look at acoustic treatment, or it won't make a big difference how much you spend on your monitors.
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^^^^^^Most important answer you're gonna get to your question. ^^^^

And yes......IMO stay far away from KRK products in your price range. Trendy for a while.........but the real results are not good. As massive has said......the Equator D5's have a good rep in your price range but I think they might need a sub (as do many 5" and 6" monitors) so consider that. The JLB 305's will reach down low and do the job without a sub for the most part and so will the Tannoy 502's. Every brand in your price range............and even higher ranges........comes with some sort of compromise..............so expect a learning curve. However..........there is no greater compromise for any monitor than a badly treated room.
 
Thank you for the replies guys I appreciate it. I don't have the funds yet to treat my room so much, I'll have to do make do with how it is at the moment. It's quite large rectangle shaped room with my set up in the middle. Perhaps I should consider some larger monitors then considering the room is quite large? For a similar price range to the D5's I could get a the Yamaha HS7's so would it not be worth going for something like that? As with all studio gear it can be very difficult to pick a product and go with it, even harder when your budget and time is limited.
 
I have the LSR 305's in a 12'x13'x8' "mostly" treated room. They work pretty well for me. My theory (perhaps flawed?) is the sound will not bounce around as much with the smaller monitors. I do have simple traps in the corners, a couple bats for first reflections, a small cloud overhead, and a couple more on the front and back walls. I think I spent just a couple hundred on the roxul and frames. It does give me a pretty good sense of how it will translate to the outside world.
 
wmalan said:
I have the LSR 305's in a 12'x13'x8' "mostly" treated room. They work pretty well for me. My theory (perhaps flawed?) is the sound will not bounce around as much with the smaller monitors. I do have simple traps in the corners, a couple bats for first reflections, a small cloud overhead, and a couple more on the front and back walls. I think I spent just a couple hundred on the roxul and frames. It does give me a pretty good sense of how it will translate to the outside world.
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Hmm well I haven't really seen anyone say many negatives about the Yamaha HS series so far and for just £50 more I could get the HS7s which is probably worth the extra. I see what you're saying this room is fairly large though, 28ft long and 13ft wide. It's awkward as well because there are two different ceiling heights and this room has been converted from an old concrete type barn. So to treat this room would be very very difficult.
 
People make excuses about not treating thier rooms for years (I did). And then when they finally do ... it's like someone turned on a light. "Oh, wow.. you guys were right all along!"
 
Captain Whisky said:
Hmm well I haven't really seen anyone say many negatives about the Yamaha HS series so far and for just £50 more I could get the HS7s which is probably worth the extra. I see what you're saying this room is fairly large though, 28ft long and 13ft wide. It's awkward as well because there are two different ceiling heights and this room has been converted from an old concrete type barn. So to treat this room would be very very difficult.
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That room can be treated..........and obviously.........should be. As for no one saying anything bad about the Yamaha's...........it's not because we think they're good or bad...........it's just that discussing the basic detail differences between monitors in your price range is far more appropriate and useful when we have a good idea of the room you're going to use...........how it's treated.....and the type of music you intend to record / produce the most. So......we have a good idea of the room you're going to use and how it's treated (or not).....and that sort of stops us in our tracks as far as giving you really good advice about your monitors.
 
Mickster said:
That room can be treated..........and obviously.........should be. As for no one saying anything bad about the Yamaha's...........it's not because we think they're good or bad...........it's just that discussing the basic detail differences between monitors in your price range is far more appropriate and useful when we have a good idea of the room you're going to use...........how it's treated.....and the type of music you intend to record / produce the most. So......we have a good idea of the room you're going to use and how it's treated (or not).....and that sort of stops us in our tracks as far as giving you really good advice about your monitors.
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Understandable, I'm not disagreeing with anyone saying that the room should not be treated, I agree and surely it must make a big difference! This room is very awkward to treat however. Currently I do not have the funds to buy monitors and treat the room at this stage. I am limited to where I can put my desk to the furniture in here also. The music I will be working on will be very diverse as I am hoping to go freelance writing music for film, TV, games etc. I am currently building up a portfolio and luckily I will be doing my final year at university in September so I will have access to some brilliant studios. So at this time all I need is a decent pair of versatile monitors to get me through, I can't treat the room at this stage so I will just have to do the best I can with what I have.
 
Captain Whisky said:
Thank you for the replies guys I appreciate it. I don't have the funds yet to treat my room so much,
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If you can DIY it, it's not expensive and it's not difficult. Search through the Studio Build forum for ideas. I put up a thread several years ago on how I did my acoustic treatment. I spent less than $200. Your room is part of your monitors. Despite an odd shaped room, you can still do the basic treatment. 1st reflection points, cloud, corners. Best bang for the buck and you won't hear it yourself, but others will.

People don't respond to specific monitor questions because most of us have not had the opportunity to do side by side comparisons.
 
Pawn shops have great deals if you can find them...My NS10s were being sold as bookshelf speakers...got them for $50
 
You got lucky. Most pawnshops nowadays aren't naive. Usually someone comes in with something and an employee gets right onto ebay looking at closed listings for that item.
They are trying to determine if what you have is even worth their while, what to give you for it, and what they expect to sell it for.

I guess on your Ns10s, they didnt do that. :D
 
They *are* bookshelf speakers. Even the "NS-10M STUDIO" model.

That said, $50 is pretty cheap for a pawn shop.
 
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