the age old question on monitors

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eeb

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ok.. I know you all are sick of these stupid questions but here I go anyway.


I NEED to buy new monitors. I just can't mix anything with the "stereo" speakers i have now (my studio monitors took a shit on me about 2 weeks ago.. berhinger go figure) I thought i could get away with my stereo speakers but there's way too many high's and nothing for low's/low mid's. My room doesn't really help all that much either. (but that's another issue)

here's my problem.. I bought my first set of monitors off the net without really checking them out (they were cheap and better than what I was using so i went for them) there's NO way i can do that again

but alas, in a northern ontario, mining city there's no many options... I basically can try out some yamaha passives (I can't for the life of me remember the model) and there's a dealer with behringer which is not an option.. should i be taking a road trip? assuming i'm not into the yamaha's
 
You should either take a road trip or plunk down enough cash to get big-time monitors (like Genelecs, Adams, Meyers, etc...) Once you get into that world, quality really isn't an issue. No matter what monitor you get, you will need to take the time and get to know them.
 
eeb said:
but alas, in a northern ontario, mining city there's no many options...
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Sounds like you're helpless . . . :D








sorry, couldn't resist :o
 
hahaha well there's actually a few decent music stores.. music is everywhere in this city which is why i think the studio will do decent.....but there's not alot for recording equipment here...
 
Well it looks like i'm off to toronto to get monitors.. I tried out the yourville ysm 2p and absolutely hated them... they sounded muddy to me and they distorted really bad.

i also tried out some yamaha msp 5a's they were ok but for 700$ for a pair i dunno i expect a bit more.

any suggestions would be appriciated although i'm sorta thinking about the Mackie HR824's anyone have these? worth it?
 
eeb said:
any suggestions would be appriciated although i'm sorta thinking about the Mackie HR824's anyone have these? worth it?
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I've been using my 824s for going on 8 years now and I love 'em. I have not yet heard the new mark2 versions of them, but the original 824s work great for me.

G.
 
eeb said:
any suggestions would be appriciated although i'm sorta thinking about the Mackie HR824's anyone have these? worth it?
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If you're trying stuff in that range also consider Event ASP8. They have pretty solid bass IMO. People also like ADAM A7.

As far as the general question of whether they're worth it - absolutely yes. I'd recommend good monitors as one of the very first things you buy, before fancy plugins, preamps, microphones, etc.

The room should really be taken care of too as an absolute top priority. You're basically handicapped until you have a good room and monitors. Once those are taken care of the real fun can begin.

Yes, take a road trip and bring some of your own music and other commercial stuff you are familiar with. You can read all day about monitors but reading cannot compare to hearing them.
 
exactly.. i can't see myself buying another pair of monitors without hearing them.. I did that with the first set but i was just happy to have some monitors and not my stereo speakers.. it was definately a step up from that .. but now things are more serious.. i'm actually starting to book a few bands and the business is slowly but surely starting to take off.. the little behringer truth's will NOT cut it anymore.. fine for just messing around... but complete ass with or without the broken tweater for serious work.. I'm a little confused on what i'm really looking to "hear" in a monitor.. When I tried out those yamaha's i wasn't blown away but should i be? i want a flat response but i'm not entirely sure how to listen for a flat response.... maybe i shouldn't be blown away by the sound.. heh sorry for the newb question.. i just don't want to buy junk again
 
eeb said:
exactly.. i can't see myself buying another pair of monitors without hearing them.. I did that with the first set but i was just happy to have some monitors and not my stereo speakers.. it was definately a step up from that .. but now things are more serious.. i'm actually starting to book a few bands and the business is slowly but surely starting to take off.. the little behringer truth's will NOT cut it anymore.. fine for just messing around... but complete ass with or without the broken tweater for serious work.. I'm a little confused on what i'm really looking to "hear" in a monitor.. When I tried out those yamaha's i wasn't blown away but should i be? i want a flat response but i'm not entirely sure how to listen for a flat response.... maybe i shouldn't be blown away by the sound.. heh sorry for the newb question.. i just don't want to buy junk again
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Many people who are accustomed to home speakers and car stereos will find that a speaker that measures flat (and often times any system that's set up properly) lacks bass and high end, as most home speakers are designed to accentuate those frequencies. Once your ears are used to the difference, you'll probably find that flat response yields a more natural presentation.*

*That is NOT to say all speakers that measure flat is good, or that any speaker that doesn't is bad.
 
TFunkadelic said:
Many people who are accustomed to home speakers and car stereos will find that a speaker that measures flat (and often times any system that's set up properly) lacks bass and high end, as most home speakers are designed to accentuate those frequencies.
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While that is an over-distributed and erroneous myth about consumer speakers - as any objective perusal of the response charts of, or critical listen to, of a handul of typical home speaker examples will show - your point about being "accustomed to" certain sounds is good in that it touches upon a very important point: it takes the proper ears to select the proper monitors.

It is often recommended my most (including me) that one bring music samples they are intimately familiar with to perform comparative listening tests in a showroom. I'd like to augnemt that a bit with another not so popular suggestion; also do just the opposite - also bring something you are NOT that familiar with and use those just as judiciously in your listening tests.

I suggest that for three reasons:

First, for a reason that TFunk rightly touched upon; while familiarty with a particular track gives one familiar waypoints to listen for, it can also breed some unintentional bias. If one is expecting the music to sound a certain way they are familiar with or thinks sounded good from previous listening on flawed consumer systems, they might be listening for the wrong answer.

Second, using relatively unfamiliar material can make some characteristics stand out more because there is nothing expected or taken for granted when listneing. It's one thing to know that there's a keyboard doubling under a guitar and hearing it in the first monitor that you test because you're listening specifically for it and know that it's there. It's another thing altogether when it's something you only hear for the first time on the second or third monitor that you test because the slight masking n the first monitor let it slip by you when you weren't specifically looking for it; it tends to give you an "I could have had a V8" slap on the forehead when that happens.

Third, by choosing unfamiliar stuff that might be outside of your usual genre, you are potentially widening the scope of testing that you're putting the monitors through, and in doing so increasing the potential for exposing the strengths and weaknesses of each monitor. Even if you plan on working on nothing but Iron Maiden covers when you get the monitors home, putting them through their paces at the showroom with a Telarc Stravinsky disc and a Windham Hill new age jazz disc as well as your favorite Iron Maiden discs will give you a much better idea of just what colors the monitors deliver relative to each other than if you listen using Iron Maiden alone.

Oh, and one more thing; don't be afraid to ask your sales assistant to move the monitors to at least somewhat comparable positions as part of your test. No matter if your listening to M-Audios or Mackies or Genlelecs or Adams, it's just not a fair comparison when one is on a shelf against a wall three feet from the ceiling corner and the other is on a desk two feet from the wall in the middle of the room.

G.
 
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