Thinking of getting Rubicon monitors

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reich_fan

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Hey,

I'm interest in buying my first set of monitors and am looking for some advice from you guys.

I have worked with Genelec monitors (5.1 plus a huge sub-woofer) before when I did a course in Music Tech. This course was mostly about composition, but my lecture told me I had "golden ear" with regard to my mixes. One problem I had though was that my ears/head got really sore listening to those Genelecs and I normally played them lower than the rest of my class mates. Anyway, the point is that my ears are sensitive and I'd like to look after them.

This weekend I went to a music store and checked out a few monitors in the price range I'm currently considering. These included -

Tannoy Reveal 5A
Tapco S5
Behringer B2031A Truths
KRK RP5
SAMSON RUBICON R5A

The Rubicon came out on top for me, but I don't feel confident enough to say if I'm making a proper judgment of them or not.

The kind of music I'm programming at the moment is similar to that of Squarepusher, Aphex Twin, Authecre, Boards of Canada, etc, etc. But even though this music is termed "dance music", its not the kind of music that the sub 50Hz range is really important - like with more popular forms. It's not typically disco music.

It confuses me when I read monitor reviews where people say: "There great, they're sooo loud" about monitors links of the Adam A7's. I don't think I could work like that.

When reading reviews and looking at specs on the net, it seems that the RUBICON R6As are simply a louder version of the R5A and that there is very little in the way of extra bass. The sub for these monitors costs more than the pair of R5As!

Anyway, would you suggest that I check out some other speakers in this price range? Which ones? Also, how do those of you who have used the RUBICONs find them? Will I be happy with them in your opinion?

Finally, I will be connecting these to a Firebox and using them as my main speakers also. Should that work?

Thanks,
Barry.
 
I would say spend as much on treating your room as you spend on the monitors. If you're not familiar with the advantages of bass traps, do a search here. Also, go to Ethan Winer's site and read everything you can there as well. Loads of helpful stuff and downloads.

Ages ago I went through a multitude of monitor options and was never happy with the way my mixes translated. I then spent about $300US on materials to build my own bass traps and broad-band absorbers and now I seem to get good mixes much more consistantly. Worth about 100x what I spent...
 
i agree with nate, the setup and basic room work can be huge.

i stopped adding traps after i couldn't hear the difference anymore (which took several panels/traps)... the traps are pretty cheap really, a top 5 DIY imo. Ethan sharing all this free DIY stuff is the best. personally i like his website and pictures the best too.

i went with the YSM1P's which I learned about here.
been really happy with them sound and workmanship wise.
imo similar to the DYNAUDIO sound, like it or not...pretty subjective decision telling someone what "sounds" good.
I can voiuche they've logged a lot of hours and not one damn quality issue, which is frkn great.

matter of fact I dumped my hifi and now force myself to listen to everything thru the monitors all the time. to force learning them.
my comparison setups are the car and other places.

I am living proof monitors don't make your mixes perfect though, its all the skills....

golden ears ? huh? nobody ever said that about my mixes....I did have a friend compliment me on using the garbage can for drums once. He thought that was cool....

of course I never used garabge cans for drums..:rolleyes:
 
Barry, I know nothing much about the Rubicons, but I always pass along the same thought: I read equipment reviews in most major recording mags, and the Rubicons, even the small model, have received some of the most consistently positive reviews across the board for lower-end monitors. Your good first impressions don't surprise me.

In fact, Future Music mag ran a two-part "blind monitor shoot-out" held by a group of industry pros in Peter Gabriel's studio (Feb/March 2006?). The group rated a bunch of monitors in three basic price ranges--the Rubicons really cleaned up in the two lower ranges. These guys went nuts over the 5" model, in particular, and were surprised when they learned about the ribbon-tweeter deisgn. On the other hand, they crucified some of the better-known monitors by other companies--always fun to read. That article could be of help to anyone considering one of the models tested. BTW, they also tested the M-Audios that I use, and their opinions roughly paralleled mine. That spoke highly to me about some of their other reactions. Of course, your/my own ears matter most.

That's all I know. Good luck with the hunt,

J.
 
My post has nothing to do with Rubicon monitors, but I'm a huge fan of Steve Reich too...

I remember when I was 13 and heard Different Trains for the first time - blew me away. What a great composer... :cool:
 
I just went through this same decision, and I got the R5a monitors, partly because of the tweeter design (I needed ones with a protective cover of some sort) but also based on the reviews as well - they got consistently positive reviews, which was very encouraging.

I've only been using them for a few weeks, but so far I like them very much. Their sound seems very clear to me, with decent (obviously not staggering) bass response. I may invest in the companion sub at some point, although I suspect that you could choose other subs with an active crossover as well.

(One bit of advice: don't order them from Sam Ash...)
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Thanks for your replies. I'm going to buy them this weekend!

How should I connect these to my Firebox?

FIREBOXhookupbig.jpg


The R5a has two inputs -

1/4-INCH PHONE – Balance TRS (Tip, Ring,
Sleeve) 1/4-inch phone plug used to connect
balanced or unbalanced +4dBu line level signals.

RCA – Used to connect signals from unbalanced,
–10dBV devices.

I'm not sure which of these I should connect to, so I'm not sure if I need to 4" to RCA or two 4" to 4" cables. Or Balanced or unbalanced for that matter. I can't see anything in the firebox manual about +4dBu and –10dBV.

http://www.presonus.com/pdf/fireboxManual1.0.pdf
http://www.samsontech.com/products/relatedDocs/Rubicon_OM_v5_1.pdf

Secondly, do I always turn off my monitors shut down my PC and do I alway start my monitors up after I start my Mac? What happens if I forget??

Any other tips?

Thanks again very much for your help,

Barry.
 
Barry, I just noticed your from Stockholm. I've spent a lot of time in Lund, where my father's family is from, and list Roine Stolt (Flower Kings) among my favorite musicians these days. Lots happening musically there it seems.

Let us know how the Rubicons work out. Enjoy.

J.
 
Get yourself a pair of balanced 1/4" cables to hook them up to the firebox. The outputs are balanced, line-level (+4). I found the RCA inputs to be noisy on my setup - the problem doesn't exist if I run them through the balanced inputs.
 
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