what are monitors anyway???

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malgovert

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ok I have to ask this now - I can't go on being in the dark although I feel I am doing fine without them - I keep hearing talk of 'monitors' - such as the event 20/20s - and an amp to power them and so on - so there's my question - what are monitors? are they just the speakers attached to my computer - like, the normal speakers that you get with every computer (I have creative fps 2000) - or should I have another lot of speakers set up somewhere to do something? And, apparently, an amp? And if so where should they be connected to/from? I am recording stuff and I think it sounds ok - when I listen to it through my fps 2000... I have another even dafter question but I am gonna spare you for now... please enlighten me!!! Thanks. Malgo.
 
malgovert,

Yes, they are speakers. The distinction is that you are using them to listen critically to what is going on while you are recording and mixing as opposed to listening for pleasure. The hallmark of good monitors is a flat frequency response for as incolored a sound as possible without hyping the bass, and so on. That way you can clearly hear all the detail as exactly as is possible and thereby be able to make good mixing decisions about levels, EQ, panning, and so forth. Ordinary speakers tend to be inaccurate and if you mix on them you end up with bad mixes.

Near-field monitors is what you would typically use in a small home project studio. These are on the small and you sit close to them, hence the name. There are two basic types to choose from; traditional monitors, which require an external amplifier, and the newer biamplified, self-powered monitors, which offer many advantages.

Hope that calrifies things a little for you...

-AlChuck
 
Thanks AlChuck for a very enlightening response - can you - and everyone - just bear with me a minute longer... does this mean then that most people have two sets of speakers going in their little studios? ie the computer speakers and the monitors. If so then how do they set this up - what I do right now is to turn off my computer speakers when recording vocals or acoustic guitar for example and use headphones (connected to soundcard front panel) to prevent obvious and severe bleed to the microphone. The other thing I am not clear on is where I would plug monitors in - I mean - it seems to me that perhaps monitors should be connected to the jack marked 'control room' on my mixer (Berhinger Eurorack 1602- no I haven't mastered all the knobs and buttons yet) - but surely if I am playing from my sequencer when mixing then the sound will come out through the soundcard and therefore through my normal computer speakers - unless I connect monitors to the headphone socket in the soundcard's front panel (sblive platinum). Does this sound terribly confused? It should! I would really appreciate help on this. Regards - Malgo.
 
malg,

I bet there's a lot of ways to set it up. Some people like to hear their mixes through "normal" speakers as a real-world check, so what you describe is reasonable. I'll describe my setup and maybe that will give you a better picture. I have a small Behringer mixer too (MX1604A) and a pair of Alesis M1 Actives. In the PC I have a Delta 66 and a SB Live. I have the line out from the SB Live plugged into one of the stereo channels of the mixer (7/8) and two of the Delta 66's 4 outputs into another stereo channel (5/6); I'm not using the other two outs right now. I am using the mixer to route signals only and doing the real mixing in the PC. So I can hear the MIDI synth sounds and CD audio from my CD-RW drive through the SB, and my digital audio, loops, etc. through the Delta 66. The speakers are plugged into the main outputs of the mixer.

Then I have the alt outputs 3-4 plugged into two of the inputs on the Delta card. I use any of the first 4 channels for my mics and send them to the Alt 3-4 bus; then I can record the mic signal but it does not blend with the regular 1-2 bus.

I could well imagine that I could also use the two outputs to drive two pairs of speakers. For example, I could use 1-2 for the Alesis speakers and 3-4 to a home stereo, then toggle where the mix goes from the mixer.

Hope that helps... this stuff is all very confusing at first (and at second, and at third...). I found it really helps to draw signal path diagrams sometimes.

-AlChuck
 
YO All:

To MONITOR is to LISTEN: How critically you listen is dependent upon how many dollars you want to spend to be a critical listener. I have a nice feature on my integrated Yamaha amplifier that runs my nominal system of recording; it has a knob to dial into "flat" sound. This flat sound is a very realistic reproduction of what things will sound like when mixed down. But, like I said, I have a "small" system compared to all of the digital magic with multi platforms of adjustments which drive most recording people into the asylum.

Hey, have fun,
The Green Lantern
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I've lost my senior status since I changed E-mail addresses; DRAGON, help.

Ben
 
Thanks guys. You know I never thought of using my mixer to route signals to speakers -I only bought it so I could route the mic to the soundcard through it... I haven't got it all completely sorted but I am reading my mixer manual now with a new zeal - parts of it I didn't understand before are beginning to make some kind of sense. To finish off then, many people would just operate with the monitor speakers then right? I mean they wouldn't necesarily have another pair set up connected to their soundcard? And by 'flat frequency response' - do you mean that monitoring would be done with all effects, eq, etc all switched off - and volumes all set at the same level - is this the key to monitoring? Surely though you have to listen equally critically after you have applied the fx... Anyway, thanks for all your help. I took this up about four months ago - several years too late but I took it up anyway - don't know anybody local who's into it - forums such as this one are proving a veritable godsend for me. thanks again. malgo.
 
flat just bacically means that ther is no EQ differences applied to the speakers themselves. So that what you get out of the speakers is the same as what you send into the mixdown deck (device). Generally Home stero speakers and the like are fine tuned to have a more hyped, "listenable" frequency response, i.e. a little more kick in the bass and/or accuentuating the highs a little. Nearfield reference monitors are designed to be more or less flat, so that you can hear things the way they are.

-jhe
 
An example:

My monitoring situation is less than optimal. I have very large monitors positioned too close to me, with rebuilt crossovers with a cuttoff frequency that's a little too high.

The result? The bass is too powerfull. Now, when I listen to commercial mixes through this setup, they sound fine of course....

However, things are different when it comes to mixing. Since I'm hearing too much bass, I tend to throw in a LOT of guitar. When it sounds optimal on my monitors, it's usually going to sound HORRIBLE when played on other sources...the guitars will completely drown out the rest of the mix. Also, the bass is kinda weak.

The solution? 1) I know this now, and don't add as much midrange. 2) I add a little more bass than I'd like. 3) I then have to check the mix on various sources....good headphones, bad headphones, tiny headphones, boom boxes, car stereos, etc.

Consider also tasks like adding reverb where levels are critical. If you're not listening to an accurate representation of the mix, it's hard to make good decisions. The only way to get an accurate representation, is to purchase good flat speakers powered by an amp that doesn't add anything unwanted to the sound.

In other words, spend some time thinking about how your monitoring situation. You mentioned the Creative/Cambridge FPS2000 system. I've played with this system before, and while it's great for gaming, it's weak for music. It sounds BIG which is COOL, but not accurate. You're going to have to spend a lot of time setting up your subwoofer and satellites. Get a mix sounding good on the FPS2000, and test it out on various other sources. Some problems will pop right out at you.

Funny thing is, one of the hardest things to do is to trust your BRAIN. I still always add too much guitar, even though I know it's going to suck...and I have to tone it down later :)

Anyway, I'm just an amateur and these are some of my observations. There are some good professional sources on the net. You might check the main homerecording.com BBS site and look for articles by Ed Rei (aka sonusman).

Slackmaster 2000
 
Great stuff! I think that's what I will do - try and get some stuff mixed on the speakers I have, then see what pops out at me - after all I have only recorded about 3 songs - it is probably a bit early to go running off spending $500 on a pair of decent monitor speakers until I have a better idea of what I am doing. No point in moving on until I have exhausted current possibilities is there? Thanks a lot everybody. I am learning every day... So - it's off to the mixing forum then ;) Regards - Malgo
 
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