why use monitors?

  • Thread starter Thread starter samich17
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samich17

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i don't see the point of using monitors when mixing..

1. they sound bad

2. they don't accurately depict the sound

3. the majority of the music listeners don't listen to music through monitors

why not just use stereo speakers, since they are more similar to what the average person will be listening through?

they have to have a pratical purpose since every recording studio uses them, but i sure as hell can't figure it out.
 
I think we use them because they sound good and are more accurate than a home stereo speaker. The average listener will be listening on all kinds of different systems. Monitors are the only way to level the playing field so you can reasonably guess at how music will translat to all these different systems
 
i don't see the point of using monitors when mixing..

1. they sound bad

A monitor's purpose is to play the music without any coloration. If they sound bad, they're either very bad monitors OR the music you feed them actually sound bad...

2. they don't accurately depict the sound

This depends on how much money you dish out.

3. the majority of the music listeners don't listen to music through monitors

No.. they have the speakers they can afford, or the speakers that they think sound GOOD.. Most cheap speakers are made to color the sound so the average listener THINK they sound cool.. If you mix on such speakers, you have no clue about how your mix REALLY sounds like.
If you mix on HiFi speakers, you end up with a mix tailored for those speakers..

Put it like this..
If you make food (music) for many people, you want to spice as little as possible (neutral sound) so that everyone can add their OWN amount of spice to their portion of the food (speakers). If you bomb it with tabasco (2.5kHz :p ), some people will like it a lot, while the rest just think it's a bit spicy...

why not just use stereo speakers, since they are more similar to what the average person will be listening through?

Yes! the average person listens to an average speaker, BUT there's a wide spectrum of color on those speakers you pick an average from.

they have to have a pratical purpose since every recording studio uses them, but i sure as hell can't figure it out.

Read above ;)
 
i don't see the point of using monitors when mixing..
Click to expand...
Then you aren't mixing properly.........


1. they sound bad
Click to expand...
Then you aren't using good monitors....


2. they don't accurately depict the sound
Click to expand...
Then you DEFINITELY aren't using good monitors....


3. the majority of the music listeners don't listen to music through monitors
Click to expand...
Monitors no... but speakers, yes...

The engineer's job is to know their monitors and learn to translate mixes with them so that the mix sounds good on as wide a range of listening formats possible - home stereos, headphones, car stereos, boomboxes, boom vans, audiophile systems...

Good monitors help this translation process immensely, as does having a good-sounding control room.

Bruce
 
these replies make sense to me..can you suggest the best monitors i can get for 2-300$...

i mix all my stuff with my stereo speakers..the tracks always sound great on my system, but then i play them on any other system and they sound a bit funky...it makes sense that mixes should be done on non-coloring speakers (monitors). thanks for the feedback guys..i think i knew all this stuff, i was just in a bit of denial, actually, i just don't want to dish out more money...man this field vamps my wallet...though it is worth it...

again, my range is 2-300$ ....any suggestions appreciated..
 
I got my Alesis M1s for $300. My suggestion: Listen to what everyone has to say on this board (there are ENDLESS amounts of threads about monitors) and then go to good ol Ebay.

Christopher
 
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