Monitors

[D.o.S.]

Hey breaux, I have needs. Things to fill. Fill them, por favor.


So I'm (probably) moving in the next two months, and I'm (definitely) going to have roommates who will be out of the house more often than I have currently, which means that I'll have more time for uninterrupted music making during the day. Or, rather, I'll have more time for uninterrupted music during the day because I won't be living with people who will be around to bitch about the sort of music I make, which makes using headphones for everything sort of essential.

This makes me want to get monitors, because mixing in headphones (especially with the sort of cave music I make) doesn't always translate as well as i would like to the outside world.

Suggestions? Comments? Pictures of xylophones?

[rustywire]

Love JBL.

Both sound great in person, esp when broken-in.
I currently have the 305s which are great for a small room, lower ceiling. Subwoofer recommended... even with the 308s.

[Kacey Y]

I have JBL and like them a lot as well. Honestly, I would get just about anything you can afford, with some foam pads to set them on (or stands, if that works for the room) and some absorption or diffusion panels to throw on the wall at first reflection points and look up some articles about setting up monitors. You could have $10K monitors and they wouldn't do much good for mixing in an untreated room. You don't have to go nuts, just a little research and whatever fits your budget. There are nice looking options for panels that you can mount on the wall that will look more like decoration than egg carton foam stapled to your wall too. I helped my buddy out with this in the last 6 months or so and just getting some small 5" active monitors, whatever was on sale at MF or something and a few foam pads and the quality of his mixed increased measurably. Of course he was also putting a lot of work into it in general, but you learn so much more effectively when you can listen a bit more accurately.

[DRodriguez]

Budget?

I'd also recommend getting monitor tuning software if possible. Even if you don't work with it on all the time, makes a good reference point when you do use it.

[guillotine420]

ive been digging into this topic heavily, looking high and low and i keep coming back around to the yamaha hs series. in person they sound three dimensional vs most other offerings, even tho they might not carry the same bass as something like a krk. so detailed. i should prolly even get something front ported considering the space and room im working with, tbh. but then im kinda feeling like with the yamahas, you are investing in something quality with a lot less room for doubt. i, too, need halp on this.

[oscillateur]

Yeah, knowing the budget is important. Btw, unless you have a treated room or something, spending less than $300-400 or so might be a small waste of money...

I've got a pair of KRK RP5, which are not used that much because Tokyo means neighbors. There might be better choices now in that price range though.

[Disarm D'arcy]

You can't go wrong with the M-Audio BX5 series on a budget, especially if your room is untreated anyway. I've been working with those for years now. Chose them because I couldn't afford the KH120 and they were the closest after extensive testing in a treated room. JBLs were the second nicest but tend to overdrive on the bass side.

Anyway, avoid Yamaha, that harsh high end will make your ears bleed.

[blakestree]

Yamaha HS5 & JBL LSR305 are my favorite budget monitors, for smallish rooms. If you are serious about your mix, room treatment and speaker placement should always be on your mind. At this level, I'd say plan to spend at least as much on treatment as you do the speakers.

[D.o.S.]

Budget is sort of malleable, I can't go full UG but I'm also not unwilling to spend money on good gear -- although since I move like once a year, treating a room isn't really a possibility for me? I know fuck all about that sort of thing.

[rustywire]

You can easily, rather inexpensively treat a room for basics and the improvements will be tremendous.
Basstraps in corners and diffuser panels at the first reflection point to either of your sides.

[blakestree]

Without treatment, I don't see the point in buying speakers. I'd sooner mix on several sets of headphones.

[GardenoftheDead]

$400 per speaker is the least you should ever spend on monitors. If you can't swing that, demo that Waves program that tries to make headphones sound more like monitors and see if it works for you.

[guillotine420]

cmon dudes, really? what about the entire "bedroom studio" concept then. total waste of time without studio quality room treatment and monitors i guess? i dont think so. doesnt mean im trying to use old stereo speakers either tho. theres definitely a workable middle ground... this would describe about every home studio out there.

[rustywire]

For a bedroom studio you def don't need to break the bank.
I typically agree with "upgrade your budget and the money goes further" gear-sentiment but studio monitors are one of the exceptions.
Yes, Genelecs are going to perform incredibly even at their bottom tiers.
No, you don't need to buy Genelecs or otherwise save the money and stick to mixing with headphones.
As much as I adore the products, their pitch "creativity requires the best tools" rubs me the wrong way.
(anecdotally speaking, my riff-writing #1 is a $60 plywood guitar but that's neither here nor there)
I don't consider studio monitors "creative tools" as paintbrushes or paint, but rather the light fixture used to see, while creating.
You can produce a masterpiece under crystal chandeliers of the whitest light or a single bare incandescent bulb. User is the single most deterministic factor.

Arbitrary price points are silly. I got the JBL 305s as a pair for about $300 with stands...and XLRs...but their msrp advertise 250 each. Dont matter.
You don't need near-field monitors to extend down to 20Hz. Nor should you want that, IMO anyway. A rolloff in the upper 30s or 40s is fine; when adding a sub for 20-100Hz to make it a 2.1 system. For near-field monitoring anyway, to feel that bass in your chest. $400/speaker for studio monitoring across a larger room, yeah I dig that.
But unless you're planning to specialize in mastering, monitors only need to neutrally translate the source material to give an idea of what you've got so you can replay on a variety of different real world stereo systems and have the mix translate well. It doesn't need to be a perfect 1:1.
$400 monitors in a room full of hard surfaces without treatment...you'd be better off spending 400 for a pair and 400 on traps & diffusers. IMO anyway YMMV

[D.o.S.]

Yeah there's a lot of merit to that, it's just that treatment is -- right now -- something of a crapshoot since I don't know where I'll be living and what sort of room I'll be working in. And, really, this is just an expression of how 'flat'/single dimensional most of my music seems to come across to me in the last week or so. Potentially it's just ear fatigue but I can't help thinking that listening to mixes on 'something else' would help me more fully utilize the sonic space available. Could be totally misled here, but I don't think so?