Do you really have to spend big $$$$ to get good monitors??

[Derrick]

Joel and others, thanks for some very good opinions/info.! OK, so what is it that I should listen/look for to make a good decision on monitors for my self?

[Electricide]

a balance between comfort of listening and personal preference really. I think good stereo imaging is key, along with accurate bass management. Find something you can listen to for 8 hours a day. Bring in a test Cd with different varities of music: bass thumpin hip hop, singer songwriter, classical, and find a pair you like. Whatever the differences are between models will be compensated for when you learn your monitors.

Other considerations: Passive or active? With passives, you also might want to demo amps, etc etc.
Resale value, in case you hate them in 6 months.

It might be worth it to find a pair of super-pro monitors like Genelecs, ADAMs, whatever, and listen for a half hour to hear what you might be missing. then you have a better idea of what to listen for when doing your budget shopping.

[Derrick]

a balance between comfort of listening and personal preference really. I think good stereo imaging is key, along with accurate bass management.

I'm a bit confused because you can find these qualities in cheaper monitors and stereo speakers. So is it really just accuracy that's comfortable to listen to that I'm looking for when buying monitors?

It might be worth it to find a pair of super-pro monitors like Genelecs, ADAMs, whatever, and listen for a half hour to hear what you might be missing. then you have a better idea of what to listen for when doing your budget shopping.

That's a great idea. This will tell me alot about the qualities I should be looking for in more affordable monitors.

[skinnyemo77]

Good monitors are supposed to NOT influence the EQ of the mix so you hear exactly the frequencies that are coming out of your recording machine.

The problem I find with this is your mix a lot of times will sound very lifeless from stereo to stereo.

Some of my best mixes have been through a pair of shitty 10 dollar headphones. Let's face it. Most people who listen to music on the radio, through their computer, or on CD even, aren't playing your mix through any decent quality system.

So I find if you can get a mix to sound extraordinary on a pair of shitty headphones, then most of the time, it'll sound decent on the good stereo systems, and the majority of listeners will hear it more exceptionally.

[soundguy]

Good monitors are supposed to NOT influence the EQ of the mix so you hear exactly the frequencies that are coming out of your recording machine.

The problem I find with this is your mix a lot of times will sound very lifeless from stereo to stereo.

Saving a discussion on stuff that stuff is "supposed" to do, you can have the most "ideal" monitors in the world, but unless you are listening to them inside the anechoic chamber at MIT, the room you are in is going to influence the frequency response of those monitors. If you have a pair of flat monitors and the mix soudns good on them and lifeless on other stereos, I would immediately think that there is something happening in your control room that is screwing things up. Especially more so if you are having better luck mixing on headphones, you've now taken the acoustics of the room out of the equation and your mixes are improving...

Mixing on speakers is a very difficult thing to do, something people dont talk about very often. You have to know the speaker. You have to know the room. You have to know how the two are combining to totally screw you up. Isnt that afterall the big andy johns led zeppelin fallout? Go mix a record in a fancy LA studio, get the record back to europe and it souns like shit on a different playback system, remix the record, bad water under the bridge...

dave

[skinnyemo77]

Mixing on speakers is a very difficult thing to do, something people dont talk about very often. You have to know the speaker. You have to know the room. You have to know how the two are combining to totally screw you up.

Thanks for being gentle. I know I made a very blanket statement.

That said, I would almost say to invest in a good pair of monitoring headphones. For DIY recording peeps (like the majority on this board), you're control room at home is not going to sound like Abbey Road.

I record in my spare bedroom in my house where the walls are made of vinyl. Everything I mix in my speakers sounds dead to me until I put on the headphones. It takes the home out of home recording if you ask me.

[jajjguy]

another vote for paradigm mini monitors. they're passive, but they're made to run off a stereo receiver for an amp. they've certainly got weaknesses, but they're pretty much the same weaknesses as in other inexpensive monitors, and i find them to be pretty good, and good value.

in general, i find that the hardest thing for an inexpensive speaker to do well is to really nail the entire midrange. the crossover is usually in there somewhere, like 2.5kHz or so, right where the vocal is. but every speaker's crossover is in a different spot, so getting the midrange balanced really well is crucial and difficult. i think one reason so many people like NS10s, even though they sound like crap, because they're useful in that midrange.

[jajjguy]

The logic behind using headphones to mix seems convinving, but the fact is most headphone mixes don't translate well at all. It's very hard to judge depth or overall balance on headphones.

[exit2studios]

I would recomend looking for a used set of NHT A10 Pro monitors. They come with a separate power amp and although they are no longer made, they are an incredilbe value if you can find them. I know some other people around here can probably speak more intelligently about them, but when I was in the market, I couldn't find anything nearly as good for anywhere near the price (around $500 US). I know Arny Krueger a frequent poster on RAP (not sure if he's around here) touts them often.

[Everybody's X]

I love my m-audio sp-8b's and they have a respectable list of endorsers. $499/pair or something like that

[soundguy]

If Im hungry enough, and you pay me enough, I'll endorse a RNC...

dave

[Everybody's X]

Well I'm endorsing them for free TOUGH GUY!

hell I dont know what they're looking for,I'm just saying that I like them