When a speaker says its rated +/- 3db on the feq response is that good and flat enough?
Comments
+/- 3dB is a drop in the bucket compared to what your room will
+/- 3dB is a drop in the bucket compared to what your room will do to the overall response IMO.
Specs are a good starting point, but all they will usually tell you is that you really need to listen to the gear to know if it is "good enough". I might rely on specs to speculate about the speaker's low frequency extension, but lots of speaker specs are BS anyway...
Two different monitors can have the SAME "35Hz-20KHz +/- 3dB" rating, and vary upto 6dB in certain areas! 6dB is fairly drastic, and this variance is from 2 speakers with the "SAME SPECS"! Gotta use your ears, and make sure you can exchange the monitors, as your room will sound different from the Store's showroom.
:cool:
Yup. That would likely mean -3dB at 48Hz, and -3dB at 20KHz (an
Yup. That would likely mean -3dB at 48Hz, and -3dB at 20KHz (and lord knows what else in between). These could have a +6dB bump somewhere in the mids, but you can not tell by those specs. Ears are needed here!!!
If it is "Flat Enough" depends on your needs. A 48Hz low cutoff is not so great for bass-heavy dance or rap music IMO, but it could be OK for other styles. Look how popular the NS-10's are, and they don't have much bass at all.
Just because a speaker can play "flat" still does not tell you about its sound. You might have a "tubby low end", or even "port noise" from an improperly matched port at low frequencies. Maybe the speakers have a 2dB bump at 2KHz that makes them sound harsh? You might have major phase issues at the crossover point. What about transient response or "Cone Cry" at high SPL levels? These type of charachteristics are not discernable from Frequency Response spec's alone.
Once you put your speakers in a room, they can easily go from the +/- 3dB "as spec'ed" to +/- 20dB or more due to room interaction. Seriously!
Try a set of monitors that you can return if you don't like them. Most large shops have 30-day exchange periods, use that to your advantage. Get used to the speakers for a week with CD's you know well. Then, try to bust out a few mixes, and see if you are getting your desired results (does the mix sound good on other systems? If so, then you are going in the right direction).
:cool:
iznogood wrote: +-1dB is flat... +-3dB is average but.... you
iznogood wrote:
+-1dB is flat...
+-3dB is average
but.... you're too into specs... like in the headphone thread...
you have to LISTEN! no other way....
yupp!!! tech specs usually say little to nothing! IMHO, and there is often not even a standard of measuring 2301756,435475 which is the most suitable for your ear...
cheers
More crap gear has been pawned of over the years on unsuspecting
More crap gear has been pawned of over the years on unsuspecting (and for the larger part) ignorant end users, by the use of "specs". They really mean nothing as there is no standard as to how these "specs" are arrived at. The methods of measurement vary widely.
I personally wish that "specs" were never used to describe products or for people to base purchase decisions on.
To tell people to "use their ears" is probably the best advice but still problematic as most uneducated (in audio) consumers don't have a clue as to what to really listen for. :roll:
When I worked as a stage hand for Shuberts sound here in the NW 25 years ago we used to joke when loading in the the main stacks, in an imitation "Swedish Chef" accent .... "der bass bins go foomby foomby and the horns go a tingy tingy" ...
The point is, if novice audio types like Vannillaice hear the highs and the lows they are usually happy, which explains the Mackies, Events / M Audio etc. Those speakers among many others would have never gotten a foot hold in the marketplace if it were left up to trained pros who knew what to listen for in a good monitor. For the most part lower end designs are pure crap.
There is a lot to consider with speakers ... after all they are the window through which you view your work. The ability for a mix to travel from one system to another, imaging and linearity are almost never considered any longer. All people care about is do they pump out big bass and are the highs clear but most of the mix resides in the mids (which is why the NS10s had such a great run).
Vannillaice,
Try the Yamaha MSP5s. A great low cost solution that can grow with your needs. They image great, have good linearity, reasonable bass extention (for their size) and affordable.
If you want to read more on them, there's a review I wrote on them at;
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I like to give speakers a good, hard listening in my environment
I like to give speakers a good, hard listening in my environment before even thinking about purchasing them. Frequency response is measured in an anechoic chamber, which means the room has no influence on what will be measured. However, if you can't test the speakers out first, look at the frequency response graph and find where the +/- 3dB is at.