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I'm looking for small affordable but "HONEST" "near field /narrow" studio monitors with or without a sub for now.
What do you suggest?

Comments

MadMax Sun, 11/16/2008 - 23:37

Not being a PITA, but since you still won't mention your budget, the best thing anyone can do is to tell you to just buy something and see if you like em'. Then, if you don't like em', list what you don't like and then ask for help at that point.

Otherwise, budget is subjective...

To a friend of mine, his $25,000 Augsberger's were budget monitors. To me, $5000 is a budget monitor. To someone else, $200 is a budget monitor.

Rather than listing every monitor from $10,000 down... can you at least narrow your price range by giving us a high and low dollar figure?

The distance is pretty much a non-issue. It's the cubic volume of the room that is more important. That and how loud do you need as a maximum loudness? (Which is related to what type of music are you mixing)

Are you looking for powered or passive?

Do you prefer a two-way or a 3-way crossover?

Do you have another pair of monitors that you are dissatisfied with, and looking for a 2nd pair to do comparisons to?

Needing just a bit more info here to get you pointed to something you'll be happy with.

anonymous Mon, 11/17/2008 - 05:51

1)Not mixing at all. Only tracking.
(If I do a fast mix here is just for reference or rehearsals demos)

2)I'm tracking , acoustic guitar ,upright bass, acoustic piano, vocals, vibraphone, drums and percussion, horns, bass and guitar cabinet, strings.

3)The desk and monitors is outside the tracking room in the yard, inside a closet that I open during sessions. The desk is about 4 feet wide and the monitors cannot be spaced more than about 3 feet. "very narrow" my listening position, about 2 feet from the monitors, standing, "very near field"... the acoustic in the yard is great, no bass build and very dry.

For now I have this active monitors and sub woofer,
http://www.behringer.com/B2031A/index.cfm?lang=ENG
http://www.behringer.com/B2092A/index.cfm?lang=ENG
I'm not sure what is wrong, mm mm... maybe too sharp loud ear fatigue ? I'm just two feet from em..

I also have some 20 years old big pioneer Hi Fi , 3 way speakers model cs 656 at home.) for the TV..., maybe good?

4) I guess I don't have the desk space or the budget to keep more than one pair of monitors for now ,
I guess one pair will be enough.

5) Anything that works for my new situation will be OK, I don't care if is a budget monitor that cost less than what I already have.
hopefully :)
A monitor that tell me the truth about my mics, pres, etc..

6) 3 way or 2 way, I don't know ..

7)active or passive I don't know, whatever is better or more affordable.

thanks

anonymous Mon, 11/17/2008 - 06:06

ineedtolearnhowtorecord wrote: 1)Not mixing at all. Only tracking.
(If I do a fast mix here is just for reference or rehearsals demos)

FWIW: I track with headphones.

3)The desk and monitors is outside the tracking room in the yard,

That is the most unique setup I have ever heard of. How are your relations with your neighbors? What about street noise?

I'm not sure what is wrong, mm mm... maybe too sharp loud ear fatigue ? I'm just two feet from em..

Keep the decibel level below 85. Also, all monitors were not created equal even if the stats look great they can still sound like junk. Harmonic distortion and waterfall effect are almost never clearly represented, but can drastically effect your listening experience and lead to ear fatigue as you try to listen past it. I like my Events.

anonymous Mon, 11/17/2008 - 10:31

OK but a very near field and narrow set up like my..(see my description above) require a smaller or different kind of monitors right ?
I guess I'm not happy ...
At lower level they don't work as well , sometimes one of the two sound different and viceversa.. the H.F. also are killing me , I do can hear everything and that is a good things but mm mm , I don't know... is weird.
also there is so many options on the back of both sub and monitors, it send me crazy and never sound normal...

RemyRAD Mon, 11/17/2008 - 12:45

The rule of thumb is generally using your bigger, more accurate monitors, during tracking. So you can hear everything. Loudly. Making sure you don't miss any squeaks, clicks, chirps, burps, farts, drips, drops, hiccups, snorts, sniffs, coughs, smacking lips, tapping feet, or aggressively flung boogies smacking the screen of your $2500 condenser microphone. I mean $25 condenser microphone.....

You then use your crappy little monitors for mixing. Pretty much since everybody else in this world will be listening to your work through $29 Taiwanese speakers. This way you can ensure the fact that your mix will be appropriately presented in all its gory & blunder.

I only work on JBL & KRK. So I know exactly what I'm listening to. Everything else is just everything else. More expensive speakers are fine for people of Greater Privilege i.e. rich folk. In the old days, just as we would finish a mix, who would take it and run out to our cars to see what it sounded like. Today, I guess you could just take your laptop to the bathroom with you? That way, when you take a dump, you can tell if you're mix does also.

Thinking inside the tank
Ms. Remy Ann David

anonymous Mon, 11/17/2008 - 15:31

OK thanks a lot
So, not matter what, for tracking bigger is better and KRK or JBL are for me, great.
Thanks Remy.

P.S.
I have 20 years old big pioneer hi fi speakers, 3 way with a 9" woofer...

made in Belgium
frequency range 40 to 20 (hz)
impedance 8
max input 80W.
Music power 120 W.

They sound good with my receiver and TV...
Do you like big hi fi pioneer speakers for studio?

anonymous Mon, 11/17/2008 - 22:18

The image now is even more interesting: Sitting outside with two huge Pioneer speakers two feet from the listener head, and he's saying "Why are my ears fatigued."

Pioneer make great home stereo speakers. I have a friend with them in his home studio. They sound great when checking a mix from 10 feet away, but I don't think I would recommend them for near field monitors. The quite sounds are going to get lost.

anonymous Tue, 11/18/2008 - 03:23

GeckoMusic wrote: The image now is even more interesting: Sitting outside with two huge Pioneer speakers two feet from the listener head,.

I'm not sitting, I'm standing :D

RemyRAD wrote: The rule of thumb is generally using your bigger, more accurate monitors, during tracking. So you can hear everything. Loudly. Making sure you don't miss any squeaks, clicks, chirps, burps, farts, drips, drops, hiccups, snorts, sniffs, coughs, smacking lips, tapping feet, or aggressively flung boogies smacking the screen .........

I only work on JBL & KRK. So I know exactly what I'm listening to. Everything else is just everything else.

There is many KRK and JBL, what models are the bigger for tracking that work well for near filed -narrow set up?

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