Monitor for projectstudio?

[Tore Nylund]

Hi!
I know that you've been talking about this before...
I've been spending most of my time i the Computing forum since I'm building my first DAW.
Now when I'm almost done I've also spent most of my money on DAW-parts and software. But, I need a pair of monitors for my projectstudio at home, and I need some advice here.
These are the alternatives that I've been thinking about:
KRK Rokit
M-Audio Studiophile SP5B
Tannoy Reveal (passive)
Alesis M1 (active)
Behringer Truth
As you understand, my budget is tight.
Any thoughts and experience with theese monitors?
I plan to use the monitors for just a few years and then hopefully buy a pair of KRK V4... I REALLY liked them a lot! I don't like NS 10!
I will only use the monitors when I record and when I do some "pre-mixing". Final mix and mastering will be done in another studio.
I'd be very grateful for any opinion about this.

 

[Prolab]

The Tannot PB6.5 and the Tannoy Rev's. are good translators.

Administrator, I changed email addresses and lost my password. I had to reregister(sorry). Before, the site would allow guests so when I am at work (during lunch hour)I could simply go to the site and read and come home and post due to having the cookie in my computer. Did you change this?.

Based on the number of users in this lunch hour time that is on RO it would seem that the user base would drop significantly. With better rates happening, a change in email address can happen and the password is sent to the old, invalad email address, rendering it unuseable.

Please look into this.

Thank you kind sir.

 

[millionvalve]

Hiya-

I have both NS-10M's and Tannoy Reveal Passives. I've heard the Monitor Ones and they're closer to the thinness of the NS-10's.

I *love* my Tannoys: They are round without being boomy, have a nice stereo image, and are pretty transparent for $400. I think if anything they can make things sound too good, sometimes. The NS-10's main use is "speaker stand" for the Reveals.

But you be the judge: go to a music shop's listening room with a CD you know inside out, and then compare away...

best-
.nick

 

[millionvalve]

By the way, I'm just kidding about the NS-10's--they can be very useful, though slightly unpleasant. I wouldn't rule them out. But they *were* my second speaker choice as they are so bass-invisible, and I don't have any big, bassy mains to rely on.

.nick

 

[mukshoe]

You should check out the yorkville (ART in USA) YMP-1 powered monitors or their passive model...i bought them over the krk v4-6, mackie, jbl and the behringer...they are revealling, great for soundstage (with tweeters faced in on their side...thanks bill) and you cannot beat the price....i paid $700 canadian or roughly $450 US for an active monitor that really is great...oh yeah and i do have NS 10's...the yorkville's aren't the NS 10s but they deliver what you need. good luck...

 

[Kurt Foster]

As we discussed on another thread, NS 10 actually are pretty good down to 60 Hz which is as about as low as most playback systems go anyway. It's nice to have a lot of bass extension if your producing rap or pipe organ music but most pop music doesn't have a lot of deep bass. 60 Hz. is fine. here is the list ………..
Tannoys, Dynaudio, Blue Sky, JBL, Earthworks, Westlake, NS 10's , Genelec, Hafler, KRK.
Those are good. …………………….. Pick one.
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It's my opinion, I'll play with it if I want to!

 

[Tore Nylund]

Thank you for all the input on this subject. And as I know... it's a matter of taste too. I think I will go for the KRK Rokit, since I'm getting a good deal on them. When it's time to update to a better pair of monitors I will probably get my money back on the KRK Rokit.They were OK, not as good as the V4's... but good enough for the moment. But before I decide I will go and listen to the others too.

 

[GravityJim]

From that list, I would definitely choose the Tannoys. I know a lot of people use and like KRKs, but I'm not among them. I can frequently tell a record that was mixed on them by the overemphasized midrange....

But, like any monitors, if you get used to them, you can mix on them. There's no such thing as an accurate transducer, so you learn to live with whatever your monitors emphasize or de-emphasize.

 

[gonzo-x]

i have the rokits.i think they're great, for the price range....

but they are limited.

it's hard to get a good read on lower lows.....

as soon as you get them, lock yourself in the room and listen to every commercial cd that you really like the sound of, through the rokits.....

and memorize what's going on.

and like i said, getting the real lows (50hz and down) is going to be a little tricky.

 

[Gary Gidak]

Have any of you folks heard the new Carvin SRS6.5a monitors? I read a review of them, which was favorable, but I'd like to get some input from others who have actually demo'd the monitors. I really want to check them out, but there is no Carvin outlet in Phoenix, AZ. Let me know if you have listened to them, and please tell me what you think of their sound. Thanks.

 

[Kurt Foster]

You deserve to be "Styles Bitchly" slapped for that question. Momeeeeee! He said the "C" word! Don't even come around here with that word. I mean it! he he he he, ……. no really ……..
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It's my opinion, I'll play with it if I want to!

 

[Gary Gidak]

You deserve to be "Styles Bitchly" slapped for that question. Momeeeeee! He said the "C" word! Don't even come around here with that word. I mean it! he he he he, ……. no really ……..

Am I to understand you have actually listened to these monitors? Or is this just another generalization based on stereotypical assumption?

I'm not a huge Carvin fan, but they do make some decent stuff - in my opinion. I'm just curious if these monitors are worth my time. I don't have $800 to spend on event 20/20's, or $1200 to spend on the new JBL's (which I'd really like to have). So, please give me some insight - if you have listened to these. If not, you may flame me at your leisure for asking an honest question, in hopes of an honest response.

 

[Kurt Foster]

No Styles I have not heard them. Yes, it is "another generalization based on stereotypical assumption". But really, Carvin??? Be serious. Sorry for the ribbing! I will remember in the future you don't care for jokes. The idea that one can believe a review in a magazine that is carrying an advertisement for the same product is questionable. I get all the review magazines for the ads, not the articles. At least with the ads, you know what they are trying to do. Sell something. Don't believe the reviews. Not even mine. (oops, sorry) I would recommend the KRK V8's in your price range. This concept of cheap quality monitors has been addressed a million times and it's not going to change. Ever. You can't get there from here. Quality costs. My opinion….blah, blah, blah, blah … (damnit I can't help myself) …
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Tannoys, Dynaudio, Blue Sky, JBL, Earthworks, Westlake, NS 10's , Genelec, Hafler, KRK.
Those are good. …………………….. Pick one.
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[Gary Gidak]

Hey Fats,

I apologize if I came off sounding like an asshole. I just get frustrated at times when I ask for a specific response, and then I get a vague, unrelated reply. I would never buy any equipment I have not tested, so my intention is to get some advice from pro's - like yourself - purchase the item (if I can't demo it), try it in my studio, and then return it for a refund if I don't like it. Thanks for being understanding, and rest assured that I like a laugh just as much as the next guy. To be honest, the "Styles Bitchly" slapped comment was quite humorous. I appreciate your candor.

 

[SonOfSmawg]

SB ... you must realize that you've asked some top notch pros what they think of a cheap set of overpriced monitors. Ya gotta expect to get some ribbing about that! :c:
Honestly, don't waste your time with the Carvins. Tannoy, KRK, and Dynaudio ... really your best choices in your pricerange. I really like the Tannoys a lot. You really should go out and listen to AT LEAST those three brands. If you listen to the Alesis and the Behringers, you'll see why they're not included in the recommendations.
Please let us know what you end-up with!

 

[Tore Nylund]

Thanx SOS, I'd like to check out the Tannoys too...In my music store they were re-arrangingin the wires in their studio-room so I could only listen to the KRK-Rokit, V4 and some lovely expensive Genelecs and some other monitors for 10 times my budget.
I remember that I've listen to the Tannoy Reveal 2 years ago... and thought they were good for the price. In studios I've worked a lot with Yamaha NS-10, and I don't like 'em... I spent one summer with Genelec and they were probably too good.The studio I work in nowadays has got the Event 20/20 active, I think they're ok... but they sound a little bit "hard".
I'll let you know what I end up with.

 

[sdevino]

I like the Earthworks. They are as ruler flat and invisible as any monitor I have heard in any price range. BUT they are not in the budget range you mentioned.

My advice would be to go to a real pro-audio store (i.e. not GC or its equivalent) and take home 2 or 3 pairs of monitors. Sit and do some real mixes in each one and see what you think. Different monitors will interact in different ways with their surroundings. So what sounds best in one studio may not sound best in another. Also some monitors image better on the meter bridge while others sound better on stands. there really is no way anyone here can tell you which will work for you. About the only thing we are all usefull for is to tell you if we have had problems with one brand or another.

You really need to audition them in your room. If the store won't let you borrow a couple of pairs, then go somewhere else (you might have to offer a credit card scan to borrow them).

Nothing in that price range will be flat or full spectrum, but many speakers in your price range are very usable for doing pro quality mixes.

 

[Kurt Foster]

Steve is so correct in what he says. Monitors interact with a room and what might sound great in one situation will sound horrible in others. And let's not forget that our ears are not all alike. Again, what works for one, may not work for another. All in all, it can be a lot of "poke and hope". That's why you will see so many of us with a huge collection of speakers .... we keep looking for that magic bullet! The one caveat to this is true quality costs. I'm sorry but a Mercury Marquee isn't the same thing as a Lincoln Town Car although cosmetically they appear to be. I know I've had both. Same with speakers. Ones that are accurate are expensive. IMO you can cheap out on a lot of stuff but transducers ain't one of them. .... Fats
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Tannoys, Dynaudio, Blue Sky, JBL, Earthworks, PMC, Westlake, NS 10's ,Genelec, Hafler, KRK.
Those are good. …………………….. Pick one.
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[sdevino]

I have to agree with Flats on the transducer deal. I personally think monitors are more important thann anything else in the recording chain.

Once I got the Earthworks, I was able to clearly hear even the most subtle differences between mic pres and microphones. Everything I tracked sounded better because I could hear what it actually sounded like! Make sense???

I think if I had spent the money on speakers like these along time ago I would have saved years of hair pulling and probably lots of money spent on outboard stuff and plugins that didn't turn out to be so great.

Steve