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I found out that my Edirol MA-10D studio monitors are only -2db on the freq response. Is this close enough to be considered a flat response monitor?

Comments

audiowkstation Fri, 11/04/2005 - 09:53

"In room" response and 'published measurements' differ wildly. Just the presence of another human in the room can vary the curve more than the 2dB specs you are quoting.

The most important thing is powerband response, at the chair, with the entire chain connected. You head end, your amplifiers, your cables and your room. If you can get the response +/-3dB, you are doing well.

Flat frequency response is not the only consideration of course. Impuse response (how quick your loudspeakers can adjust to the changes of amplitude) and dynamic lineararity have much to do with the overall "sound" you will hear. Something as simple as having your ears professionally cleaned can make a world of difference.

anonymous Fri, 11/04/2005 - 10:21

Reggie wrote: The real question is: Is the response flat enough for Vanilla Ice?

We aren't going to tell you that they are great monitors, if that is what you keep fishing for.

I think that these monitors are very flat and precise since I can hear everything on my recording clear to me. But I wanted to see if others think -2db is good. The Freq response for the MA-10D is from 45Hz to 35kHz -2db.

Thomas W. Bethel Fri, 11/04/2005 - 13:43

Vanillaice378 wrote: So do you mean that since the monitors are in my room the db is different not -2db anymore? I thought that if it says -2db it means the speakers will always play -2db since that's what its rated.

No the frequency response you are quoting is one of two things. Either it is the anechoic chamber frequency response measured with top grade measurement equipment or they are a good guess from someone in marketing at Edirol* who thought the numbers sounded good. In any case as soon as you put them into a room with reflections and furniture it all changes. That is why really top studios spend thousand to hundreds of thousands dollars to make sure their rooms are ACOUSTICALLY perfect so there speakers sound good in them. There are numerous articles on the WWW having to do with speaker setups and resolving problems in placement so I would go onto the WWW and type in Speaker and or Speaker Acoustics and see what you get.

*You could contact the company to find out which of these is the right scenario.

Davedog Fri, 11/04/2005 - 23:50

WOW!....I gotta tel ya Mr. vanillaice378.....You got TOPGRADE info from TOPGRADE folks on that question.

You got moved to the budget area because your monitors are not really 'high-end'....This is not a personal judgement of your selection of gear......No not at all....Its good that as a relatively young mixer-of-music you are CONCERNED about your monitors frequency response.

The facts(as pointed out quite well.....really dude....you'd have to pay for some of your answers you got....) remain....the tonal aspects, the frequency response, the power output, everything in those specs is going to change drastically once they are out of the 'Measurement Environment'.

And then you whine about your post being moved......

Shame on you.... :x

Oh yeah...and about yer question....Flat enough for what?

PEANUTS! IN COMING!!!

audiowkstation Sat, 11/05/2005 - 09:51

What I was woundering is is my monitors flat enough to hear everything on my recording naturaly without enhancements?

Maybe.... Maybe not.

Until you do the legwork and do some in room testing with a frequency sweep generator and a calibrated microphone, you will NEVER know. I have seen rooms with +/- 8dB actually work well and sound good. Your room will change the response. If you don't believe me, listen to one of the speakers in an empty bathtub, laying on its back. You may like it, it will become a +/- 15 to 20dB device.

Reggie Sat, 11/05/2005 - 10:28

Seriously dude, for $150/pair including D/A converters you should be happy if they make a familiar sound at all. Freq response of your monitors is not as important as you think it is. As everyone has told you a million times, your room has to have a flat response before you can enjoy this +/- 2 spec. Then there are issues with your monitors having poor tonality or distortions caused by design issues or even cheap D/A converters if you use them. The big specification that you won't find a number for is how your mixes will translate to other systems. Now do some actual mixes and quit bugging.

Thomas W. Bethel Sun, 11/06/2005 - 14:59

Maybe do some reading on the interface between speakers and room.

Here are a couple to get you started

http://www.ehow.com/how_3391_set-stereo-speakers.html

Link removed

http://www.cardas.com/content.php?area=insights&content_id=26&pagestring=Room+Setup

http://www.eadhome.nl/english/solutions/home/surround/setup_speakers.html

http://www.immediasound.com/Speakersetup.html

and of course look in the acoustics forum here on recording.org

You can use the search function to find the topics but this has been discussed any number of times.

You have some very low end speakers. They are what they are You are so worried about the frequency response when there probably are a lot of other things to worry about. If things like this worry you - you should get a good listening room, a good set of speakers that you can trust and be done with it.

People on this list have tried to help you but you don't seem to want to learn.

Do some reading, go to a good high end stereo store, listen to what good speakers sound like and then go back and listen to yours.

That is how you learn to listen to differences in speakers.

I think you will find that your speakers don't sound as good as you want them to sound. They are basically made for someone who wants better speakers for their computer to do some casual listening on they are not designed to be monitor speakers.

MTCW