Monitors

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Monitors

Postby adrocker » Wed May 25, 2005 10:52 pm

Hey guys i no for sure you can help me!
Im after a pair of studio nearfiled monitors for home use in a fairly small sized control room. Im a student living in Melbourne and am on a bit of a budget but I am prepaired to pay for good quality for sure. What brands and places to get them would you recommend ? I heard recentley there was an experiment conducted where pro engineers were blindfolded and listened to a piece of music through a diffrent of monitors ranging in price and brands and the results were not that favourable towards the super expensive multinationals ......any thoughts??

Cheers guys.
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Postby Jason Dirckze » Wed May 25, 2005 10:56 pm

Only one way to find out.....take some music that you know well to a shop and spend a couple of hours there. Some shops may allow you to "borrow" a pair to try out in your own environment.

Good luck!
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Postby PeterR » Thu May 26, 2005 12:14 am

I got some passive dynaudio BM6s and a decent amp (sold to me second hand buy a helpful person)

I'm happy with the combo.

One thing I note about the Dyns is they are very clear. They sound almost a bit scooped in the mids. Not a hifi speaker but maybe leaning more that way compared to other monitors. This can be good or bad depending on what you like and what your room is like I guess.

After A/Bing the Dyns with the usual budget suspects (Alesis, be!@#$%^&, cheaper KRKs) I couldn't get anything less. The BM5s are cheaper and have a lower quality tweeter than the 6s but I've never heard any 5s to compare.

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Postby davemc » Thu May 26, 2005 2:15 am

Everyone is different.
Every room you hear in is too.

Go to a lot of shops with your own CD.
Best to make one with short clips so easier to test with.
Listen.
Some monitors sound great.. Although detail not there to mix on.
Find which sound best for you.
Try narrowing it down to a couple.
See if the shop will let you buy one and try for a weekend under the understanding you will swap for the other if yur not happy.
Most should help you.
Now at home mix on them and see how they work for your own room.
Try moving them around your room to see if there is a better spot.

Now brands etc.. I do not like some that others like etc so its all in the ears.
Brands I like personally Quested ,ATC, Adams, PMC, Dynaudio.
Try Mannys, Billy Hydes, Awave etc local.
Even try local Hi fi shops. Maybe a hi fi monitor and amp might do you on a budget.
Good luck..
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Postby Sam » Mon May 30, 2005 1:05 pm

Give a brand called EMES a shot too....

I have the pink's with an amber sub from them and i'm reall happy with it.....

Like has been said before, get out there armed with a good reference CD you know really well, and then just listen...:)
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Postby Mark Bassett » Mon May 30, 2005 2:32 pm

It is crucial that you audition any prospective speakers in your control room. I cannot emphasize this enough. There is no way of knowing what any speaker will sound like (no matter what the brand), in a room without hearing them.

You should be looking for a set of speakers that sound good in your listening environment, without those last three words it's a pointless endeavour. All the reference CD
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Postby JustinS » Tue May 31, 2005 6:03 pm

Nice summary Mark...

Something else to think about - if you use any set of monitors in a particular room for long enough & reference what your stuff (and the super schmick stuff that you like) sounds like there and in the outside world your particular set of monitors will be the best set of monitors for YOU because YOU will know them so well!!

This statement does rely on the fact that your room & monitors aren't lying to you sooo much that you can't judge what is going on :D

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Postby smash » Tue Jun 07, 2005 9:10 pm

Amazing what a few well placed pieces of accoustic foam can do for your monitor setup....

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Postby Chris H » Tue Jun 07, 2005 10:38 pm

Quote"Amazing what a few well placed pieces of accoustic foam can do for your monitor setup.... ""
Would have to agree but I.m glad you mentionrd the word "few" The number of studios i have seen that totally overdo the use of foam leaves me scratching my head a bit, and i aint got nits!
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Postby Maria » Sat Jun 11, 2005 12:22 am

Mark is exactly correct with what he says above. Speakers are only a small part of the room acoustics and should be treated as such. Do not make your choice based on how they sound in a shop demo room. Often the speaker that stands out in the showroom is the very one you will find you can't live with when you get it home.

This page has a couple of handy hints.
http://www.gearplus.com.au/tips/tips-00 ... tricks.htm

But as Mark says, borrow a set and have a listen in your environment. Most reputable dealers a quite willing to loan a set or two.

I also agree with Chris H. Don't go berserk with the foam. Use deflection rather than absorption if possible. Inappropriate absorption just sucks big holes and creates phase problems in other areas.

And if you do chuck some foam around, forget the wanky pattern foam. Foam is not a directional product and the patterns have little effect other than cosmetic. The down side is that any foam with a pattern is only half as effective as straight foam (the pattern makes it's average size = half the thickness of normal foam).

You are better off to build panels using a cloth skin to cover sound absorption material (and not pink bats).
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Postby Aearth » Mon Jun 13, 2005 11:03 am

See if you can find a second hand pair of Genelec 1029A. I think Sound Devices have a demo pair for $1400. Also try Mixmasters in SA.


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