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Hi guys, just read thru all posts..looking into getting my first monitors. I have some noob questions for you!

circleofpsy wrote:i follow that good monitors will give better feedback on the audio i am generating but what about the deep sub bass???

if i buy an average pair of monitors, do i need to get my self a sub with similar charactistics? how does loefah hear the tunes he is making?

This. I've never fully understood how the average up and comer that writes really deep bassy tunes can REALLY be sure about what they're hearing. Sounds silly, but can good ($500-1000 a piece) monitors really hit the deep bass that, say, the 15" in my car can?

dizzy035 wrote:i only have the normal earphone jack input on my laptop so is that going to be a problem at all?

Same for me. Only obvious drawback I can see as opposed to an external USB card is sound quality..?

Erebus-7 wrote:if youre only intersted in listening to music, dont get studio monitors mate, get some nice hifi speakers.

Why? I'm a complete sound noob, please don't stone me..I really don't know! I'm not great at making tunes yet, but I'm also really keen to mix records with them as well.

Also, noticed that a fair few people have commented that the traditional rectangular "bedroom" can not reproduce sound perfectly. So how effective are bass traps really? I have a fairly untrained ear, never having had monitors before, so I question how much I'd even notice the difference..?

Thanks!

"This. I've never fully understood how the average up and comer that writes really deep bassy tunes can REALLY be sure about what they're hearing. Sounds silly, but can good ($500-1000 a piece) monitors really hit the deep bass that, say, the 15" in my car can?"
No, but they Should produce low end, just not as loud. Smaller cones don't go so low, so look at getting 6"+ monitors. They should have decent low end, but if you think they are lacking you can always get a sub later. BTW I don't think you need loads of bass bouncing all round your room when producing. As long as you can hear it, you can tell whats going on down their, pair this with A/Bing other tracks and you should be good.


"Same for me. Only obvious drawback I can see as opposed to an external USB card is sound quality..?"
Simple just get yourself a decent interface. BTW thats not as easy as it sounds, do your research...

"Why? I'm a complete sound noob, please don't stone me..I really don't know! I'm not great at making tunes yet, but I'm also really keen to mix records with them as well."
The main difference between listen speakers, and production speakers, is that the listen speakers "colour" the sound. This colouring is sometimes deliberate, or because they are produced cheaper. This colouring of the sound (Bass boost for example) makes the speakers sound more pleasing when listening. With production speakers colouring the sound is avoided as much as possible, they have a clean sound, with flat response, and a good dynamic. This is to help you hear what is going on in the sound, and not mask it under all the colouring.

"Also, noticed that a fair few people have commented that the traditional rectangular "bedroom" can not reproduce sound perfectly. So how effective are bass traps really? I have a fairly untrained ear, never having had monitors before, so I question how much I'd even notice the difference..?"
I will let someone else answer...

"Same for me. Only obvious drawback I can see as opposed to an external USB card is sound quality..?"
Simple just get yourself a decent interface. BTW thats not as easy as it sounds, do your research...

"Also, noticed that a fair few people have commented that the traditional rectangular "bedroom" can not reproduce sound perfectly. So how effective are bass traps really? I have a fairly untrained ear, never having had monitors before, so I question how much I'd even notice the difference..?"
I will let someone else answer...

Pretty much everything above answered by 3za.

firstly, the thing about only having a headphone jack is you don't have an interface for any speakers. so either get yourself a USB or Firewire interface for monitors or if you're just getting hi fi speakers get your self an amp and you can use that as an 'interface', and just jack to jack it to your pc, its what i used to do with my hifi speakers.

but yh, an interface is the most important bit in my opinion, there are so many out there you just need to work out what you want, what you want to spend and what you actually need. I have a small Audio Kontrol 1 for home which is a nice small portable interface that i use just for home production. but obviously your needs may be different, can't stress the RESEARCH bit enough.

finally onto the 'sound reproduction' of rectangle rooms. and bass traps.
the effectivness of bass traps in general comes down to many different things, such as, type of bass trap, shape of room, positioning, type/placement/responce/levels of monitors etc.

also, it's not about the room 'reproducing' the sound, thats down to the speakers, (i would go into more detail but im tired and it's too late for me to bother, plus i dont think you'd get it if i told you, no offence ), it's about what happens to the sound once it's been produced by the speakers. obviously (or you should know) sound interacts with whatever gets in the way of 'the path of sound', be it your walls, you bed, wardrobe, or whatever else. this causes absorbtion of certain frequencies of the sound(freqs absorbed is dependant on surroundings) and reflections of the sound and, to put it simply, too many of these reflections can give your ears an untrue representation of the sound.

most problematic to an untrained ear is where the bass can become 'boomy' because too many reflections take place and the sound can become 'trapped' and the bass frequencies can sound ridiculously loud. for example if i open and stand behind my door in my room, the bass behind the door sounds stupidly loud, but go and sit in front of the monitors and it sounds perfect. this is where bass traps become usefull, they are not always nesecary, i dont use one in my room, but for example where you try and mix you do get this 'boomy' bass, you might need to make use of one and allow more of the bass freqs to be absorbed to stop this from happening.

sorry if this is too simple, but its late and im very very tired, and anyone please feel free to elaborate on this or add/take away stuff.

basically what im trying to say is, it's all about where YOU are, theres no formula to put on it, or no one who can tell you exactly what you need, it's all about experience and testing and doing it for yourself. just dont feel like you NEED all these bass traps and acoustic treatment when you dont even know how to choose good monitors, just get some cheap monitors and your production will sky rocket as it is, worry about all this stuff when you have mre experience and atleast know what youre looking for, and im not trying to be mean or whatever and i may be wrong, im just trying to help you out based on what i get from your posts. anything else, feel free to message me at a more reasonable time of day :)time for some i think...

Anyone got any monitor recommendations between £150 and £200, had a look at the samson mediaone 5a can anyone tell me if their any good, ill be using i for pretty much everything, miixing, production, recording and listening to an ipod

Bonsai wrote:Anyone got any monitor recommendations between £150 and £200, had a look at the samson mediaone 5a can anyone tell me if their any good, ill be using i for pretty much everything, miixing, production, recording and listening to an ipod

Save some more, then go to the shop if you can.

Might wait for the sales hopefully the KRK rpk5's will drop

it's getting to be holiday season, there will def be deals to had as always, prolly some special holiday colors too far as krks

Do you think KRK rpk5's would be sufficient for production?

the 6s are what i swear by out of the rokit range over the 5s or 8s
if you need the extra bass get the sub

What about the r6 it's areference monitor, i'm a beginner and i only know aht active and passive do, im still not sure wether i willl get the monitors as i need to get a new daw i currently use ableton live 8 lite, ill probs get intro and stick with my headphones for the mo unless i see a good deal,

Planning to get some speakers for playing at home (not production!). Got mks and an Ecler Nuo 2.
Was thinking about buying 2x KRK RP6 G2 or Behringer Truth 3031A. Which one should be preferred? Do I need active monitors for juggling at home?
I can't play really loud but I wan't a crisp and clean sound and a deep bass.

thanks

soulkids wrote:Planning to get some speakers for playing at home (not production!). Got mks and an Ecler Nuo 2.
Was thinking about buying 2x KRK RP6 G2 or Behringer Truth 3031A. Which one should be preferred? Do I need active monitors for juggling at home?
I can't play really loud but I wan't a crisp and clean sound and a deep bass.

thanks

Don't buy monitors if you are not using them for production, you can get so much more bang for your buck, in the hi-fi world imo.

Any recommendations for a good pair of HIFI speakers? Probably need an amp too?

decklyn wrote:
TOP END SHIT[/b]

I'm not getting into this stuff. If you're looking at Dynaudio, Genelec, top level adam shit, then you know what you're doing and don't need my help[/b]

ADAM, Dynaudio, Genelec, they all have an entry level model All costing +- 450 per monitor.

Also maybe add Focal to the entry level since they have a new line called CMS that starts arround 800e a pair.

Great thread, will help people out for sure!

Hey guys.

I know this is an old thread, but I just wanted to add some update, that I find very useful. Especially if you'r a first time buyer of near field's.

The Behringer 3030A / 3031A

They are actually really really good!

I know that the old behringer is crap, but these have a really nice full sound with a super big sweetspot and a very tight low end.
I have been comparing them to a lot of speakers, but mostly against the Adam A5X, since they are about same size and build.
The setup I was listening in consists of an ass loads of speakers and a quickswitch system, so you can skip through them by the push of a button.
I have been comparing them in an environment with Genelec(8040A), Dynaudio(BM5A MK.II), Mackie(824 mk II), Adam(AX series) and KRK(rokit series).

In my opinion the KRK are utter crap, unless you go for the VXT series. The RP series has i giant hole in the mid/highs and only the larger models has any bass.

The Behringer Truth 3030A was to my ear, about the same quality as the Adam A5X, but in different ways.

The Adam had a bigger sound, meaning larger stereo field/sweet spot and more in the highs.
The Behringer was almost as good, but much better in the low end.
This might also be because of the 6" vs 5,5". Never the less I got more sound from my lows on the Behringer, there was simply missing something on Adams.
However it was like the sound got bigger when I swithched to adams, not much but a little.

I was comparing with a lot of different music ranging from classical to dubstep and also some sound test cds I have.

I gotta say the Behringer impressed me, and in that price range I think it is a much better buy then the KRK.
They are incomparable .

BUT, if I was going to buy, I would maybe concider saving up more, and getting the adam a7x to get the more defined mid/high, and supply it with a sub(if you make dubstep I think this is a must), in time.


So for me it's like this:

Quality - best first: Adam Ax series - Behringer(new series) - KRK (RP series)
Value - best first: Behringer - Adam - KRK


p.s. The reason I am writing here, is because the main post helped me a lot some time back, and I think the behringer is a fantastic alternative to the shitty krk.

I would like to mention about Yamaha HS80M. Great monitors for dubstep production too

Evo Reactor wrote:I would like to mention about Yamaha HS80M. Great monitors for dubstep production too

I have them as well. They're really nice!

Evo Reactor wrote:I would like to mention about Yamaha HS80M. Great monitors for dubstep production too

Haven't heard them yet, but I'll be going back to the test inviorment tomorrow and give them a listen. I think I remember seeing them there.
Well an 8" woofer will usually be good for catching the lower stuff in dubstep

Being a good boy and not posting a new thread, but hopefully this still gets some attention as I need to make a fairly quick decision

Adam A7X's Vs Focal CMS50's

After doing my research these are the 2 I've narrowed it down to for my price range.

The Focal's sound like they might have a slightly more detailed/quality sound, but the Adams have got 2 inches on them, about 10hz lower bass response and also sound really nice.

I know its only 10hz (42 as opposed to 50 on the Focals) but seeing as Im making primarily bass music I kinda want that extra 10.

Another upside to the Adams is that there are no Focals in my city, so Ive only been able to actually hear the Adams for myself, and I was fairly pleased.

Any opinions on this?

Also, if I wanted to save money by ordering from overseas, do you think there is a risk of them being damaged in transit? Lack of patience and instant gratification come also into play.

Any thoughts much appreciated

sketi wrote:Being a good boy and not posting a new thread, but hopefully this still gets some attention as I need to make a fairly quick decision

Adam A7X's Vs Focal CMS50's

After doing my research these are the 2 I've narrowed it down to for my price range.

The Focal's sound like they might have a slightly more detailed/quality sound, but the Adams have got 2 inches on them, about 10hz lower bass response and also sound really nice.

I know its only 10hz (42 as opposed to 50 on the Focals) but seeing as Im making primarily bass music I kinda want that extra 10.

Another upside to the Adams is that there are no Focals in my city, so Ive only been able to actually hear the Adams for myself, and I was fairly pleased.

Any opinions on this?

Also, if I wanted to save money by ordering from overseas, do you think there is a risk of them being damaged in transit? Lack of patience and instant gratification come also into play.

Any thoughts much appreciated

I have the 50's and I never feel like I'm missing out on the bass. In a small room, project studio the 50's are fine. If you want the full spectrum and have a large room get the 65's. I tested both the adams and Dynaudio myself.

If your from hopskotch(looking at the avatar) maybe there's someone (I think lysdexic has dynaudio, but i'm pretty sure there's some focal user there) that you can play some tracks over.