Monitor Speakers and Sound Cards

unwind · Post by **unwind** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 4:49 pm

I'm looking at buying some new hardware very soon to improve my setup.
The main thing I want to upgrade is my speakers. At the moment I'm using some shitty 'Skytec' speakers which are now manufactured under the brand 'QTX' - http://www.htfr.com/product.php?productID=320010

(I'm not necessarily going to buy from HTFR, they are just good for reference)
The most likely candidates for me to buy (as a pair) are:

INTIMIDATION XS 5 - http://www.htfr.com/product.php?productID=382663

KRK RP5 G2 - http://www.htfr.com/product.php?productID=302399

YAMAHA HS50M - http://www.htfr.com/product.php?productID=275375

I'd like peoples' opinions on these brands and models, and if you have any suggestions for other brands/models please let me know as I am finding it very hard to make a choice.

At the moment, I am using a Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio sound card. It does a good job, but I'm thinking it's quite likely that if I buy any of the speakers listed above (aswell as pretty much any others in the £200-£300 price range) I'm going to lose quality and therefore lose the 'trueness' of the sound, and I'm not quite sure how to get around this because I'm fairly new to the hardware side of production. I would think that I'd need a better soundcard or something like that because at the moment I'm running my speakers through my computer using Red & White Phono cables from the speakers to a standard 3.5mm jack in my computer. Will I need an audio interface in order to get the best out of my new speakers? If so, does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks a LOT to anyone in advance.

xilitol · Post by **xilitol** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 5:49 pm

how about headphones ? dont think that speakers are so important

fragments · Post by **fragments** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 6:05 pm

xilitol wrote:how about headphones ? dont think that speakers are so important

Sure. If you only want to use headphones. Personally my ears feel much more strained from long sessions if I use exclusively headphones.

As for monitors the only ones I have experience with are the krks. I didn't feel like the 5s had enough low end. I own the 6s and like them a lot. They seem good entry level monitors and have to be an improvement over those skytecs.

I'm running the m audio 2469 audiophile soundcard. I have had no issues w it and seems powerful enough for a hobby producer.

unwind · Post by **unwind** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 6:15 pm

xilitol wrote:how about headphones ? dont think that speakers are so important

I do have headphones - I have AKG K181DJ's, but I prefer working with speakers. Also, I don't think that the sound I get out of my headphones is as accurate as that of a pair of good monitor speakers, but I could be wrong. Besides, I need to get new speakers anyway - I use them far more than I use my headphones, and the ones I have are literally bog standard monitors.

Would you say there are any particular advantages of using headphones over monitors?

fragments wrote:
xilitol wrote:how about headphones ? dont think that speakers are so important
Sure. If you only want to use headphones. Personally my ears feel much more strained from long sessions if I use exclusively headphones.

As for monitors the only ones I have experience with are the krks. I didn't feel like the 5s had enough low end. I own the 6s and like them a lot. They seem good entry level monitors and have to be an improvement over those skytecs.

I'm running the m audio 2469 audiophile soundcard. I have had no issues w it and seems powerful enough for a hobby producer.

That M Audio soundcard seems like a good choice for me. Not too expensive, and has connectivity for any of the speakers I'd be looking to buy. Thanks very much for showing me this, will be likely to buy!

Capture pt · Post by **Capture pt** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 7:16 pm

Stay away from anything branded Intimidation.

Horrible stuff.

REAP3RMusic · Post by **REAP3RMusic** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 7:37 pm

The KRK Rokits are always a good choice. I recently bought the 5's and they sound gorgeous. They do lack somewhat when it comes to low end however, the 6's and 8's don't really improve on this as much as their frequency responses only go as far as 6Hz lower than the 5's. I'd recommend going for the 5's. Do your initial mixdown using headphones and then mix it again without the headphones using the speakers. This will mean that you can make your low end sit nicely in the mix and then using the speakers to hear the 'True' sound of your mix so you know what the track sounds like through something that doesn't pick up and low end frequency and how your sub bass layer affects the rest of your track.

unwind · Post by **unwind** » Wed Mar 02, 2011 2:14 pm

Capture pt wrote:Stay away from anything branded Intimidation.

Horrible stuff.

Haha, gonna knock those off the list right away! Thanks.

REAP3RMusic wrote:The KRK Rokits are always a good choice. I recently bought the 5's and they sound gorgeous. They do lack somewhat when it comes to low end however, the 6's and 8's don't really improve on this as much as their frequency responses only go as far as 6Hz lower than the 5's. I'd recommend going for the 5's. Do your initial mixdown using headphones and then mix it again without the headphones using the speakers. This will mean that you can make your low end sit nicely in the mix and then using the speakers to hear the 'True' sound of your mix so you know what the track sounds like through something that doesn't pick up and low end frequency and how your sub bass layer affects the rest of your track.

Thanks. TBH I think that any speakers I buy will be a vast improvement on the Skytec's that I'm currently using, especially in the low end. After reading loads of reviews I'm stuck between the Yamaha's and the KRK's, I feel like I'm swinging slightly more towards the Yamaha's though because I literally haven't read a bad review on them. I might have to pay a visit to the HTFR shop so that I can hear them both for myself.

Ldizzy · Post by **Ldizzy** » Wed Mar 02, 2011 6:03 pm

this thread has been discussed many times and ull find way more valuable info on an older thread... or on sites like gearslutz

best thing is to buy a pair, try em and ask for trade if it dont fit..

the rockits didnt do it for me.. they sounded too muddy for my tinnitus-hurt ears...

thus.. i tried the hs80s and they seemed more then decent..

its mostly a matter of room and of experience with your room.

at one point its a matter of preference and natural predispositions to certain setups as well...

buy a good pair, and get USED TO IT.

Monitor Speakers and Sound Cards

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