# What kind of studio monitors should I get?



## CalebAuston (Nov 16, 2011)

Hey guys,
Looking at investing in a the most "bang-for-your-buck" studio monitors. I don't want to spend anymore than $200 if possible but may be able to stretch a bit. Does anyone have any recommendations?
-Caleb


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## EastWest Lurker (Nov 16, 2011)

Save up some more money. Decent ones will cost more than that.


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## Stephen Baysted (Nov 16, 2011)

EastWest Lurker @ Wed Nov 16 said:


> Save up some more money. Decent ones will cost more than that.



Jay's absolutely right.

Also you need to consider acoustic treatment - otherwise you're much better off with good headphones IMO

Cheers


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## CalebAuston (Nov 16, 2011)

Whats the minimum i would have to spend?


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## EastWest Lurker (Nov 16, 2011)

Stephen Baysted @ Wed Nov 16 said:


> EastWest Lurker @ Wed Nov 16 said:
> 
> 
> > Save up some more money. Decent ones will cost more than that.
> ...



Well, that I definitely don't agree with. Unless a room is a total nightmare, you will still get a far better sense of stereo imaging, balances, etc. with a decent pair of speakers than with headphones. The only treatment I have in my room is staggered books in book cases and my mixes translate decently because I know my speakers well.


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## EastWest Lurker (Nov 16, 2011)

CalebAuston @ Wed Nov 16 said:


> Whats the minimum i would have to spend?



At least $400-500.


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## RiffWraith (Nov 16, 2011)

I would start with the Yamaha HS50Ms.

But +1 to the idea of room treatment. You can have have these, but you need to properly hear what's coming out of them.

A good place to get good info is here:

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/studio-b ... acoustics/

Just dont take that as a commendation for the rest of the forum! :lol:


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## Simplesly (Nov 16, 2011)

For roughly $100 and change you can can build yourself 6 2" thick 2'x4' panels with any type of decent fire-batting or acoustic insulator material (I like Roxul AFB personally - OC 703 is a little expensive for less absorption, but it's great because it totally rigid) 

I highly disagree that you don't need broadband noise absorption - bookshelves may work quite well as diffusors - but I bet it'd cost more to populate a bunch of Ikea Billy's with your favorite trashy novels than it would to build yourself some effective acoustic panels. 

These things make such a difference it's not even funny. Since they absorb sound waves in a roughly frequency neutral manner, you get less reflections in the room without losing critical high end etc.. This stuff won't turn your bedroom into a world class recording studio, but it will help you get decent mixes out of any speaker, once you learn them. 

As a composer, you need to get speakers that won't feel like someone is stabbing needles in your ears after 30 minutes. Unfortunately, most Yamaha actives are guilty of this. Especially the little ones. I'd maybe go with a used pair of M-audio BX8a if you don't want to spend a lot of money, and....... treat that room!! it's not a gearslutz cliche (well....)


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## EastWest Lurker (Nov 16, 2011)

Simplesly @ Wed Nov 16 said:


> I highly disagree that you don't need broadband noise absorption - bookshelves may work quite well as diffusors - but I bet it'd cost more to populate a bunch of Ikea Billy's with your favorite trashy novels than it would to build yourself some effective acoustic panels.



It definitely helps a lot and it also helps if like me you have 50 years of collecting books. My room looks like an effing library.


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## Simplesly (Nov 16, 2011)

Jay, i'm curious if you have those books set up in a quadrilateral configuration for optimal diffusion? :D


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## EastWest Lurker (Nov 16, 2011)

Simplesly @ Wed Nov 16 said:


> Jay, i'm curious if you have those books set up in a quadrilateral configuration for optimal diffusion? :D



I do! How did you know?


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## Simplesly (Nov 16, 2011)

looks cooler, lucky guess?


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## Aaron Sapp (Nov 17, 2011)

Simplesly @ Wed Nov 16 said:


> For roughly $100 and change you can can build yourself 6 2" thick 2'x4' panels with any type of decent fire-batting or acoustic insulator material (I like Roxul AFB personally - OC 703 is a little expensive for less absorption, but it's great because it totally rigid)
> 
> I highly disagree that you don't need broadband noise absorption - bookshelves may work quite well as diffusors - but I bet it'd cost more to populate a bunch of Ikea Billy's with your favorite trashy novels than it would to build yourself some effective acoustic panels.
> 
> ...



I finally bit the bullet a couple weeks ago and built 18 4" bass traps -- for a 10 X 12 room.  The studio isn't nearly as charming as it might've been, but the difference in sound... really an eye-opener. I've been using Dynaudio BM6A MKII's for about five years, but only now have I experienced that 'flat' response. Totally worth it. Even after 4000+ staples... (hand still aches!)


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## P.T. (Nov 17, 2011)

If you have an amplifier you might consider these.

http://store.cambridgesoundworks.com/dp/B0034ZZ5W6

They have a return policy.


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## Simplesly (Nov 17, 2011)

Aaron Sapp @ Thu Nov 17 said:


> I finally bit the bullet a couple weeks ago and built 18 4" bass traps -- for a 10 X 12 room.  The studio isn't nearly as charming as it might've been, but the difference in sound... really an eye-opener. I've been using Dynaudio BM6A MKII's for about five years, but only now have I experienced that 'flat' response. Totally worth it. Even after 4000+ staples... (hand still aches!)



Tell me about it... My right foot was numb for 2 months from crouching down on the garage floor stapling the burlap.


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## Nick Batzdorf (Nov 17, 2011)

I hate these threads.


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## Patrick_Gill (Nov 17, 2011)

CalebAuston @ Wed Nov 16 said:


> Hey guys,
> Looking at investing in a the most "bang-for-your-buck" studio monitors. I don't want to spend anymore than $200 if possible but may be able to stretch a bit. Does anyone have any recommendations?
> -Caleb




You'd really benefit from waiting a little and saving up as much as you can afford for your studio monitors, it's worth the wait!. I'd highly recommend acoustic treatment also, it made a huge difference to what I was hearing in my studio.

In terms of what brands/models it's hard to really say because of personal taste and requirements. See if you can get access to a pair that you're interested in [maybe via a friend] and listen to them for yourself. 


All the best
Patrick.,


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## ceemusic (Nov 17, 2011)

Check out the D5's from Equator Audio Research
http://www.equatoraudio.com/D5_Studio_Monitors_with_DSP_300_Pair_p/d5.htm (http://www.equatoraudio.com/D5_Studio_M ... r_p/d5.htm)

$299.00 introductory price, money back guarantee


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## José Herring (Nov 17, 2011)

ceemusic @ Thu Nov 17 said:


> Check out the D5's from Equator Audio Research
> http://www.equatoraudio.com/D5_Studio_Monitors_with_DSP_300_Pair_p/d5.htm (http://www.equatoraudio.com/D5_Studio_M ... r_p/d5.htm)
> 
> $299.00 introductory price, money back guarantee



Damn those speakers have nice specs.


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## Jimbo 88 (Nov 17, 2011)

People are going to laugh, but I scored a ton of cable TV shows in the 90's using Radio Shack Minimus 7's for monitors. They costed me about $40 and are actually great for mixing. Very little ear fatigue as i worked upwards of 14-16 hour days on end. 

Treat them as nearfield monitors and mix at low levels. They are an exellent small speaker to have once you can afford real monitors.


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## Nick Batzdorf (Nov 17, 2011)

I'm not laughing.


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## José Herring (Nov 18, 2011)

Jimbo 88 @ Thu Nov 17 said:


> People are going to laugh, but I scored a ton of cable TV shows in the 90's using Radio Shack Minimus 7's for monitors. They costed me about $40 and are actually great for mixing. Very little ear fatigue as i worked upwards of 14-16 hour days on end.
> 
> Treat them as nearfield monitors and mix at low levels. They are an exellent small speaker to have once you can afford real monitors.



I've often wondered if you're doing a lot of TV stuff if it not better to get speakers that come close to what the final playback medium will be. I've been looking at some of the lower cost offerings of B&K home theater speakers and I'm really quite amazed that they sound really, really good and I think would be easy to get a pretty decent mix on. I know that people frown on that, but you don't know how many times I've had to remix something once I've transferred a mix to listen back on my cheapo home theater speakers. I figure that if the bass is rattling the cage on my theater speakers then they're going to rattle the cage all across people's living rooms at home. Funny thing that happens is once I get it sounding good on my cheapo theater speakers it generally tends to sound better overall on my better monitor speakers, thus leading me to the conclusion of perhaps getting a decent home theater setup for mixing.


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## EastWest Lurker (Nov 18, 2011)

The truth is. a good deal of it is knowing your speakers really well. I used to use Gary Lux to mix until he left to start a sompany specializing in re-mixing classic scores for 5.1.

He used to bring his own speakers everywhere he mixed, a pair of Westlake Audio, and I could not find another top engineer who liked them but Gary did amazing mixes with them.


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## John Rodd (Nov 20, 2011)

absolutely figure you'll need a ton of bass traps in most any room

and...

I recently heard an old used pair of *KRK V8 mark 2* monitors, and they sounded quite decent. I was told they could sometimes be found for $200/pair used >8o 

I was amazed.


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## Nick Batzdorf (Nov 20, 2011)

I haven't heard the Mk 2, but I agree that the original ones are really good. They're certainly not living room speakers - they're not lively speakers - but they're very good for working with.

I and a couple of people did a shoot-out of several relatively inexpensive powered small monitors about 15 years ago (Genelecs, Mackies, JBL LSR 28p, some horrible powered Tannoys, and a few others) and the V8s were the ones that stood up to the tweaked-out Tannoy Golds we used as a constant reference the best.

$200 would be a great deal.


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