# Studio monitors?



## nik (Jun 10, 2017)

Hey guys,
i am think of getting nice studio monitors. I have been listening to neumann kh-310 and i think they would do a good job for mixing and mastering. What are good alternatives in that price range? Are there maybe even better possibilitys?
Thanks and best regards
Nik


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## muk (Jun 10, 2017)

A similar question was discussed here not long ago. The KH 310 are good and worth checking out. Other great monitors in this price range are Geithain RL 906 (my personal favorites), Psi Audio A17, Amphion One18, Barefoot Audio Footprint 01. These are all quality speakers, you have to test them thoroughly in your own room to pick your favorite.


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## synthpunk (Jun 10, 2017)

The Neumann's are very good. I like the musicality, and solid low end of the Dynaudio BM15A. Barefoots are tops if you have the budget.


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## jamwerks (Jun 10, 2017)

Also the new Genelec 8341


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## higgs (Jun 10, 2017)

+1 on the BM15As. My first pair of real monitors were Dyn BM5As. I could work for hours without fatigue and I just love the way Dynaudio monitors sound. The LA Vintage King listening room is where I first heard the BM15As, and they sounded fantastic. Those are my absolute favorites in that price range. They'll definitely be my second set of monitors.


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## heisenberg (Jun 10, 2017)

If you have a place like Vintage King to audition monitors, unless you have done that already, this would be one the things I would do before going much further. It is a tired truism but monitors are a matter of personal taste and often dictated from what your prior reference is. I began my journey thinking I wanted the then Klein & Hummels similar to what you are considering but ended up in a very different place. You have to live with them day in and day out so give it some time and audition away, unless you have exhaustively gone through this process.


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## higgs (Jun 10, 2017)

If you don't have nearby access to a Vintage King-y kind of place --and you're considering spending a large sum-- I wouldn't rule out a road trip to the nearest place that offers a listening room. That or check with dealers who have demo sets. ProAudioLA does this and I'm sure there are others who do as well, but I don't know who. Anyone know of other demo friendly outfits?


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## nik (Jun 10, 2017)

Guys, thanks a lot for the great input, yeah definetly will give the monitors a try before i buy them. I already listened to the Kh-310 in the shop and they sounded great.great soundstage and depth. I have to check out the others as well, aspecially the Dynaudio Bm15A and the PSI Audio A17 draw my attention as i saw some great reviews of them!


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## Gerhard Westphalen (Jun 10, 2017)

I'd definitely check out the Amphion one18 and the Barefoot Footprints before making any decisions. I really liked the smaller Neumanns but ended up giving up on trying to listen to the 310 after having heard about them from other people. Haven't heard the BM15A but I really like my smaller Dynaudios.


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## nik (Jun 10, 2017)

Gerhard Westphalen said:


> I'd definitely check out the Amphion one18 and the Barefoot Footprints before making any decisions. I really liked the smaller Neumanns but ended up giving up on trying to listen to the 310 after having heard about them from other people. Haven't heard the BM15A but I really like my smaller Dynaudios.


Yeah its a pity, but it seems the Barefoots are pretty hard to find in Austria


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## higgs (Jun 10, 2017)

Is VK still the only Barefoot dealer?


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## Vastman (Jun 10, 2017)

I just got the new Genelec 8340A's which are absolutely stellar. Will b adding their integrated room tuning software/mic which is specifically designed to work with their speakers and goes way beyond 5.1

Considered the Neumann and barefoot but after much discussion and research, couldn't b happier. The final nut was Skippy also choosing these after being unhappy with others. Indeed, had the Newman's in my cart at one point but...love what Genelec's doing.

Then again, given your budget u might wanna step up to the big daddy Genelec's which were out of my price range... 
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/de...yu_nJbDK_OVjC3Lub6hBzcU33f-Hl8qoiQRoCHFHw_wcB

Sweetwater has great return policies but I'd never...luv the Gens


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## Vastman (Jun 11, 2017)

higgs said:


> Is VK still the only Barefoot dealer?


 No... there's one other...http://www.chucklevins.com/products/barefoot-sound-micromain45-pair.html

I spent a couple hours on barefoot but ended up feeling "gimmick" woofer wise. Was NOT impressed by VK's answer to some tough but real questions from someone during a video demonstration...just blather not real data.


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## muk (Jun 11, 2017)

Forgot to mention the Event Opal's. Worth checking out if you can find them in your region. Tony Faulkner uses them as secondary speakers next to Quad ESL's (which are out of your pricerange).


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## nik (Jun 11, 2017)

muk said:


> Forgot to mention the Event Opal's. Worth checking out if you can find them in your region. Tony Faulkner uses them as secondary speakers next to Quad ESL's (which are out of your pricerange).


I just recently talked to a guy in a shop who told me that he gets back lot of the Opals because there are so much problems with them. I also heard great things about them but very frequently i read or hear so many people complaing bout them.


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## nik (Jun 11, 2017)

Vastman said:


> I just got the new Genelec 8340A's which are absolutely stellar. Will b adding their integrated room tuning software/mic which is specifically designed to work with their speakers and goes way beyond 5.1
> 
> Considered the Neumann and barefoot but after much discussion and research, couldn't b happier. The final nut was Skippy also choosing these after being unhappy with others. Indeed, had the Newman's in my cart at one point but...love what Genelec's doing.
> 
> ...


i Recently bought the Sonarworks measurement software. I wonder if that does the same thing as the Genelec Calibration?


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## muk (Jun 11, 2017)

nik said:


> I just recently talked to a guy in a shop who told me that he gets back lot of the Opals because there are so much problems with them. I also heard great things about them but very frequently i read or hear so many people complaing bout them.



Too bad if that is true. They are good speakers, when they run. By the way if Innsbruck is not too far from you, Aktivstudio is an official dealer for Geithain:

http://www.aktivstudio.at/


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## nik (Jun 11, 2017)

muk said:


> Too bad if that is true. They are good speakers, when they run. By the way if Innsbruck is not too far from you, Aktivstudio is an official dealer for Geithain:
> 
> http://www.aktivstudio.at/


Hey thanks a lot, thats a great info!


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## Nmargiotta (Jun 11, 2017)

I went through this same process last year and ultimately purchased the Focal SM9's along with the Trinnov Audio st2 pro. Bill at Vintage King in LA got me dialed in, I feel as important as it is to listen to monitors at a demo studio, listening to them in YOUR room is the most critical step you can take. Room acoustics change everything, Especially if you are considering spending thousands of dollars. As for sonar works, I use it for my headphones HD600 and it helps for sure, when it comes to monitors though I've never tried.For room calibration I went Trinnov - the 4 capsule mic gets everything from speaker height to distance between speakers, first reflections and snaps it all so your stereo image is absolute, it also corrects nulls and peaks that the room maybe causing. It's pretty incredible! A treated room with a pair of quality monitors and Trinnov is next level for sure.


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## higgs (Jun 11, 2017)

Vastman said:


> No... there's one other...http://www.chucklevins.com/products/barefoot-sound-micromain45-pair.html
> 
> I spent a couple hours on barefoot but ended up feeling "gimmick" woofer wise. Was NOT impressed by VK's answer to some tough but real questions from someone during a video demonstration...just blather not real data.



You know, they weren't exactly for me either. I nearly picked up a pair of MicroMains in 2009, but decided to take my name off the 4 month wait list after using them at a friend's studio for a day. Choosing speakers is such a super personal endeavor - as it should be when spending that much.

I'm quite happy with my SM9's, but if I were in the market today with a similar budget I'd be really seriously looking into a pair of Amphions.


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## nik (Jun 11, 2017)

So i have been reading great Stuff about the Focal Sm9s. As i understood they have a switch highlighting the Midrange, right? So at least i wouldnt have to get extra mixing cubes for that. As i have been eying on the Kh 310s, witch cost half of the Focals , are Focals Sm9 really worth the double price?


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## Vastman (Jun 11, 2017)

nik said:


> i Recently bought the Sonarworks measurement software. I wonder if that does the same thing as the Genelec Calibration?


That is why I deferred on the purchase... haven't thoroughly analized this issue. Genelec's GLM system is specifically designed for their SAM speakers... it's an integrated system and seems pretty amazing...

good info here: 

if you google you get a number of youtubes. Unfortunately, the best of these is in German but you get the idea. As I'll be moving into 5.1 and beyond down the road and my rooms withing the home will be changing as well as positioning for audio/video work, I'll likely add Genelec Sams and the integrated system as it can rapidly reconfigure calibrations for changing setups.


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## higgs (Jun 11, 2017)

nik said:


> So i have been reading great Stuff about the Focal Sm9s. As i understood they have a switch highlighting the Midrange, right? So at least i wouldnt have to get extra mixing cubes for that. As i have been eying on the Kh 310s, witch cost half of the Focals , are Focals Sm9 really worth the double price?



There is a Focus Mode switch on each monitor which cuts the 400w amp and signal going to the 8" LF cone so you're dealing with a two-way monitor that's roughly similar to the Focal Solo6. It is a little inconvenient to trigger Focus Mode since the switch is on the actual monitor and not on a remote. I personally wouldn't use a LF cut on a monitor controller to try to mimic this feature. I've recently started using Focus more when composing and I'm pretty happy to have that feature.

I have no experience with the KH 310 monitors, but looking at them this is what I see on paper:
Focal SM9:
8" LF driver w/ 400w amp & 11" passive radiator
6.5" mid/low-mid w/ 100w amp
1" tweeter w/ 100w amp
77lbs

KH 310:
8.25" LF driver w/ 150w amp
3" mid driver w/ 70w amp
1" tweeter w/ 70w amp
29lbs

I'd certainly want to hear them side-by-side to determine how diminished the returns are in terms of cost increase.


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## nik (Jun 11, 2017)

higgs said:


> There is a Focus Mode switch on each monitor which cuts the 400w amp and signal going to the 8" LF cone so you're dealing with a two-way monitor that's roughly similar to the Focal Solo6. It is a little inconvenient to trigger Focus Mode since the switch is on the actual monitor and not on a remote. I personally wouldn't use a LF cut on a monitor controller to try to mimic this feature. I've recently started using Focus more when composing and I'm pretty happy to have that feature.
> 
> I have no experience with the KH 310 monitors, but looking at them this is what I see on paper:
> Focal SM9:
> ...


Thanks a lot for the info! Hope i can find the focals in a shop here to listen


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## nik (Jun 11, 2017)

Vastman said:


> That is why I deferred on the purchase... haven't thoroughly analized this issue. Genelec's GLM system is specifically designed for their SAM speakers... it's an integrated system and seems pretty amazing...
> 
> good info here:
> 
> if you google you get a number of youtubes. Unfortunately, the best of these is in German but you get the idea. As I'll be moving into 5.1 and beyond down the road and my rooms withing the home will be changing as well as positioning for audio/video work, I'll likely add Genelec Sams and the integrated system as it can rapidly reconfigure calibrations for changing setups.



Thanks for your replie,i will check the videos out!


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## Jeremy Spencer (Jun 12, 2017)

I have my eye on a pair of these, they sound great...
https://www.long-mcquade.com/12888/...dam_Studio_Monitors/A7X_-_Powered_Monitor.htm


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## higgs (Jun 13, 2017)

I've tried many times to appreciate and learn to translate Adam monitors, but I couldn't adjust to the top end on those. The ribbon tweeter is meant to be smoother to curb fatigue, but I guess the sound was just not for me - of course selecting monitors is very personal/subjective. I guess that's why I chose the Dynaudio BM5A's at more or less the same price as the Adams.


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