Recommend some Monitors

[Foxworthy925]

How important is it to use good monitors for recording? I got a presonus firebox and am using that with Cubase LE and the other stuff it came with, all on my iMac. I just need to know how much of a priority good monitors would be to making/mixing a good recording, after just spending $300 on a firebox. Can anyone recommend some that'll fit the bill?

[canshaker]

not sure what your budget is, but IMHO monitors are the MOST important part of your studio. A good mixing pair would be Yamaha NS-10's. Very flat response. If the music sounds good coming out of them, it'll sound good coming out of anything.
It's also a great idea to check mixes in the car. (It's where you listen to most of your music, so your ears are pretty accustomed to what "normal" is.)

[seamonkey]

These Edens come up every once in a while in this forum:
http://www.eden-electronics.com/prod...ors/index.asp#

I don't own them, but they look like a good deal.

I personally don't think monitors are as important as a good set of headphones. Multiple sets actually. Over the ear to ear buds. Still, at some point it's good to confirm a mix on monitors.

[Foxworthy925]

Ok thanks for the quick reply guys. Here, let me be more specific. I don't want to spend more than $300 on monitors, unless it's that important that I spend more than that to get a good pair (to make a nice recording). Since good headphones are important, I also need a recommendation on that. I need these soon (within the week) and I'll probably be visiting GC tomorrow, so some suggestions would be very much appreciated.

[chrisp2u]

Originally Posted by Foxworthy925

Ok thanks for the quick reply guys. Here, let me be more specific. I don't want to spend more than $300 on monitors, unless it's that important that I spend more than that to get a good pair (to make a nice recording). Since good headphones are important, I also need a recommendation on that. I need these soon (within the week) and I'll probably be visiting GC tomorrow, so some suggestions would be very much appreciated.

1st suggestion, buy online and save all the money you'd be spending on tax to put toward better gear. Plus, unless you have a good inside hookup guy, you'll likely find much better deals on most anything you're looking at purchasing at GC anyway if you shop around a bit and work some deals.

Monitors are definitely important and definitely one of those things where you get what you pay for. However, the room that the monitors are in will impact the quality of the sound as much as anything. If you put them in a crappy sounding room (with nulls or other weird stuff going on) the best monitors known to man could potentially sound bad. Many people would say treat the room first... and we're talking acoustic treatment here, NOT sound isolation. Forget the foam egg carton stuff. Look into some bass traps or acoustic panels, whether you buy them or if you're a DIY type person. A great resource is over here... http://www.gearslutz.com/board/studi...-construction/

Now, I'm not saying that you can't get a good mix with some less-than-mediocre budget monitors in an untreated bedroom... surely people make that happen often these days. But your life will be much easier since you'll be able to mix quicker and have your mixes translate better across more systems if you're able to do it in a more balanced room with flat/more accurate monitoring.

As far as a budget monitor recommendation, if you can save up another $150 or so, I'd strongly recommend the Blue Sky Media Desk 2.1's. I auditioned these against a bunch of stuff in the $500 and less range a couple years ago, and they won hands down to my ears. YMMV. They don't get real loud, which may or may not be an issue for you, but they sound smooth, not fatiguing, and seem pretty accurate when setup well. There might be some newer stuff out there in that price range that I'm not aware of, but the Blue Sky stuff is quite good for the $$$ IME.

What are you looking for as far as headphones? Closed-back (isolated) type for tracking stuff, or open (much less isolation) which tend to sound a bit more accurate (for mixing... though only mixing with headphones is generally frowned upon)? Headphone budget? These can get pricey as well.

Good luck.
---
c

[canshaker]

Headphones?...
Sony MDR-7506
Industry standard.
EVERY studio I've worked at has these.
I have about 8 pair in my studio.
Cost ya about $100

[Foxworthy925]

Thanks for the help. I said I needed these in the week because I'm using this new recording gear to record a song I'm writing for a history project. Well, it's sounding like it'll be a bigger decision than I can make in a few days, so I guess my history teacher will have to deal with a less than perfect(ly) mixed song. Could I get a nice pair of headphones from GC though, that would help me make a good recording for the time being (before I actually get some good monitors or amazing headphones).
I don't want to spend more than $150 for these, unless extra money will really make that extra bit of difference between a decent recording, or a great one. Closed or open back?- you tell me. I'm looking for whichever I can get quickly for the time being, that'll give an accurate sound so I can do an adequate mix. These will mostly just be until I get something better though, so it doesn't have to be perfect.

edit: canshaker- just saw your post. Thanks, I'll check out those headphones you said.

[stranger0]

If you were in Canada I'd say give the Yorkville Y50's (or whatever they're called) a try...wicked loud, quite clear too.

[Standalone]

Used KRK V6 or V4....? I got demo v4's and love them. One factor to really consider is the varying degree of ear fatigue monitors cause. I can listen hard to my v4's for hours on end, while some of the gear in the GC demo room grates on my ears after five or ten minutes of demo time.

I'm a strong believer in making a studio comfortable to work in-- more time spent equals a better final product.

[Alaska Bass]

Here is the link that covered this several weeks ago, and also my response to it in case you don't have time to follow it and read the whole thread.

Why should I mix on good monitors?



Recording Monitoring

Back in the day, when recording was only done in a professional studio, great care was taken from the source to final medium that the absolute best quality available was used. With the advent of home recording and much less expensive equipment, there has been a great shift to the budget conscious "pro-sumer" that wants to record. What often times is a noble intent, usually ends up as a mediocre product. While equipment and lack of musical or engineering skills are equal factors in this downward spiral, made worse by the dumbing down of most music sources (MP3 still vastly outsells SACD), the often overlooked source of bad quality sound is bad quality speakers in the control "room" (often known as the bedroom).

There is a reason that some will invest $50,000 dollars in a pair of monitors for recording or mastering. The reason has to do with several very technical aspects of sound reproduction but basically boil down to the accuracy and quality of the sound that can be created by a specific speaker. To an untrained ear ( or even half the trained ones) there is noticeably less difference the higher the quality you go, but there still is quite a difference.

If you start with the most accurate monitors, you will be able to hear things that inferior monitors would not have been able to accurately reproduce. This aid to listening allows for a better mix to be created initially. All professional studios will also have a second monitoring source (Usually Yamaha NS-10 speakers, the original not the NS-10M's). These are for the approximation of a normal listening system. Many an engineer will take a track out to their vehicle too, for a comparison before ever turning it over for mastering.

Once someone knows the difference, they cringe when they hear an inferior monitor (other than one designed to simulate a real world listening environment). Hope that helps.

[DocBop]

Few things to think about.

What type of sound to you like... big bottom, midrange punch, glass breaking high, or flat as a board.

Also where you audition speaker has a big influence on how they sound. I've heard good speaker sound bad and visa-versa because the demo rig was setup to make certain speakers sound better than others. Can be just the way the room is setup compare to how they will be setup at your place. If try to demo new stuff in a place that has a set of speakers I'm familiar with so I have a point of reference for that demo .

Speakers are the weakest link in a system and the most important, so take you time finding speakers you like. Then play as much stuff on them that you are familiar with so you can learn the sound of the speakers. It's more about knowing what your working with than how great they are.

[Foxworthy925]

Ok thanks everyone. Seeing as how this song is due in 4 days and getting good monitors and even headphones for that matter is a huge decision, I'll just make due with what I have at hand. It won't be great, but I'll try to get a decent result...

[i_got_a_mohawk]

KRK RP6's do it for me.

[justabass]

I'm not a big Behringer fan but I really like my Truth B2031A monitors. The have been great for the cost...

[locolobo85]

+1 Check your mix in the car.

I mixed with a $100 dollar pair of Sony bookcase speakers for a long while. Once I got dialed into what was working it was easy to reproduce a similar, so called, finished project again and again. The best tip I ever got was to mix at low volumes to reduce ear fatigue.

You should definitely be able to make do with what you've got on hand.

[kaputsport]

I bought a pair of KRK Rokit 6SE's. They are the white cabinet rokit 6's. I bought them to match the 24" iMac I have on my desk, and they sound incredible.

My brothers studio has a pair of Rokit 8's in it, and I bought them based on the sound...

Set me back $300 for the special editions... and they look and sound great.

[i_got_a_mohawk]

Originally Posted by kaputsport

I bought a pair of KRK Rokit 6SE's. They are the white cabinet rokit 6's. I bought them to match the 24" iMac I have on my desk, and they sound incredible.

My brothers studio has a pair of Rokit 8's in it, and I bought them based on the sound...

Set me back $300 for the special editions... and they look and sound great.

Ive got the SE's too, they do look pretty spiffy

[Hawaii Islander]

I use a pair of KRK Rokit 8's. They work greeat for bass.
They run about $500.00 a pair.

[fightthepower]

I have the m-audio BX5a's, they fall into the $300 range