• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Home Studio Monitor Setup

haggardPHUNK

haggardPHUNK

Jul 1, 2020
164
223
Colorado
#1
What kind of setups are y’all running at your home desks? I’m usually using headphones into my MacBook but am wanting to invest in some decent speakers and a sub.
Any recs on decent, small amps to run a little 2.1 system through? What kind of speakers y’all using?!
 
#2
I run a pair of Yamaha HS5's , the closest thing to a pair of NS-10's I could afford @$199/ea. They sound great and (for me) were affordable. Powered with 70 watts each, they have served me well.
IS493243-01-01-BIG.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: The Owl, dannylectro and JRA
#4
i use urei time-align (model 809) speakers with a ~ 300 watt rackmount amp --- not exactly a small system, but i would advise this: if you are going to try some serious mixing/mastering for others to listen/enjoy/buy? you may want to limit your rig to two, competent, well-placed reference monitors and skip the sub. subs can be fun, but they can also mess up your final mixes when you 'play to them' too much. if you're very experienced with the use of subs in the studio it might not be problematic for you. if you're a newbie = a sub can complicate what is already a complicated process.
so:
- subs are fun if you're not interested in doing serious mixes.
- subs are the 'wild variable' if you want to mix in a serious way.
- get a sub, but turn it off to do serious mixing on a pair of competent reference monitors. (e.g., https://www.talkbass.com/members/filmtex.194257/ 's example, above.)

good luck with your home studio and your music/recordings! :thumbsup:
 
  • Like
Reactions: Chris Fitzgerald and Roland GR 88
#5
That’s good advice. I’m not doing anything serious. Usually just work up demos to send to the guys I play with.
I also use my logic software to practice a lot. it’s nice to be able to loop a few bars of a song and work out the bass parts that way.
 
#6
At first, you need an interface to connect the speakers, too.
You don't go wrong with a pair of the usual suspects from Adam, JBL, Focal, the newer Rokits (g4).
I would rather buy speakers with larger drivers (7",8" or even 10") than a sub.
The room and how it is treated, where the speakers are located is much more important than the speakers.
 
#7
I use Yamaha HS8, and enjoyed them for many years without a sub. However, for tracking without headphones I decided to add a sub to allow me to play at a comfortable volume without pushing the monitors too much.

I’d say the two keys to a sub are 1) you can always buy it later 2) turn it down / a home studio is not a home theater.
 
#11
1) I agree probably skip the subs, check the lowest octave for "not stupid compared to my favorite records" on headphones. Subs are by far best in rooms that are treated for the low end problems every room has.
2) My preference is for a greater-than-5" woofer, but that's just me. Lots of competent 6-8" powered monitors out there.
3) The consumer market is a maze, but there are some good finds. Adcom, NAD, Parasound, Sherbourn amps of 80w plus are all better sounding alternatives to less expensive current amps, if you go with passive speakers. I've had a lot of monitors, both for fun and for a commercial studio, up to $6000 Questeds. Which speakers have I done the most/best work on? NHT Super Ones.
4) please don't buy NS10's as first speakers. They were never intended for that. :)
 
#13
haggardPHUNK said:
What kind of setups are y’all running at your home desks? I’m usually using headphones into my MacBook but am wanting to invest in some decent speakers and a sub.
Any recs on decent, small amps to run a little 2.1 system through? What kind of speakers y’all using?!
Click to expand...
Audio Technica M50x headphones. Works like a charm for me.
 
#15
I've got a set of Presonus E3.5's and they are great for mixing at my desk. I was talking with a sales rep from Sweetwater and his feelings were that they are one of the best deals around at the $125.00 a pair price point (on sale now for $99). I've had mine for about a year now and am very happy with them. The rep's point was that until you pass the $250 mark your not really getting any better sound quality, and it gets exponential from there in both quality and pricing. Hope this helps... It's a simple affordable solution and I really prefer monitors to headphones.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Guild B301
#18
I use a pair of 15-year-old Tannoy Reveal passive near-field monitor speakers, powered by a power amp.

However, I've found that a successful product comes from playing my mixes through a variety of speakers and adjusting so that the mixes sound okay on any of them. No use depending on great speakers to mix something that most people will play on their cell phones.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Guild B301
#19
rudy4444 said:
The standing joke was if you could get a mix to sound OK on NS-10s then it would sound good on anything else because they were so bad!
Click to expand...

Favorite thing heard about NS10's (from a number of different old school engineers); "They don't really have any low end, but If you get them to 104db and the woofers JUST start crinkling, the bottom is just about right."

I didn't work in multiple high end studios in the 80's, so it was never a job requirement to get to know them as a common reference. So I've always been free to disregard them for the subpar, abrasive thing that they are. Not that I have strong feelings about them or anything. :)
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back