Practicing bass through studio monitors?

[eggfart1]

Hi all, I'm trying to get into home recording and want to go bass into pre-amp and then direct into my computer with no amp micing. I will need some good studio monitors. My question is: Do you know of any monitors that can easily handle a 4 or 5 string bass being constantly practiced through or is this not ideal?
Thank you kindly.

My budget is about 1200 dollars for two speakers combined.

 

[ksandvik]

Any decent studio reference monitor would work fine. Just don't play with extreme max volume as you might damage the cones with excessive low end bursts. Or put a compressor/limiter between.

 

[father of fires]

Well...anything that calls itself a studio monitor should be able to handle bass just fine. Just be mindful of how hard you're pushing it.

 

[father of fires]

Was "eggfart" taken so you had to add a "1" to the end of it?

 

[eggfart1]

Was "eggfart" taken so you had to add a "1" to the end of it?

Sadly, yes!

Would some Yamaha NS10s work well?

 

[father of fires]

Sadly, yes!

Would some Yamaha NS10s work well?

I've heard they are quite shrill sounding.

 

[eggfart1]

I've heard they are quite shrill sounding.

Aren't they supposed to be the "go-to" studio monitor for an un-biased and true sound?

 

[father of fires]

Aren't they supposed to be the "go-to" studio monitor for an un-biased and true sound?

I've never used them but a lot of engineers cut their teeth on them. They are good for checking mixes against other flatter systems. You need to hear your mix in as many situations as possible.

Many successful engineers still use them because they know how to mix on them but I don’t believe they consider it a transparent speaker. Plus they’re passive so you’ll need a good monitor amp with a flat frequency response as well.

I'm not fancy. I like Mackie myself.

 

[ksandvik]

Sadly, yes!

Would some Yamaha NS10s work well?

Yes if you want to suffer in the studio. They sound bad, they say that if you want a good final mix, work with the crappy Yamaha NS10s and it will sound fine elsewhere.

I'm no big fan of suffering in the studio due to bad reference monitors. If you know your monitors inside out -- after 4+ years of using the -- you know what works in what situation.

Get the new Event 202/bis or something similar.

 

[Mystic Michael]

My budget is about 1200 dollars for two speakers combined.

You might wish to broaden your thinking just a bit beyond the "two-monitor" paradigm...

Consider a system that has a good subwoofer. That'll take the strain off your puny little desktop monitors!

I recently invested in a matched set of JBL powered monitors for my soon-to-be home project studio: (2) JBL LSR2325P (two-way monitors) + (1) JBL LSR2310SP (subwoofer) + (1) JBL MSC1 (monitor system controller) that I suspect will be just dine and fandy for my needs. Total system price: $1,100 + tax.

Of course, you can go much more robust and powerful - even in the JBL line alone - if you want to, depending on your needs and budget. Point is: if you're serious about recording bass, and you don't want to rely upon headphones alone for monitoring, then you really should consider a system with a good subwoofer.

MM

 

[eggfart1]

Thank you all for opening my eyes to the possibilities. Much appreciated.

 

[SubNoizeRat3691]

The Yamaha NS10s monitors are widely popular with professionals because they imitate a "common speaker" well. they don't sound the best, they don't have a real flat response, but they sound pretty good. My guitarist has a set, paired with a subwoofer in the corner of his studio, and they sound fine. They do not sound awesome by themselves, when playing bass thru them. His crossover is set somewhere around 90hz. Good Luck

 

[ksandvik]

I'm no fan of subwoofers in the studio as it easily gets to a point where the bass levels are so proficient in the mix and then you take the mix to an iPod and all the low-end is gone.

Many good studio reference monitors go down to 35Hz, most decent 8" ones. That's enough low end to isolate rumble and other things.

 

[Jeffrey Wash]

Aren't they supposed to be the "go-to" studio monitor for an un-biased and true sound?

It isn't that the NS10's have an 'un-biased and true sound'. They're pretty dull sounding and not incredibly accurate, but they were a standard of reference in studios for a long time with the thinking being that if you can make a mix sound good on them then it should sound good on anything. They're still in frequent use, but not so much as primary studio monitor, more as a secondary reference.

I have a pair of the Dynaudio BM6A's. Excellent monitors. I've had them for 6 or 7 years now and they never fail to impress me. No problem playing my 4 and 5 string basses through them at reasonable volumes.

But they are a bit more expensive than the $1200 in your current budget - I think I paid $1800 for my pair at the time...

There's a new company called Equator Audio that's getting good reviews and running a killer introductory offer on their smallest monitors - I've been thinking about getting a 2nd pair to augment my Dyns for mix referencing at really quiet levels. You might check these guys out:

Equator Audio Studio Monitors

Good luck!

 

[fokof]

I recently invested in a matched set of JBL powered monitors for my soon-to-be home project studio: (2) JBL LSR2325P (two-way monitors) + (1) JBL LSR2310SP (subwoofer) + (1) JBL MSC1 (monitor system controller) that I suspect will be just dine and fandy for my needs. Total system price: $1,100 + tax.


MM

+1 for JBL and sub setup

I have a pair of LSR28P (older 6328p) and always practice at home through them.
Over the years , I found that practicing through a very good reference cleans up the playing a lot.

One problem is that once used to that sound , you won't be able to play through "normal bass amps" anymore.
That's what happened to me anyways.

 

[ksandvik]

Couldn't I technically just buy a really nice 2x12 BASS AMP and use it as a monitor??? That would avoid having a 2.1 system and like 20 devices.

I don't think you would like to mix with a bass amp and its speakers. The frequency response is designed for bass playing, not for mixing music and finding issues with the mix.

If you really don't need studio reference monitors at all, then just plug in your bass to a cheap stereo or something similar, works just fine for home practice. I never understood the marketing message concerning practice amps, low wattage an only use is for the bedroom where any amplification works just fine. Or even headphones and a multi-effects pedal as Zoom B2. Heck, I'm even sometimes practicing with a Fender SuperChamp XD guitar amp that's in my studio. Works fine. Or, save the money for a really good stage gig system.

 

[eggfart1]

I don't think you would like to mix with a bass amp and its speakers. The frequency response is designed for bass playing, not for mixing music and finding issues with the mix.

If you really don't need studio reference monitors at all, then just plug in your bass to a cheap stereo or something similar, works just fine for home practice. I never understood the marketing message concerning practice amps, low wattage an only use is for the bedroom where any amplification works just fine. Or even headphones and a multi-effects pedal as Zoom B2. Heck, I'm even sometimes practicing with a Fender SuperChamp XD guitar amp that's in my studio. Works fine. Or, save the money for a really good stage gig system.

Interesting. See, I don't think the sub-woofer is a good idea as an earlier user pointed out that you tend to think there's so much bass in the mix and then when you put it onto like an iPod it's gone. I want two really nice monitors so I can play back my compositions/orchestra stuff and get a good sound and reference as to what needs to be tweeked but i would also like to practice bass at home with it so I'm listening to the same thing.

 

[kraigo]

The other thing to to be aware of is that if you are routing the signal through the DAW there's a small but noticeable latency between what you're playing and what you're hearing. It can be a bit annoying, even if your latency is at 2 - 4 ms. In theory that should mean no more latency than if you were four feet further than your amp. It feels like more than that. You can overcome it, but it's annoying at first.

As far as subs go, I've used one but I felt like my monitoring sweet spot got smaller as a result.

The Mackie HR824 isn't too bad a monitor and will easily be able to handle a B string. The JBLs were on my short list when I was shopping for monitors.

KO

 

[eggfart1]

The other thing to to be aware of is that if you are routing the signal through the DAW there's a small but noticeable latency between what you're playing and what you're hearing. It can be a bit annoying, even if your latency is at 2 - 4 ms. In theory that should mean no more latency than if you were four feet further than your amp. It feels like more than that. You can overcome it, but it's annoying at first.

As far as subs go, I've used one but I felt like my monitoring sweet spot got smaller as a result.

The Mackie HR824 isn't too bad a monitor and will easily be able to handle a B string. The JBLs were on my short list when I was shopping for monitors.

KO

I will be practicing bass and recording through Apple Logic Pro 9...So I'll definitely feel/hear a delay? what the...

 

[ksandvik]

I will be practicing bass and recording through Apple Logic Pro 9...So I'll definitely feel/hear a delay? what the...

Try to take down the buffer size to 32. If you have a fast enough computer and a decent audio interface, it should work fine. Hard to hear the latencies down at that level.

I could even play with 128 buffers but my brain is trained after years of playing guitar through a pedalboard.