Favorite Studio Monitors... anyone???

[cyke]

yes well, that's very true,.. but you hear things i don't so I'll have to train my hearing some more

[Marc_Garcia]

i have the hs80 too and i am very happy with them so far.

i had the tannoy reveal actives before and i think the hs80 are quite a big improvement. now i am trying to improve my mixing skills

my dream monitors are the k&h o300 but i dont want to spend $3k on speakers.

[stevenlibby]

I just upgraded to the JBL's with the room mode correction... I'm thoroughly impressed... They sound great and, translate quite well onto other systems... I highly recommend these-

[13]

Monitors can often be very difficult to choose especially when you have to try and take into account the type of room you are using, and what kind of monitors you need, near field or midfield? maybe far field? Most of us will need near field monitors as we will probably be sitting fairly close to them. Also many of use have poorly suited rooms which leads to standing waves and reflections causing ANY monitor to sound worse. This is where systems such as the JBL LSR series comes into play, these monitors can take into account the rooms characteristics and compensate for them with little or no artifacts. I have heard these speakers and they are pretty amazing for the price range.

The Dynaudio AIR system is also similar with room calibration capabilities but it is much more expensive than the JBL or most of the monitors mentioned here in the forum. These are the gold standard IMO. Many professional film composers and engineers use them as there mix monitors becuase they translate so well.

I must also mention a new favorite the Adam A7, with ribbon tweeters you get extended uppper frequency response and a much wider sweetspot as well as better spatial accuity. Essentially what this means is that you will be able to hear more 3 dimensionally as the overtones that extend beyond the normal hearing range affect your ears ability to determine distance.

Given the importance of room acoustics there are a few options to correct these issues without the need for new monitors or choosing a system with that capability already included. The JBL Driverack Studio and similar devices can creat a calibration curve for your room using a similar technique to the JBL or Dynaudio monitors. It is a fairly simple rack mounted unit that sits in between your audio interface and monitors. Secondly, there are a variety of inexpensive ways to alleviate some of your rooms issues using acoustic foam, reflectors, and other acoustic enhancements. http://www.auralex.com will analyze your room using your sketches and provide you with exactly the items you need to fix most issues you may have.

Hope this helps, let me know if you have any questions!

[Bitfiend]

Well if you're on a budget I highly recommend the Behringer Truth B2031A. Little heavy on the bottom end, but other than that i think there a great powered monitor for a low price.

[Bitfiend]

has anyone used the Yammy's that they discontinued in the 70's with the aluminum slanted grills? from what i've read they are the flatest near fields every produced.
i tried to find the model name but didn't feel like going thru over a million google hits to find it, hehe.
also, someone recently told me that the yammy were modeled after Genelecs, is that true?
every studio i've ever been in to record a live band has had the hs-80's....

[admin]

Never heard of those myself, just the Ns-10's and now seen one pair of hs-80's.

[Magnus]

This is a great thread. Lots of HR824 users like myself. I wanted to ask you all that use the HR824s, what distance are they from your head?

When I first got mine, I was limited to a small room having them 2-3 feet from my head. I know this was bad but it was all I could manage with the space I was in. Because of this and the 824s having so much low end, I would find my tracks sounding great on the monitors, but then muddy with overpowering bass elsewhere.

So I recently moved and am now in a large space with the 824s about 7-8 feet away from my head with a giant roll of carpet hanging behind my console as a basstrap. Finally what I hear from them is accurate in the real world. However, this living situation is temporary and I know someday soon I'll probably be back in a limited, smaller room like I was when I first got them. What would be the best monitors for a small room situation that would give the best real world sound? The 824s are awesome, but not 2-3 feet from your head that is for sure.

[Rambunkcious]

Magnus,

Hi, I sometimes have that problem after Ive not been mixing for a while, it takes me a couple of minutes to readjust my ears to the room I am working in, and how it is affecting the sound. (it currently has no treatment, just 2 sets of parallel walls)

I was wondering did you roll out the carpet and hang it on the wall? or is there some distance between the wall and the carpet, like is it on a stand? or did you just stand up roll(s) of carpet behind the console so they are acting like colomns? also do you have anything on the wall behind you? in the corners?

The reason I ask is because I would like to treat the room with as little as possible, so that when I get up from my mixing position I am not confronted with reinforcement and standing waves, depending on where I stand in the room. I am assuming the technique you applying helped that situation as well as clarity of sound in your mixing position.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Rambunkcious

[admin]

Mangus,

I actually prefer mine about 2-3 feet from me. In fact mine are placed so that if I hold my arm out straight I can just touch the tweeter with the tip of my fingers. This is also due somewhat to the are I have to work with, but I prefer a very direct sound.

I do sometimes have to step back a bit and check the bass in certain areas of the room, this is a 'trick' I've been doing years now and seems to work once you know the room well enough.