Ableton Forum

I just recently had one of my KRK R5s drop dead on me. One day the amplifier decided to give out, and the monitor stopped making sound. So in the mean time I dusted off my old Behringer MS16 powered monitors and I must say that I like the flat frequency response from these much better. The KRKs, well just sound too good. They're great home listening speakers but rather poor monitors. Mixing without a substantial woofer seems to bring out more of the realities of my mix.

I know that there are many monitor snobs out there, and I admit that I don't have a lot of expertiese in this area. Once I fix the KRK monitor, I might just sell the pair. One stupid reason is that they simply take up too much space on my desk and are way too loud for my apartment. I might just rock out the behringers for a while and mix with my headphones(yes I know that is wrong). However, I'm open to some alternatives to using behringer MS16s. Any ideas? I'm thinking small and fairly low budget? Please feel free to give me any other suggestions as well.

Monitors (and the soundcard for most people who are using computers to mix) are one of the most important pieces of equipment in a studio. This is what is actually reproducing the sound you hear / feel and will have a huge impact on your mixes and decisions regarding sounds and tones of the instruments playing back.

The room and the placement of the monitors in that room will also have a very big impact as it will accent certain frequencies and dull others. The placement of the same monitors in different locations in a room can severely change the frequency response. Some placements can be bass heavy and some will leave you with almost nothing. Some will be just right.

So you can experiment with different placements that give you the balance you are after at your mixing position.

Mixing without a substantial woofer seems to bring out more of the realities of my mix.

Poor bass management is what often kills a mix (whether it is too much bass or too little). The more information you have regarding the bass, the better informed decisions you can make regarding it in your mix. So going for smaller woofers is just going to give a less informed image in the bass range.

A 5" woofer should not be anywhere near overpowering in the bass department. Again, I think the heavey bass is down to the monitor placement in your room.

Just to close with an example. I have 8" woofers and in their old placement in my room they gave me a lot of bass. So much so, that I could never really use my sub because it would make the bass overpowering and muddy. Just the bass coming from the monitors was already on the verge of excess.

I changed the setup in my room by 90 degrees. Suddenly my monitors had almost no bass - the same monitors! I noticed then that my room (as all fairly small rooms) had quite an uneven bass response.

After a couple of weeks of educating myself on the art of rockwool, lol, I insulated my room (and took many test measurements) and placed my monitors in such a way that the bass response became even throughout the room. The balance at my listening position became very even and I was able to hear a great deal more definition in all frequencies. I was even able to now use my sub, with a low crossover, to extend my bass range to 20hz with the bass sounding punchy and never overpowering.

So with proper placement and minimal room treatment, a listening setup can go from not bad to really good. Many people overlook this part of the equation.

Fostex PM0.4

hello !!

i have a set of the krk vxt 6 monitors in my studio,,they have been completely flawless and worked so so well,,i do how-ever have a small problem with the accoustics and bass at the moment as im in quite a small studio with no bass traps yet !!but you have to remember that the krk range are close field monitors meaning your mixing and producing close to the monitors,,you can check this by moving to back of the room whilst listening and they will be a massive change in the sound !! its a shame yours have knackered up on you because there definately a good flat sounding speaker !! ! the tannoy reveals are good qaulity for the price and i would suggest if your mixing in headphones because of your sound annoying neighbours "like me" use the the sennheiser hd25,s there absolutely outstanding for accurate sound and mixing etc !! good luck with it all

k

Dynaudio BM5A's - much like crack, once you're hooked, you can't do without them

I used to sell some gear, and the BM5A's were the minimum I would let anyone serious walk out the door with - they'll whip ass in the pepsi taste challenge with any speaker within double their price range, and of course just kill anything below. You really just need to go to a shop and listen to them, against anything they've got, you'll see what I mean.

Mackie MR8

dynaudio 6a's. love them.

does anybody know anything or have any opinions regarding the mackie tapco line?

http://www.rockandsoul.com/servlet/the- ... DIO/Detail

My KRK 8's are likely going to be waiting for me at home tonight... you saying there's too much fidelity color? 5's are too loud? I'm OK with that. I have these Roland 5 inch digital input speakers I love to death... very flat, but they don't play loud enough. Hence.. the KRK's...

currently on Events TR8.. I like them and know them very well

my fantasy though is a set of either Quested / Genelec... [drool]

Incy wrote:My KRK 8's are likely going to be waiting for me at home tonight... you saying there's too much fidelity color?

no, they're just mediocre low end monitors. too much fidelity? what does that mean?

/taking the piss.

dunno why people recommend Dynaudio, Genelec, Adam and high end KRK when people ask about wanting cheap monitors.

By Fidelity I suppose meaning they are not flat, and you'd enjoy listening to some favorite mp3s through them. Ya, I know they are not professional grade, but I'm alright with that. I'm not a professional. Just a hobbyist.

Incy wrote:Just a hobbyist.

I totally respect that, I am too. I lived with mediocre monitors for 10 years, then I jumped up to Adams and fell in love all over again. it's not like everyone can or wants to or really even needs to spend $1k on monitors, but they should. j/k, kinda.

that's the rub with giving advice on here, there's a HUGE variety of users on here from clueless amateurs to clueless producers to crazy talent at all levels.

Today, I just switched back to my Tannoy hi-fi speakers & Cambridge Audio amp; the whole rig cost less than my Alesis M1 MkII pair.

I compared the two pairs side by side and, while the Alesis had a whole lot more presence to them (much more thump in the bottom end and massive, glassy clarity in the tops), the sound of the Tannoys is much more 'together'. I grew up mixing on a cheap hi-fi, and going back to it, I've found it much more satisfying!

Anybody want a pair of Alesis M1 MkIIs? PM!

I´ve got the blue sky mediadesk 2.1 system, great speakers! But I also connect the soundcard to my home hifi system, and switch between those and also my headphones.

I´m thinking, if you use flat monitors, there is the problem that you might overdo the mid range, cause most normal speakers exaggerate the mid range, and since you are used to that, listening to music on flat speakers may lead you to think your music lacks in the mid range.

Someone on the forum recently mentioned having an old radio speaker connected is good as well. I´m sure it is, its good to have many references.