Good Studio Monitors for simple home studio

[MacGuffin]

When you buy used locally you can listen to them at the person's house, no worries about them not working. For 200$ you could get something that's worth 400$ or more new.

[FenderBluesAAA]

This is getting difficult. How long do these monitors usually last?

Is there a brand that you will be really good. One that I probably can't go wrong with?

[FenderBluesAAA]

I got the KRKs, had to get a sound card as well to get rid of mains noise. They are nice.

What is mains noise? I have an external sound card but just wondering what that is because I would like to use them for my computer speakers as well even when I'm not using my external sound card.

[FenderBluesAAA]

One more thing. Lots of these speakers say that they are 10 watts each. so this gives me a total of 20. Are theses 20 watts coming out of the speaker the same as 20 watts coming out of a 20 watt guitar/keyboard amp.

[Digital_Damage]

For that $ amount I would just get a good pair of cans...

Monitors can be argued to be the most import piece of equimpent in your setup.

[FenderBluesAAA]

For that $ amount I would just get a good pair of cans...

Monitors can be argued to be the most import piece of equimpent in your setup.

Ya. I understand that they are important but I can't afford a professional setup. I'm just looking for a simple setup that will last me about 10 years before I can get a professional setup.

I'll go with monitors that will last 5 years as well. just looking to get started.

[monobeach]

first of all: what do you need those monitors for? do you plan to do your own mixes or is it just for playback?
mixing is an art and requires a lot of time, practice and experience to learn properly - maybe you can connect your soundcard to your home stereo (that's what i did for a couple of years).
if not, I would suggest something along the lines of the already mentioned KRK Rokit RP5 (!), Yamaha HS50M, Mackie MR5, Tannoy Reveal 501A.

If you want something that lasts for the next 10 years, look into KRK Rokit RP6s, Adam A5s or A7s, maybe the ESI NEAR or Behringer Truth series

my 2 cents

[leedsquietman]

No monitor is optimally set up 'out of the box'. This applies to 80 dollar Behringers, Adam A7s, Genelecs, PMCs or bespoke 10k monitoring systems. Even ones which sound good out of the box could sound better if you take the time to set them up by going through a diagnostic of room placement *i.e. moving them around different parts of the room to get the best sound with least standing waves and other sonic degradations such as reflections/refractions etc* and helped further by some form of acoustic treatment in most cases.

Monitors can also be faulty. I'm not a huge fan of Alesis MKIs but they are pretty much comparable with everything in their price range and when set up properly and 'burned in' are fine once you get to know their sound. I think the monitors must have been faulty or really set up in a poor way to have someone so disappointed in them. Although if you want real low end, you have to consider adding subs to many monitors in this range, most don't reproduce frequencies under 53 Hz, so if you're pumping a lot of sub bass this can cause issues. A lot of subby sine wave bass in the 32Hz range as common in Hip Hop etc pumped loud will not translate well on budget monitors.

[FenderBluesAAA]

first of all: what do you need those monitors for? do you plan to do your own mixes or is it just for playback?
mixing is an art and requires a lot of time, practice and experience to learn properly - maybe you can connect your soundcard to your home stereo (that's what i did for a couple of years).
if not, I would suggest something along the lines of the already mentioned KRK Rokit RP5 (!), Yamaha HS50M, Mackie MR5, Tannoy Reveal 501A.

If you want something that lasts for the next 10 years, look into KRK Rokit RP6s, Adam A5s or A7s, maybe the ESI NEAR or Behringer Truth series

my 2 cents

Ya. I want to mix as well. I also need good monitors so that when I get the tone I want out of my VST I know what it is going to sound like when I'm listening through any other speakers.
-I don't have a home stereo.

[Z3NO]

I'm having a Deja Vu...

If you got a few minutes to spare... have a read.
All the best.

[leedsquietman]

Good information. Stuff like this is what makes this site visiting, instead of bickering over politics and other crap.

Thanks.

[FenderBluesAAA]

I'm having a Deja Vu...

If you got a few minutes to spare... have a read.
All the best.

I read the article you put up and was wondering what the difference is bettween Passive and Active monitors. What are the benefits of each one?

[Z3NO]

Active monitors will have integrated amplifiers. Passive monitors will need external ones.
I outline some of the pros and cons in my article, obviously there's a lot more to the topic... if you're interested, and want to get the best for your buck in the long run, nothing beats conducting your own research. Fascinating stuff.

[twisted-space]

After I moved to A7s, it was like day and night. Definition, stereo placements, depth, ear fatigue, all incomparable to Alesis.

When you consider that a single A7 costs more than a pair of M1 active Mk2's, you'd hope that would be the case. I didn't say they were the best you could get, I said they sounded good and are great value for money. I never mentioned using eq either.

[leedsquietman]

some kind of HF interference issue - if I move a microphone too near my laptop screen you get the high pitched whine very audibly.

Or some kind of ground loop problem. You will appreciate the KRKs more as they get 'burned in' and you start to know exactly how they will respond to given frequencies in terms of EQing etc, which varies in different locations and acoustic spaces.

I recently (for financial reasons) traded in my VXT6s for the lower end RP5 G2 and some cash and have gotten used to the subtle differences between the two and in fairness, am surprised at how well the more budget end RP5 G2s sound. The VXT6s produced more frequency range and slightly more accurate bass and high end, but the meat of the audio is good in the RP5s.