which monitors would you choose

martin808 · Post by **martin808** » Fri May 27, 2011 5:38 pm

I know this question gets banded about a lot but i'm going to the shop tomorrow and i'm hopefully going to come back with some new monitors. I've been using alesis m1 mkii passive speakers and a samson amp for years and never really been that happy with the sound and now the amp seems to have died so it's time to upgrade

anyway I've whittled it down to these 3 monitors (any other suggestions are welcome)

Blue sky mediadesk mkii 2.1

Genelec 8030 or maybe 8020 if they are more suitable

dynaudio BM5a

here's a plan view of my room. It has not been treated in any way. All sizes are metric and correct.

http://oi54.tinypic.com/14wt9x2.jpg

any ideas on room treatment would be appreciated also

thanks

henke · Post by **henke** » Fri May 27, 2011 5:57 pm

Some years ago I would have said Genelec! But I figured out that mixes done on the Dynaudio speakers tend to sound good on a lot of systems, which is not always the case with the Genelecs. I heard the BM5a monitors A/B with 100.000 EUR Strauss mastering speakers and I was surprised how well the sound translated between those two. The only 'issue' with the Dynaudios is that they cannot handle high volumes or a lot of bass. But for a room of your size and the small listening distance you should do fairly well with them.

Your room has a nicely uneven geometry, you might have good luck and it already sounds quite good. if you have too many reverb on the mid/high range you try to use thick curtains on the walls.

Robert

Tarekith · Post by **Tarekith** » Fri May 27, 2011 6:13 pm

Might want to look into the Focal CMS line too, I think they're pretty good in that price range.

rcpunker · Post by **rcpunker** » Fri May 27, 2011 6:17 pm

I dont know shit about any of those 3 monitors.
but I would choose DYNAUDIO just for the name.

you're welcome.

xzusa8ky · Post by **xzusa8ky** » Fri May 27, 2011 6:53 pm

I would go for the Yamaha's............

reeloy · Post by **reeloy** » Fri May 27, 2011 7:03 pm

...best of three...those three?

Dynaudio....no doubt.

But also give the first neumann monitors a try in the listening booth....kh120....unbelievable truthful...those can become the next standard...

martin808 · Post by **martin808** » Sat May 28, 2011 10:45 am

really surprised nobody said the genelecs. I thought there was a few genelec fans on here. I am now swaying towards the dynaudio. They were first mentioned to me by a friend who is an acoustic consultant. I was originally planning to buy a set of adam a5x but my friend didn't recommend these due to the bass response and the type of tweeter used??

I was also ready to go out and buy a load of acoustic treatment for my walls but he said this would be a waste of money. He said It would change the sound of the room but not necessarily for the better. He is planning to come back and measure the frequency response of the room and maybe build some bass ports or something?? again I'm not too clued up on room modes and all that. I just wanted to put it to this forum to see if anyone had different ideas. I'm quite glad no one came on and said cover the room in auralex treatment..

Now I just have to find somewhere reasonably local where I can get a listen to these dynaudios. I could have popped in to rubadub and bought the genelecs this morning and a/b'd them with adams, yamaha or mackies but finding a dynaudio dealer seems a Little harder.

I have no problem with the dynaudio not going that loud. I'm not able to have it that loud anyway. Being able to mix at semi low volumes is crucial due to neighbours. A little concerned about how the bass response is going to be on them. I read somewhere else that an 808 kicks tale can disappear on these monitors and it was really this part of my mixes that I want to address. I'm tired of producing tracks that sound perfect in my room only to get down to the club and hear the midrange has disappeared completely and the kick drum sticking out like a sore thumb.

I had never even heard of the focal monitors. they look good but again finding a set in Glasgow for a listen might be a bit difficult. same goes for the neumann monitors.

Grappadura · Post by **Grappadura** » Sat May 28, 2011 11:03 am

I´d be between dynaudio and genelecs too. I used to have the blue sky mediadesk and switched them for 8020 genelecs. Not having that much bass is turning out to be good for my mixes, they sound louder now on average speakers. I´m not an expert but I think genelecs are great for making your music sound loud, as they show you clearly how far you can go, quickly distorting when you cross the limit . I liked dynaudio when I heard them, to me they sounded a bit less harsh than the genelecs, and I thought I´d like to use those if I was mixing acoustic music with lots of details in it. For pumping electronic music I´d go with the genelecs.

reeloy · Post by **reeloy** » Sat May 28, 2011 11:12 am

....hmm, the low end is always difficult to control on 5" speakers....some do better, some fake it and some leave it up to subwoofers...but they all can't tell u what's really going on under 50hz....

Maybe you should check adam a7x....there right inbetween....still truthful in the mids but with much more low end response...
Forget about the tweeter talk....you got to hear them on Your own.....some love these ribbon highs, some don't....

Grappadura · Post by **Grappadura** » Sat May 28, 2011 11:49 am

Personally I find it unnecessary to hear everything thats going on on very low levels. I do my basslines with synths, and I know whats going on there, so no need to check, generally. If I ever get to the point that I really have to hear it, I can still use my headphones.

catalyst · Post by **catalyst** » Sat May 28, 2011 11:58 am

martin808 wrote:Genelec 8030 or maybe 8020 if they are more suitable

Sorry to be a bit spammy - if you decide the 8020 is good for you I have a mint boxed pair of 8020a I am just about to put up for sale and I'm in the west end of Glasgow so that may be convenient! If you were to pick them up I'd ask £280 for the pair which is not much more than a single 8020 from RAD.

cheers

martin808 · Post by **martin808** » Sat May 28, 2011 12:03 pm

catalyst wrote:
martin808 wrote:Genelec 8030 or maybe 8020 if they are more suitable
Sorry to be a bit spammy - if you decide the 8020 is good for you I have a mint boxed pair of 8020a I am just about to put up for sale and I'm in the west end of Glasgow so that may be convenient! If you were to pick them up I'd ask £280 for the pair which is not much more than a single 8020 from RAD.

cheers

that is extremely tempting. let me read a bit more about them. are you available today?

reeloy · Post by **reeloy** » Sat May 28, 2011 12:16 pm

...support you neighbour dealers...

The 8020 is a good speaker....in an aluminium chassis...and the price is really cool...

But be aware of the fact that these speakers are those ones i had in mind when i said...some leave it up to subwoofers....

66hz as the frontier for the low end means you got perfect mids but no low end at all...

But the deal sounds that good....you could even achieve the small genelec sub for them....that would be with no doubt at all, a very good and proffessional studiomonitoring for all styles....

martin808 · Post by **martin808** » Sat May 28, 2011 12:20 pm

I'm pretty tempted to buy those 8020 speakers that catalyst is selling. (I could always re-sell them if i wasn't happy with them)

I would also have enough change to buy a sub if necessary. does anyone know if the genelec 5040 sub would be suitable or would i need to go for the 7050 sub which genelec recommend? are the crossovers the same?

martin808 · Post by **martin808** » Sat May 28, 2011 12:32 pm

*sits and waits for catalyst to pm me back*

which monitors would you choose

which monitors would you choose

Re: which monitors would you choose

Re: which monitors would you choose

Re: which monitors would you choose

Re: which monitors would you choose

Re: which monitors would you choose

Re: which monitors would you choose

Re: which monitors would you choose

Re: which monitors would you choose

Re: which monitors would you choose

Re: which monitors would you choose

Re: which monitors would you choose

Re: which monitors would you choose

Re: which monitors would you choose

Re: which monitors would you choose