Created a newbie Monitor / Audio Interface Article

[arachn1d]

Hey guys, I just wrote this to help newbies with monitors / audio interfaces: http://www.abletondjproducer.com/2010/0 ... audio.html

Do you guys see anything that isn't true / glaring? I want to be as helpful and accurate as possible. I don't want to spread any misinformation.

I've found the best way to learn is to teach, so this is why I'm writing about these things. Hopefully I was fairly accurate.

Thanks!

[Tone Deft]

KRKs are not good monitors and in regard to USB ports just use a hub.

[arachn1d]

KRKs are not good monitors and in regard to USB ports just use a hub.

KRK's are great monitors in that price range in terms of best bang for buck. What else would you purchase for $500-600?

USB Hubs add latency and require another outlet. This isn't always the best thing when you're out on a gig. The less setup required, the better.

[Pitch Black]

USB Hubs add latency

I have never, ever noticed this. Can you please post the source of this info?

Cheers

[Tone Deft]

KRK's are great monitors in that price range in terms of best bang for buck. What else would you purchase for $500-600?

I wouldn't, been there, done that, over it. Blue Sky Media seem to get better reviews. TBH I haven't priced or done sound checks of what's currently out there. I've heard KRKs in Guitar Center synth rooms for years and I do not like them. they do have a great following, maybe if I started out with them I'd be more positive but frankly they just get too much press, IMO (and boy do soooo many of us have opinions, LOL!)

BUT not everyone can start out with great monitors and it's lame to simply be a gear snob. a better guide would tell a user to start with a budget and parse out cash for a sound card and monitors. a lot of that depends on what they want to do, which affects the cost of the sound card. for example, someone that just wants to DJ can get a high latency card with just two stereo outs. BUT someone that wants to record his band needs more inputs and lower latency, decent pre-amps and a good general purpose mic. the scope of your article might be a bit narrow.

I would also HIGHLY stress to a new DAW user that it does not matter what they do with Live if they can't hear it correctly. monitors are incredibly important and can greatly add to your appreciation of music and help you develop 'producer's ears' faster. I regret sticking with my first monitors for too long (Event PS5) not very good, they take the 'ass' out of bass. a few years ago I got Adam A7s and they simply kill me. now a few years later I can hear the spikes and dips in the Adam's frequency response. it bugs me a bit but I've learned to mix around them.

your guide stops at the post-n00b level. in a year or two you'll get fed up with your KRKs and move into the range of Adams, Genelecs and the good Rockit lines. a proper guide would have entry level (<$200), mid level and high end (>$700) monitor choices. yours simply tells people to get KRKs. AHHHHH!!!!

USB Hubs add latency

they do not. or to put a fine point to it, they introduce an amount of latency that's negligible when compared to audio sample rates.


I know you're just trying to help. sorry, I'm just killing some time at the end of a boring work day. I should say that the layout of the article is very easy on the eyes to read and I really appreciated that you left out the fluff too many people put into those (eg introductions, back stories, etc.)


there's a user up in here called HiddenDriveways that works in a gear store, he might be able to throw down what lines of monitors are in which segment.

[Pitch Black]

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[Tone Deft]

oh, and advice that ends up with "buy what I have" is rarely worth listening to. I don't write that directed at your article, I write that so that maybe you can find a way to give good well rounded advice that can help a wider range of people.

...ramble ramble...

[arachn1d]

Thanks guys. Very solid critique. I'm going to write some revisions to the article especially to Tone Draft's suggestions. Thanks again!

Btw Tone: When you heard the KRK Rokit's where they Gen 1 or Gen 2? Gen 2 is a lot better than the first one... The KRK Rokit's have a lot of hype but from the research I've done it actually lives up the hype.

[Tone Deft]

Btw Tone: When you heard the KRK Rokit's where they Gen 1 or Gen 2? Gen 2 is a lot better than the first one... The KRK Rokit's have a lot of hype but from the research I've done it actually lives up the hype.

no clue which I heard.

there's some snobbery to my advice, or at least coming from someone that's been a little further down the monitor path. in hindsight after all my thousands of posts I've realized it's quite difficult to give advice on the interweb with this stuff. with all the combinations of user experience, user expectations, peoples' budgets, what they want to do etc. there's no one answer as to what someone should get. which only adds to my applause for you making an effort to help people.

USB Hubs add latency and require another outlet. This isn't always the best thing when you're out on a gig. The less setup required, the better.

USB hubs do not add any latency at all.

Heck; you do realize that when you have a regular PC which usually has multiple USB ports (either at the back or nowadays also at the front) you're basically using a hub in itself?

Also realize that most midi devices which support USB still use the USB 1.0 standard. This is because there really isn't that much information going across the wire so to speak, the amount of data which midi generates is well within the maximum throughput of the USB 1.0 standard. Having said that also keep in mind that most modern computers use USB 2.0 nowadays by default. Which means that the internal data capacity is much more than the the maximum amount of data any ordinary midi-USB device can spit out.

Bottom line; there is no latency when using USB hubs at all.

in a circuit board it takes 1 nanosecond for a signal to go down a 6 inch PCB trace. if for only that reason, there IS latency with every piece of electronic gear in existence.

NOW, what are the real numbers for USB latency? none? nope. significant? nope. I imagine the real latency is dependent on the number of devices connected. my guess is that it's on the order of microseconds, which is insignificant when it comes to human interfaces. USB is a freaking complicated standard (hooray for FTDI.)

[Tone Deft]

you think I don't get that? it's been said.

[Tarekith]

I woudl add the NI Audio 4 to your list too, I keep hearing a lot of good things about that one. Thinking about getting one just for playing out, so I can leave FF400 plugged in and tidy. Good article though, straight and to the point.

[Tone Deft]

you think I don't get that? it's been said.

No, but I got the impression that you thought I didn't get that in my original post.

Oh well

awesome.

ahh interweb forums, never before has there been such an amazing place for misunderstandings.