What monitors to buy?

[Sprinx]

Hey, I'm wanting to buy some studio monitors for my setup at my house. Definitely an amateur at production, and not looking for professional grade equipment. My budget is less than $200, although that's flexible.

I want to make sure that I get the best bang for my buck, and I also want to know if I should incorporate any of my existing equipment into the scenario.

Current setup:
* Windows 8.1 PC (Intel i5 750 @ 4.0 Ghz, 8 GB RAM), mainly built for PC gaming
* ASUS Xonar DS (analog 3.5 mm out and also DTS S/PDIF optical connector)
http://www.asus.com/Sound_Cards_and_Dig ... ifications
* M-Audio Axiom 49 (first generation)
* Ableton Live Intro 9
* Onkyo TX-SR505 7.1 Home Theater Audio receiver (connected to my ASUS card via 4x analog 3.5mm -> RCA inputs)
* Onkyo 7.1 home theater speakers (home theater in a box) connected w/ 14 gauge Monoprice wiring.
* Sennheiser HD 201 headphones

I've played around with some song creation in Ableton, and I used a mixture of my Onkyo receiver, and also using my Sennheiser headphones when I didn't want to disturb the rest of the house. I thought I had a good mix, but then when I tried it on my main home theater stereo, or in my car, the EQs sounded wrong. I know enough from my musician days as a guitar player to understand the importance of good sound reproduction in the studio.

Options I see:
1. Buy passive monitors and attach them to my Onkyo receiver on the secondary B speaker outputs. However, I'm concerned that coloring from the PC / sound card (which has all kinds of EQ options and "neat-o" environment effects) plus coloring from the Onkyo receiver could affect the end result. I could possibly connect using optical, but I still think the sound card could affect the sound.

2. Buy active monitors and attach them to my sound card with 3.5 --> RCA cable. Still concerned that maybe this would still be not the best, but at least I'm removing the Onkyo receiver from the mix. I would have to reach to the back of my computer and disconnect the 3.5 mm jack from my Onkyo and plug in the monitor every time.

3. Buy active monitors and connect them via USB to my computer. This removes the variables of my ASUS sound card and also the Onkyo receiver, but I'm not sure how the USB audio compares (i.e. what kind of DAC is used, is it better than my sound card or Onkyo receiver, etc.). This seems like maybe the best idea, and it also means I could leave them plugged into my PC at all times, and just turn the power button on when I want them.

Purchase options with each scenarion:
1. Not sure yet - I think passive speakers are probably not the best solution, so I haven't researched it much.

2. M-Audio Studiophile AV 40
http://www.amazon.com/Alesis-M1-Active- ... cr_pr_pb_t

3. Alesis M1 Active 320 USB Studio Monitor Speakers
http://www.amazon.com/M-Audio-Studiophi ... dp_product

Any ideas or suggestions would be helpful. I'm thinking option 3 is best now, especially since these speakers are under $100, and they have their own power supply.

[Daniel_S]

Personally mate, I would keep your $200 and save a little longer til you have about double that. Even then, you are at the budget end of decent studio monitors.

Just play through your existing setup for now and use your headphones to do the mixing.

That's what I did for a while until I had the money to buy a pair of Yamaha HS8's, and it was the best decision I've made yet when it comes to equipment purchases.

[Stace30]

Personally mate, I would keep your $200 and save a little longer til you have about double that.

That's what I got told when I was wanting to get Studio monitors and I did just that. Very happy that I did. Be patient.

[Sprinx]

Personally mate, I would keep your $200 and save a little longer til you have about double that.

That's what I got told when I was wanting to get Studio monitors and I did just that. Very happy that I did. Be patient.

Thanks to both for the replies. I'll hold off a bit before I buy any monitors. I just got started with Ableton and electronic music creation, and it'd probably be best to not make any more purchases until we see if I am still doing it in 6 months. I also need to spend a lot more time just mixing the tracks in Ableton and using the export features to WAV, etc.

Any recommendations on what's best for my current setup? Should I continue using the analog 3.5 mm --> Onkyo receiver, or use S/PDIF? If I use headphones, should I plug into the sound card directly, or use the Onkyo receiver? Should I set all EQs (on my PC and on my Onkyo) to flat? Should I see how many more questions I can fit into one paragraph?

Anyway, thanks again.

[Mike Goodwin]

I agree with Daniel. Wait and buy something better.