So I'm finally ready to spend $1000+ on a pair of monitors..

Khazul · Post by **Khazul** » Mon Jun 11, 2007 4:59 pm

Machie are certainly good, but I dont think they hold the crown in the price range anymore. Also while going for larger monitors may make sense from a broader frequency reproduction perspective, you may find your mixing environment just aint up having them there and smaller 6"/5" units may actually be much better for you to mix on.

My choice for a less than ideal studio is a cheaper pair of larger monitors as jamming/recording monitors and a smaller more accurate (and less prone to room mode enhanced response) pair for mixing.

SubFunk · Post by **SubFunk** » Mon Jun 11, 2007 5:04 pm

Khazul wrote:Machie are certainly good, but I dont think they hold the crown in the price range anymore. Also while going for larger monitors may make sense from a broader frequency reproduction perspective, you may find your mixing environment just aint up having them there and smaller 6"/5" units may actually be much better for you to mix on.

My choice for a less than ideal studio is a cheaper pair of larger monitors as jamming/recording monitors and a smaller more accurate (and less prone to room mode enhanced response) pair for mixing.

VERY good point, of considering apart from treatment your room size as well, i for example have a pair of 8040s in my 'work studio', took them home to my home setup and realised that they are overkill, i choosed a pair of 8030s for home which turned out to be much better.

whereby in the 'working studio' the 8040s are the killer... but the studio room is much larger...

and both enviroments are treated well.

very good point made.

sweetjesus · Post by **sweetjesus** » Mon Jun 11, 2007 5:08 pm

Khazul wrote:Machie are certainly good, but I dont think they hold the crown in the price range anymore. Also while going for larger monitors may make sense from a broader frequency reproduction perspective, you may find your mixing environment just aint up having them there and smaller 6"/5" units may actually be much better for you to mix on.

My choice for a less than ideal studio is a cheaper pair of larger monitors as jamming/recording monitors and a smaller more accurate (and less prone to room mode enhanced response) pair for mixing.

i use this exact setup with good results.

i use KRK RP6 for jamm/production and then get serious with Bluesky Mediadesk 2.1's...

but i see a third pair of monitors in my horizon..

thelocalhost · Post by **thelocalhost** » Mon Jun 11, 2007 5:54 pm

What is the particular problem with the 824s?

SubFunk · Post by **SubFunk** » Mon Jun 11, 2007 6:04 pm

thelocalhost wrote:What is the particular problem with the 824s?

to me they have a funny scoop in the middle range, which is so weird that i can not even explain it propperly, but it produces the effect in my ears which is like landing in a plane after listen to them for long periods of time, also i found there bass terrible muddy.

but that is my experience / opinion on them. to me they are one of the most terrible monitors on the market, compare them [under the excact same circumstances] to dynaudios adams or genelecs [the respective models around the same pricerange], then you might hear what i mean.

still this is my very personal opinion!

sweetjesus · Post by **sweetjesus** » Mon Jun 11, 2007 6:07 pm

SubFunk wrote: still this is my very personal opinion!

you are not alone.

trying to listen to vocals on mackies sounds the singer has a cold compared to real monitors... shame.

craw · Post by **craw** » Mon Jun 11, 2007 7:25 pm

I do love the yamaha HS series ... 2 HS 50s and the associated subwoofer ... perfect for a small room ... very flat response and an excellent price ..

But, what do I know??

aqua_tek · Post by **aqua_tek** » Mon Jun 11, 2007 7:59 pm

Khazul wrote:Machie are certainly good, but I dont think they hold the crown in the price range anymore. Also while going for larger monitors may make sense from a broader frequency reproduction perspective, you may find your mixing environment just aint up having them there and smaller 6"/5" units may actually be much better for you to mix on.

My choice for a less than ideal studio is a cheaper pair of larger monitors as jamming/recording monitors and a smaller more accurate (and less prone to room mode enhanced response) pair for mixing.

You have a good point.

So, pardon my poor knowledge of room acoustics but for a room with approximate dimensions of 10 feet x 12 feet (equilateral), would 8" monitors be just right/overkill/depends/etc?

EDIT:

Also... has anyone tried the JBL LSR4328P's? (The ones with the room calibration feature). I'd also been interested in these a while ago but never really heard or read any opinions on them, and i'm surprised, since they've been out for quite a while.

eyeknow · Post by **eyeknow** » Tue Jun 12, 2007 12:53 am

ok, I wanted to wait until some others talked about the mackies before making this statement.

They were the hardest to listen to out of all the monitors that were there. To me, this is a bit strange since when they first came out, it seemed they were THE ONES...know what I mean?

But for what ever reason now they seem to be terrible to my ears......I do not have an explanation as to why

mission1 · Post by **mission1** » Tue Jun 12, 2007 1:19 am

My vote is for Dynaudio BM5a

Tarekith · Post by **Tarekith** » Tue Jun 12, 2007 1:20 am

I love my Mackie 824's, one of the best purchases I ever made. I think a lot of people put them in rooms that are too small for them, and thus they sound bad to so many. a few of my friends have the 824's, and in their bedrooms, they definitely sound like ass.

I have a larger room, and they sit perfect there though. The 8" woofers definitely will cause you more problems than help if you have tiny room, or no acoustic treatment IMVHO. With that though, the low end is awesome, I love how linear these are at freqs down to 37Hz.

Your room might be just about big enough, I'd say it's borderline though. Might want to also try the 624's and return the ones that sound the worst in your home. The 6's are very bit as good as the 8's, just not quite as much bass to excite room modes.

Monkey Mouse · Post by **Monkey Mouse** » Tue Jun 12, 2007 2:38 am

I have the Adams, but depending on your preference, the Dyns are just as awesome too. Mackies are too harsh and Genelecs (even at a price range higher) cannot compete with the Adams or Dyns.

feyshay · Post by **feyshay** » Tue Jun 12, 2007 3:41 am

I'd consider the JBL 4328 monitors. Quite nice. The Event ASP8's would be another consideration. They are quite different.

Mesmer · Post by **Mesmer** » Tue Jun 12, 2007 4:58 am

The best I heard in the store was....

The Yamaha´ s HS80s

Sounded very crisp, dry, clear, yadda yadda.
Just what you´ d expect from a ¨ high end¨ (<---- whatever that means) monitor.

I am very happy with my Alesis M1 620 Active´ s. They have a ton of Air, they really shine in the stereo imaging department. This aspect was definitely better than anything in the house. Of course I did not try the mk1 Mackies when I did this. I didn´ t because I am in the other side of the fence on this... to me they always sound as if the source is trapped in an elephant´ s belly (<-----slight exaggeration :p)

Good luck with your purchase.
-h

aqua_tek · Post by **aqua_tek** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 6:21 pm

OK!!! so an update...

I went to Guitar Center the other day and tested (as best as I could. Kind of difficult with the setup there, and with the GC guy's total unwillingness to help) a few of the monitors.

The ones with more decent placement were the HR 824 Mk2's and the JBL's. The others were just kind of placed on racks at opposite sides of the room. Hard to test them appropriately that way.

Anyhoo, what can i say about the 824's? Impressive, yes... but a bit TOO impressive, if you know what I mean. I couldnt help but notice that the lows and highs were dramatically overhyped by these monitors. Mids were pretty weak and a lot of the tunes I threw at it sounded kind of smeared. A lot of the details (such as vocals) got kind of lost in the whole mess. 10 minutes into it, they already sounded fatiguing.

All this had been mentioned by some of you before, but I wanted to check for myself. What can I say? guys were right

The JBL's were alright. Clearer than the Mackies but nothing to write home about. To me the only selling point was the room calibration thing, and day by day, i just kept thinking that it's more of a gimmick than a CRUCIAL feature. I just wasnt quite convinced about them.

Was kind of hard to really judge the others. I really wanted to check the dynaudio BM5a's more thoroughly but setting them up in a good listening position was going to be a huge pain in the ass. (The guy just wasnt willing to help).

So I left Guitar Center with an overwhelming feeling of defeat. What now?

Well today... I went to visit a good friend of mine. He has a pair of Dynaudio BM6A (the mark 1's) set up in his room and he agreed to show them to me. He said, once I heard them, I'd want them.

OK so I get there with basically the same CD's I'd brought with me to GC a few days before. And what can I say? I was totally blown away by the BM6A. So powerful yet SO CLEAR. They sounded great, but TRUE. Strong mids, punchy lows, clear but smooth highs. No frequencies sounded overhyped at all. No details getting lost in the mix. If anything was out of place in one tune or the other, I could notice it, and it was definitely an inherent problem with the mix, not the monitors.

I threw in a couple of my own tunes, whose mixdowns I was unsure about and these monitors confirmed it. I mean, these tunes also sounded kind of bad on the mackies but it was hard to put my finger on what the problem was, cause it sounded just so boomy and hissy. With the BM6A's I immediately knew what was wrong with them.

The catch... they are $500 more expensive than the Mackies. But goddamn, I guess you get what you pay for. I was so in love with them that I HAD to have em even if it meant spending an extra $500

So I couldnt help myself. Just when I got back home, I dashed towards my computer, logged on to the internets,. and bought the BM6a's from Sweetwater right then and there

So yeah, I guess that's done. Now I just have to wait for them to arrive

@ sweetjesus thanks so much for the info a few days ago. All the best to your friend and his new venture