What monitors do you use?

McQ714 · Post by **McQ714** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 2:49 am

thanks for all the suggestions. i really wish guitar center had a better selection to listen to. all they ever have is m-audios, mackies, krks, and jbls. i think sam ash has a lot of the same along with samsons. i'm gonna have a listen to the new m-audios too but since i really want to hear them before i buy i'm kinda limited in what my choices might be.

condra · Post by **condra** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 4:27 am

It must be said, if you give a shit what the "pros" are using, Genelecs and Mackies are hugely popular.

leedsquietman · Post by **leedsquietman** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 4:39 am

KRKs are what I use right now (they're pretty good for the money), plus a pioneer home theatre, sony boombox and the car stereo. And then good headphones and the crappy headphones on an mp3 player.

I personally like Dynaudios, M-Audio EX-66, ADAM A7s and the Mackies. Digidesigns speakers (made by PMC) are pretty darned sweet too (albeit super expensive). Genelecs are nice, but I don't know if some of their range is worth the money and they sound a bit too sweet to my ears. I prefer something a bit more neutral sounding, Gennies sound too nice !!

DJ VAKIS · Post by **DJ VAKIS** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 9:11 am

GENELEC 1029A

synnack · Post by **synnack** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 10:06 am

Have had JBL, and Alesis monitors and two different sizes of Mackies.

By far, Mackies FTW. Worth the money.

http://www.mackie.com/products/hrmk2series/

esky · Post by **esky** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 10:39 am

-Auratones
-NS 10m (not used)
-Event 20/20bas (not used)
-Adam A5 (used every day...!)

Macrostructure · Post by **Macrostructure** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 11:37 am

logic_user99 wrote:currently using a pair of Alesis Monitor 1 Mk2 (the active ones) - they're OK, but I'd much prefer a pair of the new desktop Genelecs. Yum.

I've had very good results out of the M1 MkII Actives and, as I say, I now use the old model 5" Tannoy Active Reveals and they're fine too

But at the end of the day it's about getting monitors that present all the elements of the soundstage in a clear and useful manner and preferably who's results in your studio translate neutrally to other systems. That is what monitors are about. It is not about sounding "good" in any way whatsoever - not that I am saying people said it was

There is no point in buying Mackie HR824s 'cos some dude on the forum said they were the best. Equally if your studio room is very small the bass on "large" nearfield speakers (7"+) will be totally unrepresentative. Sure you can acoustically 'fix' your room but that is not always simple, cheap or possible.

So you gotta either take a chance on what you buy, or demo at home.

Having said that:

1. Adam A7s get tipped as monitors whose results translate well to other systems.
2. I know a lot of people who think Genelec are overpriced
3. I know a lot of people who use KRK RPs and think they are the best thing ever.

I still think the best thing to do is to have a set of monitors, a set of headphones, as pair of shit earphones and a radio you can feed your music into from your soundcard and flip between all of them to gauge how you are doing. Learn to really listen, train your ears, and get them to do the work, not your wallet.

Most people will listen to your music on seriously non-audiophile equipment, don't forget that!

33tetragammon · Post by **33tetragammon** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 11:57 am

JRoyer wrote:it all depends on the studio and the person or person's that are operating in the studio. I had to focus on price, then decide on the type of monitors that fit my budget and studio. I think some of the most important questions one should ask when it comes to buying monitors are:

1) Am I tracking, mixing, or mastering audio?
2) Do I require a near-field monitor setup, far-field monitor setup, or both?
3) If a near-field and far-field monitor setup are required, does my budget allow
for both?
4) What monitors are the studios, engineers or artists using when it comes to songs
that I like the SOUND of?

Asking myself these questions along with my experiences with many different types of monitors and monitor applications. The Yamaha HS80M near-field monitor was my final decision. Because they fit my budget, they sound good, and their interpretation of my mixes are very accurate. I do not get the "big" low-end Bass power or pristine hi's, but I do get accuracy for a very low price.

the first thing you should consider is your ROOM ACOUSTICS.fix that with acoustic foam and bass traps like wave panels/universal acoustics/auralex.
because even the best monitors sound horrible in an untreated room,plus your mixes and masters will translate much better to different listening environments if you do.
currently i have the Mackie hr824 mk 1,they translate perfectly to other systems in my experience,the stuff i mixed and mastered on these sounded really good as well on speakers that were almost 4 times the price of my mackies,and also on speakers that cost a zillion euros LESS.

the mackies are good,but if you want non-fatiquing highs,very well defined mids(which the mackies lack) and accurate lows(not tightly smacking like the mackies),i would go for either the dynaudio bm12a or bm15a,or the smaller ones depending on your room size.
it also depends on what music you produce/mix/master.for dance/hiphop i would get the mackies.
since this is not what i produce/mix/master anymore,i'm going for the dynaudio bm12a or bm15a if my records start selling.....or just watch HEAT,see what they did wrong,learn from that and rob a bank that isn't on the verge of bankrupcy.the last thing i need is 25 to life for robbing a broke-ass bank
oh,and by the way,i heard and saw rumours of Mackie being on the verge of bankrupcy.you can find it on the web as well

radib · Post by **radib** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 10:14 pm

burn me, but imho monitors are only important in the very last steps of production (final mixing, pre-mastering, mastering). when in the main production process, i only care about my personal comfort since it makes more fun to work when i, with my subjective taste, enjoy what is to be heard. so my monitoring setup consists of lofi (90ies soundcraft folio mixer) and outdated, more or less usual hifi (rft sv 4000 amplifier + rft merkur b9151). that finally sounds very analog by nature, the way i do like it. and since analog may seem way dull/dark, that prepares the mix to become bright enough finally (cause you mix brighter if you monitor darker).

about the room preparations for mixing/pre-mastering. i think its more important to have some feel for the room you are in, that you know its acoustic characteristics by listening to records in it. if the room is too perfect, that may reduce your ability to discover possible problems with your sound and especially your composition itself. cause in a perfect room even the last crap on earth sounds at least ok. therefore i try to invest more in songwriting and composition until the very end, than in puristic sound enhancement. at least til now. waking up with the enlightment to have written nothing but shitty tracks, but invested million hours and dollars for blowing them up would kill me mentally.

Oscar F · Post by **Oscar F** » Mon Jan 26, 2009 7:31 am

Macrostructure wrote:
logic_user99 wrote:currently using a pair of Alesis Monitor 1 Mk2 (the active ones) - they're OK, but I'd much prefer a pair of the new desktop Genelecs. Yum.
I've had very good results out of the M1 MkII Actives and, as I say, I now use the old model 5" Tannoy Active Reveals and they're fine too

But at the end of the day it's about getting monitors that present all the elements of the soundstage in a clear and useful manner and preferably who's results in your studio translate neutrally to other systems. That is what monitors are about. It is not about sounding "good" in any way whatsoever - not that I am saying people said it was

There is no point in buying Mackie HR824s 'cos some dude on the forum said they were the best. Equally if your studio room is very small the bass on "large" nearfield speakers (7"+) will be totally unrepresentative. Sure you can acoustically 'fix' your room but that is not always simple, cheap or possible.

So you gotta either take a chance on what you buy, or demo at home.

Having said that:

1. Adam A7s get tipped as monitors whose results translate well to other systems.
2. I know a lot of people who think Genelec are overpriced
3. I know a lot of people who use KRK RPs and think they are the best thing ever.

I still think the best thing to do is to have a set of monitors, a set of headphones, as pair of shit earphones and a radio you can feed your music into from your soundcard and flip between all of them to gauge how you are doing. Learn to really listen, train your ears, and get them to do the work, not your wallet.

Most people will listen to your music on seriously non-audiophile equipment, don't forget that!

I have used a pair of Dual Concentric Tannoy Reds (trashed in a house burglary some 12 years ago and too expensive to replace/repair.

Had some Alesis Point 7's (not bad) always got a great mix on them.

Got the original line of Behringer Truths (which make great iPod speakers and good hi-fi speakers to be honest with you) - could never get a mix that translated well over a large number of speaker systems though.

So I went back to the Alesis MONITORS M1 MKII ACTIVE - and get amazingly accurate mixes on everything I do with them.
Love them to bits actually and the reverb image and mids sound way better than the Behringers and have picked up a lot of flaws in some old mixes.
Everything I've mixed on these sounds great on my iPod, the Truths, my Sony shelf system, my JVC surround system with subwoofer and in the car also.
May not work for you, however they are superbly transparent in my room and yield a really good and well balanced mix.

Parametex · Post by **Parametex** » Mon Jan 26, 2009 8:05 am

Genelec 8040A

These are very good. You pay so you don't have to second guess so much.

Treating the room first is still mandatory before blowin piles of €€ on monitors.

theque · Post by **theque** » Mon Jan 26, 2009 8:51 am

event asp8 and blue sky exo.

creature · Post by **creature** » Mon Jan 26, 2009 9:02 am

I use a set of bluesky mediadesk 2.1. I think they are great sounding monitors. I spent ages listening to monitors when I was looking to buy some last year and I really favoured these monitors. I got them for around £380 last year but it looks like the prices have gone up a bit unfortunately.

Last last 2 albums and both critters sample libraries where created using them.

Steve

coldbuggin · Post by **coldbuggin** » Mon Jan 26, 2009 3:00 pm

dynaudio 6a's...awesome.

Nokatus · Post by **Nokatus** » Mon Jan 26, 2009 4:16 pm

Genelec 8040A here as well. They are ace; at the moment my room restricts them quite the bit, though.

For comparing on the fly, I have a regular hifi set (Denon PMA 725 amplifier and a Dali 606 floor pair) which I can switch on any time, and also MB Quart QP 240 headphones which I love for some reason, maybe because I have used them for over ten years and know their sound so well

What monitors do you use?

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