Ableton Forum

I'm using Ableton on my iMac, and mixing with headphones or the built-in iMac speakers just isn't cutting it. I can get the mix to sound INCREDIBLE on the headphones, and when I burn it to CD and play it in the car, it sounds like crap. So I assume I need some real speakers for monitoring... and that's where I get confused. There seems to be a lot of different types of speakers, and I don't know what I need.

Whichever kind I get, they need to be able to plug directly into my iMac... I don't have any external hardware other than my E-MU 0404 interface. So what kind should I be looking for:

• Powered Reference Studio Monitor (ex. KRK RP-5)
  Powered Studio Monitor (ex. Fostex PMO.4)
  Reference Active Monitors (ex. Behringer THRUTH)
  Active Linear Monitors
  Powered Nearfield Monitors
  Active nearfield Monitors
  Passive Monitors

I don't understand the differences... hopefully someone can clear things up.

Thanks!

Powered Reference Studio Monitor (ex. KRK RP-5)
Powered Studio Monitor (ex. Fostex PMO.4)
Reference Active Monitors (ex. Behringer THRUTH)
Powered Nearfield Monitors
Active nearfield Monitors
Active Linear Monitors

These are all the same thing, all active, all nearfield, all powered, all reference (some might disagree ), active monitors with amps in each of them.

XLR or 1/4 inch Jack in (or both)



Passive Monitors

You'll need to hook up a separate amp to these to power them.



So you've got

Active or Passive


I'd go with active, I think most people would agree for your first set of monitors.

Now you've got that narrowed down the fun begins, a lot has to do with personal taste, how much you willing to spend, what kind of music you make or what size room you have.

As I understand it, they're all describing the same thing except the passives. Well clearly, some are better / different than others, but in principal they're all designed for the same purpose.

Powered or active mean that the amplifers are built into the monitors.

Reference means that they have a flat (ish) frequency response and don't colour the sound. Although they all do really.

Nearfield just means, they're designed to be listened to at close range. Ideally, your head is roughly the third point of an equalatral triangle with the monitors at about eye, level.

The only difference is the passive monitors, which will require a separate power amp. I've heard different opinons about whether thats better or not.

Which one to go with is a different question, depending largely on your budget. Most people here will probably have a better idea than me about this, as I've only had one pair (Tanoy Active Reveals- Good but slightly lacking in bass). I suspect everyone will tell you it's the most important piece of kit to get, so spend as much as you can afford on them.

The best thing to do is to take some music you're really familiar with to a dealer (and maybe some of your own) and go and test them.

If you're plugging straight into your EMU 0404, you may want to either go through a small mixer or consider monitors with a volume control (obviously, not necessary if you get passives and a power amp). I'd hate to rely purely on software volume controls, when the computer crashes making some god awfull noise. But maybe that's just me.

Damn, my first helpful post in ages, and Beatpoet beat me to it.

ah, both posts compliment each other really

Yeah, great answers - thanks for all of the replies! When I'm reading about each monitor, it's like reading a wine list... "superb, with sassy overtones and a delightful finish". It sounds too much like propaganda, so I'll take your advice and see if I can test any of them at the music store. If not, I'll just weight the options based on my budget, which is very little...

unless one of you guys want to buy Logic Express 7 off of me for the low, low price of $100!

Speaker reviews are funny like that and never honest. Bose is a perfect example - "Better sound through marketing."

Look at the frequency range of each speaker and stuff like the THD (total harmonic distortion.) Reviews are good ways of judging speakers too. If you can find frequency plots you can see how flat a monitor is.

What's your budget?

Thanks for the advice, Deft. I need to keep it under $200. My wife wants them to be free.