Active Monitors vs Hifi speakers + amp?

[MDV]

Monitors, every time.

My Adam A7s >>>>>>> NAD C352 driving B&W DM602s >>> NAD & KEF C40s >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>creative amp&sub & JBL Control 1Gs.

Cheaper too (than 2 out of the other 3).

Its more than just EQ levelness, as well. Its how dynamic and fast the speaker is, its ability to resolve layered and otherwise concurrent sounds, differentiate attacks in notes that are close together, ability to only represent whats there, rather than always make everything sound good (whatever that manufacturers version of "Good" is), and you evade the nightmare and cash cow of amp/speaker pairing. Pay not very much (200 or so or more) and you get bi-amplified speakers with matched amps.

They all still sound pretty different, and you still have to learn them, but youre off to a much better start with monitors than Hi Fi speakers. I mean, monitors and Hi Fi speakers look very much alike, but they're for very, very different jobs. If you get good enough monitors, you'll wonder why half your music suddenly sounds so rubbish, and you wont be able to listen to MP3s any lower than 320kbs, for a start :D (upsampling media players are your  friend - foobar or a plugin for winamp)

[Davey]

If you get good enough monitors, you'll wonder why half your music suddenly sounds so rubbish, and you wont be able to listen to MP3s any lower than 320kbs, for a start :D (upsampling media players are your  friend - foobar or a plugin for winamp)

ugh, yeah ... bad production albums too.. if the mix is too hot, you'll hear it.

i cant listen to any slipknot album anymore





oh wait.. they were rubbish before i got the monitors.  :P    (that was a joke btw)

[MDV]

If you get good enough monitors, you'll wonder why half your music suddenly sounds so rubbish, and you wont be able to listen to MP3s any lower than 320kbs, for a start :D (upsampling media players are your  friend - foobar or a plugin for winamp)

ugh, yeah ... bad production albums too.. if the mix is too hot, you'll hear it.

Thats kinda what I meant. Music that other people have done that you've been listening to for years, and your own music as well.

Oh, and probably as important, if not moreso than the speakers is the room, is location of the speakers in the room and acoustic treatment. You need position and treatment such that you have a listening position that has an even frequency response (i.e as close to it as possible) and clear and balanced stereo field. I've seen the location of your creative speakers and that aint it! Start with an equilateral triangle between the speakers and your head, with the speakers equal distances from the walls either side of them. 

Unfortunately, getting good monitoring setup for recording and mixing is more than just geting speakers.

[_tom_]

Yeah thats whats worrying me, a lot of my music is in MP3, so I was thinking that monitors would make it all sound shite :lol: Twas sort of like that when I got my Grado SR80s, could hear clipping and stuff on a lot of tracks so I had to get rid of them and buy the cds!

[Modular1]

Twas sort of like that when I got my Grado SR80s, could hear clipping and stuff on a lot of tracks so I had to get rid of them and buy the cds!

modern cds will not guarantee getting rid of clipping!

[MDV]

True dat.

[_tom_]

Well yeah but somehow the mp3s I downloaded had way more and just sounded shite, even mine ripped to 192kbps mp3 were much better :? How can people get it so wrong? :lol:

[_tom_]

Ok so I got to listen to my mates Mackie MR5s last night and was very impressed. Sounded much better than those Alesis Monitor 1 MK2s overall, rock and metal seemed punchier and well defined, sounded very large :) Plenty of bass without being overwhelming or muddy, loads of clarity and everything sounded great. Just cant decide between those MR5s and KRK Rokit 5s now! Anyone listened to both?

Going back to my Creative t20s is horrible :(

[_tom_]

I reckon I may have decided. Someone on the Reaper forums recommended Samson Rubicon R5A monitors. According to a blind Future Music test of monitors in the £200-250 price range, they came out on top, sounding the most natural and pleasing. Beat KRK Rokit 5s anyway so I dont think I'll be going for them! Only concern is that they look so dated, but I'm just being a vain bar-steward :lol:

I have a question though. My interfaces rca output level is -2db, whereas the Rubicons specs say the rca input is -10db. Would I damage the rubicon by running this output into the input, or am I just getting confused about how it works?

[MDV]

I reckon I may have decided. Someone on the Reaper forums recommended Samson Rubicon R5A monitors. According to a blind Future Music test of monitors in the £200-250 price range, they came out on top, sounding the most natural and pleasing. Beat KRK Rokit 5s anyway so I dont think I'll be going for them! Only concern is that they look so dated, but I'm just being a vain bar-steward :lol:

I have a question though. My interfaces rca output level is -2db, whereas the Rubicons specs say the rca input is -10db. Would I damage the rubicon by running this output into the input, or am I just getting confused about how it works?

I'm worried by the way youre talking about monitors in this here thread mate.

They shouldnt be natural and pleasing and good and whatever else in the normal speakers sense, unless the mix is like that.

They should be detailed and revealing and unforgiving and accurate. They should let a good mix sound good and give a bad one enough rope to hang itself with. Or thats the idea.

A monitor that sounds good all the time is a failure as a monitor.

[_tom_]

Yeah thats why I was wondering whether or not it was a good idea to go this route instead of hifi speakers which are meant to sound pleasing rather than revealing.. the monitors I've heard have all sounded good just for music. I've only listened to "professional" mixes through them though so thats probably why they sounded good, my amateur attempts would sound awful I assume :P

[_tom_]

Bought tomjacksons Tapco S5s as £100 was too good an offer to miss. Bit of a problem though, when I received them today, the tweeter of one of them was inside the enclosure rather than mounted properly. It looks as though the magnet became detatched from the cone and then the cone fell off. Dont know how as the magnets clip in pretty tightly. Anyway after putting it back together that speaker sounds a lot duller and less clear than the other one :(

Hopefully I can get a pair of matching replacement tweeters for reasonably cheap (and that the amp/crossover isnt damaged), and that Parcel Force will pay up, but somehow I doubt it as the packaging isnt really damaged. Maybe it was loose when tom received them but he never realised, then when it was shipped to me, fell apart? I'm quite trusting of him/members of this forum, so I really hope theres nothing funny going on here.

Anyway, the one that IS working sounds great, bass very punchy and defined, everything sounds very clear and natural. Poor quality mp3s I have do sound a bit rubbish though so I'm going to have to update my collection with some higher quality stuff. Then again its hard to tell when you only have one half of it!