Hey guys!
This is a question to those who had some experience with this and can give some advice on the following subject:
I want to get myself good studio monitors/speakers for my recording, mixing and stuff related to music production. I am thinking of getting passive monitors and getting a separate amp for them. Do you have any suggestions?
Price range - let's start with 1500$.
Thanks for your help!
So if i get those active monitors i can put 500$ back to my wallet! Cool!
Thanks a lot for quick answer! I'll sure check them out!
EDIT: ok i just visited one of my online shops for those monitors...khm khm...BM15A cost 2000$/1 piece here!!
I guess i'll have to stick to passive+amp idea!
Any ides for an amp?
Thanks! Those Mackie's are definitely something i can afford! I'll try to find a dealer in Europe! Thanks Tank!
I found a dealer in Croatia and i can get those Mackie's for 1000$. I think i already know what am i going to buy after i pay off my Dean!
Let's also see what Andrew has to suggest!
Hi Pavel!! I have used diferent monitors in the studios where I've worked and work. Yamaha ns-10 is a standard in studio monitors but I really don't like them. I could say that Alesis MK2 are good and Jbl also has great studio monitors. I have the NEAR 06 (BY ESI PRO) in my studio and they work ok too.
gabriel.-
I'm really starting to dislike my country! I contacted a dealer which has Mackie monitors and the price is 1000$/piece! GRRR
Thanks Gabriel! I'll check all those manufacturers to see what i can get here!
I saw Behringer monitors yesterday for a VERY GOOD price. But i was not sure if Behringer is a good manufacturer! What do you say?
I was looking at these:
http://www.provox.hr/audio/proizvod.aspx?IDProizvoda=417&myDataListIndex=8&IDProizvodjaca=33&Source=1
I don't know much about Monitors,
But I do know a Producer who has his own studio, and he Uses and Highly Recommend to everyone these Monitors.
Event ASP6 Studio Precision 6 Active Studio Monitor
http://www.zzounds.com/item--EVEASP6
here is their website.
http://www.event1.com/index/index.php?page=Products&product=SP8
After doing some research, It does seem to get alot of good reviews and they won an award in 2005 (you can see it on there website).
And for only $900 for the Pair... not to bad price, in fact once I save up I think I might go with them
Anyways hope it helps
Thanks Slammer!
Also - Tank, Andrew, Gabriel, Muris and whoever has a studio - what kind of sound card do you use? Do i have to have anything special to connect monitors to my PC? I have Creative X-Fi Fatality soundcard.
Man i am such a noob in gear stuff
Also - what do you say if i pick up a Behringer Mixer for a small home studio? Any thoughts or experiences on Behringer stuff in general?
I was thinking about this kind of mixer!
http://www.provox.hr/audio/proizvod.aspx?IDProizvoda=222&myDataListIndex=8&IDProizvodjaca=33&Source=1
It's in my price range and i think i don't need anything fancier!
I read some tutorials and stuff about home studio and i decided to get only monitors for start, the mixer can wait.
And now i wonder - what type of connectors do i need to connect monitors to a regular sound card. Monitors OUTPUT is using big connectors, right? So, i will have to use those big-to-small connectors to plug it in my sound-card?
Another EDIT:
I'm bombing with questions today!
This might be a stupid question.....can a mixer be somehow connected to Cubase so i can actually use channels on mixer in relation with tracks in Cubase?
Absolutely right Pavel,
most studio monitors will be balanced XLR with possibly a TRS jack as well (a very small number are digital in). There are a few sound cards that support XLR out for studio monitors usually off a flying lead as an xlr connector is to big physically to comfortably fit on the backplate of the card. Alternately there are a couple of outboard hardware control room multiple monitor switches like the Mackie Big Knob (honest guys that's what it is called ). http://www.mackie.com
Monitor and Cubase - yes, linking a desk to a soundcard and then to cubase is pretty straightforward. However if you want the desk to sync, that is so the faders on the hardware move in sync with the software and vice versa etc., with Cubase the options become a little more limited. I use a http://www.behringer.com/ DDX3216 digital desk and can sync faders fine but not the transport controls. A lot of people report much more success with Yamaha digital desk (and Yamaha now own Cubase) and Tascam digital desks and others. At one point Cubase had a desk specifically for Cubase and Nuendo - the Houston - but it seems to have died a death. The DDX3216 is a lot cheaper then most digital desks - retail at about 400UK Sterling. However Behringer haven't updated the software for ages and seem to be paying little attention to the DDX at the mo. Some people report some hardware issues but I've not had any problems with mine. If I had lots of cash I'd replace the DDX tbh probably with a Yamaha 02v- the DDX is ok but not great.
One thing to think about regarding a hardware desk is how you will get your mix into the soundcard and then on to Cubase. Mine is a digital set up and I lightpipe 32 channels via AD/DA into the pc and back out to the desk as a final stereo mix. This means I'm dealing with digital signals before the pc and so my soundcard has to accept a digital signal. If you want to stay analogue before the signal hits the pc - and indeed some soundcards will only take an analogue feed - then you really need an analogue desk (look at a Mackie - great desks and monitors). You may still be able to sync controls if[/color]your desk will either convert the control data to MMC or Midi.
One other thing - if you do get a desk - I feed my active monitors from the desk rather than the soundcard.
For remote transport control I use a http://www.frontierdesign.com/Products/TranzPort
which also works for Reason, Live and so on. You might want to look at their http://www.frontierdesign.com/Products/AlphaTrack though Pavel.
BTW Pavel Mackie 624 monitors should be in the 1000euro budget if you look around a bit. Also Genelec (1020) do good monitors in that line. Yamaha NS10 are too forward for me and are showing their age IMO - think they've just been superceded by a newer model. If you want 5.1 surround then something like Bluesky should be in that budget.
Cheers,
Tony
Thanks a lot for a long post!! As for Mackie monitors - here in Croatia they are way too expensive - the one you mentioned is 600 euro/piece.
You know this won't be a professional studio with high-end equipment but i want to be able to do some decent work on it.
So i have for now stopped on Behringer Truth 2031A monitors - they have very attractive price for me. Also - if i get a mixer - i will sure connect monitors to mixer and than to soundcard.
Mixer - if i get a mixer: what do i need to connect mixer to PC? interfaces, inputs/outputs?? I am total noob in it so i would be really grateful if you could describe it a bit.
I am looking at rear panel of the mixer and it has MAIN OUT Left and Right and MAIN IN Left and Right! I guess, than i need 2 inputs and 2 outputs from my sound card, right? So how do i connect it?
Behringer is the most affordable brand for me and i hope it's enough to start with a small home studio.
Thanks
Pavel,many studios have setup like this,in simple..
Using PC-its HD to record a sounds,then send it to mixing console where you can do really great EQ stuff,add external analog FX(like Lexicon etc) as sends,and then return it all together as one stereo track into PC-HD again.
For this,you need to have some cool AD-DA converters and sound card.
Expensive,yeah, but that's most common case using PC and mixing console together.
Almost to forgot,try Alesis active monitors Mk2,awesome stuff for price
Late to the party but ...
1. I suggest active monitors - the amps are optimised to the speakers for best results
2. I am planning on spending about $1000 on my next pair of monitors, and I am looking at Adam A7s - Budget model in Adams range but they get very good reviews ...
Oh and I switch between my pod xtl and an EMU1212m as a sound card ...
Ok so i guess mixer is not so important at all! All i need is a pair of good monitors!
Here comes a trick question: can there be 2 different sound cards in a PC?
I am asking because: i bought a Creative X-Fi soundcard just a couple of months ago, it serves me well, has a front panel so i can easily plug in my guitar from the amp and it records really good sound and all. Now if i buy 2 monitors - i will have problem plugging them into this soundcard. So i thought of getting that EMU1212m soundcard Andrew has and use it for monitors and maybe mixer sometime in the future because for now i guess i will only get monitors.
I don't want to replace my current soundcard as it has lot's of advantages like front panel, remote Entertainment center which is amazing and so on.
But - i really don't know how to connect monitors to it.
So you have one stereo jack out from your sound card,right?
Yes! And it's a small jack for those tiny little cables so i don't have LEFT and RIGHT channels to plug the monitors!
I see.
There are called "adapters" from one type of jack to another.
What you need is cable with one small stereo jack at one end,and 2 mono small/big jacks at the other end.
You can find it in almost every store that sells electronic stuff.
So you mean i can plug two monitors into 1 output jack using this converter and it will still work as left and right?
I have seen these adapters somewhere so i'll be sure to look for them!
Of course.
As the matter of fact,I'm using the same cable to record from my Korg Pandora,it has one stereo output and I need two mono.
But be careful,some low price cables are doing it wrong way,put all sound in the middle.
Look for Klotz cable or som.
Should look like this right?
but should have two of those BIG jacks inputs?
What do you say about Behringer Truth 2031A monitors? Any good?
Btw. can't find Adam dealer in Croatia....
Oh, ok i got you now!!
Ok, i'll see what i can find! Thanks all for your help! I'll get onto buying monitors once i pay off my Dean so i'll sure ask to help me choosing between something - it always sucks when you have to pick 1 out of 10 possible models!
More expensive solution Pavel is a control room monitor box. You can then plug several different sets of monitors in to that and take the feed from your soundcard in to it and choose which combination of speakers you want to use and adjust the levels independently. It is the more expensive way then Muris' solution though.
On a mixing desk btw most would have more than one stereo out. Usually something like a main stereo out and then a couple of secondaries - tape/control room/buss and so on. Useful here (and for the box above) as you can potentially send different mixes/levels etc to the different outs - ie you could send the vocalist a dry, no effects, mix on a headphone out and the drummer a reverb/echoed flanged mix on a different out.
Shame about the cost of the Mackie - have you looked at the Thomann.de internet site? - they are pretty good price wise in Europe and could probably ship to Croatia cheap/free?
Totally agree with Muris about cheap cables. Bad/cheap cabling in a studio is a continual source of problems.
Afraid I can't help on the Behringer Truth monitors. Monitors are pretty subjective and I ain't heard the Truth ones. Mackie I like (though others might not of course...). Don't know if you can do this but if you can get some different ones demoed. Adam a7s that Andrew mentions are supposed to be very good but I think they are a lot more expensive in Europe .
Cheers,
Tony
This store is great! They have everything we talked about in this topic!
Adam A7 is 390 euro/piece! It's a good price considering they are good as everybody here says and accordingly to reviews i read yesterday and also - i can't find them any closer so i guess i will try to order them. Well, as i said, it will be in like 3 months or so.
Thanks a lot!
Well, i am not buying them yet - as you know - first have to pay off the Dean! But i was thinking that the next thing i buy could be these monitors!
But also - today i ran into Ibanez Thermion amplifier, i did a topic on it (http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?showtopic=5730)
and now i am in doubts!
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