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Posted by: Todd Simpson Dec 20 2012, 05:22 PM

Model Number LSR2325P
5" Two-Way
Bi-Amplified
Powered Studio Monitor
Frequency Range : 43 Hz - 20 kHz

There are always folks looking for their first pair of "Studio Monitors". Choosing a decent pair can be quite a challenge. Budget is usually the limiting factor. I recently spent some time with the "Budget/Starter/Intro" (insert your fav adjective) line of JBL "Near Field Monitors" (Near Field roughly means monitors that you keep close to your head, not BIG ones mounted in the wall like in a big studio).

I was IMPRESSED with the quality. They are not intended for use in situations where you have more than 1,000 EURO to spend. These are for situtations where you are looking to spend 100-200 Euro per speaker. Having dealt with the first dozen responses in advance, let's proceed

MY EXPERIENCE MIXING ON THESE

I've tried WADS of speakers in this price range. The KRK 5 and 6 come to mind. I compared these against the Alesis and KRK during the testing. So in short...

*They sound good!!
*They are accurate enough for home studio use
*The bass cuts off around 40hz meaning they are best paired with a Sub Woofer if possible (Same with the KRK and Alesis)

For the money, these are a fine pair of speaker and worth considering for any home studio. Here is a link to the JBL site with more info.

http://www.jblpro.com/catalog/general/Product.aspx?PId=280&MId=5

Posted by: vonhotch Dec 23 2012, 01:25 AM

If a subwoofer isn't an option, does double checking and working with a decent pair of headphones make up for any of the loss of bass? Headphones like AKG MK 240 are rated as low as 15 hz.

Posted by: tonymiro Jan 7 2013, 04:35 PM

You can use a pair of headphones to check the mix though it's not ideal as it can, for instance, present an unrealistic idea of the stereo. To be honest though a sub can introduce other issues so that isn't necessarily ideal either. Try to become as familiar as you can with your monitors and headphones by playing lots of pre-recorded commercial cds on them and listen carefully to how they reproduce the audio. As you get more and more familiar you can to some extent compensate for some of their issues.

Also, be careful with the quoted rating as what counts are the corner frequency where the headphones start to roll off the low end and how steep that slope is. The 'phones may well be bale to produce som measureable bass at 15Hz but that doesn't necessarily mean that they present bass frequencies accurately down to 15Hz.

Posted by: vonhotch Jan 8 2013, 12:37 AM

Cool. Thanks Tony.

Posted by: Todd Simpson Jan 8 2013, 04:57 PM

A great reply by Th TONEMAN per usual! Don't worry too much about frequencies below 20hz as they are pretty darn hard to hear. Speakers systems that can reproduce with precision at volume down to that level our typically on the pricey side for regular folks like me A good pair of can's is always handy for checking things. Having two sets of cans from different vendors will give you an idea of how each one is coloring the sound, and these days, even testing with the dreaded "EAR BUDS" is important since many folks will only ever hear your work on those little headset.

Todd

Posted by: vonhotch Jan 8 2013, 10:26 PM

We can start a new line of "studio monitoring ear buds"

Posted by: Todd Simpson Jan 11 2013, 06:10 AM

Believe it or not, they do make "High End" ear buds. Which are really just very nice in ear headphones. But the prices get crazy pretty quick Here are some nice SHURE "Ear Buds" that are $500 a set!!!!
http://shop-us.shure.com/p/se535-sound-isolating-earphones-clear/earphones?pp=25&pp=25




But lotsa folks will just have the set that came with ipod or what not (can't blame em, free is free) so you almost have to take that in to consideration during a mix. Giving a mix a "Crappy Earbuds Pass" can be very informative. Export it as a crap mp3 ( no lossless formats) and do the cheap earbud test. Sad truth is, most folks will hear your stuff compressed to MP3 and on poor quality phones/speakers so these days it's important to take it in to account. Drives me a bit batty but such is life eh

Todd

Posted by: tonymiro Jan 11 2013, 11:45 AM

Very true Todd, which is a major reason why mastering engineers worry about and allow for translation and end use. (Mastering engneers are also aware of and make allowance for mp3 conversion, not just in terms of intersampling distortion but also which encoder is used for which encoding formatis used and how it affects the audio quality.) Headphones present a mix differently to a home hi fi set up for stereo. The needs of radio broadcast are different to film, clubs and home listening. Arguably nowadays very, very few people hear music in stereo at all and usually they only listen on relatively cheap home hifi playback systems. To some extent this precedes mp3s etc though. It wasn't that long ago when most studios used an auratone cube to check mono and grotbox compatability - some still do. Similarly the much revered Yamaha NS10s were well known to have issues which had to be compensated for either at mixing or mastering.

Posted by: Andre Nieri Jan 11 2013, 01:46 PM

Great topic, Todd. For sure the JBL's sound great and are certainly a great option for mixing monitors.

Off-topic - is this your room ? So many cables, man!!!!!

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jan 11 2013, 02:50 PM

Cool! Thanks for sharing mate. I have to buy a new pair of monitors for working at home and these ones are a good deal. I was thinking on KRK, but I hope to be able to try the jbl.

Posted by: vonhotch Jan 11 2013, 07:14 PM

That's a lot of money for ear buds. And I can't say much as I am currently just using a pair of free headphones that came with a T-shirt my son got.

Posted by: ConnorGilks Jan 15 2013, 03:26 AM

I use headphones when mixing a decent amount, but the most useful part of mixing with headphones is ACCURATE BASS RESPONSE, assuming you have a good pair of headphones. My room is 10x10, horrible environment to mix in when not acoustically treated, mostly when it comes to accurate bass response.

Thanks for this thread man, very interesting! I've got some KRK RP8's and it's interesting to know how they compare. Thanks!

Posted by: Todd Simpson Jan 16 2013, 04:32 AM

Cables seem to be growing by themselves in my studio

Todd

Decent (very subjective term, here, but IMHO) headphones can be had for around $100. I've tried wads of cans and for some reason, the bang for the buck range before going crazy on money seems to be somewhere in there. I settled on a pair of AKG 240 headphones. The are about that price, generally, and serve well as just another way to see how your mix will sound on another system, in this case, decent headphones.

I really like the KRK line, especially for the price. I have a pair of krk Rokit 6 monitors paired with a sub. Not a "High End" brand by any stretch, but like the headphones, good bang for the buck.

Making ones home studio in to a good place for mixing can be a real challenge, (room modes/standing waves caused by box shaped rooms etc.) so it's a perpetual challenge to keep making it better. Adding sound proofing, adding a testing kit with a microphone to see how the room is impacting things, etc.

The higher end JBLs come with a little microphone and can run a test and adjust themselves depending on what room they are in. Each speaker connects over ethernet to share info. But these are not cheap and a bit out of my price range. But if I find a good used pair.....

Here is a vid describing the process

Posted by: ConnorGilks Jan 16 2013, 04:44 AM

Good stuff man! Unfortunately the video won't render for me, but I did get a full analysis of my room done (for free) and found out what I need and how much it will cost. Definitely something to consider down the line! It's cheaper than I thought too, only $800. I may buy some now and some later as well. It's getting me excited!

Posted by: Todd Simpson Jan 17 2013, 03:40 AM

Here is a better embed of the vid. These particular JBLS come with their own mic and the ability to diagnose the room they live in. Very handy.

Posted by: mroberts70 Feb 1 2013, 06:41 AM

Chris, you are talking my budget now... LOL... Mine are cut, pulled, soldered and taped back together. I'm pretty sure I pick up two way radios, air planes, truckers and UFO's with them now....

Posted by: vonhotch Feb 2 2013, 02:53 AM

This sounds about like what I am using now......Monitors are about my most anticipated upgrade!

Posted by: David.C.Bond Feb 2 2013, 09:09 AM

I've got some cheap Wharfedale monitors that I've had for years, work great

Posted by: Todd Simpson Mar 16 2013, 09:45 PM

Are they actual monitors or just HI FI speakers? Sadly "great" is often the opposite of "flat" which is what you want when mixing. If you are using standard HIFI speakers, like those that come with an amp meant for a home theater and such, they usually make poor mixing monitors since they don't have a "flat" response. They tend to bump up the treble and bass. That's bad because anything your monitors are good at, your mix will be bad at EG. Bass heavy monitors mean a bass weak mix.

That said, you didn't mention a model number so maybe they are reference quality studio monitors without grills and perfect accoustics

The good news is, these days you can get started in a pair of powered monitors from KRK for example for just a few hundred bux.


Todd

Posted by: David.C.Bond Mar 18 2013, 12:05 PM

It's the Diamond 8.1 pro active series. Yeah I agree on your comment, our ears are used to coloured speakers so often hi end hifi speakers sound much better than really flat monitors.

Posted by: Sinisa Cekic Mar 25 2013, 10:23 PM

I got a pair of DYNAUDIO BM5A active studio monitors today,( woofer coming tomorrow )! Can't wait to try them .
Only downside is that they has XLR outputs only so I have to convert them to unbalanced jacks !

* Handcrafted aluminum drivers
* High-resolution 1.1" soft dome tweeter, pure aluminum voice coil
* Smooth and accurate HF waveguide
* Extended excursion 7" woofer, pure aluminum voice coil
* 2 channel 90-Watt transient power (2x 50W RMS)
* 117dB SPL peak power output
* Frequency response of 48Hz to 21kHz
* HF, MF, LF analog room filters
* High pass filters at 60/80Hz for perfect subwoofer adaption

Posted by: Bogdan Radovic Mar 25 2013, 11:00 PM

Very cool set - looking forward to hearing your impressions!

I was always wondering, how do you connect a subwoofer to the system/soundcard interface?
Is there a special jack or...?

Posted by: Sinisa Cekic Mar 25 2013, 11:35 PM

The satellites are connected into woofer, and from there into the system

Posted by: Bogdan Radovic Mar 26 2013, 12:30 AM

AHA!!!

Well that is very convenient.

I have KRK Rokit 5s and wouldn't mind some extra bass.
Which woofer are you getting?

Posted by: Darius Wave Mar 26 2013, 12:59 AM

I work on Adam's A7 and I've learned that unfortunatelly when You mix on them it has to be much to bright for my taste to make it work fine on traditional hone speakers...Gotta make myself a professional sub...


Anyway...There was a moment I was considering budget monitors and I was up to choose between Tannoy's reveal and Behringer Truth (they are awesome for the price)

Posted by: Sinisa Cekic Mar 26 2013, 01:07 AM

This one -
http://dynaudioprofessional.com/bm-series/subwoofers/bm9s/

But anyway, I want to try to connect them without the woofer, to compare them with default Noname monitors that I have.
According at the tests and reviews around, perhaps I wouldn't need a subwoofer at all !

Hej Bogdane, just today I was looked at the KRK 5 (Mitros Music) !!


ps :

Yes, this is not a final purchase, I have a few months to test them, so we'll see.
And then ... I meet an old friend who is a sound engineer, and what he said to me ? ..... nothing but Genelec !!! HAhahaahah

Posted by: Sensible Jones Mar 26 2013, 01:48 AM

Really?? What a surprise!!!

Posted by: Todd Simpson Mar 27 2013, 03:03 AM

I had the same experience with the ADAM 5. The tweaters are a bit bright and harsh. And as they say, "Anything your speakers are good at your mix will be bad at." So bright speakers tend to make dull mixes.

The old YAMAHA NS10 speakers were guilty of this same thing and folks would put kleenex over the tweeters to take down the brightness.


Todd