Monitors

*State

Self confessed VW nut
Joined
Feb 19, 2009
Location
South wales.
Are Alesis M1 Active's any good? Ive spotted some on ebay for what seems like peanuts. i need monitors so badly i might just snap them up.
 
Sounds good mate, i might buy them now. ;)

You seen the prices on the mackie gear!? pphhhhssss.:D Probably well worth it if youve got the cash...
 
Sounds good mate, i might buy them now. ;)

You seen the prices on the mackie gear!? pphhhhssss.:D Probably well worth it if youve got the cash...

I have Mackie MR5 monitors... got them for £300 and I'm really chuffed with them.

But yeah generally Mackies are very expensive, but you get what you pay for.
 
I have Mackie MR5 monitors... got them for £300 and I'm really chuffed with them.

But yeah generally Mackies are very expensive, but you get what you pay for.

You must be loving them mate. Is £300 the normal retail price for those bad boys? Whats the frequency response like with those?

Im starting to think about saving a bit of cash up and getting some top draw monitors, it will be worth it think.
 
They're alright, but what's more important than the brand of your monitors, is the room you listen in. Diffuse first reflections from the walls and ceiling and fill the at least the vertical corners with glass wool to even out bass response.
 
They're alright, but what's more important than the brand of your monitors, is the room you listen in. Diffuse first reflections from the walls and ceiling and fill the at least the vertical corners with glass wool to even out bass response.

Yeah thats a good point you made there. I cant wait to own my own house, I would dedicate one room soley on production!

Does room size affect things much? would a small room be ideal with loads of sponge everywhere?
 
I'm not sure about sizes, but most studios I've seen and visited have the listening room quite big, so I guess bigger is better. I think it has to do with low frequencies: In a small room bass waves will bounce from wall to wall and emphasize themselves, boosting certain frequencies and their upper harmonics. In a bigger room the bass 'dies out' more before hitting the wall. Not sure about that last part.

However, sponging the whole room is pretty inefficient and can overdamp the room. You should only absorb first reflections. This means, basically, having a mate move a mirror on a wall and you sitting in the sweet spot of your monitors. When you can see the monitors from the mirror, it is in a place where a first reflection will bounce at you. Sponge this area. Basically there are 5 areas: Behind the monitors, behind you, left side, right side and the ceiling.

Bass trapping is a whole another matter, there you need much more material to absorb the waves in corners. The bigger the trap, the better the effect. Last place I was at, had about 1 meter (depth) of glass wool in the corners.
 
I'm not sure about sizes, but most studios I've seen and visited have the listening room quite big, so I guess bigger is better. I think it has to do with low frequencies: In a small room bass waves will bounce from wall to wall and emphasize themselves, boosting certain frequencies and their upper harmonics. In a bigger room the bass 'dies out' more before hitting the wall. Not sure about that last part.

However, sponging the whole room is pretty inefficient and can overdamp the room. You should only absorb first reflections. This means, basically, having a mate move a mirror on a wall and you sitting in the sweet spot of your monitors. When you can see the monitors from the mirror, it is in a place where a first reflection will bounce at you. Sponge this area. Basically there are 5 areas: Behind the monitors, behind you, left side, right side and the ceiling.

Bass trapping is a whole another matter, there you need much more material to absorb the waves in corners. The bigger the trap, the better the effect. Last place I was at, had about 1 meter (depth) of glass wool in the corners.

Cheers for the response, you raised some usefull aspects.:)
 
all monitors try to be as 'flat' sounding as possible however they all colour the sound but in different ways e.g the yamaha ns10s are well known to have a massive 'gap' in the mid range. so its not how much you spend on monitors or even what brand, its how well you know them and how you compensate for there weaknesses.. i think !!
just an opinion..
:andy:
 
all monitors try to be as 'flat' sounding as possible however they all colour the sound but in different ways e.g the yamaha ns10s are well known to have a massive 'gap' in the mid range. so its not how much you spend on monitors or even what brand, its how well you know them and how you compensate for there weaknesses.. i think !!
just an opinion..
:andy:

yeh ur right...

there is that old theory that if you can mix ur tunes on rubbish speakers and make it sound amazing then when you play it back on some beefy monitors it should sound even better.
it is all about knowing the sound of your monitors.
you can spend £1000's on some bluesky/genelecs/mackies and your mixes may still not be that great.
 
yeh ur right...

there is that old theory that if you can mix ur tunes on rubbish speakers and make it sound amazing then when you play it back on some beefy monitors it should sound even better.
it is all about knowing the sound of your monitors.
you can spend £1000's on some bluesky/genelecs/mackies and your mixes may still not be that great.

Your both right i think.

My top end and mid range is shit with the speakers im using, their very decieving...and relying on analysers is never good.

Cheap monitors FTW. haha
 
Your both right i think.

My top end and mid range is shit with the speakers im using, their very decieving...and relying on analysers is never good.

Cheap monitors FTW. haha

yehh using analysers isint always good! haha..

another things which is annoying is if the monitors are placed in the corners of a room.. as the bass level increases.. trial and error.
 
yehh using analysers isint always good! haha..

another things which is annoying is if the monitors are placed in the corners of a room.. as the bass level increases.. trial and error.

Yeah i looked into the subject after kama shed some light the other day, i found an amazing article... ill try and find it if you want?
 
I got the 320s new for £70 and the sound quality is good for the price, but they're not very loud and the volume knob broke after about 6 weeks, so it's really difficult to turn them on
 
I got the 320s new for £70 and the sound quality is good for the price, but they're not very loud and the volume knob broke after about 6 weeks, so it's really difficult to turn them on

Yeah i think the initial price is really good, pretty cheap.

Im gutted for ya about the volume knob mate!

Its like..... do i go for a cheaper option and hope for the best or save up a little more to get something with a better reputation. looks like ive got loads of research ahead of me.

....BUT ANYTHING would be much better than what im using now lol. haha. I'll just look forward to the day when everything is connected and my mixes are sounding a whole lot sweeter lol.
 
i kind of wish i had saved up some more dolla and bought some top of the range £500 monitors or whatever, oh well.. when i do buy some i will just have to rock 4 monitors haha
 
i kind of wish i had saved up some more dolla and bought some top of the range £500 monitors or whatever, oh well.. when i do buy some i will just have to rock 4 monitors haha

That could be a good idea, wouldnt they compliment each other? giving an overall flatter responce cos one makes up where the other one fails sort of thing?
 
It doesn't really work like that. There are phase issues and 2 pairs will not surely compliment each other as they are designed to be played alone or with a sub. It's good to have a few options in the house however, to easily A/B mixes between different systems. I have these old 80's hifi speakers connected to an older amp, alongside my monitors. I can flip between the speakers with a click of a button. I do most of my listening and some gaming on the hifi thing, the sound is much better in other parts of the room than just the sweet spot of the monitors. I can have them both on while producing but the sound is not good at all, they sort of interfere with each other.
 
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