Monitor Speakers

Mr Fletch

Mr Fletch

aka KRONIX
VIP Junglist
Joined
Aug 6, 2009
Location
Essex, England
So as some of you may be aware, I've finally managed to get myself a midi controller in the form of the M-Audio Oxygen 25 3rd Gen. But I am still producing all my tracks on a set of monitor headphones, I have no monitor speakers what so ever. So that is my next quest!

I guess what I'm asking for is some ideas on what ones to go for....

I really am strapped for cash right now, saving isnt really an option as I constantly have bills / mortgage to pay etc etc blah blah blah.....I've been looking at the KRK Rokit 5's which are £250 for the pair at my local music store....but if I'm honest even that is a little outta my price range.
I then stumbled across the M-Audio BX5 D2 Monitor Speakers for £180 for the pair, which look pretty good, and is closer to my price range.

I know alot of you are gonna tell me to wait, and save as much as I can for a better set, but like I already said, it's not gonna happen because real life gets in the way of these pleasures too often!

So......thoughts?
 
I'm in the exact same situation. Just got myself the oxygen 25. Very handy once it's up and running. And got myself the rokit5's, they're great, especially for the comparative price. I'm in the same financial situation it's only cos of the money from xmas I could get them. Also got the focusrite Safire Soundcard all together sounds so clean, nice and flat and in no way underpowered for the size and price. Hope that helps.
 
well coz ure used to headphones, any monitor will benefit u as ure not used to a certain one. I tried many cheap low end monitors in the 200 area a few years back and was unimpressed with any of them (playback on a different system always sounded shit) so went back to headphones. Roll ona few years til this year and i managed to save up/get credit union loan and got myself Mackie Hr624 mk2's.

The best musical investment ive EVER made. The sound quality/sonics in my tunes improved sooooooooo much, it shocked me.

So my advice would be save save save and dont rush buy into low quality monitors. You can grab 2nd hand mk1 mackies for around £250+ on ebay but if u can, save up and get them brand new.
 
I agree with Mrsfx, save your money for a while, what you want is a nice flat response speaker system, you will have a hard time getting that for 250

The Mackie HR's are good monitors, for bass music you really want a bigger cone than 6inch unfortunetly, not for volume, just for bass response so you can get a good feel of the sub end, but if you can find a pair of 624's for 250 then thats probly worth a shot!

in the meantime, why not get yourself a cheap second hand hi-fi system? when my monitors died, and i ended up on an ancient technics hifi, it really did my mixdowns allot of good and improved my sound, you can get an old hifi for less than 50£ sometimes (make sure it has a Flat EQ setting).....but take along a CD of your own music, and a CD of some released stuff which is simlar to the style you are looking for, so you can get an idea of the diffrences between the speakers, because learning that is more important than the actual speaker system that you use, at least until you reach a level where you are prepared to spend a couple of K on some true flat response monitors.

Alesis M1MK2 are fairly good monitors, and pretty cheap too, they aint a bad option if you really want a pair of monitors now (or the Mackie HR's), but personally I'm not sure i can really recomend them any more (also they have a power supply fault which may well see them die within a year or 2, esp if you dont buy them new)


Check out whybuynew.co.uk i've bought a fair amount of kit from them in the past, and always been pleased with the purchase, but really you need to be listening to speakers before you buy them, and comparing released music with your own productions
 
yamaha_ns_10m.jpg

Try and find yourself some Yamaha NS-10s. I don't have them but the studio I frequent does and they are SCHWEEEEEEET! Flattest response ever and all my lecturers at uni swear by them. You could prolly pick up a pair off ebay. Might be a little expensive though. Haven't really looked into monitor since I got my Rokits.
 
Hey yall,

I'm impressed Fletch, I thought you had monitors at least! Your going to be getting so good soon! :)

All my mixdowns are done on £10 Sony MDR V150 headphones so I am thinking about getting monitors too.

I did a search for the yamahas that Sam posted and on ebay they were coming to like £350 ish including P&P. Some were way more too!

My price range would be low too and I found these:
http://www.google.co.uk/products/ca...X&ei=AUP_ToWfGsey8gPp76CiAQ&ved=0CLMBEPMCMAc#

Yamaha HS50ms. The reviews are really good but maybe someone here would be able to confirm if these are any good? At £150 I may have to consider some myself! These could be a good option :)
 
Yamaha NS10's arnt popular because they are flat response, they are popular because they are harsh and unforgiving, if you can get music sounding good on them, it'll sound good on anything, although that mostly applies to Pop rather than Bass music (the bass response is a bit shit), they are a good buy if you can find a decent pair 2nd hand and are willing to put in the time to learn the sound they produce, most people love them or hate them
 
Hmmm,

I think I need to learn more about monitors :lol:

Also what else do you need? I have seen some Alesis ones being sold with a little "No Active Amp Required!" logo. Is this a good idea? Do they just plug in via USB or?

If you were to buy proper monitors what sort of set up would I be looking at? As crucial as Monitors are I'm not sure they would suit me at all in my current situation. I am just making tunes tucked away in my bedroom on a Dell Laptop running Cubase 4... In fact, my room isn't really spacious enough for a proper full sized keyboard so I am using a Nanokey and a Guitar Hero USB Mic for recording stuff :lol:

I have my Headphones which I use most of the time and check mixes on some rubbish listening speakers at times :lol: Then I burn wav files to a disc and play them through my stereo with a Sub to check bass a little easier. It's a pretty painful process! At least I do have access to monitors through my teacher at school and I have used them once to check a mix.

Sorry by the way Fletch, I feel like I am hijacking your thread a little! Hope you don't mind a bit of monitor discussion and questions from me too!
 
miszt said:
Yamaha NS10's arnt popular because they are flat response, they are popular because they are harsh and unforgiving, if you can get music sounding good on them, it'll sound good on anything, although that mostly applies to Pop rather than Bass music (the bass response is a bit shit), they are a good buy if you can find a decent pair 2nd hand and are willing to put in the time to learn the sound they produce, most people love them or hate them
Click to expand...

My friend owns a pair and said the exact same thing. If you make it sound good on them it'll sound good on everything.
 
Hmm....cheers for the advice guys, but like I said, saving really isnt an option right now. So I need input on what is a good value monitor setup for under £200!
 
parsons19 said:
Hmmm,

I think I need to learn more about monitors :lol:

Also what else do you need? I have seen some Alesis ones being sold with a little "No Active Amp Required!" logo. Is this a good idea? Do they just plug in via USB or?

If you were to buy proper monitors what sort of set up would I be looking at? As crucial as Monitors are I'm not sure they would suit me at all in my current situation. I am just making tunes tucked away in my bedroom on a Dell Laptop running Cubase 4... In fact, my room isn't really spacious enough for a proper full sized keyboard so I am using a Nanokey and a Guitar Hero USB Mic for recording stuff :lol:

I have my Headphones which I use most of the time and check mixes on some rubbish listening speakers at times :lol: Then I burn wav files to a disc and play them through my stereo with a Sub to check bass a little easier. It's a pretty painful process! At least I do have access to monitors through my teacher at school and I have used them once to check a mix.

Sorry by the way Fletch, I feel like I am hijacking your thread a little! Hope you don't mind a bit of monitor discussion and questions from me too!
Click to expand...


I think the seller must have been a bit confused, there is no such thing as an 'active amp', but there are Active Speakers, these have amps built into them, so you just plug your Phono/Jack cable in directly from your soundcard, Passive Speakers dont have amps built in, so you need to get an amp aswell, Active is defintily the best option for a few reasons, mainly because the Amp has already been matched to the Speakers, so it saves you having to worry about which amp to buy, but also its far simpler and cleaner to setup (less cables n faffing about)

Mr Fletch said:
Hmm....cheers for the advice guys, but like I said, saving really isnt an option right now. So I need input on what is a good value monitor setup for under £200!
Click to expand...

for that money, get the biggest speakers you can find (7inch would be awsome, min of 6inch), but try and make sure they arnt 'Ported' (holes in the front or back designed to improve bass response) because there are very few decent ported monitors about (unless you have £k's), the ports can actually make it harder to judge the mix as they can massivly distort the true sound...unported monitors in that price range arent so popular as ported, because the bass is much louder on a ported speaker, and people like loud bass, producers shouldnt worry about that tho, you can always add a Sub later on!

theres not a huge amount of diffrence in monitor specs at that price range, so it doesnt matter to much what you get, although going for a company like KRK or Alesis will probly be a good idea, I've heard some good things about Berghiner Truth range aswell, but you really gotta try them out with your own and released music to know what you are getting
 
big up's john, nice one.. got hr824 mk2's and a wanted to get a second pair for a reference! think im gonna get the ns-10m's.. good idea?/?

---------- Post added at 20:37 ---------- Previous post was at 20:35 ----------

and Mr fletch..... SAVEE!!!
 
Yo man, these were my 1st pair of monitors, and I still have them now, they're wicked once your break them in a little. Only cost like £120. Once you learn their sound and feel you will be well on the way. (maudio DX4 studiophile)
DX4-1.png


I also own these. They're are also good. But a bit pricey (tapco s8)

4cbe9ee2b5dca83d71c95e57c.jpg
 
Last edited:
Hey
I've also been looking at monitors lately as I need a pair myself
The ones I'm gonna get are the Equator D5
I know it all comes to treating your room but the reviews on these are amazing
Check them out
For 300us a pair not bad
Also if anyone on the forum has them pls share your thoughts on them
Cheers
 
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