Budget Studio Monitors: Do They Work?

[Wavne]

I have a pair of Behringer Truth B2031 monitors. I bought them about 4 years ago, they were $400. There was a time I remember when these monitors were about $800, and have been told they were more than that when they came out.

My room is untreated so I would probably sooner put any money into that before buying different monitors. I have always checked my mixes on as many different sources as I can find, always do the car test and outside the room (down the hall, outside, etc..) . I am happy with them for $400. My mixes translate well.

[dzent1]

Hi gang. Just a quick weigh-in with an observation that nearly everything we use for budget recording nowadays is about as good or better than what many classic tunes were recorded on in the 60's , 70's and 80's. As someone noted earlier, ain't the gear, it's the ear. Sound equipment is fun, but don't obsess or you'll lose inspiration. If the goal is a deal with a label, get the soul of the piece captured - the record company is probably going to want to re-cut on their machines anyway (so they can over-charge your advance for it). If you're just a gear slut - well, that's another story...go forth and buy! But there's never any one right way or piece of gear; otherwise, everything would sound boring and same-same. You know why the Beatles are still so well loved? They never checked creativity at the door in favor of technology. Should that apply to us? Hell yeah! Have fun. BTW, Brandon, you're doing an awesome job - don't give up.

[lcswoosh05]

Well I' am right now using M-Audio AV-30 and they do sound better and have more power than the StudioPro 3 monitors that are older. I got a good deal on the AV-30 for $94.99 pair at Best Buy. Normaly other stores sell them for around $130 pair so I got a good deal on them. The StudioPro 3 has only 10 watts per channel but my AV-30 has 15 watt per channel even they are both 3in woofers also the all of the AV series has a new waveguide that really helps so you can move your head around and still hear the highs well. Also the AV-30 feq response is 90hz to 20khz and the old StudioPro 3 only goes from 100hz to 20khz I guess they just improved the StudioPro 3 and made the AV-30. But anyways I' am amazed that they can make monitors that are very precise and clear for around between $100 - $200 a pair.

[jonnyspall]

Originally Posted by brandondrury

I've been pumping the new home recording gear review section of Recording Review with products today. I came across the studio monitor section and I have to say that I was very surprised to see just how many budget studio monitors are out there!

Now the big question:

Is anyone actually using studio monitors in the under $500 range and feel confident that there mixes translate well to the outside world?

Brandon

I agree with Brandon here, I am using some Reveals myself but I wouldn't recommend using them exclusively. I also run a couple of JBL Control 5's, a set of normal Pioneer hi-fi speakers and I've even been known to play mixes through my TV to get a better idea of the final result.

I find the Tannoys a little "low-end-mid" heavy, giving too much response to the higher ranges of bass guitars and sounding a little muddy. However, they are excellent for a general idea and so powerful!

Is there a speaker set up that counters for all listening situations? I would love to know! This is an important point, I've lost count of the times I have taken a CD away from a fantastic sounding studio, onmly to sound awful as soon as I get it home!

[brandondrury]

Wow! This had turned into a badass thread!

If the tone is there, a reaonably competent mix comes about pretty easily.

While this is technically true, how do you know if tones are there in the first place without a good studio monitoring system.

Making it interesting for the listener is always going to be hard of course, but that's the creative aspect. You either have that or you don't - I don't think monitors will help me or anyone else in that respect.

Again, I'm not sure I agree. I've heard way too many times from bands I've worked with that a given effect, trick, or thingy sounded badass on my monitors and flat out stupid on other systems.

At this point I no longer wish I had better monitors really. I do wish I had: a top shelf vocal mic (coming soon I hope) and a greater variety of preamps to play with, maybe more effects boxes. Monitors are low on the list these days...

Interesting. I have some high end mics and preamps and I consider them nearly useless without great monitoring.

Don't get me wrong I'd love to have some really tits monitors, and a nice acoustic space for them. I think of that as a luxury that comes later. I do expect that if I did that it would yield some benefit.

It's clear that your monitoring system is way better than you let on. I GUARANTEE that you wouldn't have this attitude if you played on mix on other stereos and wanted to pull out a gun and start shooting. This is has been my experience over the years.

I thought it was normal to take mix CDs and a notepad to 3 or 4 different systems and average of 6 to 8 times (correcting issues on each, subsequent mix). I made a lot of great mixes on those monitors.

This has been my experience with my Mackie HR824 studio monitors. I can often get a mix right in 3 or 4 tries if the tracking was good. If the tracking wasn't so good (including crappy song or performance) it takes more like 6-10 mixes.

Brandon

[teebow62]

Hi I am and have been using an array of speakers to balance my mixes for the outside world and they are as follows

Studio Monitors The swiss knife of my set up £219
Alesis Mrk 1 Mrk2 Actives
These speakers keep up with the bigger system and once you understand what is happening in their bottom end you can do some pretty effective stuff that will also help me to look into a mix and they translate well over many other speaker systems to. The His are non fatiguing and I can work for many hours tirelessly on them

My Home Book shelf speakers £89.00 with the upgrade £239
Mordent Shorts with custom built Kevlar 200 watt 5 1/4" base cones
These give me a window of opportunity into the world of the rear ported humble book shelf speaker. I have had custom drivers put in and lined up with the tweeter system so that the bass is solid and doesn't have to be pushed due to its backing power and damping characteristics. The sound I get out these small speakers packs a punch and is meaty and solid the top end is open and clear and in fact with the change of bass units the top end sits even better as a result again when listening to them I have no need to turn them up just high. normal room listening levels suffice for all materials played through them.

Pc powered Monitors £10.00
Cambridge soundworks S35s
I use these for critical voice & Dialogue placement for film Radio & TV work and they work and translate well


Custom Built PA Stack (for Club & Film work) £2,800
top box housing 10'' mid Speaker A flared Horn and Jbl Bullet Tweeter. The Bass Box housing 600 watts 15'' Bass ZeuZ speakers imported from USA
I use a range to help me accurately translate my product ready for the outside world.

Even though I have a powerful monitoring system I am not pushing it I am just using its range which is a full 20hz-20khz to allow me to clinically monitor what the bottom end is doing and to have a greater understanding as to how all mixes not just mine translate through them.


Summery
I have listed the entire speaker system of my studio so you can see the frequency range and power available to me and my clients. I do a wide range of stuff from Reggae, Lovers Rock, Roots, RnB, Gospel, Hip Hop, Grime to Rock, Pop and Dance. I also do film compositions and sound design so I need a system that can shovel it a bit when needs be with Tons of head room and be as delicate and clear and quiet when needs be to catch those string swells and crescendos along with action effects and explosions for feature films.

[Bill_Bowman]

I use a pair of Samson Resolve 40as, and I've been happy with the result. I suppose I'd trade up if the budget allowed, but for now, I'm happy.

Bill

[jay jay]

I've been using Yorkville Ysm-1 for the past few years. Picked them up for a bit over $200. My mixes translate ok. However, I need to use a reference song in order to get the mix to sound right. I have to check my mix on a few systems a few times to get it right. I'll also switch to a headphones many times to see how the mix will sound on a regular (lots of bass, cut mids) system. I feel I got a great "bang for buck". And the buck does matter. I'll be with these for a while.

The good: The midrange and imaging is awesome. I can hear every small change I make with effects, level, or eq. I can pick out details in reference cd's.

The Bad: No low end. I'll make a mix, go to the car, and the subs in the car overpower everything with my mixes. I've learned to just cut out all the low end while mixing. Wish I could hear it though. It's not the muddy mid bass where the problem is. It's the deep rumble. For example my 24" kik sounds perfect through the monitors. In the car or the home theater, the drum is so loud in the subwoofers from the deep bass.

The other bad: Too much high end for my likes. Not bad highs though, I would like to turn the tweeter level down a few db. I've hung paper towels over the tweeters to try to tame the high end. But then I loose detail.

The speakers just aren't nice sounding to me. I know they're not suppose to sound "nice", but it would make mixing more enjoyable. So, they do the job, but the sound of them doesn't match the sound I like to hear. I may be blaming the monitors when it's probably my room (finished basement with no treatment). Or maybe I just need a subwoofer.

Now if only I can get my tracking to sound better......................

[mcmickle]

I got a pair of KRK Rockit 8's for about $500 even. They translate pretty well, especially for the price. They are a little bit fuller than the mix to CD, but that could also be mixing in 24bit and CD's being in 16bit. I think that the budget studio monitors have translated better than a lot of high end monitors that I've worked with at more high-dollar studios.

[gradgt]

For the past couple years I've been using a studio headphones as my monitors (hey I'm broke), and while I always thought about getting some good monitors, now I'm not really sure that they're worth it. I mean I can get a good mix on computer speakers if I go reference it on 3-4 different systems and make adjustments, why should I pay a bunch of money for studio monitors to still have to do the same thing? There MUST be a reason that I'm just missing... so I'm all ears.