Question about Near-Field Monitors

[Amr Kadry]

Hello All,

 

I am looking into buying near field monitors (and doing acoustic treatment to my room). I am looking at the Yamaha HS80m monitors, mainly because I am in Egypt and there aren't many music stores with a lot of variety around, but there is a Yamaha dealer. I am leaning more towards these than the smaller HS50m, mainly because from reviews I've read they have more low end and sound better.

 

There is something I am confused about though, which is listening distance from monitors. I read in a previous post on one of the cakewalk forums:

 

quote:

 

The larger the woofer, the larger the listening space required. 8's usually need a minimum distance to the listener of 6-10 ft, whereas 6/7's about 4-6 ft, and 5's as close as 3 ft. I forget where I got these numbers, and if I'm mistaken, please correct me.

 

My room is small and I currently record drums in it, and drums obviously occupy a lot of space

 

So my question is: will the HS80m monitors be too big for my room? Is the 6' minimum something that is completely necessary, or can I listen to them from a 3' distance, for example? If someone can explain to me why the bigger monitors require a further listening distance, that would be very helpful.

[Ethan Winer]

 

8's usually need a minimum distance to the listener of 6-10 ft, whereas 6/7's about 4-6 ft, and 5's as close as 3 ft.

 

 

That's silly, as I told you in the other forum where you posted this.

 

--Ethan

[MikeRivers]

 

I read in a previous post on one of the cakewalk forums: quote: The larger the woofer, the larger the listening space required. 8's usually need a minimum distance to the listener of 6-10 ft, whereas 6/7's about 4-6 ft, and 5's as close as 3 ft.

 

This is nonsense, based on some facts that don't have anything to do with the issue. The biger the woofer, the better it can handle bass.

 

If you have the drums between you and the speakers, though, you might be out of the near field. This is OK for just checking a recording, and in fact, a good way to check a mix (sometimes I listen in another room) but when making mixing decisions, you'll want to get closer to the speakers. After all, they ARE intended for near-field listening.

[Beck]

Speaker size doesn't matter... as long as your head and the two speakers form an equilateral triangle... more or less. If your speakers are 4 feet apart, your head should be about 4 feet from each speaker. Everyone has their own rules, but I think of 6 feet away or more as being outside the near-field model.

 

My near-fields (Yorkville YSM1i) are about 4 feet apart on isolated stands. The space between the tweeter and the woofer is at ear level when I

[Amr Kadry]

"That's silly, as I told you in the other forum where you posted this."

 

Thank you Ethan, I wanted to get as many responses about this as possible to understand more. Thank you for taking the time to reply on both forums

 

"If you have the drums between you and the speakers, though, you might be out of the near field. This is OK for just checking a recording, and in fact, a good way to check a mix (sometimes I listen in another room) but when making mixing decisions, you'll want to get closer to the speakers. After all, they ARE intended for near-field listening"

 

I will probably set the monitors up so that I can check the recording quickly when I am drumming but when mixing I will move the drums out of the way or something, I'll have to figure out the best setup for this.