debuting home mixing

[ArrMatey]

I was wondering if you pros had any ideas of good flat freq response speakers for a decent price? Do I need to buy an amp with this?

would it be possible to do a decent mix with headphones? If so what would you consider is a good pair of headphones for that?

 

Sorry to be so inquisitive but so many website give different ideas and I believe the people here know what they talk about.

 

Thanks

[the russ]

1. try clicking on some threads or using the search function

2. what's a decent price? no, you won't need to buy an amp if you buy powered mixers.

3. no. don't mix on headphones. headphones are only for tracking and isolation near other sound sources.

4. thanks.

[geek_usa]

Hey ArrMatey,

 

 

first off - "the russ" is an asshole. don't listen to him.

 

(sorry for the rude comment Phil, but I couldn't resist)

 

 

 

There's plenty of threads that will answer your question but I'll go ahead and give you a short version and tell you to get a pair of Sennheiser HD280 PRO's and a pair of Tannoy Reveal Actives. You can get the passives but you'll need a power amp too for that to power them. The actives aren't that much more than the passives so I'd jump on them.

 

Make sure you don't set your monitors in the corners becuase that gives an inaccurate bass response.

 

Headphones are absolutely fine (contrary to what some dip{censored}s say on these boards), as long as you have a reliable set of monitors on the side to use as well. Headphones should not be avoided; in fact encouraged, since these days a lot of people carry around their Sony Walkmans. But just like monitors, headphones have their fallacies. So I say it's just as dangerous to only have monitors and no headphones, as it is to have headphones and no monitors.

 

Get my drift?

 

 

Hope I helped!

 

 

~Jared

[seaneldon]

i would need to know your price range/size of the room/a couple other things to get a better idea of what to reccomend. i'll also say that you can spend a million dollars on monitors and they'll never sound the way they're supposed to if your room sounds bad to begin with. anyway:

 

really tight budget? grab the KRK RP5s or RP6s for $300-400 and they'll outperform every other speaker in that price range any day of the week.

 

if it can stretch more than that, the Event speakers dominate the $800-1200 price range in powered speakers. check out the 20/20bas v2, ASP6, and ASP8. forget about the mackies if you want a flat monitor that's easy to work with. also check out the dynaudio bm5as.

 

looking to spend some more money? JBL LSR6328Ps have a hard time sounding bad, ADAM P11As sound even nicer and tend to make music that translates a bit better on other systems, or you could go absolutely nuts and get some Genelec 8050As and never buy speakers again.

 

entirely up to you. with monitors, it's a lot easier when you have a good room, and can save up the dough to buy ONCE. no need to keep replacing the M-Audio speakers with new models every 5 months because of a new and unimportant feature. monitoring is one of the most important parts of a recording studio. do it right the first time instead of struggling to the point of looking for a new hobby.

 

and regarding headphones for mixing, i wouldn't reccomend them for 100% of the job, but there's times when they've been beneficial for me during mixing stages. there's been a couple times during critical mixdowns where my Ultrasone PROLine650s revealed minor panning issues that i couldn't hear on my speakers after listening to them for 3 hours straight. the $300 i paid for them was instantly well worth it in that situation.

[Spencer Crewe]

KRK's got my vote, too. Surprisingly good powered monitors.

 

Also, gotta mention Bluesky's 2.1's - damn fine monitoring system - but about twice as much as the KRK's

 

I'll also second the Senn 280's. I've got a handful of these floating around and everyone who comes through the studio loves them, too. Do NOT mix with headphones: except to check panning. It's very easy for SPL to get out of hand if you're mixing on headphones.

 

A good environment is also a must (like Sean said). If your room is arsing up the frequencies, no monitors can fix that, and your mixes will always be skewed.

 

Cheers!

Spencer

[EngineGuitarist]

i think my BM-5A's sound great. those JBL's mentioned are nice also but close to double what the bm-5a's cost. and they're alot bigger

[the russ]

Originally posted by geek_usa Hey ArrMatey, first off - "the russ" is an asshole. don't listen to him. (sorry for the rude comment Phil, but I couldn't resist) There's plenty of threads that will answer your question but I'll go ahead and give you a short version and tell you to get a pair of Sennheiser HD280 PRO's and a pair of Tannoy Reveal Actives. You can get the passives but you'll need a power amp too for that to power them. The actives aren't that much more than the passives so I'd jump on them. Make sure you don't set your monitors in the corners becuase that gives an inaccurate bass response. Headphones are absolutely fine (contrary to what some dip{censored}s say on these boards), as long as you have a reliable set of monitors on the side to use as well. Headphones should not be avoided; in fact encouraged, since these days a lot of people carry around their Sony Walkmans. But just like monitors, headphones have their fallacies. So I say it's just as dangerous to only have monitors and no headphones, as it is to have headphones and no monitors. Get my drift? Hope I helped! ~Jared

 

geek, being an asshole is a terrible reason not to listen to someone. being inexperienced and passing hearsay off as first-hand knowledge, well, that's a much better reason. so don't start fights, ok?

 

I'll say again and almost everyone here will agree with me: Headphones are NOT for mixing on. You can CHECK mixes with them, but as for doing an entire mix with them, forget it. One is far better off with no headphones and one pair of decent monitors than the other way around. If your mix sounds great/correct on monitors (provided the room your mixing in isn't screwed), it WILL sound good on headphones. It doesn't neccessarily work the other way around though.

 

Most people listen to the lion's share of their music in the car. But should I spend my money upgrading my car speakers so I can check my mixes in there? Or should I take that money and buy decent monitors? Or use it to acoustically treat my room?

 

Exactly.

 

Those Sennheisers and Tannoys definitely rock though.

[ArrMatey]

those KRK RP6 look good but aren't they a bit too small? Most of the studio work I've seen were usualy 8" at least...

 

Although www.djmart.com is having so massive sale on the KRKs.

 

As for headphones, I think I see what you all mean. Besides, it's a whole different sonic approach to the headphones.

[ArrMatey]

one last question: I read that depending on the room size that you have, you should consider 5", 6" or 8" speakers. Is that true?

How do you determine/calculate what size is the best for a room depending on its size? Any refference link for that? My searches have been kinda going nowhere.

[UstadKhanAli]

Originally posted by ArrMatey I was wondering if you pros had any ideas of good flat freq response speakers for a decent price?

 

There's actually such a thing as flat response speakers?

 

At any price?

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

I would advise against mixing exclusively on headphones also.

 

If you are getting monitors (or even if you aren't), I'd also suggest getting some acoustic treatment too. You can make it yourself or buy some, but a little goes a long way in helping the bass response and imaging. I put in RealTraps, and had to pick my jaw up off the floor when I heard the difference just two of those made in the imaging (I put up four in total, but the first two made such a difference already).

 

I don't know very much about all the different kinds of monitors out there, but many people like Tannoy Reveals (I have no experience with them other than hearing them on the NAMM floor - in other words, no experience!! ). The Event powered monitors - I can't remember the name - are highly regarded. I own the ADAM P11As (active) and think they sound really great. I still have my Yorkville YSM-1s (passive) hooked up and find them useful as a second monitoring system, but they're definitely not flat in response (but then again, what is?).