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Speakers and studio monitors

virividox

virividox

macrumors 601
Original poster
Hey im running a 17 inch rev a alpbook.

just need advice, can any recomend studio monitor. or should i just get headphone jack to line in cabled and plug them into my old stereo (old being 3 years) can u recommend a brand of splitter cables.
 
Originally posted by manitoubalck
The HR626 from mackie is a great active studio monitor. Check out www.mackie.com for their entire range
Click to expand...

The 624 is better than the 626 for mixing since it has a flatter response and you can create a better soundstage with them. Next better than that would be the 824. Both have very low listening fatigue issues. Other options would be from KRK and Genelec, though I think Genelecs are overpriced. Blue Sky is also a good system.

If you are looking for speakers for listening (movies, general, CDs), you'll not want studio monitors. Studio monitors are meant to reflect the pure, clean sound of the material. Consumer speakers (even audiophile quality at expensive prices) sweeten the sound (they do NOT have a flat response) This is intentional to create a more enjoyable sound for the listener.

Different tools for different purposes.

As for splitter cables, the brand doesn't matter as long as there are good contacts (gold plated.) All the rest that is spewed by makers like Kimber Kable, Monster Cable, MIT interconnects, etc. is just snake oil to justify bogus spending (where cables can cost over $2K/foot.) There's no real science to backup the claims and even if there was, you'd have to have the perfect listening room to tell the difference (which is as likely as a perfect vacuum) 🙄

edited for spelling
 
Re: Speakers and studio monitors

Originally posted by virividox
my old stereo (old being 3 years)
Click to expand...
3 years and it's "old"? That's nothin', my Sony stereo is 8 years old and still kicking (however badly, but it has the "best" FM tuner in the house, thanks to an antenna 🙄 )
 
Originally posted by legion
Other options would be from KRK and Genlec, though I think Genlecs are overpriced. Blue Sky is also a good system.
Click to expand...

there are few things that made me as physically ill as listening to a pair of KRKs. uck!

if price isn't much of an issue, i've heard good things about the Adam monitors.
 
Re: Re: Speakers and studio monitors

Originally posted by Counterfit
3 years and it's "old"? That's nothin', my Sony stereo is 8 years old and still kicking (however badly, but it has the "best" FM tuner in the house, thanks to an antenna 🙄 )
Click to expand...

8 years old, I can beat that, I have an NAD 7020 Stereo Reviever that's around 20 years old, and puts out a real 20W RMS. Have a set of Energy C5's that are less than 1 year old, and I still can't max the amp out.
 
Just curious. Anyone heard any good or bad things about event 2020 monitors?

I was going to buy some off a friend a while back for £200 for the pair. IS that a good deal?
 
I had the 20/20, a pasive one and the powered one.

they are a beauty, I highly recomend them. I sold them because I'm moving out the country and I can get them there again.

Very good response, very good base sound. They are clean, crispy and if you leave in a very quiet place and place your head in the middle of them witha very low volume, you will be able to tell where each instrument is in the stereo field. You will have to re listen againg all your CDs.

Now, you ahve to face 2 things:

1. No matter what kind of speakers you have, if the acustic of the room is not right, you can have a pair of $1000 Genelec speakers or your old stereo and you will ahve the sema sound.

2. The computer mini plug output is lame, it has a lot of harmonic distortion and that will reduce the frequency response of any speaker, I mean, it won't sound cristal and the stereo won't be that much better.

If you have $800, you can get the a pair of 20/20 and the Digidesign M-Box, that is a USB to analo audio i/o that sounds incredebly well. You will get a lot of bases.

To give you an example.

About a year ago I had my mp3 with my G4 audio output line to the Events. The sound was good. Then I connected the Audio Media 3 card and ran the mp3 from there to the same speakers.

The difference was like listening a mono VHS tape to a DVD, the low base frequency were there in the same mp3 file.

But 80% of the sound of your system depends on the room.
 
Okay. so

would it be better if i get a usb to analog audio converter then connect the speakers there? for sound quality?

what is a good company to make those usb to anaolg things?
 
Re: Re: Re: Speakers and studio monitors

Originally posted by manitoubalck
8 years old, I can beat that, I have an NAD 7020 Stereo Reviever that's around 20 years old, and puts out a real 20W RMS. Have a set of Energy C5's that are less than 1 year old, and I still can't max the amp out.
Click to expand...
Meh, mine's the other way around. The crap speakers that came with the stereo can't even handle half the amp's power 😡
I had to take in for cleaning last year, and it hadn't been moved since I bought it. There was quite a bit of dust underneath!
 
Originally posted by mymemory
I had the 20/20, a pasive one and the powered one.

they are a beauty, I highly recomend them. I sold them because I'm moving out the country and I can get them there again.

Very good response, very good base sound. They are clean, crispy and if you leave in a very quiet place and place your head in the middle of them witha very low volume, you will be able to tell where each instrument is in the stereo field. You will have to re listen againg all your CDs.

Now, you ahve to face 2 things:

1. No matter what kind of speakers you have, if the acustic of the room is not right, you can have a pair of $1000 Genelec speakers or your old stereo and you will ahve the sema sound.

2. The computer mini plug output is lame, it has a lot of harmonic distortion and that will reduce the frequency response of any speaker, I mean, it won't sound cristal and the stereo won't be that much better.

If you have $800, you can get the a pair of 20/20 and the Digidesign M-Box, that is a USB to analo audio i/o that sounds incredebly well. You will get a lot of bases.

To give you an example.

About a year ago I had my mp3 with my G4 audio output line to the Events. The sound was good. Then I connected the Audio Media 3 card and ran the mp3 from there to the same speakers.

The difference was like listening a mono VHS tape to a DVD, the low base frequency were there in the same mp3 file.

But 80% of the sound of your system depends on the room.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice mymemory, I already have a M-Audio FireWire 410 with an optical connection to my surround amp. Its my speakers that are a bit crap.
 
I've had the Event 20/20 bas monitors for a while and I have to tell you that -- while I love them -- you need to learn them. I (and many others) used to find myself coming out with really bass heavy mixes. These monitors do not provide accurate low end so you end up over compensating for it until you just know. Again, they're otherwise great monitors, but the Mackies someone above recommended are better for a clean mix from the get go. If you've got the budget (haven't looked at prices for a long time) get them. Flat response is critical if your mix is important to you. Then again I used to do alright with my little Mirage bookshelf stereo speakers.

edit: As my memory said the room is very important, but I've moved my Events to about 10 different places -- and they sound the same everywhere. This is part of the function of "near-field" monitors. On that note keep in mind that if you're in a cramped space smaller monitors may be more suitable (actually more acurately put make sure they give you a flat response at low volume -- look at the specs)
 
Originally posted by virividox

would it be better if i get a usb to analog audio converter then connect the speakers there? for sound quality?

what is a good company to make those usb to anaolg things?
Click to expand...

there are many digital->analog converter options, more than just usb, too. what you can get depends on your price range.

if you wanna spend some $$, look at apogee or benchmark. or metric halo.

i'd avoid the mbox.
 
Actually i am not really looking for a high-end product; i dont have that cash to spring, i just want to connect my laptop to my stereo but not through the headphone minijack.
 
Event 20/20

I have the Event 20/20 passive monitors in a 5 channel surround setup. No 0.1 yet, but I'm getting there. From my Mac, I have an M-Audio Sonica. It's a great little box, USB to 1/8" analog and optical S/PDIF. It is compatible with Panther and DVD Player surround (Dolby Digital/DTS), but if your audio setup is not there yet, it will give you very clean audio out from the analog connector.

The other posts are true regarding studio monitors vs. end-user speakers. End-user speakers are dramatically colored. If that's your choice, I would recommend B&W or Paradigm. Not dramatic coloration, but enough to give a little more warmth to most recordings.

cpjakes
 
Originally posted by mymemory
2. The computer mini plug output is lame, it has a lot of harmonic distortion and that will reduce the frequency response of any speaker, I mean, it won't sound cristal and the stereo won't be that much better.

But 80% of the sound of your system depends on the room.
Click to expand...

Can't agree more with more, That's why I listen to my CD player more often than I listen to MP3's off my computer.

I have hard wood floors and uncarpeted walls, the acustics aren'y great but not bad Since I hve so much outh crap in my room to absorbe the sound.
 
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