• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

Which Studio Monitors

R

Ratboy

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jun 28, 2004
Messages
315
Looking for a pair of studio monitors for around 300-400 bucks (pair). What are some good choices?

Either active or passive (with 2 chl amp included in budget). I was looking at the Alesis MkII Actives ($299.00/pr). This is for listening to rock/rap and playing an assload of BF2. I likey bass, so something that goes low without a separate subwoofer.
​
 
also check out the the m-audio bx8 / bx8a

very loud , clean highs and sharp bass,


the best way is to listen to each pair and decide what you like better ,
 
I think the axiom m3ti's are the best in that price range. I've had mine close to a year and still think they are great.

But I listen to alot of neoclassical music and hate heavy and distorted bass so they might not be your thing.
 
why spend 300-400$ on headphones that are going to be uncomfortable and have produce less quality than a pair of 100$ sennheisers or my personal favorite and all around top of the line/kick ass set of cans, the Sony MDR-V6, not to be confused with the other terrible models that look exactly the same and are sometimes very similarly named.

Review: http://jeremy.zawodny.com/blog/archives/003955.html
and hardware link: http://www.djmart.com/noname5.html

btw - probably find a better price if you look around a bit, that was just a first glance search

but dude, it all really depends on what you are going to be using them for. every pair of cans is different and better for each purpose: games/music/producing... etc
 
the hell you talking about lol? :D !!!! We are talking about speakers, not low end sony headphones!
 
Ratboy said:
Looking for a pair of studio monitors for around 300-400 bucks (pair). What are some good choices?

Either active or passive (with 2 chl amp included in budget). I was looking at the Alesis MkII Actives ($299.00/pr). This is for listening to rock/rap and playing an assload of BF2. I likey bass, so something that goes low without a separate subwoofer.
​
Click to expand...

Unless you are doing music recording and editing why would you want actual “Studio Monitors”?

A true Studio Monitor is just that, it’s meant for studio use not as a home speaker.

The term Studio Monitor has been ripped off by the industry. What the term originally meant was “Near Field Studio Monitors” and they are for a very specific use.

http://www.homerecording.com/monitors.html

There was a time when JBL and Yamaha pretty much owned that business however times are changing and many new names have popped up in the past few years.
 
BillR said:
Unless you are doing music recording and editing why would you want actual “Studio Monitors”?

A true Studio Monitor is just that, it’s meant for studio use not as a home speaker.
Click to expand...
I like the flat response, and hell, I need an upgrade on my ePenis. :D
 
Ratboy said:
I like the flat response, and hell, I need an upgrade on my ePenis. :D
Click to expand...

Well, I guess that was my whole point. A true Near Field Monitor is not flat. They are designed to emphasize certain instruments so the engineer can adjust the final mix they way he or she wants.

They are also designed to play loud and tend to be on the very bright side as well.

In the end, as always you buy what you like but if possible try giving a pair a listen for a few hours and you will probably find them a bit fatiguing on your ears.

In the end most people want speakers you can listen to for hours on end with no listener fatigue and it that phenomenon alone which separates the “good” speakers from the “not so good” speakers.

Enjoy
 
BillR said:
Well, I guess that was my whole point. A true Near Field Monitor is not flat. They are designed to emphasize certain instruments so the engineer can adjust the final mix they way he or she wants.

They are also designed to play loud and tend to be on the very bright side as well.

In the end, as always you buy what you like but if possible try giving a pair a listen for a few hours and you will probably find them a bit fatiguing on your ears.

In the end most people want speakers you can listen to for hours on end with no listener fatigue and it that phenomenon alone which separates the “good” speakers from the “not so good” speakers.

Enjoy
Click to expand...
I guess that's why I'm rather interested in the Active Alesis MK2's, more bass heavy. I will wind up heading to Guitar Center and auditioning some.
 
Ratboy said:
I guess that's why I'm rather interested in the Active Alesis MK2's, more bass heavy. I will wind up heading to Guitar Center and auditioning some.
Click to expand...

You might also want to check out the small active Paradigm speakers as well. Paradigm builds not only their own amps but they build their own woofers, tweeters and speaker boxes as well.

One of the few companies that actually match all their drivers to under 1db of accuracy and, they are very nice to listen to as well.
 
Studio monitors are flat, nothing is emphesized unless you emphezise it yourself with software.
 
Here's a question that I should probably know, but unsure of.

Right now I have a pair of floorstanding speakers (Polk R50s). I'm setting up my PC to be where I play games, watch movies, and listen to music. I'll be getting a Dolby Digital Live/DTS Connect capable card outputting to an Onkyo reciever.

Ok, so my question is, for a balanced use with games, movies, and music, would I be better off with the R50s as my fronts or picking up a $200-300 pair of passive studio monitors or even just regular bookshelf speakers? Really, music quality isn't that big of a deal, as I'll have a pair or two of ~$200 headphones. Also, bass isn't much of an issue as I have a Dayton sub, and the room is not that terribly big (as in 8x12 or so).

I'm kinda thinking thats a little overkill for that size of a room. I wish they still made the Athena S.5 system as it'd work better. I could couple that with the 4000 sub and have it be more acoustically matched as well. Too bad they weigh so much otherwise I'd sell them online and go with something different.
 
for use with games and movies, I would just keep those floorstanders, but if for some reason you start listening to music on your speakers....the studio monitors will sound a bit more refined.
 
eli said:
for use with games and movies, I would just keep those floorstanders, but if for some reason you start listening to music on your speakers....the studio monitors will sound a bit more refined.
Click to expand...

I kinda figured as much. Now I just have to figure out placement and play with settings to get the best sound.
 
eli said:
for use with games and movies, I would just keep those floorstanders, but if for some reason you start listening to music on your speakers....the studio monitors will sound a bit more refined.
Click to expand...
For the purposes of "listening pleasure", most everyone here will find some sort of frequency range accentuation pleasurable. Some may like smooth high-end rolloff, slight accentuation of presense peaks and a warm, natural low-end. Others may prefer a more subtle low-end and characteristic brightness. No studio monitor is totally flat, and you'll have a hell of a time finding monitors that would end up sounding completely flat in a totally untreated room. The room is not a secondary step to flat reproduction; it is as primary as the loudspeaker itself. As for monitors sounding more refined, well, I certainly wouldn't say that.

BillR said:
A true Near Field Monitor is not flat. They are designed to emphasize certain instruments so the engineer can adjust the final mix they way he or she wants.
Click to expand...
The mixing engineer's mantra is "if it sounds good on good monitors in a good room, it will sound good on anything". If the monitors are not relatively accurate (that is, if they intentionally accentuate certain frequency ranges), this manta breaks. If there's heavy accentuation in the 70-200Hz range, for example, how will a song sound when mixed with these monitors by an engineer who isn't aware of the characteristics of his equipment? The mix will lack bass in that very crucial region and it won't translate as effectively to most reproduction systems. The mix is worse off than it would be if it were mixed on an accurate, flat reproduction system.

True monitors are very flat when used in a properly treated room and driven at typical monitoring levels. Manufacturers do not use cabinet designs, drivers, electronics or amps that intentionally color the sound unless they are not designed for rooms that will not be properly treated. I imagine this is somewhat evident in the low-end of the monitor spectrum, where the typical user is going to be in a poorly treated room and some adjustments may need to be made to achieve a more accurate balance at the listener's ears (such as JBL's new line that include calibration mics). True near field monitors have no accentuation for certain instruments, since the palette of musical instruments is so vast and all-encompassing and accentuating any region would destroy the tone of many instruments. A single decibel peak may throw off an experienced tracking/mixing engineer, and accentuations of less than a decibel may throw off an experienced mastering engineer (so I'm told).

On the issue of ordinary consumers using studio monitors for anything but music/post production, I think we're in total agreeance. I imagine you know as well as I do that good studio monitors do not sound "good", and in a poor room, they will end up sounding downright poor when compared to typical home speakers.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top