Monitors, Monitors, Monitors...

[ezpz1993]

Firstly, I know there have been countless threads on monitors but they haven't actually hit the nail on the head for me. So here we go.

I want to buy some/a monitor for dubstep production. I am a big fan of "body shaking" bass etc but cant really get the sounds out my creative 5.1 PC system.
I haven't really read into monitors much Which is why i want some advice as well as some recommendations as to which i should think about buying.
Being 16 and having a part time job means like 600 uk pound monitors are out of the question
If anyone could help me with the pro's and con's of some monitors and reccomend me any that will be great.
Thanks in advance.

Oh and incase you are wondering. I will be using a PC and not any hardware or anything. Just 100% PC. So will i need to also have some sort of mixer or can they go straight into the tower?

[setspeed]

i got some alesis M1 Active MkII's for about two hundred quid and they've served me right - you can certainly get some professional, releasable results out of them

[serox]

I have started using my Sony Walkman headphones for production. I have a better idea of what I am doing compared to my Alesis monitors and my friends KRKs.

I have made tunes on my Alesis and taken them to my mates house who has the krk8s (?) and the tune sounds rocking. I stick the tune on my phone and listen to it on the headphones and I can hear shit the speakers do not pick up. Also I get the mix down better on the headphones than I do on the monitors!

I am working on Dubstep so working a lot with low/mid bass as well as top end stuff and the headphones work better for everything, even Sub bass.

I listen to about 4 to 5 hours of music on my headphones of professionally mastered music and that's what I aim for with my mix downs. My ears are all screwed switching to monitors when I get in 'studio'.

Oh yeh, it really helps with 'widening' your track on the mix down.

[DZA]

if you want body shaking you might wanna ask dillinja and lemon d to build you this

[james fox]

I have started using my Sony Walkman headphones for production. I have a better idea of what I am doing compared to my Alesis monitors and my friends KRKs.

I have made tunes on my Alesis and taken them to my mates house who has the krk8s (?) and the tune sounds rocking. I stick the tune on my phone and listen to it on the headphones and I can hear shit the speakers do not pick up. Also I get the mix down better on the headphones than I do on the monitors!

I am working on Dubstep so working a lot with low/mid bass as well as top end stuff and the headphones work better for everything, even Sub bass.

I listen to about 4 to 5 hours of music on my headphones of professionally mastered music and that's what I aim for with my mix downs. My ears are all screwed switching to monitors when I get in 'studio'.

Oh yeh, it really helps with 'widening' your track on the mix down.

have you heard any of your tunes in a club at all?

in response to the original post, the thing to remember is that you don't want your monitors to sound exciting or shake your body , that's the job of your hi fi that emphasises the top end and bass - you want them to sound accurate with a flat frequency response so that you can get a mixdown that will translate well onto other systems. in fact monitors will sound dull and lifeless if you are not used to them.

[ezpz1993]

Waheyy. What you mean?
They already built me a replica Valve...
I just use it on weekends.....need something for the weekdays you see....

[DZA]

Waheyy. What you mean?
They already built me a replica Valve...
I just use it on weekends.....need something for the weekdays you see....

oooo ok if ya want a little more bass from it tho you shouls invest in a couple 60inch subs
http://www.gizmowatch.com/images/60-inch_sub-woofer.jpg

[11eight]

http://www.midiman.com/products/en_us/S ... eluxe.html

£299 on dolphin music?

[serox]

have you heard any of your tunes in a club at all?

Yes. They sound much better the way I am doing them now on the headphones.

I think it is more down to what you are used to hearing music on.

I find these in ear headphones give me a good idea of what I am doing, better than the monitors.

This may not be the case for everyone of course.

[alpha3]

Hi People thought I'd throw my tuppence worth in.

Up until about 10 years ago the mainstay for a lot of studios (commercial and bedroom) was a pair of Yamaha NS10's or similar. Generically these speakers are called 'near field monitors'. ie: specifically designed for studio engineers and producers. Nowadays there are a lot of companies producing near field monitors and generally cost is from around £200/£300 to whatever stupidity.

There are 2 possibilities. Plain monitors that need an external amplifier of some kind. Or monitors with built in amps. Depends on your soundcard and the way you like to work.

Personally I got some Event TR5's. They have built in amps and although they are tiny, the 5" bass speakers are excellent and well suit a small desktop studio. You can get larger versions as well.

I seem to read a lot of 'more bass' needed and subs. That's fine as a listener but not as a producer. Before to quickly condeming monitors as crap..... whatever. Are you compressing stuff properly. It makes a massive difference to the bottom end of bass and drums in particular. Do you Eq sounds to fit together or do they seem to fight each other or cancel each other out. Also those favourite tracks do they have mastering on them. A multiband compressor and exciter can really bring out a mix but can be hard to mimic without the said gear.

Monitoring a mix is not about bass madness. Most of the time you should keep any amplifier your using flat. That is to say no extra bass or treble. This way you are hearing exactly what you are mixing. It is the DJ or the 'Listener' who will wind up the bass and start eqing and sub enhancing etc etc. Not you the musician. You need to provide a mix that gives them the ammunition. Try listening to your favourite tracks flat. You should still be able to hear the bass end but also there's lots going on in most of the frequency ranges. It all has an affect on what the listener perceives. You should be able to hear each individual instrument clearly. No matter how many subs, bass noises, bass lines etc you've got playing.

Anyway just some traditional recording basics to think about.
Remember rules are made to be broken, but you need to know them in the first place to break them.

[spire]

Up until about 10 years ago the mainstay for a lot of studios (commercial and bedroom) was a pair of Yamaha NS10's or similar. Generically these speakers are called 'near field monitors'. ie: specifically designed for studio engineers and producers.

The NS10m's werent meant to be studio monitors, they were just bookshelf speakers but they were inexpensive and showed so little coloration between which amps were pushing them they then became a staple. people say NS10m's sound the same in any studio/room, thats why theyre so widely used.

[spencertron]

Up until about 10 years ago the mainstay for a lot of studios (commercial and bedroom) was a pair of Yamaha NS10's or similar. Generically these speakers are called 'near field monitors'. ie: specifically designed for studio engineers and producers.

The NS10m's werent meant to be studio monitors, they were just bookshelf speakers but they were inexpensive and showed so little coloration between which amps were pushing them they then became a staple. people say NS10m's sound the same in any studio/room, thats why theyre so widely used.

And rather than buy NS10's just buy the studiospares SN10's for a fraction of the price...i've only heard good things about these monitors based on NS10's, i can rely on Studiospares to always deliver...well, what i mean is their catalogue arrives in the post to me each year without fail

http://www.studiospares.com/Studio-Moni ... nvt/248000