Monitoring Speakers

[Vissequ]

Hello,

I would like to buy some very good quailty monitoring speakers that are around $200-$300.

I was looking at the Edirol MA-20D or Edirol MA-15D. Does anyone have any previous use with these speakers?

Also, I've never bought monitoring speakers before, what should I look for in speakers, in terms of the specs? If anyone could give me any recommendations on what someone making classical and film score music would need for the best quality, that'd be great. I would like to buy speakers that can handle 24-bit and 96K (maybe even higher) really well. So I don't have to upgrade when I get up to that quality.

Thanks,
Connor

[ToddK]

You dont have to worry about any type of Analog to Digital converters
on your Monitors.
That has to do with your soundcard. Your speakers just recieve the signal
from your computer.
Getting monitors with converters is a bad idea. They wiil be out of date
in a year.

I always thought the Berhinger Truth's seemed to have incredible specs
for under 500 dollars. Or i think they may be even below 400.

The specs on these are very close to the Mackie HR-824's, wich are what
i use. And in my opinion, they are excellent.

I think you'll find that, asking what monitors are good and bad, is opening
a huge can of worms, so be prepared for the onslaught of people telling
you the exact opposite of what i just told you.

Its just one of the those subjects. :)

TK

[scarr]

TK is WRONG! :p

It's important to establish first if $300 is your total budget and you have nothing, or if you have a power amp already and are just looking for monitors. (We call fancy studio speakers "monitors" because we don't want normal people to understand us!)

[Rico]

Specs aren't everything You know...

If You have the chance - take some monitors home and try them out with Your equipment, and "work" with them for some time. If that's not possible, go to a store and make A-B comparisons with some of Your favourite music (i.e. music that is close to what You're doing) music with You on CD.

I'd go (well, did go since I bought a pair of KRK R5) for a pair of powered monitors since I don't want extra hardware around, and I hoped that the amplifiers in the monitors where matched with the speakers and not muck around too much with the sound...

I never listened to the Edirols You mention (which are digital in the sense that You connect them via SPDIF), mainly due to reading some (not so good) user comments about them compared to others on various forum. In the end, I ended up trying out three other brands (all "analog" and powered):
* KRK R5
* Phonic 5A (I think that's the model)
* Audiophile B5

After listening to all three of them at home, I went with the KRKs for various reasons. Others would probably have choosen differently...

Regards,
Rico

[drew]

I doubt you'll find "very good" monitors for $200-$300, especially for "classical/film music" production. Save your money and aim for something in the $1000-$2000 range. After all, monitors are one of the most important pieces of equipment in your studio and well worth the investment.

[whitm]

I just went through the same thing. I picked up a pair of Wharfedale 8.2A active monitors for $339 with free shipping from American Musical Supply. Great speakers and great price.

[scarr]

I'd also suggest going to a store with CDs of music you know well and consider to be well mixed and listening to a bunch of stuff in person. Even though you'll see similar specs and frequency responses on various monitors, they can still sound quite different. I listened to a lot of "very good" monitors that just weren't right to my ears/tastes.

If you're looking to get high quality for low cost, you might want to think about headphones instead. I recently bought a pair of Sennheiser HD600 headphones which have given me an even better level of accuracy and clarity than I'd had before. (I have AKG K240 headphones and Event PS8 monitors, which are both still great after five years.)