What Studio Monitors do you currently have? Which ones would you get if money was not an issue? And which ones would you say are the best when accounting for value/price?
Yamaha HS7
These are the monitors I use currently. And I have the white version, which I call my āStormtroopersā, because of how they look. The sound is great, and I can truly recommend them, and consider them great value for the price. =)
Genelec 8351 APM
If money was a non-issue I would probably personally go for a pair of Genelecs in the high range. They have a great reputation in the music studio world, sleek design with good acoustic properties, and from hearing them on an audio industry convention they have an excellent and open sound.
So let me hear your thoughts my fellow composers. What studio monitors do you currently have, and which ones would you get if money was not an issue? =)
At the moment Iām using Yamaha HS8s. Although a lot of people use them, Iām not greatly satisfied with themā¦ I am planning to get their OP amps upgraded and possibly mod them to remove low frequency limiters.
Other than that, I am using Kurzweil KS40A as a reference monitors and planing to check Adam Audioās A8X. If the money was not something to consider, Iād go for Focal TRIO6BE.
Oh yeah Adam studio monitors have a very good reputation. I would consider them too. Atm I am happy with mine since my studio room is tiny and I would have a hard time getting good monitoring in here anyway, haha.
Just like Glen, Iām using HS8s. The reason for the bigger speaker is because if you look at the frequency responses between the ranges, the 8s are slightly more flat. Which works for me in my room, tbh Iād say any speaker your used to is a great speaker. You just need to know itās quirks which just takes time.
Ironically Iāve been getting to know mine all over again as I recently moved rooms (and houses). I started to get to know them again a few weeks ago and then noticed a slight delay between the speakersā¦ at that point the room wasnāt treated at all but on my right hand side is actually some curtains that are always closed when I mix, there also dead space behind them before the window. So I quickly realised that one of my first reflection points was treated by the curtain (ironically) and the other wasnātā¦ which has been really throwing off my mixesā¦ I mean my bass end was non existed in bounces, the mixes were one sided and the verb was completely over done in every mix I did. I ended up sending my mixes to a producer to send me feedback and just go off that, luckily this redeemed me before I sent the pieces to my clients. Around 2 weeks ago I bout a pretty hefty acoustic panel for the other side. Man, my mixes are back to normal and actually a little better than in my old room.
My speakers werenāt the issueā¦ if I have ever had issues itās always in my knowing how my speakers react or my roomā¦
Having said that I actually really like the personus Eris rangeā¦ i know theyāre cheaper and not genelecs but every time Iāve used them Iāve had awesome results and thatās all that matters. Used to have a set of Adams and genelecs in the college where I first studiedā¦ they were okā¦ ironically I preferred their cheaper speakers there too which were KRKS. These days those speakers are frowned upon by a lot of composers but the frequency response on them even today is quite good Iād say. They usually got me good mixes anywaysā¦ except they were only 5ā so the bass end was always a little off. Not the brands fault though.
Oh if only we had a properly acoustically treated studio to work in. I feel your pain. My studio is a tiny extra room in my apartment. We just have to try to make it work for us. =/
Yeah itās getting there with slowly adding a panel every so often, but itās slow. Itās improved hugely just by fixing that reflection point though which is good! Hereās a picture of my setup so you can see how My gear is set up. Luckily I have around a foot and a half of clearance from the wall to the speakers which really helps. My room isnāt huge but it allowed for that which Iām ver grateful
Okay, Iāll chime in ā¦I have hs8s but Iām not using them , they are a great speaker in the right space ā¦I found out in a small room environment itās best to go with a smaller speaker , tune the room and introduce a sub ā¦ with a full range speaker itās hard to tune a room itās easier to introduce bass into the environment then it is to put in a ton of corner traps to absorb it out
My JBL LSR 305s and matching sub threw my hs8s under the bus ā¦ the main studio has been updated with dynaudios bm6 mk3 and matching 12 sub ā¦it all sounds good ā¦I mix on mains and only spot check with headphones periodically
I am interested in the focal alpha65s great sounding speaker ā¦and some atc25s
Iām using Yamaha HS8s with a low tuned 15" sub, aiming for a flat response from 20 Hz and up. The HS8s are flush mount in a faceted wall, forming a reflection-free zone. The HS8 bass reflex ports are plugged, since they donāt play where those operate anyway in this setup. Room treatment only on the rear wall currently; ceiling to do - but it already works incredibly well without that.
The only issue Iāve had with the HS8s is that regardless of EQ switch settings, theyāre ever so slightly harsh sounding - an issue that Iāve now eliminated by calibrating the whole system with Sonarworks Reference 4.
Ive tuned my whole room and had hs8s and sub ā¦ I pulled them out and replaced them with dynaudio bm6s and matching sub ā¦ I liked the hs8s but they were not working well in my environment ā¦ Iāve not dropped a cloud over the mix position but thats the next project along with some AD/DA converter upgradesā¦anyhow ā¦ even with the eq settings on the speakers backed off ā¦ I found they were not well balanced when I used those settings ā¦ anyhow let me know how you make out with the issue,
My main monitors are Hs8ās and i very much agree. they are fantastic speakers but not suited for small spaces. i moved from a box room 2.5m/8m to a 10m squared room. the response from the speakers for that small jump in spaceā¦ however the bass response was still too much despite the speakers being 2 ft away from the wall. the great thing is though that the space is much better suited so the -2 and -4db pad actually makes all the difference. when i had the room slightly tuned (introduced a bass trap and a panel in the first reflection points) and then took the bass response down by -2 the speakers really came to life making my mixes 100% better.
i am looking in getting some smaller speakers after i upgrade my desk so that i can reference my mixes on a smaller profile woofer. these speakers donāt need to be expensive as theyrāe just a referenceā¦ so im thinking the Iris 4.5 by Presonus. they have great reviews and i have used them before so i know the results you can get from them.
What are the dimensions of your studio now Geoff? My tiny space is 2x3 meters. 6 meters squared! With an entire music studio + video production studio cramped inside. Itās crazy!
Its only 10m or 11m squared. so ive got a little more room in there which is really useful for having a few more instruments in there, having space away from the wall for my speakers as i said beforeā¦ but theres still some issues ive found. the wall that i have to put my desk by means that a window is on my left hand side so when i mix and record the curtains have to be closed (which makes the room really flat) and theyre very thick. what are your stuggles Mikael?
Well I would love to have that much space myself. I am literally so cramped that I can spend an hour just reconnecting some cables behind my desk, with my back hurting for a week afterwards
At least I have a thick curtain that I can block the window with, which means that with the acoustic panels I have there are basically no standing waves at least in the mids/highs. Bass is of course very hard in a boxy tiny room whatever I do.
Ah yes I used to be in a room just as small and the bass end used to be so difficult. I remember having to mix the low end on headphones and then blend in the mids and highs through the speakers while ignoring the low end which would be shaking the walls
Iāve got the hs80s ā¦first gen hs8ā¦ my studio is 3 metres x 3.5 meters with with 2.4 meter
Room height ā¦ the hs80s overpowered the room ā¦ I replaced them with jbl lsr 305s and matching jbl lsr 310 sub ā¦this was a huge improvement for the room ā¦the hs80s are collecting dust ā¦I eventually replaced the jbls with dynaudio bm6a and matching sub ā¦ there were subtle differences in the solution and in some respects the jbl solution was better as the sound was more mid forwardā¦but the dynaudios to my ear are smoother ā¦
I have Behringer B1030Aās which are quite nice for the price (paid 150e for the pair new), though since theyāre so small (5.25ā woofer), the bass is a bit lacking. Iāll probably get a subwoofer at some point to fix it. I always listen to my mixes also with my Aurelia Aniaraās with a Jamo subwoofer in my living room before release. If money wasnāt an object, Iād probably get Genelecs.
Just out of curiosity, has anyone used the Adam TV5s? looking at those and the ILoud monitors atm as a secondary smaller reference set of monitors. i may even use them primarily for just getting ideas down too so im not shaking the walls. herd the JBL 1 series are really good too so if anyones used them id be very interested to hear your thoughts.
