Monitor speakers

[Billy's Little Trip]

I think I need to give up the idea that I can do everything on headphones. I get my mix done, then make several trips to my truck or house system to sound check. I need some good self powered monitors.

...the time has come come come come

[nyjm]

Same here. Suppose I need to change the "Saving Up for a Bass Fund" to "Saving Up for Monitors."

[hillbilly]

I have a set of AltecLansing series 100, loud and good sound in my bedroom. tink they were $50 at Best Buy, may not even make them anymore, all that i need.

[Billy's Little Trip]

My biggest problem is listening over and over to parts of a song to get things the way I want. This NEEDS to be done on phones if one doesn't have a soundproof studio.
But, without horribly flat phones or monitors, it's hard to get a mix right.

[Caravan Ray]

Been thinking of getting monitors.

But do I actually need monitorS (plural)?

I read something recently that suggested mixing in mono is a good way to make sure everything is places well. You can then use phones check the panning isn't unbalanced


I was thinking - if say I had $500 to spend on monitor stuff - maybe one better quality $500 monitor may be better value than 2 x $250 monitors - and use the room monitor for a mono mix.


Does this make sense?

[Lunkhead]

I feel like the biggest differences I hear between speakers and headphones are in the bass frequencies, which I think seem a lot louder on headphones than on speakers, and in the stereo separation, which feels really exaggerated on headphones compared to speakers. Usually if I EQ on headphones only then I find that the bass is lacking when I go listen on speakers. Or if I mix on speakers only and I do some wide stereo panning stuff that sounds cool, it sometimes is just too much in headphones and can be tiring to listen to.

[Caravan Ray]

I feel like the biggest differences I hear between speakers and headphones are in the bass frequencies, which I think seem a lot louder on headphones than on speakers, and in the stereo separation, which feels really exaggerated on headphones compared to speakers. Usually if I EQ on headphones only then I find that the bass is lacking when I go listen on speakers. Or if I mix on speakers only and I do some wide stereo panning stuff that sounds cool, it sometimes is just too much in headphones and can be tiring to listen to.

Yes - that is what I was thinking too. Since I would be using the speakers mainly to hear how the bass is going - is it really necessary to listen in stereo? And yes - I would continue to fine tune the panning using headphones.

Mixing in the monitor in mono seems to make sense to me (and I could afford to buy better quality if I am only buying one speaker)

Am I missing something stupid here?

[Lunkhead]

I don't think you're missing anything. I always thought that suggestion about listening in mono was more like "If you have time you can do that too and it may be useful" rather than "you need to do that". I got the impression people mostly suggested checking your mixes on as many different systems as you reasonably can, like in stereo in your monitors, in mono in your monitors, in headphones, in the car, in the living room, on a laptop's built-in speakers, etc. Just anywhere where people are likely to listen to your music. Since we don't really have time for all that in Song Fight! land, checking your mix on even more than one setup is probably an improvement, however you go about it. That being said, I don't really check things in mono personally so I would recommend getting two monitor speakers over just one if you can afford it. (You'll also want to try to position them the best you can in your work environment, which can be tough for those of us just trying to fit this stuff in our homes.)

[Caravan Ray]

I guess my question is more along the lines of - do you get what you pay for with monitors?

ie. is one good monitor a better investment than 2 cheapo ones?

[Lunkhead]

I'd save up and get two good ones. Or two medium priced ones.

[Paco Del Stinko]

I'd save up and get two good ones. Or two medium priced ones.

Agreed. You can still mix in mono. I used to do this regularly: pan everything straight up dead center. It's the same as being in mono. Adjust your levels 'til they sound right. Then pan and adjust as/if needed. I listen to all the fights in mono on a hi-fi Tivoli Model One. Great sound and bass response, one speaker! But I would think you'd end up wanting a pair of speakers.

[Lunkhead]

Here's a pair for $99 USD on the stupid deal of the day:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/stupid/

I don't know if they're any good or not, but they seem affordable.

[sportswriters]

I use Yamaha HS50Ms, which are a replacement for the fabled NS10. They sound like shit, deliberately so. If you can make a mix sound good on them, it will sound good anywhere.

I do a lot of my tracking and premixing on cans, the AKG K240s. They are wonderful. You can literally wear them all day.

Most people mix on speakers which sound 'good', i.e. flatter their mixes. It's a big mistake and why stuff sound woolly when you play it somewhere else.

[fluffy]

Here's a pair for $99 USD on the stupid deal of the day:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/stupid/

I don't know if they're any good or not, but they seem affordable.

The ones that were up then are the very same ones I ended up getting several months ago. I'm pretty happy with them.