Recommend me some monitors!

[tko]

I just got my new laptop delivered this morning, and need a set of monitors to complete my set-up. Looking to spend less than 300 squid on a pair of active monitors for starting out producing in anger. Been mucking around for a while (attempting) making breaky dubby sheez, bits of techno and electro, all sorts really - this is the sort of stuff I would want to be doing.

Searching through DOA looking for recommendations for cheap monitors everyone seems to ignore the cheap bit of the question and tell you buy some Mackies for £1000!. Its just not going to happen.... just spunked most my cash on a new laptop!

So I am looking more at things like Alesis M1 MK2 active, Fostex PM1, Behringer Truth etc.

Anyone have any experience with any of the above monitors, or anything else in my price range?

Anyone selling any monitors in that range?

Churs....

[madboy]

I use alesis mk1 monitors and they are fine, mine arent powered though.

These were the best deal when i was looking around. 

[tko]

Nice one - can pick the active Mk2s up for £225 now - there are now mk3's (520 or 620), although I am not sure what the difference is between the Mk2s and them (apart from the price  )

[Android Lloyd Webber]

yeah, the MK2's will probably do the trick...

bear in mind though that these are super budget monitors, so althought they do sound pretty nice:), they do tend to party it up a little bit to impress.. (i.e I dont think the response is flat..) that said though, for the price you're not going to do better than them i don't think. they are a bit of a bargain really! just make sure your room is alright..


bo.

[Alan Bench]

Yamaha MSP5's.

Trust me. I'll dig out some information later...

[tko]

Cool, keep em coming!

Liking the idea of the Tapco S8's, got them in Digital Village for £299 - 8" drivers, made by Mackie, the S5 got an 8/10 review in Sound on Sound but cant find anything online about the S8....

Think they originally cost £499 so looks like a deal....  should go down pretty low.

[ThinKing]

Yamaha MSP5's.

Trust me. I'll dig out some information later...

Are those the little powered desktop ones? I know someone that has owned them in the past and I thought they were absolutely dreadful. Pisspoor lowend and nowhere near detailed enough. Only useful if you really need monitors that small.

He's since upgraded to a pair or Adams which sound absolutely phenomenal, esp in comparison to those Yams.


Sorry that sounded like a personal attack but I had to stick my $0.02 in there.

[7 below]

Yamaha MSP5's.

Trust me. I'll dig out some information later...

Are those the little powered desktop ones? I know someone that has owned them in the past and I thought they were absolutely dreadful. Pisspoor lowend and nowhere near detailed enough. Only useful if you really need monitors that small.

He's since upgraded to a pair or Adams which sound absolutely phenomenal, esp in comparison to those Yams.


Sorry that sounded like a personal attack but I had to stick my $0.02 in there.

Are they the same monitors that every small studio has cos yamaha couldn't sell em, so they gave them away?

[jimmy5b]

the whole monitors thing is tricky...

unless you ar a real pro you wont notice a massive diff between an expensive pair and a more budget pair...

if you can get hold of some Yamaha NS10's you are laughing. they dont make em anymore but still most decent studios have them - along with others types so you can compare sounds - u want something that doesn't boost too much of the frequency ie too muchh bass etc

having said that, ive had tannoy's for a few years and they have served me well.  you get used to mixing on them. i mix stuuf on them to play in clubs...although if you do mix on better speakers u do get a better mix.  300 suid should sort you out with some decent speakers, espesh if you are starting out...

[ThinKing]

Mate I've used NS10s before and I don't think any engineer would recommend you use them as your only pair of monitors.

They ARE a good reference point, as they are the most punishing, unforgiving speakers and it's a bugger to get things sounding good - the idea is that if a tune sounds good on NS10s, it'll sound good on anything and everything. They're a kind of pro equivalent of a 'grotbox'.

When we had them in our studio they were the most hateful repellant little bastards to mix on, and also tired the fuck out of your ears meaning we couldn't work for too long without a break.

The £300 monitor argument is one of the most common discussions on the net - the same brands are recommended each time, so I would recommend going to Sound Control or preferably Digi Village and listening to monitors made by:

Behringer
Tannoy
Alesis
Fostex
KRK
HHB
 
and maybe Dynaudio and Mackie to tempt you into spending more money.

Most importantly don't spunk your cash until you're absolutely POSITIVE that you're making the right choice, and that you've listened to every option in your price range. If you don't, you may make an expensive mistake.

[Alan Bench]

Yamaha MSP5's.
Are those the little powered desktop ones? I know someone that has owned them in the past and I thought they were absolutely dreadful. Pisspoor lowend and nowhere near detailed enough. Only useful if you really need monitors that small.

He's since upgraded to a pair or Adams which sound absolutely phenomenal, esp in comparison to those Yams.


Sorry that sounded like a personal attack but I had to stick my $0.02 in there.

Nah, I think you might be talking about the MSP3s which are indeed truly awful. The MSP5s in comparison are superb. Detailed, rounded and much better quality than practically every other unit in that price range. In our magazine, a team of producers blind tested them against 4 or 5 competitors (Alesis, Behringer, Tapco etc) and they walked all over them. The Adam's are absolutely awesome though agreed, along with the Genelec's but you're talking about a lot more $$$ then.

As with everything though. A lot of it is subjective and down to personal choice...

[Sir Ruff]

Behringer
Tannoy
Alesis
Fostex
KRK
HHB
 
and maybe Dynaudio and Mackie to tempt you into spending more money.

Here's a couple more I'd add to that list-
Samson 65s
Event Tr5/6

Had been going through the same motion in the same price range and although I didn't get to hear everything I wanted to, based on what I read and heard myself, the Events were VERY unflattering i.e. flat, and I think if you got the Tr6 (6 inch woofer instead of 5) model you'd be doing ok in the way of bass. 
The Samson's on the other hand sounded too nice, a good indication they are not as flat as they should be....
I didn't get to hear any KRK but have read ther RP5/6s are quite good in that price range.  Prolly worth splurging for whichever model has the larger woofer if your music is quite bass heavy.

Unfortunately that was all before I realised I was totally skint, and so now I'm still stuck with my petite pc speakers!    But at least I'm used to them

[Android Lloyd Webber]

Mate I've used NS10s before and I don't think any engineer would recommend you use them as your only pair of monitors.

They ARE a good reference point, as they are the most punishing, unforgiving speakers and it's a bugger to get things sounding good - the idea is that if a tune sounds good on NS10s, it'll sound good on anything and everything. They're a kind of pro equivalent of a 'grotbox'.

When we had them in our studio they were the most hateful repellant little bastards to mix on, and also tired the fuck out of your ears meaning we couldn't work for too long without a break.

The £300 monitor argument is one of the most common discussions on the net - the same brands are recommended each time, so I would recommend going to Sound Control or preferably Digi Village and listening to monitors made by:

Behringer
Tannoy
Alesis
Fostex
KRK
HHB
 
and maybe Dynaudio and Mackie to tempt you into spending more money.

Most importantly don't spunk your cash until you're absolutely POSITIVE that you're making the right choice, and that you've listened to every option in your price range. If you don't, you may make an expensive mistake.

 

[Dominikp]

Ive got some Behringer Truth B3201's for sale, immaculate condiiton. Check the Sound on Sound review....
They have a decent bass repsonse and clear highs, plus the benefit of a very good inbuilt amp....I think its 100w for the bass drivers and 50-75w for the treble.

I can let them go fairly cheap because i have just bought some dynaudios.

How does £150 sound? and of course im open to offers!.

[tko]

Ive got some Behringer Truth B3201's for sale, immaculate condiiton. Check the Sound on Sound review....
They have a decent bass repsonse and clear highs, plus the benefit of a very good inbuilt amp....I think its 100w for the bass drivers and 50-75w for the treble.

I can let them go fairly cheap because i have just bought some dynaudios.

How does £150 sound? and of course im open to offers!.

I guess you mean the B2031s? Could be interested, although you can get them new for £189 a pair at digital village now:

http://www.dv247.com/invt/22836

Im gonna go audition a load of different speakers at the weekend - if I like the sound of the Behringers next to some others I will get back to you.

[Dominikp]

Taking that into consideration i can go lower!

Drop me a mail if your still interested. New90@yahoo.com

[Smokey Hokes]

if you can track down a pair of genelec 1029a's second hand.

they sound absolutely amazing! best thing i ever bought.
check out some reviews, just google em.

[Android Lloyd Webber]

if you can track down a pair of genelec 1029a's second hand.

they sound absolutely amazing! best thing i ever bought.
check out some reviews, just google em.

I'm not a huge fan of the genelec sound... its a bit arghgrh.. or something

[Smokey Hokes]

what does arghhhhhhhhhh mean?

[74]

I have a pair of alesis m1 active montors, only drawback is there is no bass control switch, alhough plugging the 2 ports can help dampen the bass quite a bit

[Android Lloyd Webber]

what does arghhhhhhhhhh mean?

its a bit like urrffzfz, but not as full on as ragzlzgzlgf.

hope thats helped clear it up a bit!


or perhaps it means 'a bit forward and gritty or something'

[Spydogen]

Yamaha MSP5's.

Trust me. I'll dig out some information later...

I'm with Bunchie - these are fuckin sweet...at £250-300 they're awesome value for money...Speak to Digital Village and they'll try and sell you the ones that make em the most money...like KRK's..

I work in a Hi Fi shop and Yamaha have about a 0.15% faulty returns rate - they build em proper good like!!! Their products also cost a lot to manufacture, so companies like dv247 don't have high profit margins on em, so they'll try and sell you the ones that do...

PEACE

[Bio.s]

Nice one - can pick the active Mk2s up for £225 now - there are now mk3's (520 or 620), although I am not sure what the difference is between the Mk2s and them (apart from the price  )

the mkiii's are esentially the same as the mkii's but seem a lot better as they have all sorts of trimming/tailoring controls on the rear section, including controls to tailor the speakers when they have to be 520's and 620's is about 25 or 50 watts.

I haven't used the mkiii's but from what I hear they are a big improvement on the mkii's.  I'm happy enough with my mkii's so i would recommend the mkiii's as quality monitors on the strength of that, but it's all down to personal taste innit.  

Have to agree with ThinKing about the NS10's tho, I wouldn't want them as anything other than reference, especially when producing 'dance' music.

[ad]

Yamaha MSP5's.

Trust me. I'll dig out some information later...

I'm with Bunchie - these are fuckin sweet...at £250-300 they're awesome value for money...Speak to Digital Village and they'll try and sell you the ones that make em the most money...like KRK's..I work in a Hi Fi shop and Yamaha have about a 0.15% faulty returns rate - they build em proper good like!!! Their products also cost a lot to manufacture, so companies like dv247 don't have high profit margins on em, so they'll try and sell you the ones that do...

PEACE

so true, i went in asking about the mini mac, they were trying to flog me a power mac etc, i said i dont want one of those i came in about a mini mac. be wary of those lot in there.... i dont think they actually know what theyre talking about either.

hmmm music tech shops. anyone got a good place? turnkey is awful....

[mr faster]

i seriously recommend checking out the readsers ads @

http://www.soundonsound.com/

some fantastic deals in there

id also recommend spending a fair wadge of cash as your monitors are the most important part of your setup, and you will regret skimping later and have to upgrade.

id recommend these

Genelec 8030A

Mackie HR624

Tannoy Reveal 6D


or, if you can stretch, get the Mackie 824's and I promise you'll never regret it.

i found a pair of these a few months ago @ the above website for £500, an absolute bargain, alas, in a cruel twist of fate, i could not buy them

[retrac2]

If anyone's got any experience with the Tapco s8's mentioned earlier would be handy.  I'm looking at getting some of these in the new  year.  Although if I can get osme 824s for £500 the I definately will.

[bubonic]

Whatever you do, don't get the behringers. When they came out, there were the most competitively prciced and value for money, but in comparison to the rest of the selection out there for the same price, they're gash. First hand experience.


Anyone fancy buying a pair of 3 yeard old behringer truths? 

[Sir Ruff]

Wellll,
I finally got a financial boost from santa, and was able to shell out on some freakin monitors finally... I got the KRK rokit-5s.  These were honestly the cheapest, decent ones I could afford, and while I wished I could have spent another couple hundred, life necessities such as rent won't allow it.  and frankly, a pair of cheap and cheerful monirots will surpass my pc speakers that I have been using for the last 3 years, easily!!!!! 
so far so good-I've practially blown them a couple times trying to figure out what way was best to route the signal, but live and learn I guess.  but yeah, they're sounding nice and flat.  not irritiating in the upper range, not too bassyl.  wish I could've gotten something with a bigger woofer considering how much bass is a factor in me tunes, but it's just something I'll have to cope with. 
I may end up posting further comments as I get used to them, but honestly, to ears (which are fairly naive when its comes to how monitors should sound), these are sounding good so far.  Not flattering (like some samsoms I heard), but also not boringly flat, if ya get me... 
these were also mega cheap (200 dollars)... had I the further funds I prolly would've shelled out for a 2nd hand pair of Event TR-8s (for 300), but whatever... I've got monitors and I'm bloody happy

[top cat]

get a couple of these bad boys