[Klisk]

I'm using a pair of Rokit RP-5's. Love 'em.

I've also had a pair of the newer Yammies, and a pair of Swans. Yammies were the only pair I didn't like. I got peer pressured into 'em, and the real problem with them is that their high end quickly -- Quickly -- becomes straining and fatiguing.

 

[porschemad911]

My Lexicon Lambda arrived on Friday, and hooking that up with balanced TRS -> XLR cables fixed up the hum no end.

Today I finished getting Foobar2000 set up with ASIO output, using the ASIO4ALL drivers (Lexicon's default ASIO drivers wouldn't work properly with Foobar2000). Everything sounds really lovely! This is the best speaker setup I've owned by far.

I'm now reripping all my CDs into a single WAV file with matching Cue sheet.

There's still some slight noise from a ground loop issue (caused by plugging laptop into AC, on battery power it's gone). This is largely removed by having the gain on my Tascams to minimum, and upping the gain on my Lambda to compensate.

This works perfectly well, normal listening is now at about 10:00, and 1:00 is whole house blasting! With the gain on my speakers up full, normal listening was in the first fraction of a milimetre of volume travel on the Lambda, not very user practical, so this kills two birds with one stone (ease of use and minimised hum).

One other really cool feature. I hooked up my iRiver to Line 1 and Line 2 (L & R) to test these out. It worked great, and the input DB level lights are really cool!

 

[bhd812]

I use M-Audio BX8-a's connected to the FREE Benchmark Dac-1/usb I got in San Jose. the Studio sound from the dac/speakers fit with the heavily treated room using Micheal Green Audio pillows in the front upper corners somewhat above each monitors and of course a front center pillow above the 32" lcd tv/computer monitor i use on the same system. the back of the room spills into my listening area where the Gear in my sig is located meaning the rest of the room is just as acoustically treated.

when i won the Dac1/usb i would of never of thought how good a computer setup could be but now that i live everyday with it I think it's stupid not to have atleast a cheaper set of near field studio monitors on a pc for anyone who gives a rats ass about their sound. the speakers i am running are not costly (esp compared to hifi products) but their are much cheaper monitors out there mostly in anyones budget.


I am upgrading my Ram in my pc this week then maybe a Video card upgrade followed by a hard drive upgrade (thats not so needed now). when i am done upgrading my pc section i will look into better monitors but for now i love these bad boys!!

 

[gregorio]

Just a few observations:

Most of the monitors mentioned here are near field monitors. While these will give you a fairly linear freq response in the mids and highs and an accurate stereo image compared to many consumer speakers, they are notoriously weak in the low freq. A decent set of linear cans is going to give a more even freq response across the spectrum. Adding a sub will not really solve the problem, as none of them appear able to seamlessly transition through the crossover freq. This is true of the 2.1 Blue Sky systems and indeed of every 2.1 system I've ever heard.

THX is a useful specification for cinemas, it specifies the construction of cinema sound systems and the baffling, isolation and separation between the speakers, it also covers the construction and installation of sound systems in dubbing theatres. The THX specification which covers consumer equipment is just a cynical ploy by Lucas to make even more money but it doesn't give you any useful information. Much of the best equipment out there does not have THX certifcation, nor does much of the worst. So the THX label basically tells you that a piece of equipment is mediocre!

Someone mentioned Yamaha NS10s. These monitors became ubiquitous in recording studios, particualrly in the eighties and nineties. There were a number of reasons why NS10s became ubiquitous but none of the were connected to audio quality. NS10s are and always have been crap monitors!

If you want to experience cinema quality sound you will have to forget about consumer 5.1 systems. Consumer 5.1 systems are bass managed whereas cinema systems and the systmes used to mix 5.1 cinema releases, are all full range systems, not bass managed. Some consumer systems can get reasonably good results but you have to spend well into four or even five figures.

Gregorio

 

[edvardd]

I have a question for you guys. I'm looking for a pair of monitors in the pricerange of about 700 $. I'm going to use my laptop and connect them through my iBasso D1 DAC. I will use it for 90 % music listening and 10 % music producution. So I'd rather have a pair that are suited for a great music experience and not necessarily exact studio monitors. I'd rather have a warm sound than an overly cold or natural sounding speakers. Are studio monitors almost by definition near field monitors? Should I be looking somewhere else? Sorry about the confusion, I'm new to this hifi-world. First post

 

[infinitesymphony]

Most monitors are nearfields, especially in the price ranges people here have been considering. Since you have a specific sound signature in mind, you should definitely head to the nearest pro audio store and give some models a listen. It's the only way to know for sure which speaker will be right for you.

 

[iKonoKlast]

Quote:

Originally Posted by edvardd /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have a question for you guys. I'm looking for a pair of monitors in the pricerange of about 700 $. I'm going to use my laptop and connect them through my iBasso D1 DAC. I will use it for 90 % music listening and 10 % music producution. So I'd rather have a pair that are suited for a great music experience and not necessarily exact studio monitors. I'd rather have a warm sound than an overly cold or natural sounding speakers. Are studio monitors almost by definition near field monitors? Should I be looking somewhere else? Sorry about the confusion, I'm new to this hifi-world. First post

Unless you spend obscene amounts of money, all monitors are near field. Midfield and main monitors cost tens of thousands of dollars and are designed for very large studios.

That doesn't mean that near field monitors are necessarily designed for you to listen to them at close distances. In fact, a lot of people acoustically treat their room so that they can listen to their nearfields at farther distances and get better depth and soundstage. Unless you acoustically treat your room, you're listening to the room and the sound vibrations bouncing off your walls rather than the sound from the speakers themselves.

But seeing that you are not a professional music producer, and because you are not looking for accurate sound, why delve into studio monitors? There are plenty of reputable brands that make bookshelf speakers and so on that will have the warm sound you are looking for.

If you do indeed still want to try out studio monitors, I would recommend you look at the KRK RP8 over the similarly priced Yamaha HS80M and M-Audio BX8A. The Yamaha and M-Audio are both known to have a fatiguing high end, whereas KRK are known for a fuller low-midrange sound signature. Blue Sky also has their MediaDesk 2.1 which, unlike the others I've mentioned, includes a subwoofer. I would not recommend the latter though unless you have a large enough space and would possibly consider acoustic treatment, or else the bass will just be out of control.

Also, I don't know how you plan on connecting your iBasso to your monitors. Monitors typically require either 1/4 inch TRS or XLR cables to connect to the back of each speaker so you should get a DAC that has balanced outputs.

 

[infinitesymphony]

Most monitors can accept unbalanced inputs, and many have dedicated RCA jacks for that purpose. Since the iBasso D1 can act as a preamp, a set of active monitors might save him some money versus an unbalanced power amplifier + speaker setup. Though I guess for $700, either route is feasible.

 

[sejarzo]

Anybody have an opinion on the Mackie MR5's yet? Guitar Center has them for $149 each. Another member has PM'ed me with some questions about monitors for a small office, and for a biamped monitor to be used at low levels, they certainly seem attractive.

 

[LFF]

I use a pair of the original Mackie HR824's using my EMU 0404 USB as the source. FWIW, I love my Mackie's and I find them to be extremely accurate. The other speakers I use are JBL 4311's.

I do a lot of remastering and I find that all the work I do translates very well to other systems, be it laptop speakers or multi-thousand dollar home speakers.

A lot of people feel that because a speaker has a flat frequency response then it will not sound musical or pleasing. I completely disagree. The Mackie HR824's are among the best I have ever heard. Most people who complain about them usually do not have them set up properly. Set-up is key with all monitors. If not done properly, they may sound too boomy or too bright.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[Random Murderer]

sorry about reviving an old thread, but yesterday(15th) was my birthday and i've some cash that's begging to be spent on audio equipment.
what's the best set of studio monitors for $150 or less?
or should i invest in a nicer set of headphones?
right now i'm on some janky 40-watt gateway2000 speakers and using sennheiser pc155's for headphones.
i've been looking at behringer ms40's and m-audio dx4's. the sennheiser hd650's also look sexy, but a wee bit too expensive, and i would need to shell out even more for an amp as well.

 

[GreatDane]

You can't get much for $150 (active monitors) unless you can find a good deal on used I guess. For $150 you'll get a better fidelity with headphones imo. Check out the for sale forum.

Of course this all depends on how high your standards are.

Here is a good list for active monitors.

 

[Jon118]

I can vouch that in that price range the M-Audio DX-4 is pretty good. Of course as that link showed you have quite a few options.

 

[Random Murderer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jon118 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I can vouch that in that price range the M-Audio DX-4 is pretty good. Of course as that link showed you have quite a few options.

should i go with the dx4's or the av40's?

 

[TheAnomaly]

i'm at a crossroads at this point as well. i've got the sigged rig, and i am pleased with it...but i know the beresford could be upgraded. fairly urgently needed, some might say. but i've also always wanted some speakers, since i've never owned "good" speakers (the best i've ever had was a promedia 2.1 about 6 years ago; they broke about 4 years ago).

so the options are to either sit tight until i can pony up the cash for a rudimentary HD650 balanced setup (HD650 + DAC1 or micro dac...i understand those have decent enough balanced amps built in, right?), or go for some decent ~$300-500 monitors now. anybody have recommendations for monitors in this price range? i like the DT880 sound signature, and the Event TR8s were mentioned earlier in this thread, but i'm afraid they'll be a bit too bottom heavy with that 8" woofer and 35 hz rated extension. i've also been looking at the 8" KRK rokit.