Decent Monitors

[machina]

Hi everyone,

I'm in the market for some decent monitors for a smallish room, so I'm looking for some reasonably high quality near fields...

I've pretty much narrowed it down to PMC TB-2's/TB-2S's + flying mole amp or ADAM S2.5's.... anyone got any experience with either? i've played with the S2.5's a fair bit and they are fantastic, but i reckon the PMC's sound a bit better... any other suggestions? (not genelec because they are shite :) )

machina

[FIK]

Why not go for Mackie's range (HR)

[RDR]

Adam are wicked.

[machina]

Why not go for Mackie's range (HR)

Mackie's aren't really in the class of Adam's and PMC's IMO. They are relatively good for the price, but the PMCs/adams are really another level up... i've got a pair of tannoy active reveals already which i'm upgrading, so i want something high-end.

machina

[Komplex]

genelecs mate...

[machina]

genelecs mate...

(not genelec because they are shite :) )

no. no. no no no no no.

machina

[machina]

just to clarify - i'm of the opinion that genelec sound tinny and harsh and have a shitty bass response to boot when compared to high-end monitors i.e. Adam and PMC. They sound fine next to NS10's or something but a/b them with something decent and they sound second rate... i know some people love em. i hate them. passionately.

machina

[Komplex]

ooh harsh, ooh tinny! ooh bass response...

don't be a girly man ;)


Hmm, in that case, grab your cd and take a trip down to factory sound, they've built a little monitor testing area now so you can A/B a whole lot of different ones. The Genelecs sound very nice with the sub and I'm pretty sure they translate well too. An intersting thing you will notice is that a few cheaper monitors sound (sort of) just as good as some expensive ones when tested side by side... or maybe I'm just deaf these days...

I'm looking for some new monitors too. My mixes sound like shit.

[machina]

ooh harsh, ooh tinny! ooh bass response...

don't be a girly man ;)


Hmm, in that case, grab your cd and take a trip down to factory sound, they've built a little monitor testing area now so you can A/B a whole lot of different ones. The Genelecs sound very nice with the sub and I'm pretty sure they translate well too. An intersting thing you will notice is that a few cheaper monitors sound (sort of) just as good as some expensive ones when tested side by side... or maybe I'm just deaf these days...

I'll be a girly man if i wanna. I have done as you have suggested... been to factory sound/awave/mannys and listened to everything. For me the PMC's sounded best closely followed by the Adams, then a big gap probably dynaudio's then genelecs/krks/whatever else i listened to... and thus i'm pretty much sold either Adams or PMC's. Was just wondering if anyone had lots of experience making techno on either...

I'm looking for some new monitors too. My mixes sound like shit.

hehehehe. no comment ;)

machina

[rounser]

Monitors aren't supposed to sound good, they're supposed to tell the truth (whatever that is). Maybe what you're playing on them is tinny and harsh and lacking in bass! Everyone always seems to choose them like they're a bass sweetened hi fi system or something, which misses the point entirely.

[TechMouse]

Monitors aren't supposed to sound good, they're supposed to tell the truth (whatever that is). Maybe what you're playing on them is tinny and harsh and lacking in bass! Everyone always seems to choose them like they're a bass sweetened hi fi system or something, which misses the point entirely.

Not exclusively...

Yes, they're supposed to tell the truth, but they're also supposed to not be too tiring on the ear.

Shit speakers cause your ears to fatigue really quickly, and you lose all sense of definition and can't mix properly.

Which is one of the main reasons why that loop you spent 6 hours on last night sounds shit this morning.

[dulash]

dynaudioacoustics BM6A or AIR series

[rounser]

they're also supposed to not be too tiring on the ear.

Yeah, that's what the reviewers say (they have to say something after all). I think that issue has more to do with common sense than monitor quality voodoo...as in, if your ears are getting tired, then you should probably take a break.

[loopdon]

Heard some good stuff about the Blue Sky Media Stuff..

http://www.abluesky.com/p_s_gb/p3.html

[Barely Human]

I really dont know why people can find the genelecs harsh or tinny? I found them to be some of the best monitors i have ever worked with. I have spent hours in a studio with a set of Genelec 1032A and experianced hardly any ear fatigue, and those babies can pack some serious punch. I have worked with some ADAM's, and i found them to be very good too, but i thought the spacial acuracy not to be as good as the genelecs.

[machina]

Monitors aren't supposed to sound good, they're supposed to tell the truth (whatever that is). Maybe what you're playing on them is tinny and harsh and lacking in bass! Everyone always seems to choose them like they're a bass sweetened hi fi system or something, which misses the point entirely.

I used to think like that too, and you are correct - there is something to be said for just using NS10's because they sound like crap and if you get something sounding good on them they'll sound good on anything... but this can also do your head in, and im in the position where it is driving me crazy. If you are using more accurate monitors, generally i think your workload should be much lighter when it comes to making it sound good on crap as you've had an accurate representation of where everything's sitting during the composition/mix process - it should then just be matter of minor tweaking and mastering.

BUT these are all high quality studio monitors I'm talking about - they don't shape the sound that much, but some give more accurate response in different areas - obviously for the type of music that most of us are into, bass response is important and this is also the area that monitors differ in the most. The actual type of monitor makes a difference too - PMC's are transmission line, whilst Adam use ribbon tweeters etc. all of this makes a difference, and doesn't make one monitor more inaccurate than another - it does however make one monitor different to another for certain things and certain areas depending on what you are doing with them.

machina

[machina]

Heard some good stuff about the Blue Sky Media Stuff..

http://www.abluesky.com/p_s_gb/p3.html

cool.. will check em out... there's a hell of a lot of monitor companies out there !

machina

[loopdon]

I dug up a review:

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jan0...es/bluesky.htm

__________________________________________________

One thing to consider and i dunno if you said anything about it? -

is: an accoustically treated room goes a long way. i suppose you could have the best speakers on earth, if your room sound is ****ed up - then :roll:

btw, my room isn't treated in any way (bass traps etc.) but i would really like to do sth. in that respect. i should prolly start by analyzing the accoustics sometime soon... (record pink noise/white noise (?) via mic and look at the resulting spectrum... :eyes:

that would be really interesting..

+++ it can be useful to have one's hearing checked upon - if one has gaps in one's sound reception this can obviously lead to boosting/cutting at places where it isn't appropriate :paranoid:

+++2 i have heard having one's ears cleaned by a doctor is supposed to be a marvellous experience - there's so much dirt in the air etc. def. sth. i would like to have done in the near future..

/rant off

[Alex_Absolute]

I'd personally recomend getting KRK monitors myself

[machina]

Anyways - i went with the PMC tb1s after talking to a lot of people and listening to too many monitors to count. I could not be happier - they are insanely accurate.

machina