Thread: studios monitors? please explain

Studio monitors are what they use as reference speakers in a recording studio. I don't know how they would sound in a home set up but the few times I've been in a studio control room, they sounded OK.

i spoke to someone reciently and he uses a pair for music and games, did'nt complain, but i did'nt hear them my self...

i'm assuming they would be very flat sounding, not musical like hi-fi speakers...i'd be using them for home theatre only, no music....

If they are what I'm thinking of, the idea of them is to give the sound engineer a reference for the EQ. There's no point mixing and EQing with top notch speakers because most people wont have them. The monitors were supposedly representative of the average domestic speaker (or maybe they had as flat a response as possible) so that the mix would sound good on everything. There was a particular set that every studio had, can't remember the brand but it might have been Yamaha. Smallish bookshelf size boxes from memory.

One place I spent a fair bit of time in used to play CDs through them when we weren't recording and they sounded OK to me. But then I'm just a drummer

so if music or film is mixed using studio monitors, then when we listen to them we should hear it all as it supposed to sound right ? with now colour or tone that we would normally hear through differrent types of hi fi speakers...

Well, I suppose that theoretically, if you had the same speakers it would sound the same as when it was originally mixed, although there are a lot of other variables, including the hifi components, shape and nature of the room etc.

I think the idea is simply to create a sound that is acceptable from a wide range of systems without needing a lot of EQ adjustment, and also to have a degree of consistency across recordings so that you don't have to adjust your system for every album or track.

I read once that ZZ Top mixed an album of theirs through Walkman headphones, because that was their target audience - don't know how true that is.

OK, firstly, virtually every "Hi Fi"/audiophool/surround/consumer style speaker has been for various reasons, designed to "enhance" the sound for it's particular application. Roughly speaking, they are tuned to highlight or supress certain frequencies, etc.

On the other hand, studio monitors are supposed to give a near flat response across the audio frequency range although just how good they really are can depend on a number of things, cost being a prime factor.

La Huerta, did you have any specific speaker in mind?

SilentC, the near fields you referred to would have been Yamaha NS10's, all black with a white speaker cone. They became an almost defacto industry standard, more because of their deficencies rather than the fact that they were fault free..........they were renowned for causing ear fatique and people held the view that if something sounded OK on them then chances were it would be OK on anything .

As far as using monitors for normal home use, it's not unheard of, although just because speakers are sold as "studio monitors", doesn't mean they are going to excel in that application. Because my PC is "integrated" with our studio (ie: I'm sitting in front of my studio mixer as I type this), I tend to use the gear as a stereo when I'm "online", I use Tannoy Reveal passive monitors (passive meaning they don't have a built-in integral amplifier) and they are fine, but I like to hear music as it is on a record or CD, not "artificially" hyped. I have friends who a few years ago replaced the speakers on their good stereo with a pair of active Reveals and were amazed at what they were hearing, so it works for some people.

i was actually looking at some called 'linear phase studio monitor', there's are a few different models with different power handling, they are a few years old now and seems to be a very popular brand, made in USA i think, not expensive to buy an older set which is what apeals to me as i'm just kind of experimenting in getting good sounding home theatre on the cheap, kind of pushing the boundries and avoiding buying cheap 'new' items, which are crap, some of these older speakers are just great with simple old fashioned designs that work very well...these looks like they'd have some punch too !

Don't confuse these with the reputable "Phase Linear" brand.

Actually while typing I ran a Google and found............:

http://forum.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/1/158966.html

http://www.audioenz.co.nz/2004/archive_whitevans.shtml

Somehow, I think I'd be looking for something else.

Originally Posted by HiString

Don't confuse these with the reputable "Phase Linear" brand.

Actually while typing I ran a Google and found............:

http://forum.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/1/158966.html

http://www.audioenz.co.nz/2004/archive_whitevans.shtml

Somehow, I think I'd be looking for something else.

yep they look like the knockoffs all right...bummer

maybe better to stick to a pair of JBL's, i'm determined to find an old pair of really good speakers
thanks for that by the way

Are you planning on using an existing amplifier, if so, what are it's specs., (wattage, output impedance)?

If not, you could look into a pair of powered (active) speakers.

The thing is, that most speakers are designed for a particular application, ie: Hi Fi, PA, Studio monitors......and as such, each have their own characteristics which don't necessarily translate well into the other applications. For instance, a pair of reasonable Hi Fi speakers with say a 6" or 8" bass driver and a tweeter will likely be enhanced to exagerate the low end frequencies without the need for a sub woofer, whereas a pair of similar spec'd studio near fields would not normally have that exagerated low end and in certain circumstances will definitely benefit from a sub woofer.

Also, if buying older speakers, it is virtually impossible to know how they have been treated. I have seen good quality stereo speakers that were visually pristine and unmarked BUT because of their age, the speaker cones were ready to or already disintegrating.......:eek: .

yeh your probably right mate, not worth mucking around with old cheap stuff...

while i'm here does anyone know how to clean speaker cones, make them nice and shiney again, it's a rainy day here and just thought i'd give my current speakers a detailing, they have smooth cones and rubber surrounds, all black...


La H

Originally Posted by la Huerta

i was actually looking at some called 'linear phase studio monitor', there's are a few different models with different power handling, they are a few years old now and seems to be a very popular brand, made in USA i think, not expensive to buy an older set which is what apeals to me as i'm just kind of experimenting in getting good sounding home theatre on the cheap, kind of pushing the boundries and avoiding buying cheap 'new' items, which are crap, some of these older speakers are just great with simple old fashioned designs that work very well...these looks like they'd have some punch too !

They look like about as far from studio moniors as I could possibly imagine. It wouold be pretty rare to have a piezo horn in anything remotely resembling a monitor. More for PA applications.

If you're after a really nice set of speakers and are willing to do some of the building yourself check out www.theloudspeakerkit.com . They are all kit based but dead easy to put together.

I recently built a set of F6's for a mate http://www.theloudspeakerkit.com/sho...&ProcessType=1 and they are simply a stunning set of speakers. Awesome bass extension and great imaging for the price. We did a lot of searching for speakers around the $1000 mark and nothing pre built came anywhere close to these.

The F5's are also worth a look if you're after something a bit smaller http://www.theloudspeakerkit.com/sho...&ProcessType=1

yeh there nice kits mate, unless i happen to to find a grand floating by in the rain today, then i'll just have to stick to dreaming about them....nice thing to save up for though...

La H