I’m going to assume you’re in england. So my advice won’t help you much, but i find the monitors over at turntablelab.com are awesome. They have great honest reviews from djs / producers.
might want to look around a bit on ebay, but this list is a good jumping off place…
here’s the pair of speakers i dig:
M1 Active 520 Monitors (Pair) (this is a link to the ttl page)
$199
K E Y F E A T U R E S
ACTIVE: or self-powered. An amplifier is built into the monitors and they plug directly into your mixer or sound device
2-way 75 watt active near-field reference monitors
5" low frequency woofer for clear bass and midrange
1" silk dome tweeter for clear highs without ear-fatiguing harshness
high-precision drivers offer lower distortion and smoother frequency response
acoustical waveguide for superior imaging with minimal diffraction
1" thick front baffle virtually eliminates speaker resonance
magnetically shielded for close placement to video monitors in computer based music production studios
1/4" TRS input with volume control
low frequency density switch for acoustic space adjustment of the monitors
rear port design provides deep bass extension and increased SPL
hi, mid, and low frequency EQ switches
top mounted, integrated power switch/clip light bar
voltage switchable between 100-120V and 220-240V
weight: 16 lbs each
OVERVIEW
Alesis has redesigned their famous M1 series of monitors, and introduced the 520 and 620 versions, featuring the same outstanding mix of performance and price point that has made the M1s a home & project studio mainstay for years.
New improvements over the old Monitor Ones include three rear-mounted eq switches for controlling high, mid and bass response. There is also a new “acoustic space” switch which allows you to tailor the sound to the size of your control room. Other than that, these monitors continue the M1 tradition of unparalleled accuracy for this price range. They boast a very loud output with a bass response which is specifically tailored for artists working in bass-heavy situations (hip hop, house, techno, almost any dance music).
Studio monitors are mainly used as a gauge for mixing recorded tracks, and the first thing people will tell you to look for when shopping for monitors is a flat response. The less “color” or distortion a monitor adds to your mix, the better a gauge it will be for how your tracks will actually sound outside of the studio. The main reason that the M1’s have been so popular over the years is for their professional grade sound reproduction, heralded by nearly everyone as the flattest, best sounding monitors you can find anywhere near this price point.
I have been looking at all these speakers, just would like someones opinion’s on how they compare to each other? and any experience with each brand.
please note, the Mackie MR8’s & KRK RP8’s are out of my price range. I did state my top limit is £200/$320. Even 2nd hand I doubt I could get them at that price.
I might be able to afford the MR6’s or RP6’s. How do these compare to the Alesis?
Tekki put me onto the MR8’s i was a bit skeptical at first, but after a bit of research it was a pretty clear they were better than the KRK Rockits everyone harps on about(with good cause too) - id love to pick up a pair sometime for myself.
first,my main advice is to listen to the speakers u are going to buy, u need to find a pair of speakers that feel comfortable to your ears, so that u can use them for a long period, as an example; genelec 1030’s where a standard in most studios and a lot of people would not use anything else for mixing/mastering, but I dont like the sound of them and cant stand the soundpicture they produce.
so after a long time and listening to a lot of monitors i finaly seteld for a pair of Genelec 8030 and i have not looked back, they make everything sound “right” in my ears
A friend of mine who has run a studio have a pair of KRK V6 at home and they are rly nice to, about the same as the G 8030.
Another friend of mine who is a live sound engineer needed a pair of speakers at his workstation for testing audio equipment and he orderd a pair of BEHRINGER MS40 on chance, they r no reference monitors, but they sound suprisingy uncolored and could probably work fine for that kind of music, but give them a listen b4 u decide, and that is probaly the best advice i can give u, listen to speakers, listen listen listen.
And as pointed out in an other forum, u might be better off with a pair of hifi speakers in that pricerange, there are loads of hifistuff that do a exelent job as well.
To go further, u will be able to create a good mix in any speaker, but u will have to learn how that speaker sounds so u know its shortcommings and what the speaker tells u and what it hides.
And take your music to a lot of places and listen to it in many different soundsystems, it will tell u alot about what u have done and how your stuff sounds.
I have owned the 4 of them. For my personal “taste” I like the MR8s.. though they have a natural “flat” sound. Though the bass is impressive. Sound is clear as none of the other set of speakers.
KRKs are very close to them however I find the mids too subtle for my taste.. but again.. that’s me.
Alesis… I have used several sets throughout many years… they are OK.. but once you go a step higher in sound quality.. there’s no coming back! Sorry Alesis.
Behringher’s - If there’s nothing else you can afford.. these have powerful amps… sound is muddy for me…very deep tight bass as well as MR8s.. but sound is not very clear, especially when you crank them up.
PLEASE keep in my this is my personal experience with these monitors in several room ambiances. I would still recommend the MR8s hands down! But as anyone that has a sincere judgment will tell you… go and listen to them… take your favorite CDs and test them with whatever your music style is.
I advise against HiFi speakers.. but that would require another thread.
Thanks chaps, thats really helpful. I was always going to listen to them before I bought them, just wanted to get a good idea of which ones to check out.
yeah I already have a good pair HiFi speakers, but gone are the days I could spend that sort of money on myself!
as I brouth up hifi speakers I feel that I have to add that it is not a good solution, but within the price range we are talkin there might be an alternative if u cant find any studiomonitors that u feel comfortable with, imo it is you who are going to listen to the speakers and if u get a pair of monitors that sound uncolored and flat but they r uncofortable to listen to for long periods u might be better off with some hifi that u can listen to for hours, but in the end its all up to what u feel comfortable with.
as an alternative to monitors i can recommend AKG K240 headphones, I have a pair that I use when i cant use my monitors(I live in a flat)
From what I’ve heared, the AKG’s main choice reason is nice quality, but better pricing.
When a part breaks it’s easy to replace.
Basically the most sound judgement in this case is personal preference.
For me Genelec monitors are too agressive. I cannot cope with them for too long. I can only listen to them for two hours a day tops, where as I can just go on and on with the Mackies.
Same goes for the AKG, only a few hours tops and Beyer Dynamics for hours on end.
each to his own m8
I choosed the AKG k240’s for use when i was mixing live music, at that time a 4 man coverband, and they r exelent for that, loads of effect out of them and even at rly loud volumes there where no problems hearing details in the mix (15 channels) and on top of that they are rly detailed and comfy for use at low volumes in a studio enviroment. so rly good overall imo
Genelec’s are an excellent choice… no doubt. However, they were not even close to be in the mentioned list due to it’s huge price tag… and there are other brands that compete fiercely in that category.
yes, my bad for goin off topic a bit, but i did mention the BEHRINGER MS40 that do sound supricingly good for the small pricetag, and the listed speakers that i have listend to would fall in tha same order with the listing tekki made, i just havent had the chance to listen to the mackies thou
[QUOTE]
Originally Posted by tekki
Loking at Julios recommendations, I would strongly advice in the following order:
MR8s were by far the best that I listened to for thier price… so I bought them…
and then got to crank them with my favorite Dubstep/DnB tunes… and fell I love.
The only thing better imo would be the HR series mackies.
Glad you liked them… I tried to be honest with my review on all of them. I was not trying to sell any of them. Definitely, the HR series are better… but then again.. there are a few models better than those for the same/near price range.
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