I know that it may be in poor practice...

DJ Life & Community General Discussion
1

I know that it may be in poor practice…

But I was wondering if anyone had any advice for using guitar amplifiers, home stereos, etc., as improvised monitors?

At my old apartment I had paper thin walls where i didn’t bother with monitoring my mix out of the headphones even if i wanted to! At my new place though, I might be able to actually listen to my music, but all I have at my disposal are a couple of old bass guitar practice amps.

I have a 60 watt solid state Fender bass amp with a 12" speaker, which has a “cd in” but that input has horrible tone, and another little 10 or 20 watt 8" practice amp.

Anyone else ever have to do this?

2

When I first started putting together mixtapes I used a couple boom boxes hooked up to a tape player, and used a bass guitar amp to output sound.

Honestly? Just invest into a set of computer speakers. It’s going to be fairly cheap, and much more effective.

3

I plan on getting some monitors soon, but I don’t want to just sit on my thumb until then! I know i’m just biting at the bit, but I’ve got the space and a little bit of sound insulation from my neighbors in my new apartment, I would love to be able to hear my mix lol.

4

Home stereo will be fine for solo mixing. Better than any guitar amp where distortion is a key feature.

I doubt bass guitar amps would have decent high end.. :roll_eyes:

5

I mean, you don’t even have to get anything nice to begin with. You can get a cheap set of speakers to get you through for like $10 for a little bit.

6

I use my acoustic guitar amp speaker but it really sucks compared to computer speakers.

7

I’ll be hitting up the Salvation Army tomorrow then lol

8

I always found home stereo’s the best to use. I don’t like mixing on studio monitors because of the flat sound. A good home stereo will as good or better than studio monitors in SPL, and the sound is colored and more “club like”. Some internet people disagree, but that’s been my personal experience.

9

When I first started mixing a few months ago, I decided to invest on a new sound system. And by investment, I mean I spent a few days on Craigslist and spotted a 50$ amp (you know, the type they sell with a home theatre system, nothing fancy but fancy enough to plug in a bunch of speakers). In my case, my Dad worked for Sony for many many years so I stole, I mean borrowed, a bunch of old speakers (I think some are 10-15 years old) and it works perfectly. I’m sure you can find some type of deal on a home stereo system like mine, I doesn’t have to be shiny, and look brand new, as long as the components are fine. Good luck!

10

Look for an old Yorkville (or similar) amp made partly with wood. Those old amps don’t have any kind of governor on them…you just turn them the fugg up and they’ll blow speakers.
That being said…hit the pawn shops looking for some massive tough speakers to wire into your new widowmaker.

11

I use an old NAD stereo amplifier and 15 year old Whafedale speakers. Sounds great to me.