ok i went into my local GC to buy some studio monitors.
i was going to buy some M-Audio BX5A for $199.99.
when im the register the guy starts asking about my set up that i have.
so i tell im i have 2 Technics mk2 1200 and a Technics SH-DJ1200 Mixer.
then he says are my outputs on my mixer balanced or not?
i tell him there not balanced.
then he tells my that i need a direct box and if i dont get 2 direct boxs (one for ea. monitor) that i will ruin the preamps or some part on the monitors.
so i wanted to know if anyone has ever heard of this or is it just to have my buy more since they work on commission.
any input on this would be great.
thanks in advance for your help
As far as I know you won’t ruin anything; you just might get some hum in suboptimal conditions. Besides, the BX5as have TRS inputs that I’m pretty sure will accept unbalanced TS inputs with no problem. This is an example of why I never trust advice from the Guitar Center people without double checking it.
PS besides, I know for a fact that Guitar Center carries a Behringer DI box that has 2 channels so you could get one box for two channels. Yet his advice was you need two of them? Bastard…
yea they do have a trs input that takes an unbalanced input. yea i thought it was a load of sh** when they were trying to sell me about $100 in extra stuff that i never heard i needed especially since im using the monitors for practice.
yea i asked for one that does two channels and they should me sum but told me the price was around $100 and the ones they were trying to sell me were Two Live wire direct boxes for $30 ea.
Seriously. I’m lucky the guys at my local ones know their stuff (well most of them). I’ve been dealing with a Guitar Center a little further away since I had to pick up my second monitor from them, and I swear to God if I lived closer to them I think I would go in there and punch the shit out of a few of them. And that’s not even cause of technical advice, its cause they’re fucking idiots and don’t know how to ship, etc correctly. If I had to go to them for technical advice I think I would truly kill someone.
I run two m-audio av 40s directly off my audio 8 sound card. The 40s are a step down from the BX5As. I am assuming the are balanced. I have no problems
I dont know it had to do with with that amps the bx5a’s have because they’re bi-amped. but after some research and calling around. the majority of the people i spoke to said i didnt need any of that an then when i went back and spoke to a manager he also told me i didnt need none of the extra stuff all i needed was a rca to 1/4 or a rca to xlr cable to go from my mixer to the monitors.
gonna bump this to add my question about the KRK Rokits:
Should I go for the 5 or 6 inch version? For my room the 5’s should be more than enough but I’m thinking with the 6’s I could run a very small party (like around 20 ppl, in a livingroom) without too much trouble.
I know they’re not supposed to run parties but for that size they should be fine, right?
So do I need the 6’s or will the 5’s be enough for that kind of work? Looking at the power they put out I’d gain around 23 watts and some Hz in the lower end for better sound quality as well…
Prices in Switzerland are 180CHF and 245CHF so not too much of a difference
Thanks for any help
You’ll have no problem running a party that size with either unit. Just don’t crank it up too loud – and seriously, you won’t have to or even want to in a living room. I have the 6’s and for a party that size I wouldn’t have to go beyond half volume on the speakers themselves, if even that. I have them set to less than a quarter volume for everyday use at home and even at that limit they can get loud enough that I worry about disturbing my neighbors. I imagine the 5s put out more than enough signal to keep things hopping.
