What are some good monitors for production
hey guys,
I think a thread discussing the multiple monitor options could really be beneficial to people who are just getting into music production. What are some good options and what kind of price tags do they carry?
i hear the krk rokit series are pretty good if your on a lower budget (£200-£300) but a mate was telling me just last week hes looking to upgrade to the 6’s as he has a little trouble monitoring bass on 5s
Personally I’d avoid the KRK Rokit’s, not very flat frequency wise at all. really exaggerated bass and lack in Highs.
The lower priced JBL LSR305 seem to get really positive reviews, as well as the Yamaha HS5’s. Both in the £2-300 mark.
Everyone says stay away from the KRKs but they are the number 1 selling monitors in the world so go figure.
HS5s as amadeus said get really great reviews in the “budget” range. If I had a little dough to spend I would get some Adam A7Xs.
.02
Only thing I liked about KRK monitors is that they’re front ported. Other than that I have learned that I can’t really rely on them as they’re not very flat. They have managed to trick my ears in every way imaginable according to my mastering engineer. I also learned I can’t rely on my M Audio BX5 monitors either. I’ll eventually have to sell those. I am debating on getting a pair of Monkey Bananna’s lol.
Rokits are crap for production monitoring IMO, (too much low end bump) although they are good for DJ monitors since precision isn’t as necessary. They’re the best selling monitor because they were the cheapest for a long time. There are a number of options out there now in a similar price range and the JBLs are far superior for the same price.
Truth is, anyone shopping for monitors should listen to a number of them side by side with reference material they know very well to see which spit out the best representation of all frequencies.
The effect of having to have rear ported speakers a good distance from the wall is also just that IME as well as the opinion of a lot of audiophiles around the Interwebs. I had mine a good distance out from the wall, but they sound just as good if not better only a couple inches away from the wall behind them, and this way you don’t have to deal with SBIR. (What is Speaker Boundary Interference Response (SBIR)? – GIK Acoustics and Three Acoustical Issues that Room Correction Can’t Correct)
Rokits are crap speakers. I’ve had a set for a long time and about the only good thing i can say about them is that they refuse to break. They’re harsh. They’re mid-scooped to all hell. They’re slow and inaccurate. But, like I said, they haven’t broken and they were cheap…for where I was in my life they made sense…several years ago. Today, you can get much better for the same money.
Recording a DJ mix on them and then using that mix to demo speakers was one hell of a wakeup call…it was like hearing all those songs for the first time. Literally every speaker I tried was better…some for the same money.
What I’ve found from listening all over town, talking to a bunch of people, and shopping for a house to put them in is that the room & how it’s treated matter at least as much as the speakers. The speakers that are actually entry-level monitors these days are really good for the money, though they tend to occasionally have some QC issues (rattling, amp hum, etc.) that should be dealt with immediately (by exchanging them or getting a warranty replacement).
I haven’t been able to do it with every single speaker I’ve demo’d (which means the comparisons aren’t totally valid) but listening to a speaker in a “wherever they can put it” room vs. a room with halfway-thought-out treatments and placement is huge. If your budget increases, spend it on the room first if you can. It’s neither fun nor sexy, but it’s huge.
Since you said nothing about your budget, here are my personal picks at several different levels…assuming that you’re going to treat the room to at least some degree (bass traps in corners + first reflections and a big enough room). If you’re not going to treat the room…like most people don’t…I wouldn’t buy anything over the $300 level, but that’s me…the $300 pairs can sound very accurate and quick and revealing and still fun if the room isn’t fighting you.
For what it’s worth, as to my thoughts…I’m mostly just sick of hearing bad sound. It’s as much for pleasure listening when I’m at my computer as it is for anything resembling my shoddy attempts at production or my DJ sets/practice. The DJ gear is going on a rolling table so I can just put it in the right place for the listening position when I want to spin for myself. So, here are my choices at a few different budget levels…all prices are for a pair.
~300: JBL LSR305 or Tannoy Reveal 502. The tannoy’s are brighter and more “forward”, but they’re both very accurate and good. Bass extension isn’t great because they’re 5" cones, but they’re both still relatively fun to listen to. “Flat” and “forward” refer to the big 2 schools of thought on monitors…one that’s as flat and natural as possible vs. the other that exposes flaws and can sound a little nasty if the mix is wrong (bit of a mid/high bump). They both have their supporters. You just have to listen to a couple to figure out which you prefer.
~500: JBL LSR308 or Tannoy Reveal 802. This is where you really need to start thinking about acoustic treatments. There are a handful in this area that are good, but those are the 2 I’ve liked best and heard the most positive things about.
I don’t think anything in the $800 area is worth paying for over those.
~1500: Neumann KH120. They’re damn-impressive speakers for only having a 5" cone, and I’d say you’d need a good, treated room before you try to justify spending $1500 on a pair of speakers. When I first listened to them, I kind of discounted them because they sounded too good…nope. They’re dead-accurate. Good music just sounds good. Bad music still sounds bad, but with really specific and easy to identify flaws. This is about where you should be comparing them to Genelecs and some of the Focals, but I don’t think anything comes close to the Neumanns for my ears.
~3000: Event Opals. Damn they’re impressive…and way too expensive for a crappy room. They’re kind of just good all-around. A
good alternative at about this level is the Focal Twin. I prefer the events, but they’re both good speakers. There are a few others (nicer
Genelecs, etc.) worth looking at if you can demo them, and it really depends on your ears and the room.
~5000: Neumann KH310. They’re basically 3-way versions of the KH120 and about the biggest nearfields out there. These, I haven’t gotten a chance to demo because no one stocks them, but based on reviews they’re probably what I’m going to buy…along with letting GiK treat the room with a budget of about 3K. You know, assuming I can find a room. If I don’t end up liking them for the money, I’ll go back down to the Opals. ATC and PMC both make monitors in about this range, but honestly…I just like the way Neumanns are voiced (lush and gorgeous and fast and just amazing…I can’t find a fault) and the way their controls are pretty much all stepped and how the input gain tops out at 0dB. Really, I liked the KH120s enough to buy these blind, since they’re supposedly voiced similarly but 3-way and with a much bigger woofer.
Here’s where it gets weird…'cuz I give up on Studio Monitors. These, I’ve only heard in untreated rooms because hifi people don’t get it. Fortunately, the rooms were huge so the effects weren’t that bad. There are a lot of options in here…I know Tarekith loves his Tyler Acoustics, and with what he says about them…they’re probably a great choice. I just haven’t heard them or anything like them in this price range. There are a lot of floor-standing and large-enclosure hifi speakers that might be worth looking at…I just don’t know where to point you because where I’ve demo’d them, either they’re really disappointing or B&W. As a result, I’ve become a huge B&W fanboy, and I really wish I could find a place to listen to the 683s, since the price would wind up more like what I want to spend than what follows…which is still very much in dream territory for me (and the vast majority if people).
~10,000: B&W CM10S2 with an appropriate amp (marantz, bryston, etc.). Listening to my DJ sets and the demo CD they had (choral recordings, SRV recordings I’ve listened to for years, a Stevie Wonder track that I’ve mixed from stems) was again like hearing everything for the first time. They’d absolutely be worth the money if you can afford it without going into debt and want to spend it on this instead of something else_. That Stevie Wonder track…I’ve mixed it from stems in a treated room with Genelecs that cost as much, and these speakers brought out detail that I didn’t know was there. They’re beautiful. Bass extension isn’t amazing, but there are a lot of subs around if your room can handle it. Actually, that sub if the room can handle it goes for basically everything at this point or below…but if your room can’t handle it, it seems like it just makes thumping and masks other problems.
~30,000+: B&W 800D2 with McIntosh monoblocks. Holy. Shit. These are my gold standard for speakers. That thing I keep talking about…like hearing something I know for the first time. It happened again. One of the choral recordings they had was an arrangement of Psalm 150 sung in Latin that I’ve performed. It wasn’t us in the recording, but the recording was very good. You could hear the conductor turning pages at a loud but not stupid volume. Snares crack you in the chest the way they do in a club…without distorting…at loud but still sane listening volumes. Everything a speaker is supposed to do, they do better than anything I’ve heard. Once you add in an amp that has the speed & headroom to drive them, they also cost as much as a very nice car. I don’t see myself ever owning them, but if I win the lottery, the first things I’m going to do is build a room big enough to treat and buy a set. Seriously…I didn’t know recordings could sound this good. These are also the speakers in the Abbey Road main control room, and they have the budget to have anything. I’ve also worked in a fairly high-end studio (Tree Sound has recorded Elton John, Ludacris, BOB, Mastadon, 50cent, etc.) and heard 6-figure soffit-mounted monitoring systems with the room designed around making them sound right. As far as I’m concerned, 800D2s sound better, and it’s not in that strange, probably snake-oil-esque, “they just make things sound good” kind of way…the’r flaws are really obvious. They’re as perfect a speaker as I’ve heard, and it’s a pity that the vast majority of music-dorks will never hear them._
Equator D5s. 60 Day money back guarantee and a lifetime parts warranty. They’re above and beyond the pair of KRK Rokit 6s I had before. Better stereo image, clarity, and translate well to almost any other source.
I like my Mackie MR5’s!
I agree with nezza.
I compared a wide range of somewhat 40 pairs of monitors; Yamaha HS5, Monkey Banana, KRK Rokkit 6, Mackie MR-5, Behringer Truth, Fostex PMC.05, Genelec and some other brands.
The MR-5s came out top trumps. Especially for the music I tend to create, the Mackies were the only ones that could cope with them seemlessly.
Other brands somehow resonated/distorted internally at some points.
SO that’s why I chose the MR-5 within that pricing range.
Basically what I can tell you here:
Go out and test all you can, before buying!
Everyone here has a solid preference for their choice. But no one can tell you what to buy, without knowing what you like in sound, and what you like to produce.
Go out and test, it almost is the most fun! 
Mackie MR5s sound pretty good and play loud and clear and are affordable.
I second the mackies… I actually plan on getting a pair of their 8inch monitors to go with my 5’s
Mackies for the win! I don’t know why the rockits are as popular as they are - certainly price wise here in the UK not much in it between them and mackies.
i have a pair of KRK Rokit 5’s that I use for DJing and Production.
I listened to dozens of pairs of speakers in various shops before I settled on these, as at the time, they were the best at doing what I needed them to do.
I would have to say that as DJ monitors they are great because they are nice and bassy, but now that I have moved into production and want different things from them, I would perhaps consider something else because as has been mentioned in several of the previous posts, they are quite bass heavy and the high’s do get a bit lost some times. What you hear in your headphones isn’t necessarily an accurate representation of what you hear on the speakers.
One thing that someone has already alluded to is that for production, if you can afford it and you settle for a pair of Rokits, then I would definitely go for the 6’s (or something larger), so that you get that extra responsiveness in the bass.
Speakers aren’t high on my upgrade list at the minute, as I want to look at upgrading my mixer and my CD players but when I do get round to it, I will be looking for something much flatter now that I am spending more time producing and I fully understand the concept of not having my speakers lying to me!
Good Luck
[quote=“mostapha, post:7, topic:69637, username:mostapha”]
Rokits are crap speakers. I’ve had a set for a long time and about the only good thing i can say about them is that they refuse to break. They’re harsh. They’re mid-scooped to all hell. They’re slow and inaccurate. But, like I said, they haven’t broken and they were cheap…for where I was in my life they made sense…several years ago. Today, you can get much better for the same money.
Recording a DJ mix on them and then using that mix to demo speakers was one hell of a wakeup call…it was like hearing all those songs for the first time. Literally every speaker I tried was better…some for the same money.
What I’ve found from listening all over town, talking to a bunch of people, and shopping for a house to put them in is that the room & how it’s treated matter at least as much as the speakers. The speakers that are actually entry-level monitors these days are really good for the money, though they tend to occasionally have some QC issues (rattling, amp hum, etc.) that should be dealt with immediately (by exchanging them or getting a warranty replacement).
I haven’t been able to do it with every single speaker I’ve demo’d (which means the comparisons aren’t totally valid) but listening to a speaker in a “wherever they can put it” room vs. a room with halfway-thought-out treatments and placement is huge. If your budget increases, spend it on the room first if you can. It’s neither fun nor sexy, but it’s huge.
Since you said nothing about your budget, here are my personal picks at several different levels…assuming that you’re going to treat the room to at least some degree (bass traps in corners + first reflections and a big enough room). If you’re not going to treat the room…like most people don’t…I wouldn’t buy anything over the $300 level, but that’s me…the $300 pairs can sound very accurate and quick and revealing and still fun if the room isn’t fighting you.
For what it’s worth, as to my thoughts…I’m mostly just sick of hearing bad sound. It’s as much for pleasure listening when I’m at my computer as it is for anything resembling my shoddy attempts at production or my DJ sets/practice. The DJ gear is going on a rolling table so I can just put it in the right place for the listening position when I want to spin for myself. So, here are my choices at a few different budget levels…all prices are for a pair.
~300: JBL LSR305 or Tannoy Reveal 502. The tannoy’s are brighter and more “forward”, but they’re both very accurate and good. Bass extension isn’t great because they’re 5" cones, but they’re both still relatively fun to listen to. “Flat” and “forward” refer to the big 2 schools of thought on monitors…one that’s as flat and natural as possible vs. the other that exposes flaws and can sound a little nasty if the mix is wrong (bit of a mid/high bump). They both have their supporters. You just have to listen to a couple to figure out which you prefer.
~500: JBL LSR308 or Tannoy Reveal 802. This is where you really need to start thinking about acoustic treatments. There are a handful in this area that are good, but those are the 2 I’ve liked best and heard the most positive things about.
I don’t think anything in the $800 area is worth paying for over those.
~1500: Neumann KH120. They’re damn-impressive speakers for only having a 5" cone, and I’d say you’d need a good, treated room before you try to justify spending $1500 on a pair of speakers. When I first listened to them, I kind of discounted them because they sounded too good…nope. They’re dead-accurate. Good music just sounds good. Bad music still sounds bad, but with really specific and easy to identify flaws. This is about where you should be comparing them to Genelecs and some of the Focals, but I don’t think anything comes close to the Neumanns for my ears.
~3000: Event Opals. Damn they’re impressive…and way too expensive for a crappy room. They’re kind of just good all-around. A
good alternative at about this level is the Focal Twin. I prefer the events, but they’re both good speakers. There are a few others (nicer
Genelecs, etc.) worth looking at if you can demo them, and it really depends on your ears and the room.
~5000: Neumann KH310. They’re basically 3-way versions of the KH120 and about the biggest nearfields out there. These, I haven’t gotten a chance to demo because no one stocks them, but based on reviews they’re probably what I’m going to buy…along with letting GiK treat the room with a budget of about 3K. You know, assuming I can find a room. If I don’t end up liking them for the money, I’ll go back down to the Opals. ATC and PMC both make monitors in about this range, but honestly…I just like the way Neumanns are voiced (lush and gorgeous and fast and just amazing…I can’t find a fault) and the way their controls are pretty much all stepped and how the input gain tops out at 0dB. Really, I liked the KH120s enough to buy these blind, since they’re supposedly voiced similarly but 3-way and with a much bigger woofer.
Here’s where it gets weird…'cuz I give up on Studio Monitors. These, I’ve only heard in untreated rooms because hifi people don’t get it. Fortunately, the rooms were huge so the effects weren’t that bad. There are a lot of options in here…I know Tarekith loves his Tyler Acoustics, and with what he says about them…they’re probably a great choice. I just haven’t heard them or anything like them in this price range. There are a lot of floor-standing and large-enclosure hifi speakers that might be worth looking at…I just don’t know where to point you because where I’ve demo’d them, either they’re really disappointing or B&W. As a result, I’ve become a huge B&W fanboy, and I really wish I could find a place to listen to the 683s, since the price would wind up more like what I want to spend than what follows…which is still very much in dream territory for me (and the vast majority if people).
~10,000: B&W CM10S2 with an appropriate amp (marantz, bryston, etc.). Listening to my DJ sets and the demo CD they had (choral recordings, SRV recordings I’ve listened to for years, a Stevie Wonder track that I’ve mixed from stems) was again like hearing everything for the first time. They’d absolutely be worth the money if you can afford it without going into debt and want to spend it on this instead of something else_. That Stevie Wonder track…I’ve mixed it from stems in a treated room with Genelecs that cost as much, and these speakers brought out detail that I didn’t know was there. They’re beautiful. Bass extension isn’t amazing, but there are a lot of subs around if your room can handle it. Actually, that sub if the room can handle it goes for basically everything at this point or below…but if your room can’t handle it, it seems like it just makes thumping and masks other problems.
~30,000+: B&W 800D2 with McIntosh monoblocks. Holy. Shit. These are my gold standard for speakers. That thing I keep talking about…like hearing something I know for the first time. It happened again. One of the choral recordings they had was an arrangement of Psalm 150 sung in Latin that I’ve performed. It wasn’t us in the recording, but the recording was very good. You could hear the conductor turning pages at a loud but not stupid volume. Snares crack you in the chest the way they do in a club…without distorting…at loud but still sane listening volumes. Everything a speaker is supposed to do, they do better than anything I’ve heard. Once you add in an amp that has the speed & headroom to drive them, they also cost as much as a very nice car. I don’t see myself ever owning them, but if I win the lottery, the first things I’m going to do is build a room big enough to treat and buy a set. Seriously…I didn’t know recordings could sound this good. These are also the speakers in the Abbey Road main control room, and they have the budget to have anything. I’ve also worked in a fairly high-end studio (Tree Sound has recorded Elton John, Ludacris, BOB, Mastadon, 50cent, etc.) and heard 6-figure soffit-mounted monitoring systems with the room designed around making them sound right. As far as I’m concerned, 800D2s sound better, and it’s not in that strange, probably snake-oil-esque, “they just make things sound good” kind of way…the’r flaws are really obvious. They’re as perfect a speaker as I’ve heard, and it’s a pity that the vast majority of music-dorks will never hear them._
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This is a seriously awesome post. Thanks for taking the time to write it up. Buying monitors is such a pain in the ass. It’s so subjective and really does depend greatly on the room youre putting them in. I think a lot of people forget that second part. I’ve been hobbling along with some ancient monitors mainly because I know how bad the acoustics are in the room I mix in. Not so easy to change rooms once you got a mortgage tho
Definitely.
Speaking of which, we’re under contract on the new house. We have a meeting on Monday to discuss the basement build out plans. Apparently they’ve already dealt with this once in a very similar house, and GiK said they’re cool with consulting over the phone (but not flying someone out, which is understandable…their consultant is a few states away).
I’m seriously excited about it…as long as they can run the HVAC correctly so I don’t lose any more ceiling height (it’s barely tall enough to install a cloud).
It’s really sad, but the best thing you can do is decide on a budget and a local store…and just keep buying & returning speakers until you find out what works. Everything else is just personal recommendations based on a person’s room & ears that probably don’t match yours. This probably explains why I hate audio engine speakers despite them having a very solid rep. I’ve only heard them in shit rooms, setup by people who have no idea what they’re doing.
I really do think that the standouts to me are the Neumanns. It’s the same kind of “first time really hearing something” experience as the high-end B&Ws were…just with 5" woofers and a tweeter in the box instead of 12" woofers and a tweeter floating above the cab.
Also, I mentioned the 683s…I finally got to go hear them…in a best buy show room. Again…shit room & probably a bad setup. But they were not in the same league as really anything else I mentioned. It was pretty instantaneous noticing that drums don’t have the right weight to them, and stereo spread just wasn’t quite right…sadly, these are also things that could just be the result of underdriving the amp. Maybe in a good room with a good setup, but IDK that I care enough to try a set since the wiring is so much more of a PITA and I’ve got the budget for better speakers anyway.
My tuppence on the subject is to recommend the Adam A7’s, I have a pair myself and they sound excellent. A solid cheaper option is a pair of Yamaha HS7’s.
Jbl lsr 305/8
yamaha HS series
Mostapha.. i noticed you dont include the yamaha HS series.. are the JBL really better in this price range?