I’m confused
KRK RPG5 G2?
Yamaha hs50m
Behringer Truth b2031a (second hand and a bit large, but CHEAP)
I am veeringtowards the hs50m
I know that Yamaha, for their hs50m’s are claiming that “if a mix sounds good on these it will sound good on anything” but to be honest I don’t really see any of the music I make ending up on low end consumer speakers. Isn’t that what ns10’s were good for? exagerating the undesirable tone and response of low end speakers.
I guess my objective sound wise is not a pumping compressed sound but one with lots of room and headroom and dynamic depth and a detailed high end that would be well revealed on good hifi spekers or headphones. Will the hs50ms get me there?
Anyone have any experience with them? or any of the above?
Except the Mk2s aren’t made any more so you can only buy secondhand. I have them too and think they are very good for the money, better than the Mk1 and far better than the range that superseded them. Maybe you’ll get lucky and find somewhere with a new pair in stock so long after manufacture has finished…
Although the amplifier in them isn’t overly well built and quite a lot of people have had problems with them, mainly capacitors on the PSU. Overall secondhand isn’t a overly bad idea for speakers. Maybe slightly less good for powered and I would always want to be able to at least hear them first (so be local enough to go see before purchase.)
The B2031A are the most pleasant ones to produce on I´d say. Well … by far! You shouldn´t aim for accuracy in that price range and in an untreated room anyway. The HS50M are horrible and pretty much unusable without a sub.
I hear a lot of trash-talking about Behringer, but I have the Truth B2031A’s and they are awesome, and very accurate compared with my Audio Technica M50’s paired with an audiophile level headphone amp(PSAudio GCHA).
Id get a pair of Samson Rubicon R5a’s (Or R6a’s if can afford)
Very clear top end and clean mid range, listened to most entry level monitors in this price range before getting a pair and these sounded better to me especially at the top range and for cleanness, they are very clean and enable you to be precise with your mixes. Had a few tunes sent of for masteting recently and usually get thumps up in terms of a good general clean balanced mix.
Yamaha HS50m’s/ HS80’s also get allot of praise, and they are very good but for me the top end is better on the Samson R range and this is what sold me, you can blast them for hours on end and you’ll never get any harsness such as headaches etc. I know with the Yamaha’s the mid range can be a bit to sharp and a little harsh for some people.
Really you should only be considering the Yam’s Or Sams at this price range from what am told by some people in the mastering industry.
The Behringer Truths are by far the best in that price range. I have 2 pairs of them and they’ve lasted forever…much better low freqency range than other moniors I’ve seen in that price range.
I’d go with the Yamahas, then spring for a KRK sub when you have the money. At least, that’s exactly what I did. I’d avoid Samsons. The Yamahas have no low end. And if you reinfroce with a sub later, you can just use the yamahas for mids and highs. I’d always A/B stuff through my Pioneer headphones-which have an exaggerated low end when working with just the hs50m’s. You don’t get both accurate and low end inclusive in that price range. An unfortunate fact of life.
I’m currently using some shitty Creative PC speakers as monitors, if i only had the money to buy something decent…
I have thought about buying some cheap ass monitors, Behringer MS16 or something, but i’m afraid it’s just a waste of money.
I have actually been looking into them exact three monitors too and I came to this conclusion:
Yamaha sounds very flat. With that said it means that they don’t color the sound much, if any, at all. The sound you get is very true to what you’re listening to. But they lack lower frequencies. So high and mid frequencies tends to be “overrepresented”, but the no-color-sound is nice.
KRK sounds more wellrounded among all frequencies. Nice bass, mid, and highs. Although they tend to add some color to the sound so songs can be a bit off when listening on other equipment, I guess.
Behringer are, as you said, a bit large. Biggest of 'em three, but that on the other hand gives you bass frequencies enough. They sounded really good and allround. Did color the sound a bit, but I’d say just as much as the KRK’s.
I ended up getting the KRK-monitors. Mainly because of the price (half off) and their ability to play lower frequencies (compared to the Yamaha) and their size (compared to Behringer). But I won’t be doing any hardcore mixing or produce any songs to sell; just makes songs for my own enjoyment (and others if I put 'em on the 'net). I know I’d probably miss the lower frequencies in the Yamaha’s one day. Otherwise I would’ve got them for their true sound. The KRK’s do their job very well. Their sound fill up my bedroom without problems.
But as someone said earlier, best bet is to go to a store that has them and have a listen for yourself. Bring a variety of songs to play. Songs that you know and have a feeling of what they should sound like. That’s what I did.
I am by far no expert but I’d just like to point out the fact your acoustics will likely have an impact too… pros claim more so than your choice of monitors but I’m guessing that’s probably not the case in this price range but not sure.
I just got the MH50’s and can say I miss the sub a bit already. But I do like the clarity and agree 100% with what MattNasty said. I A/B with my studio beats headphones (which I also have issues with, but sometimes I tell myself hearing it with overrepresented bass is a good combo with the MH50s).
Even though I’m already invested, does anyone know how the MH50’s + MH10 (the sub, think that’s the name of it) compare to the MH80’s?
And do check for second hand ones, I got mine’s for $200 and they look almost brand new.
The Behringer MS16 are actually very good home studio monitors. I have a pair and they sound really lovely. They’re most probably not neutral and most definitely not the best choice for mastering, but are accurate enough and very pleasant to the ear. If your room is not acoustically treated (my current one isn’t) and if you pass your releases to other people for mastering (I do) then the MS16 are a great choice.
Argh, need some advice urgently! Because I want to get a pair in 2011, i.e. TODAY! – taxes…
Unfortunately, there seems to be no store in the area, so I can’t just go and listen…
After reading reviews and pros and cons for some days, I’ve narrowed it down to three:
M-AUDIO STUDIOPHILE BX8A DELUXE
SAMSON RESOLV A8
ALESIS M1 ACTIVE 520
Each around 230-250 EUR a pair. BX8A is 40Hz-22kHz, Resolv 30Hz-30kHz, M1 56Hz-20kHz
And then there is a pair of B-stock Samson Rubicon R8A, also 250 EUR. What do you think? I hesitate because they must have been sent back for some reason, right?
I’ve heard good things about the Alesis ones and I spent some time recently looking at monitors like these.
I’ve only heard bad things about M-Audio gear.
The Alesis M1s are currently sitting in my Amazon wishlist waiting to be bought when I can spare the cash.
Yeah, some people in here who recommended the M1 Active MkII, but a) somehow I don’t want to spend that much money, because I’m a complete mixing noob, and b ) I think I read somewhere the M1 Active MkII cuts off the bass below 50Hz quite sharply. I like deep drones etc. so probably the best idea is to get an additional subwoofer, but I can’t afford this right now.
Edit -------------------------
Another noob question:
Say I’d go to a store and listen to some monitors. Say I brought some CDs/tracks I know very well from listening to them on my HiFi system. Now what? Obviously, I don’t know how those tracks are supposed to sound on a linear monitor. Some of those tracks might be mixed quite badly, but I don’t know that, because my stereo makes them sound good? How do I know a mix is good or bad, when I never heard it on a decent monitor before?
