Monitoring (notice I didn't say MONITORS) - $500 budget

W

World Wide

New member
I will be moving/upgrading my setup shortly, and I have about $500 in the budget for monitoring. What would you guys recommend???

I will be making rap/pop/r&B, and I will be working in a square, UNTREATED room.

My goal is to get as good of mixes as I can (obviously) with this budget/room. I say this just to say that I am not one of these people dumb enough to think my beats will sound like Dr Dre tracks on the latest Eminem album for $500.

I have heard a lot of talk from certain members on this site about going with commercial bookshelf speakers instead of "monitors" in this price range. What I've read about this way of thinking seems to make sense to me, but if this is what you would recommend, what specific items (speakers/amp, etc.) would you go with?

Thanks in advance for any advice!
 
^^^ appreciate the input. Haven't heard much about wharfedales... do you personally use them? You think this would be a better option than some consumer bookshelfs?
 
World Wide said:
^^^ appreciate the input. Haven't heard much about wharfedales... do you personally use them? You think this would be a better option than some consumer bookshelfs?
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they are basically powered bookselfs/monitors. i myself use krk rokit 5's
 
It's pretty hard for anyone to tell you what speakers/monitors to buy. My usual gear rule, is consider your application and needs. Then buy the best item you can afford to fit that bill. Most of the time I have to compromise a bit, but such is life.

That said, your listening gear is one of the most important parts of your rig. So listen. Go audition monitors and speakers. Look them over, read the specs, but go LISTEN to them. Once you find a pair or two you like in the store you heard them in, see if you can rent them. Or if you have to buy them, can you return them tomorrow if they sound like crap in your space.

FP won't let me link you directly to a decent article on choosing monitors (wtf?) so google "choosing studio monitors" and there's a good one at MixGuides dot com.
 
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^^^ Thanks for the input.

Obi - No, I don't have any speakers right now. I'm getting ready to move and this is going to be a set-up built totally from scratch (minus the software). Hence my multiple threads in here hahaha.

See I could be wrong but I really don't think I'm gonna go the route of room-treatment for a couple of reasons. For one, I'm gonna be renting this place, and isn't a lot of that stuff glued to the walls?? Also, I'm not really planning on trying to get totally pristine mixes out of this setup (as I explained a little bit above). I'll do some mixing of tracks for internet/"street album" use, yes, but anything I'm really trying to push I plan on paying to have mixed professionally anyway.

Like I said, I'm really just trying to get the best mix that $500 and my circumstances will allow.
 
No a lot of bass traps can be leaned against a wall, self stand and moved around easily. As for the rest okay so this is going to be more of a studio and self tracking room right? You looking to do rough mixes and if your doing anything big you'll send it to a mixing engineer to do. Right? Okay...

I would look at the Fostex PM series for monitors. HUGE bang for buck. Especially for production and rough mixing. I have a pair here I use and love. Also the Alesis Monitor ones are nice, but don't sleep on home theater speakers. Some sony or sansui's you can buy for 50 on craigslist will rock for this application. Just get a decent amp for them. Now a decent set of closed back headphones so that they double for recording and for that I recommend the Audio Technica M50's. 160 new but on Ebay you can get them for 80 too 100 for refurbished with manufacturers warranty.

Now you can easily get all that for under 500. IF you have any cash left over....

Buy some moving blankets. 2 or 3 should do. Hang them around the vocalist off of stands, hooks or whatever else around the vocalist to create a portable vocal booth. You can even use normal blankets if they are thick enough. A lot of big studios do this and cover them with different materials to make it look nice. Even Jay-Z has recorded in booths like this.

After that I'd still look at treatment down the road. Even if its only 3 panels you can for a booth out of them for recording vocals, guitars just about anything and use them for mixing. You could do that for 100ish if you diy.
 
Thanks for the advice.

I dunno if you happen to know anything about the wharfedales that my man suggested, but just in case you do how do you think the Fostex/Alesis you suggested compare?
 
The Fostex are "smoother/duller" the tweeter isn't as loud as the alesis. Either way its a win win. They don't sound better than the other just different.
 
Yo Obi though one thing im worried about is frequency response. I wanna make sure I get a chance to work with those super low 808's

Those Fostex's looked cool but I'm lookin at the technical specs and I see this:

Frequency response: free field +/- 2dB 50Hz - 20kHz

Low frequency cut-off: 40Hz (-10dB)

High Frequency cut-off: 22kHz (-10dB)


Do you know what that means? It only goes down to 50 hz? But then what do they mean by "low frequency cut-off"?
 
I dare you to find speakers that go lower than 40 hz in your price range. Most speakers even 8" ones don't go below that. I have the pm0.5's and they go down to 40 and they still work fine. Later on if you need and want more low end get a sub. The bigger the speaker though the more Lows you hear. Not the lower you hear. Example my 5" speakers got to 40 but compared to a 8" speaker that same note played through my 5" speakers will be louder on the 8" speaker. Just because its louder and has more bass doesn't mean it goes lower than the other. Make sense?
 
^^^ that does make sense yeah, I appreciate your help man and sorry if I wasn't clear, but that wasn't what I was asking.

I'm not trying to find anything that goes LOWER than 40... I'm not naive enough to think I could do that in my price range yeah.

I'm trying (if possible) to get into the 45 give or take range.

I was just asking because I was confused by those tech specs. The frequency response is listed as 50hz - 20khz, but then it also says "low frequency cutoff - 40Hz"

So I don't get it. Is 50 the lowest it can go or is 40?

Sorry if I'm not being clear. Thanks again for everyone's help!
 
It goes backwards./
40 is lower than 50, 30 is lower than 40 and 20 lower than 30. So going down to 40 is really low. Especially since humans don't really "hear" that low they "feel" Plus you can always add a sub later if you want to get ACCURATE lows along with bass trapping.
 
Obitheincredible said:
It goes backwards./
40 is lower than 50, 30 is lower than 40 and 20 lower than 30. So going down to 40 is really low. Especially since humans don't really "hear" that low they "feel" Plus you can always add a sub later if you want to get ACCURATE lows along with bass trapping.
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Hmmm... I must not be wording my question right.

I mean I do know how to count hahaha.

Im just saying for the same speaker, the tech specs list the freq response as 50hz - 20khz (20,000Hz) but then it also has a stat called "low frequency cut-off" listed as 40 Hz

These two seem contradictory to me. Can it only go down to 50hz as the freq response suggests or can it go all the way down to the "cut-off" point of 40Hz?
 
They measure it consistent in between 50 to 20 okay? But the cirucuitry has a highpass filter that cuts everything below 40 hz so that the amp and speaker don't waste any energy even trying to produce anything below the 40hz.
 
^^^With freq it's hard to explain in lamens terms. Basically this means they only go as low as 50hz and anything below 40hz isn't audible at all.

That means if you have an 808 @ 40hz, you won't hear it unless you're blasting the speakers, but can stick your finger to the woofer and feel it. If the 808 is @ 30hz, it would cancel out completely.

Actually, that's not an accurate description at all, lol, just the best I could explain it....Still a little exaggerated though.

Anyway, in an ideal setup, you'd have a response of 40hz-20khz to the least(higher the highs and lower the lows the better)and a cutoff around 31hz to the highest.

In your budget, I'd suggets bookshelves or passives that meet these specs in the $300-350 range leaving you $150-200 for an amp(120W to the least). No exact brand will be perfect for everyone, so if you can give some a listen, if you can't, go with brands you've grown to trust or others speak highly of.

Sony, Polk, JBL, Aiwa, Pioneer, Alesis, Event, Cerwin Vega, Wharfedale, KRK, Philips are a few trustworthy names that cater to your pricerange with amps and speakers/passive monitors.

Nothing against powered monitors, but in this pricerange you get low wattage and low freq response while leads to speakers needing to be turned all the way up for their best perception of sound, and a lack of ability to hear everything. Sidenote: You can find powered monitors that reach the criteria I gave in the $500 pricerange, but you're gonna have to research.

With higher wattage, you get better perception without pumping your sound too hard and bring in distortion(arguable with a great/high quality 40w amp vs a bad/cheaply constructed 200w amp, but in this pricerange everything is going to be built cheap).
 
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Damn it. Hahaha

Ok well thanks everyone for the help. I think I get it now:

Basically, the speakers produce sound "well" between 50 and 20K, and "not well" between 40 and 50, and flat out not at all below 40?

Sorry for the confusion.



Deranged I haven't been able to find any bookshelves with a frequency response of 40 - 20K in my price range. Am I just not looking hard enough or does it not exist?

This is unfortunately much more confusing and complicated a choice than I anticipated hahaha.
 
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