Looking for Home Studio Speakers

MavyP

New member
Got a small apartment so big studio monitors are out of the question. But I need some good home studio monitors to invest in (plus sub). Yamaha seems to be everyone's favorite manufacturer but what other products do you recommend for your small apartments?
 
Not a sub. Hard to control in an untreated small room imo. I'd rather go for larger speakers then, even in a small room. For a proper bass representation you need a big dome. Somewhere around 8 inch and up. If you grab small speakers and a sub of let's say 10 inch, you're gonna have a hard time with the bass bumping of everything and setting up your speakers and sub properly.
Small room for me means you need room treatment.
What's your budget?
How small is your room actually and how are you gonna set things up?

I'm not that fond of Yamaha. For me, focal all the way. I have a pair of focal alpha 80s. Listened to a lot of monitors of even up to 2000 bucks a piece and even those I didn't like as much as the alphas. Which for the 80s I paid about 300 bucks a piece.

Genelec has a few nice setups.
I do like the high end from mackie's. If you're on a budget, the mackie CR give something ok'ish. You can't expect much from cheap tbh. But if I'd have to go cheap, I'd pick the mackie crs probably.
I also like the JBLs and the Tannoys. LSR and Reveal. Didn't like the Adams much in the end. I'd stay away from KRK. Didn't like the Event's much either.
As I said, imo, there's nothing better then the Focals. For somewhere around 300 bucks you'll have a speaker that out performs really expensive professional monitors imo.
You could grab a smaller focal alpha but you'll have less proper bass representation. But bass is hard to manage in a small room. Certainly if you're gonna put the volume up. Which is not necessary. You can mix perfectly fine on normal volumes. Producers tend to yank the volume up too much.
A coaxial speaker would also be a nice option.
Hard to give you specific advise as I don't know your budget, room treatment, how the actual room is built (what stuff in it , how big , where are you gonna set up)
No matter what you choose, you'll always end up with positives and negatives. Need to weigh the pros vs the cons then make a choice.
Wouldn't hurt shopping somewhere with a real good return policy. Also, would be good to go and hear the speakers yourself before you buy. Unless you have such a good return policy that you can actually keep buying them and testing them at your place.
 
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I make beats and trap so I gotta have my sub.

The space is pretty small 8 x 10 ft but it's an open 'dining room area' that bleeds into the living room and kitchen. I'll check out focal. Everyone owns a KRK what's wrong with 'em? I'm willing to spend a little more than affordable to get something great for the buck. I'd like to spend no more than $2000 for my entire setup: monitors, sub, treatment, and a new mic.

I'm not going to buy new if I can help it. I'll shop around for used in great condition or refurbished gear.
 
the krk rokit range doesn't represent the bass properly. The vxt larger range does.
I'd go for focals. the 80s. If it bleeds out in the living room, that'll be fine. This will give you a better bass representation then monitors sub combo tbh.
If you can't find the focals in America, JBL LSR 308, Tannoy Reveal 802, Mackie Mr8 or the HR824, Presonus Scpetre S8, you getting in higher price ranges though. The Focal would be best of all of these imo.
For treatment, watch some studio rescue youtubes, https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=studio+rescue , then buy the correct stuff. However you put it, you'll probably have a good representation in your sweet spot, you have a chance that a few meters up ahead in your living room the bass will be baddddddd :D I have the same thing :P It doesn't bounce back to my sweet spot so it doesn't bother me but if there's ppl at home or my neighbours are home, the don't like it much :P
Anyway, my 2 cents. Focals, big woofer speakers will give you LOOAAAAAADDDSS of bass. IMO, better then speakers+sub combo. And some treatment.
Also, those options will keep you under 2k, most of the options. I have a few self built mid range grot boxes (inspired by auratones, legendary speaker, DIY https://amazingdiy.wordpress.com/2012/05/05/davetone-mixcubes/ ). I have two of em but I have built in a mono switch for em. They'll complement your mixing a lot. You can buy premade like avantone or behringer and a few others.
 
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The vxt line from krk is nice.
They have a new V line now as well, haven't heard them yet.
vxt 4 , 4 inch? Mweh, I don't like anything less then 8 inch for my main production set up. Unless you add a woofer but that's adding a shit load of problems. Not undoable, but there's ton of ppl doing it wrong.
Like the vxt 4 plus 10 setup. My brother in law has that setup. I'd trade that setup in for two focal alpha 80s any day. Way cheaper as well. Leaves more money for room treatment.
 
The vxt line from krk is nice.
They have a new V line now as well, haven't heard them yet.
vxt 4 , 4 inch? Mweh, I don't like anything less then 8 inch for my main production set up. Unless you add a woofer but that's adding a shit load of problems. Not undoable, but there's ton of ppl doing it wrong.
Like the vxt 4 plus 10 setup. My brother in law has that setup. I'd trade that setup in for two focal alpha 80s any day. Way cheaper as well. Leaves more money for room treatment.
But with 4'' + subwoofer you have all the necessary frequencies to work and low frequencies should be mono, so a subwoofer is away welcome.
 
I've got a pair of Ricco speakers, bot got the stats but they're fine for the job. Think going over priced sometimes isn't worth it!
 
I eventually went for the Yamaha HS8s, and while it's still early days, I'm very pleased with them so far.

I had the same consideration as B-side points out: I need bass, but I'm in a small room (will expand soon though), which by accident seems to work acoustically, lots of angled soft surfaces etc.
I figured smaller monitors wouldn't give the detail I need, but a dedicated subwoofer would be overdoing it, be more expensive and a ***** to work with. So 8 inch it was... so far, the bass doesn't seem out of proportion for the room.

I compared these to speakers in the same price bracket, like JBL, KRK. Some cheapers ones (the M-audio stands out there). But I prefered these every time: I love how these deal with the high-end, it seems very open and naked.
I also felt the bass wasn't overly hyped and surprised that a lot of speakers actually do that. I love bass, you can totally make just a bassline and call it a 'song' for me. I'm with that. But I don't like artificial bass-weight so that's a big no for me. It's not a dig on those speakers though, a lot of people swear by them and they make great music on them. Which monitors is probably a personal decision, just like some photographers like Canon, others are into Nikon.. others only mess with Hasselblad.

Anyway from there I went a step up and tried to figure what spending a whole lot more would actually give me. That's where you get into dynaudio, adam, focal territory. But any of those would be twice as expensive for me.. if not more. IF I could spend all my money on music gear, I'd spring for one of those... but I can't. I also felt that the HS8's stacked up very nicely to those more expensive ones. Plus, they're just really nice as objects: clean simple design, built like a rock, great quality feel to all the materials and finish. It totally does not matter, since you put them in place and rarely move them or whatever... and if an ugly speaker would've been better to my ears, I'd get those. I'm not crazy. But, I do really enjoy well-made and pretty things.. so the fact that these are is a nice bonus.

I haven't had them nearly long enough to really tell you what they're like.. You have to live with them for a while, do some actual work on them. But so far, they reveal flaws in my own mixes and reference stuff I play on it that's mixed very well really shines. I enjoy listening to my favorite records on it. A lot of people seem to think that doesn't matter, the idea is to reveal flaws so it doesn't necessarily have to sound 'nice'. I think it really does matter, because enjoying what you do is important. I figured that 'reveals my own mistakes' + 'makes stuff I really like shine' = 'good speaker for me'.

But it's all relative. I come from relatively horrible speakers (Samson Resolv 65a, ancient.. I think they're outlawed in California). They are both harsh in the top and bloated in the bottom, the left tweeter is on life support, the domes are dented.. but I've had them so long they fit like an old pair of boots and they've served me really well. It's easy to get lost in specs and everybody is gonna make the case for 'their' brand. As far as gear goes, it's probably the most personal decision.. and the only real tip to give is: get the ones you like best in the price range you're comfortable with. If you're doubting heavily, that's probably because none really stand out to you.. so maybe postpone the decision until you find (or can afford) something that really does. Spending money just because it's burning a hole in your pocket is always a bad idea. That's kinda how I ended up with those Samson's.. so buyer beware.
 
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