Are Dynaudio BM 5A MKII powerful enough for a 17 x 19 editing room

B

Blit

Well-known member
Hi
I need to spec monitors for an editing room. The room is 17 x 19 and will have a desk against one wall with PC computer underneath and twin 24" video monitors. Usually that is how it will work. But it gets interesting because above the desk will be a 65" Panasonic plasma screen and about 15 folding chairs in the room facing the screen. I listened to Dynaudio BM 5A MKII some time ago (years) or maybe it was the original ones? In any case I need some guidance about monitor size versus room size. I have put $1K in the budget for both but I have some flexibility. I am not married to the Dynaudio but like that sound to give some indication of my tastes. I expect that the monitors will be fed by something from RME. The room will be treated by a professional. All advice pertaining to size, brand and other considerations is welcome.

Best Regards and thanks in advance for your help
 
They would be OK but with the addition of a sub bass. I use the BM10's in my studio and they go plenty loud with a 1x10 sub added.
 
Hi
Thanks for the reply and info.
I guess I am going to have to find a store with a room at least that size to listen to them in.
 
I would say that for monitoring such as this it is not about filling the room but making sure that the main edit position gets an accurate rendition of what is going on!

Will you really have 15 people sat there during an edit? I suspect not and the main desk will have the key ple making critical decisions so ensuring they get good audio will be the primary objective.

Dynaudios are very smooth and give a good dispersal of sound but you should concentrate on the key people r than just trying fill a room with sound!
 
Hi
You are right the key people are sitting at the desk. The Big screen and 15 seats are for screenings, not editing. So the room is really dual purpose. I spoke with Joel at Dynaudio in New York and he told me to mount the speakers to favor editor since lots of editing and few and non critical screenings. Also the BM5a MKII would not have enough power for a room that size. He said I would kill the amps over time. He recommended BM15A. But of course more than twice the budget. Have to try to find the $$ somewhere else in the budget.
 
An alternative would be to have a dual system so you have the main monitors at the front with the sub bass and then have a couple of switcheable side fills to add to the system if you have screenings with a full audience etc!

The BM 15 would be a better choice but it would still be more ideal to use more smaller speakers at lower level
 
Gary has hit the answer. Your "critical position" ie, where you sit, is the determining factor on the size of the monitor. And there is more to it than that.

If you can put up a drawing or something of what the room will look like from a top view......it will help. I think I can envision what you are describing....but want to make sure. And if it's what I think, you will have some issues with sound. But I don't want to get involved in a long discourse, just to find out I envisioned it wrong, LOL.
 
Last edited:
Hi

"If you can put up a drawing or something of what the room will look like from a top view......it will help. I think I can envision what you are describing....but want to make sure. And if it's what I think, you will have some issues with sound. But I don't want to get involved in a long discourse, just to find out I envisioned it wrong, LOL."

So Doc Bernard gives good advice. So I drive to the edit bay to be, measure , draw, post and...

Bump please

Thanks
 
Thanks and I still think that a dual system would be the solution but it may be that you don't need full monitor speakers for the audience.

Personally what I would do is have the BM5's with a sub bass at the front as the main edit monitors and then have a separate system for the seated audience which I presume is for screenings or for training purposes.

Some lower cost JBL control ONE monitors would be a good choice and act as fills to provide the audience with audio and if it were me I would put two pairs in the seated area fed from a stereo amp that could be switched in when required and the levels set independent of the main monitors.

I would place a JBL control ONE near each corner of the larger seated area with the front ones facing the rear and the ones at the back facing into the seated area, you will not have to have them too loud but they will add to the main monitoring as fills.

Note you are never going to have full accurate monitoring for such a large area unless you spend a lot more so best just try to give the best coverage that you can with smaller JBL speakers adding as low level fills.
 
Last edited:
Hi
Thanks so much for your advice Gary. Couple of questions. I haven't any experience with multiple set of speakers for an area. Do you get timing difference problems similar to combing with mics. Also I am thinking of getting JBL EON 515xt powered PA. Would they suffice for non critical screenings. I would use the JBL EON 515xt instead of the BM5A MKIII for screenings at front of house.

Thanks in advance for your time.
 
In a room that size timing issues are not a problem, the EON 515xt would be fine for screenings but obviously not for critical monitoring in an edit as they are an outright PA speaker but in a listening room having a lot of small nearfield speakers is better than a PA system trying to fill a room from the front.

Have a look at how cinema's are done and in basic terms you will find that they have speakers at the front and then smaller ones along the side walls to act as fills.
 
Hi

Thanks for the help Gary. I will take my now better understanding and talk with my sound space engineer friend. I can now talk to him and avoid too much ignorance. All this involves juggling the budget. It would be nice to just throw money at it. I will ask him about small speakers along the walls.

Thanks
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top