Best studio monitors for price range?

C

cbohlender

Member
Hey guys,

Im looking to buy some studio monitors. But I'm not sure what to buy. I want to spend around $300 and I know thats not going to get me top of the line speakers. But are there some cheaper models that sound ok in that price range?

These will be used for video editing on a iMac. If that matters....

Thanks for your help!
 
I like KRK. Their 5" Rokits fit in your price range. They're not perfect but when I tested them against everything else available at GC in the price range they beat the competition hands down. Self-powered with XLR and balanced 1/4" connections, volume and HF controls. Nice low end for 5" speakers.
 
Is this only for video editing, or are you going to be doing any kind of audio work on them (even if it's just to get a good impression of the material)? If you aren't doing any audio work, then you could also consider using headphones. You can get a much nicer pair of headphones for that budget than speakers, and the influence of the room (which is often quite poor unless treated for sound) won't factor in. Of course, it's a completely different perspective, and some models can be a bit heavy or uncomfortable using for long hours.

If you do want speakers, get proper monitoring speakers and not hi-fi ones. The latter may get you better sound at a lower price, but that's because they aren't built to handle clicks and pops or long hours of usage as monitors are.
 
I used to work at a place where we had to wear headphones because multiple editors worked in the same room and it sucked. Ear fatigue sets in much faster and the odds of damaging your hearing is higher with headphones than with speakers/studio monitors. I only use headphones when I absolutely have to.


-Andrew
 
One set of speakers that has had some fairly good reviews and comments are a set I hadn't heard of until last week. The Equator D5s. There's one caveat, they're only $299US until Thursday. On Friday some kind of announced price hike goes into effect.

I heard about them on JWSound, 3dB, and Gearslutz and the company offers a 60-day no-questions asked returned policy.

Since the only way to know if set of monitors is for you is to try them in your space is to try them (hearing them at a store is often rarely good enough to make a decisions) it seems like this guarantee is a good one. I plan on ordering a set today for my very tiny home studio (essentially my music practice and creation room.)

I have no relation to Equator (the fellow in charge helped start Event monitors according to the site) but until I read about these I never had any intension of considering monitors at this price point.

One thing to note about self-powered monitors, is that they often lack integrated volume control and require some sort of discrete level controller - unless your sound card (audio interface) has something of the sort. This may affect your budget.

I already had an old SPL volume controller from my "at the office" mix studio lying around, but it's worth noting that you probably want to think about this volume/level issue when you're considering what you need.
 
I used to work at a place where we had to wear headphones because multiple editors worked in the same room and it sucked. Ear fatigue sets in much faster and the odds of damaging your hearing is higher with headphones than with speakers/studio monitors. I only use headphones when I absolutely have to.
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I'm sorry to hear it, though it would seem like you were then listening too loud or used headphones with a lot of sibilance (there can be quite a big difference between different models in this area). Regardless, speakers may then as you say suit you better, and I second the advice about a monitor controller.
 
zjrt02 said:
I like KRK. Their 5" Rokits fit in your price range. They're not perfect but when I tested them against everything else available at GC in the price range they beat the competition hands down. Self-powered with XLR and balanced 1/4" connections, volume and HF controls. Nice low end for 5" speakers.
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I had been looking at these... They seem to get mixed reviews... But keep in mind these are just for video editing. I have used my built in TV speakers to mix audio for national TV lol dont tell anyone... So anything is a step up.

I will be be hooking these up to a iMac. I know I have to buy some sort of monitor controller. Does anyone have a suggestion for this? Looks like I will have to spend around $250 for that also.

Or I was thinking I worked at a place the used a little mixing board to connect the speakers. Maybe thats the way to go? Then I could use it for hooking up a mic or something?

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/421986-REG/Behringer_1002_XENYX_1002_10.html

If its not clear... I am painfully ignorant with this audio stuff...
 
cbohlender said:
I will be be hooking these up to a iMac. I know I have to buy some sort of monitor controller. Does anyone have a suggestion for this? Looks like I will have to spend around $250 for that also.

Or I was thinking I worked at a place the used a little mixing board to connect the speakers. Maybe thats the way to go? Then I could use it for hooking up a mic or something?

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/421986-REG/Behringer_1002_XENYX_1002_10.html

If its not clear... I am painfully ignorant with this audio stuff...
Click to expand...

If it says "Behringer" on it, don't bother.

As far as using a mixer or a monitor controller:

A mixer will be overkill if there's no way for it to send signal TO the computer. You can hook a mic up to the mixer, of course, but if there's no input into the computer then you're not going to benefit from it.

If you are merely connecting the speakers to your computer for editing, and the speakers are taking signal from the iMac's 1/8" output, then you don't need a controller. The volume adjustment on the computer will suffice, and many pairs of powered monitors actually do have level controls. And if this is all you need for your purposes (i.e. you aren't going to be doing any critical audio mixing on this system), then you could be just fine with something like the M-Audio AV40 speaker pair. These are basically multimedia speakers on steroids. They're fantastic "end-user" speakers for the money. Don't count on them being accurate for serious sound work of any kind.

If you are going to be doing serious audio work of any kind, then things get more complex. It's not just the speakers but the room as well that matter. For critical audio work, the room needs to be quiet and treated, and the monitors need to be properly-calibrated. On top of that, you need good speakers. This is where names like Focal, Adam, and Genelec come in, as well as some of the Mackie studio monitors. Of course, these don't come cheap. On the lower-budget side of studio monitors, there are respectable speakers from KRK, M-Audio, Tannoy, and Yamaha. They won't be quite as accurate as the more expensive players, but they'll get you close.

If you want to get signal into your computer as well as out of it, then you need to get an interface. The AKAI EIE Pro is a good, low-cost interface that will get signal into and out of your computer via USB. Plus, it has a monitor level control right on the face of the box. The need for a monitor controller arises only when you have either multiple sources to monitor, multiple monitor sets used for reference, or both. The Mackie Big Knob and the PreSonus Monitor Station are good starting points there.
 
I use the PreSonus Monitor Station; it has ample I/O, talkback, 4 adjustable headphone outputs and looks kinda nice! Except for the ratty wall wart power supply I have nothing bad to say about it. But, as stated earler, if you're ONLY monitoring your edit then you can get by without it - I did for years until I started doing VO and other live recording in the studio.
 
Ok thanks for all the info this is great. I think I have a plan... Let me know what you think.

I want to take the sound from my 2012 iMac into The AKAI EIE Pro. Then out of the AKAI into The KRK Rokit 5 G2 Powered Studio Monitor. They will be sitting on stands with isolation pads under them.

Total Cost: $450

I will be treating the room and trying to configure the speakers when I get them.

I know there are better more expensive options... But will this work? It fits my budget.

Thanks in advance!
 
cbohlender said:
Ok thanks for all the info this is great. I think I have a plan... Let me know what you think.

I want to take the sound from my 2012 iMac into The AKAI EIE Pro. Then out of the AKAI into The KRK Rokit 5 G2 Powered Studio Monitor. They will be sitting on stands with isolation pads under them.

Total Cost: $450

I will be treating the room and trying to configure the speakers when I get them.

I know there are better more expensive options... But will this work? It fits my budget.

Thanks in advance!
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A couple of things:

1) The AKAI EIE that you linked is not the Pro version. There's a huge difference: the red box does only 16-bit at 44.1kHz and 48kHz, while the silver box (Pro) does 24-bit at up to 96kHz. I doubt that you'll be doing anything at all with 96kHz audio, but if you plan on doing any kind of sound recording for video then the 24-bit option is better. This may or may not make a difference to you. Audio for digital video runs at a native 16-bit/48kHz resolution, so technically the red box will be sufficient (just without much room to upgrade your workflow).

2) Will this setup work? Sure... to an extent. I think we've covered most of the limitations, and you're going to be treating your room. But again it depends on how you treat, what exactly you're trying to get out of the system, and how you calibrate the speakers.
 
Jema said:
I'm sorry to hear it, though it would seem like you were then listening too loud or used headphones with a lot of sibilance (there can be quite a big difference between different models in this area). Regardless, speakers may then as you say suit you better, and I second the advice about a monitor controller.
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Yeah, it sucked. The standard headphones they had were bad and did have to be turned up excessively so I ended buying a pair of Sennheiser HD 280 Pro's. I auditioned a half dozen different cans but for the work I was doing the Sennheiser's sounded the most accurate and they did the best job of sealing out ambient noise so I did not have to crank the volume up anymore in order to clearly hear the audio. I even tried the some noise canceling headphones but they gave me a sense of vertigo. The 280's are a tight fit though so if you have a large head they can get uncomfortable after a while.


-Andrew
 
For another $100 you should listen to the JBL LSR2325P's. I was in your position looking for a pair of monitors in that $300 range so I was looking at the Rokit5's, the M-Audio, and some Yamahas. On some very good advise I listened to the JBL's. I was very impressed and there was a a very big difference. The JBL's were much more neutral and made the other monitors sound vailed. I haven't regretted spending the extra money one bit. If you get a chance take a listen to them.
 
cbohlender said:
Hey guys,

Im looking to buy some studio monitors. But I'm not sure what to buy. I want to spend around $300 and I know thats not going to get me top of the line speakers. But are there some cheaper models that sound ok in that price range?

These will be used for video editing on a iMac. If that matters....

Thanks for your help!
Click to expand...

At that price I would use headphones instead.

Top of the range would *start* at ten times that price and $300 is well below the lowest price of any loudspeaker I would call a "monitor".

When I started and could not afford decent monitors, I did everything on headphones for several years until I could afford some usable monitors - and all the stuff I did on headphones was good when I eventually heard it on monitors.
 
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