Question about monitor speakers (Fostex) and stereo!

A

andrew00

Well-known member
Hey,

Maybe a dumb question but I was looking at some Fostex 6301BX speakers (http://www.fostexinternational.com/docs/products/6301_Analogue.shtml) and the 6301D's (http://www.fostexinternational.com/docs/products/6301_Digital.shtml).

The 6301BX's have XLR and Jack inputs, the 6301D's (aka digital) have Jack and AES/EBU inputs.

I'd like to get some hq and really small monitor speakers for my laptop so I can better hear the mixes from my video editing, personal music projects and general music (I work in music as a day job so it's good to have accuracy when listening to our bands).

Although they're not perfect, I think the 6301BX's are right for me as they're certainly small, but I'm confused about using them in stereo.

I understand when I'll have them connected to my mixer which has separate L and R outputs.

But on my mac laptop I've only got the one mini-jack headphone slot to plug into - so how do the speakers know which is L and which is R in the stereo?

The 6301D's have a L/R/L+R toggle switch, the 6301BX's don't.

Do I - plug the output from the laptop into the input of the Left speaker and then plug the EXT SP of the left speaker into the Right speaker input? Is that's how it's done - does it therefore know which is L and R?

Or do I need more hardware? As that'd naturally defeat the purpose heh.

Oh and if anyone has any equally tiny alternatives that'd be grand heh.

Andy
 
The digital version has the toggle switch for the digital signal. You can daisy chain two speakers using the Digital Thru connection, and tell each speaker which channel it is supposed to play back. For connecting to a laptop using the 1/8" out, you'll need a 1/8" TRS to dual 1/4" TS cable, and to use the 1/4" analog line inputs (connected to each speaker, and the toggle won't matter).

That said, I'd avoid these Fostex speakers. They're great on a cart in Video Village during a shoot, as a confidence monitor on location, but not very good for playback in post production. Of course, it's not just the speakers that matter: the room has to be properly treated or even the best speakers in the world will sound like rubbish. Also, are you looking for accuracy, or just for decent playback?

If you want accuracy, you need to invest in something reliable like Genelec or Adam or Focal. The Mackie HR824 speakers are also worth looking at. Genelec even has a smaller pair of speakers designed for your particular application. And again, you'll need to treat the room in order to hear accurately.

It you're simply looking for a smaller set of speakers for computer listening, and aren't going to be making critical sound decisions, get a pair of glorified multi-media speakers (computer speakers, basically, but much better than what's on the shelf at Best Buy). Roland MA15D or M-Audio AV-40 will do. Moving up a little, you could look at something like the Yamaha HS50M or the KRK Rockit series. Keep in mind that these are nothing more than glorified home-stereo speakers and aren't going to give you anything accurate for mixing and sweetening.
 
Thanks for the reply!

So just to confirm, it won't work to patch the right speaker into the left - I need to get a splitter cable, something like this - http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=467128133&pf_rd_i=468294 - but, er, better quality heh.

Thanks for the suggestions, I checked out those speakers and a lot of them are simply too big, alas. I've actually got Yamaha's HS50M's that are too big for my desk, hence the desire for something super tiny small but good enough quality.

On that note, only the Genelec's were of similar size to the Fostex's but looking at the specs, the Fostex's frequency response is 80hz to 13khz and the Genelec's is 74hz to 18khz.

I'm not audio wiz but to me that says the Genelec's have a better range of frequencies, aye? I.E. will be better for mixing? Do you feel that's a big difference of a negligible one.

I forget the exact frequency of deep bass but I remember reading the Fostex's weren't really going to pick that up, I wonder if the Genelec's will also share that problem - simply due to the size. I mean, I'm happy with that if it gets me something super small!
 
The Genelecs will wipe the floor with the Fostex. It's not just a matter of broader frequency response (which will matter, and the difference between a 13kHz top end and an 18kHz top end is huge). It's also a matter of how it behaves within that frequency range.

As for real mixing? You really need a high-end system, prefereably with a subwoofer, that is properly calibrated within an acoustically treated room. But now we're talking $$$.
 
Yeah definitely, if I can get pretty good, not as good as a top class studio or whatever but good enough, then I'll be happy.

Looks like from what you say the Genelec's are the ones to get then! Same price as the Fostex's too.
 
I just received the Genelec's, plugged them into my laptop and...radio interference, grr.

Not going to enjoy getting to the bottom of that!

- Right off the bat I find if I plug the speakers into my iPhone then I don't get interference. But I do when they're plugged into my 2007 Macbook Pro, which a quick google suggests is a common problem with the headphone jack not being properly grounded.

Anyone know of a solution? I normally have connected through a mixer in the past but that's not exactly minimal. One immediate suggestion seems to be a DAC, plugged into a USB slot. I guess to bypass the dodgy headphone slot.
 
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The quick solution: Hum Eliminator.

However, you're going to find yourself in a much better place if you get a better audio I/O interface (FW or USB). Monitoring from the laptop's headphone out is a pretty unreliable method. On the really affordable side, you could look at something like the Lexicon Lambda or Omega. That should be compatible with most anything you do. There's a catch for video editing, though: if you are monitoring your video via external monitor (FW through DV camera or deck, or other media interface) then you need to have your speakers feeding from the same output.
 
Yeah, since the speakers are silent when connected to my Iphone, it suggests to me it's not specifically a power problem - otherwise they'd be noisey w/the iphone. It suggests to me it's the headphone output from my macbook pro.

I was looking at the Fiio E7 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/FiiO-Portab...XDT4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1303847605&sr=8-1) which looks like it might be a decent usb dac, not 'too' expensive.

Presumably if it is the headphone jack that's causing the woe, then bypassing it via the fiio e7 will eliminate the problem? I'm googling it now to try to find info heh.
 
Not sure I'd go with that device. It's designed for "audiophiles" which really means that it is designed for home theater/home entertainment use, not for audio monitoring during production or post-production. It won't cost you much more to get something like the Lambda, which not only gives you dedicated outs for your monitors but also offers audio input for tracking things like VO and ADR. There's a box from PreSonus at the same price point.
 
Well do you think the Fiio will get rid of the radio interference as it's not using the headphone jack? As tbh that's what I mostly care about. The interfaces you linked to look great but are pretty big, tbh I kinda want the smallest 'fix' I can get. I ended up getting the Genelec's after you recommended them as they seemed better quality wise than the Fostex's I was originally looking at, and they're tiny hehe!
 
If it's a grounding issue in the headphone jack, which is what is appears to be, then sure... it'll bypass that issue and take the noise out. The Lambda isn't that big at all, and if you want smaller see if you can find its little sibling, the Alpha. It's less expensive than the Filo.
 
Cool, thanks for the advice, I appreciate you coming back to help me get to the bottom of this.

I do like the Genelec's so far, they probably need to get broken in a bit but I can hear their quality even with the background interference (soon to be removed!) hehe.
 
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