Hello Listers,
A while back, during a power failure, one of my Behringer Truth 2031a monitors decided to smoke and die, so I went on a quest to find a new set of monitors and upgrade the quality at the same time. I posted several query threads here and received some good advice thank you.
First, some thoughts about what I had; Behringer Truth 2031a. Although Berhinger has a less than stellar reputation in pro circles, the 2031's have a surprisingly good following. And I can confirm I liked them as well; they delivered great bang for the buck. They served me well for nearly a decade, and for a street price of $200/ea, I still believe they are great for the money. In fact if I had to decide between the LS308 and the 2031a's, without the sub for the LS308's, I'm not so sure I would choose the JBL's.
So after an agonizing decision making process I purchased this kit:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1134161-REG/jbl_jbl_laser_308_studio.html
The kit included a pair of JBL LS308's, 10" matching 10" JBL sub-woofer, a PreSonus Monitor Station V2, and some cables. Compared to the Behringers, this is a step up, but I'm still a little undecided if it was worth the extra money. No doubt at all that this new setup is much more accurate; the sound is really clean. But in direct comparison to the Behringer's, the LS308's need the sub-woofer to compete. I'm still tweaking things to get sound I want, especially with regard to the sub. No doubt whatsoever that this setup is easier on the ears and much better for critical listening.
I used to feed the Behringer's from a Traveler MkIII via Firewire. At first, I was using the Traveler to drive the JBLs as well until I could get the PreSonus hooked up via optical which requires an adapter from the output on my MacPro. Once done, everything works fine. In the big picture, the Traveler has more features but isn't as good for DAW control as the PreSonus due to the physical control features. I was curious about any sound difference between using the Traveler via FW and the optical setup. If there is a difference, it is very small indeed, but do think the Traveler with FW has a very slight edge, but it is so close as to be a non-issue.
The PreSonus V2 is a handy device and provides some button functions that would be harder to manage with the Traveler. For example, I can shut off the sub, mute everything, or go mono output with the touch of a button. My biggest gripe is the flimsy feeling volume control and the way the volume graduates from off to pretty loud in only 1/4 of the dial range. This makes it somewhat difficult to adjust for low level listening. I suppose you get what you pay for as the PreSonus sells for $300 outside of the kit I purchased. I would give this device a big thumbs up if they had just put a great volume knob on it, which is what you touch the most. Most of what I use with the PreSonus could also be done with the least expensive Mackkie mixers.
In total, this was a very good upgrade for my DAW. The audio is much cleaner than the old Behringers. Despite the flaws, the V2 is pretty handy. But for daily listening while doing other computer work, I probably wouldn't have done it. For editing, it is a very nice improvement.
Grant
A while back, during a power failure, one of my Behringer Truth 2031a monitors decided to smoke and die, so I went on a quest to find a new set of monitors and upgrade the quality at the same time. I posted several query threads here and received some good advice thank you.
First, some thoughts about what I had; Behringer Truth 2031a. Although Berhinger has a less than stellar reputation in pro circles, the 2031's have a surprisingly good following. And I can confirm I liked them as well; they delivered great bang for the buck. They served me well for nearly a decade, and for a street price of $200/ea, I still believe they are great for the money. In fact if I had to decide between the LS308 and the 2031a's, without the sub for the LS308's, I'm not so sure I would choose the JBL's.
So after an agonizing decision making process I purchased this kit:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1134161-REG/jbl_jbl_laser_308_studio.html
The kit included a pair of JBL LS308's, 10" matching 10" JBL sub-woofer, a PreSonus Monitor Station V2, and some cables. Compared to the Behringers, this is a step up, but I'm still a little undecided if it was worth the extra money. No doubt at all that this new setup is much more accurate; the sound is really clean. But in direct comparison to the Behringer's, the LS308's need the sub-woofer to compete. I'm still tweaking things to get sound I want, especially with regard to the sub. No doubt whatsoever that this setup is easier on the ears and much better for critical listening.
I used to feed the Behringer's from a Traveler MkIII via Firewire. At first, I was using the Traveler to drive the JBLs as well until I could get the PreSonus hooked up via optical which requires an adapter from the output on my MacPro. Once done, everything works fine. In the big picture, the Traveler has more features but isn't as good for DAW control as the PreSonus due to the physical control features. I was curious about any sound difference between using the Traveler via FW and the optical setup. If there is a difference, it is very small indeed, but do think the Traveler with FW has a very slight edge, but it is so close as to be a non-issue.
The PreSonus V2 is a handy device and provides some button functions that would be harder to manage with the Traveler. For example, I can shut off the sub, mute everything, or go mono output with the touch of a button. My biggest gripe is the flimsy feeling volume control and the way the volume graduates from off to pretty loud in only 1/4 of the dial range. This makes it somewhat difficult to adjust for low level listening. I suppose you get what you pay for as the PreSonus sells for $300 outside of the kit I purchased. I would give this device a big thumbs up if they had just put a great volume knob on it, which is what you touch the most. Most of what I use with the PreSonus could also be done with the least expensive Mackkie mixers.
In total, this was a very good upgrade for my DAW. The audio is much cleaner than the old Behringers. Despite the flaws, the V2 is pretty handy. But for daily listening while doing other computer work, I probably wouldn't have done it. For editing, it is a very nice improvement.
Grant