Roland speakers.

I'll be picking up the DM-20's next month, and from what I've heard they rock.
 
These are my personal favorites: http://www.americanmusical.com/item--i-MAC-HR824.html

These are almost as crisp:
http://www.americanmusical.com/item--i-MAC-HR624.html

These are pretty good, but I'm not crazy about them:
http://www.americanmusical.com/item--i-ALE-M1ACTIVE620.html

These are the new version of the NS-10's, what used to be the standard reference monitor for any studio application (powered version):
http://www.americanmusical.com/item--i-YAM-HS80M.html

These are the cheapest I would say to buy and still get decent results, but not as accurate:
http://www.americanmusical.com/item--i-ALE-M1MK2.html

Monitors are a big investment, but well worth it. I used to never suggest powered monitors, but now I have become a pretty big fan because the channels and built in amps are a lot cleaner.

Happy shopping!

Jeremy
 
As someone who is constantly broke I actually like that store I referred those monitors from because they do a split payment option that gives you the ability to make three equal payments. It works out really nicely.
 
I've heard them only twice (once in a store, so that is hardly a good or ideal sound environment) and the other time was at this kids house when my buddy was setting up a new mixer console for him.

None of my experience with them has been ideal but from my experience I wasn't the biggest fan.

First of all, I'm haven't been a fan of Roland stuff for a long time. I like their old analogue stuff, but their recent contributions to studio gear has been, hmmm, less than complete. Roland seems to put out two lines of gear, overpriced under performing and underpriced lower performing gear. I'm just not a fan of the company.

In my opinion the best monitors are either the Mackies or the old Yamaha NS-10's.

The Mackies are incredible and in my opinion the best reference monitors available. The sound they create is point on and you get excellent reproduction out of them.

The NS-10's are the polar opposite of the Mackies. If you go into any studio in the world they will and should have a set of NS-10's. NS-10's are essentially 'high end' consumer speakers. They provide a great point of reference from the professional slogan associated with them: "If your mix sounds good on NS-10's they will sound good anywhere".

The Alesis I suggested are similar to the NS-10s. They do not have the full mid reproduction, but they are still rather accurate. Furthermore, these Alesis are a little high sweet, but overall, for the money, they are excellent.

If you can afford the Mackies, and they are a hell of an investment, you will be golden. If you can't afford the Mackies I would either look at the cheaper Mackies, at the Yamaha I suggested or at the Alesis. I'm just not a fan of the Roland...

TC, I know that is the longest answer to a 12 word question, but I think that reference monitors are the most important aspect of sound mixing. With computers you can have a complete virtual mixer, you can master, but only with your ears can you sense what is going on with your sound. In order to be accurate you need good monitors.

Oh one last little note, powered anything is normally crap. The amplifiers are not clean and don't give you the best point of reference. Any good studio amplifier is always prefered, but in the last several years these monitors have gotten better amps. I would have no problem purchasing any of the units that I suggested above. That being said, in addition to the above units Event has come a long way lately as has Genelic. I'm normally not a fan of the Tannoy stuff, but the reveal line has impressed me. I do not like Samson, I do not like Roland. I do not like Tascam, Fostex, or Samson. KRK is pretty hit and miss in my book, but for the money they are better than they should be. Behringer is completely without worth and all you will hear is mud on top, in between, and around your mix.

All that opinion being stated, I do have a good amount of experience working in professional studios in engineering capacities, but I am no professional. This is all just my opinion, and hopefully I can help someone in some capacity, but I think in the $250 range there are a lot of better options for good studio monitoring... Here are my top picks in the $250-$300 range:
EVENT 20/20 http://www.americanmusical.com/item--i-EVE-2020V2.html
ALESIS M1 http://www.americanmusical.com/item--i-ALE-M1ACTIVE520.html
YAMAHA HS50M http://www.americanmusical.com/item--i-YAM-HS50M.html (I suggest this because they are: 1. Dirt Cheap (199) 2. Good Sounding 3. Modern Day NS10's

OK, hopefully this long post helps someone.

-Jeremy
 
Great post, I really appreciate the opinions/ info. I may be looking at some different monitors after all.

...expect a PM before my purchase. :thumbsup:
 
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