Speakers

macs

macs

Well-known member
I finally install on my mac pro my new kona LHe, i can finally see hd footage on my sd monitor, i got my 6TB of space and we received 800 GURU energy drink for those long hours spend at the office!! So we are ready for our documentary series of 13 episodes of 26 minutes each, but im missing something on my station its good speakers. I did a quick search on the net but i dont know alot about speakers. Any idea what would be a good thing to get??

Thanks
 
If you're really doing sound editing, you want actual professional quality Near Field audio monitors. If you don't need anything that expensive and fancy, Bose will give you great, acurate sound. There's three levels begining with the Companion 2, and moving up from there. Get the most expensive pair of Bose you can afford. They're really worth it. The sound reproduction is more acurate than any other computer speaker.
 
Nice set of Rolands is what I use. Biggest tip I got was that computer speakers are usually made to make the sound from your computer sound GOOD, no matter what it is. Real monitors let you know what the sound actually sounds like without boosting or warping your sound. You also want something that will give you a good range of audio from low to high frequencies.

Check out this link at Digital Juice's website. Good video on monitors, speakers that is.

http://www.digitaljuice.com/djtv/segment_detail.asp?sid=146&sortby=&page=2&kwid=0&show=this_month

(If the link doesn't get you there go to digitaljuice.com and navigate to the DJTV section and look at this months videos)
 
I'm asking cuz I don't know...will Bose really give you accurate sound? I thought the wonder of Bose was their signal processing technology...which would by necessity mean that Bose do screw around with the accurate-ness of the audio?

Mackie HR624s are my standard.
 
Anything that is not an actual professional studio monitor and amp will do something to make the sound better. Bose are about as acurate of a "computer speaker" as I've found.

And again, I suggested them only if you can't afford real studio montiors and a studio amp.
 
yeah i agree about the bose speakers. If you can't afford something better they probly are a good choice. They probly sound great but that doesn't mean thats what you should be really hearing.

Plus higher end monitors will have stuff like XLR hookups and digital inputs and various trim and level adjustments you won't find on a set of bose speakers or "computer speakers".

Mine are Roland DS-5's by the way.
 
I never said computer speakers are a good choice, I said if you can't afford pro monitors. I always urge users to use pro monitors. But some users can't afford a good set of pro monitors and an pro monitor amp.

And don't rely on the computers output to be your amp, it won't power pro monitors properly. If you are fortunate enough to be able to afford pro near field monitors, you'll want an amp to power them. Some are self-powered, but I tend to stay away from them.

Not that many years of recording in studios as a composer/musician helps me know this in any way...

Oh, and you need to treat the room your in with sound damping material so that you are hearing true, flat sound, without the added qualities that bouncing off the walls give it. VERY important. On a budget, the big square egg cartons that fit like two or three dozen are great. An old quilt or moving blanket behind you works very nice. If you use one of the cloth based gurilla solutions, wash it first, and make sure it dries crumpled up and super wrinkled. It'll help when you hang it.
 
I totally agree with you BenB. better to have something with some quality to it than nothing at all.

What are some of the downfalls of self powered speakers? (like my roland DS-5's that are self powered)
 
I'm running Dynaudio BM6As through an Apogee Ensemble i/o box and couldn't be happier. Maybe that's a little overkill, though.

:thumbsup:
 
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If they are quality amps in them, like your Roland's, there's no problem. Just not everyone puts pro quality amps in their speakers. Plus, an external amp will give you a lot more power than what comes inside the self powered models. Roland does a great job with their amps. I've heard other brands that just distroy the point of pro monitors. It takes some leg work to pick out a pair. I totally trust the folks at Sweetwater Sound, as I've been doing business with them for years. Even before I got into video and was doing music and sound on the side of my day job as an IT Engineer.

These near field monitors are made now by so many companies, and they come out with new ones every week, you have to shop around and get a good quality pair. That's all I'm saying. And my personal preference is an external amp. But then, my Alesis RA/100 I also use for the rare weekend party to crank up some huge stereo speakers. 100 watts per channel is overkill, until you throw a party...
 
BenB,
thats good to know that rolands got good internals. I could see where a company could short on that kind of stuff. They make a really fancy/cool outside to sell them and then the insides are junk.

macs,
A quick glance on BHphotovideo and I didn't see the 5's. But I did see the 7's and 8's. The 7's which just have a 6.5" speaker compared to the 5's which just have a 5" speaker (or so). Same goes for the 8's, just a bigger speaker and probly more power, my guess.

7's are 198.95 a piece (not pair) BHphoto video 7's
8's are 239.95 a piece (not pair) BHphoto video 8's

According to that video on digital juice's page that's a good mid range pro monitor price. Maybe closer to $200 to $350 is I think what they say for a range?
 
I'll jump in here with a question. What about a system with B&W 805s or 802D? They are $2500 a pair and $12K a pair. Will they work for the purpose? I know some B&W speakers (specifically the 802) are used in sound studios like Skywalker Sound and Abbey Road, but they aren't considered "pro monitors".
 
Good question? I know nothing about those speakers but from first glance they do look like entertainment speakers as opposed to monitors. I suppose skywalker might use them for client playback as opposed to monitoring. I don't know? I'm interested to hear the answer to that question.
 
B&W 805s, they are home theater speakers. They can be used to judge what it may sound like in a high end home theater system, but they are no professional sound monitors. Think this: Speakers are home theater equipment. Monitors are professional studio equipment. Sweetwater only carries studio gear, no home theater stuff per say, and they won't carry B&W for this reason. Skywalker does use them in their in-house theater, but not in the studio.
 
Basically there should be no difference between good hi-fi speakers and studio monitors. Accuracy, no coloration, high output levels are the goals.

Large B&W "home" speakers are used in classical recording monitoring*, and some people buy large Genelecs for home stereo. If the highest possible quality and accuracy is the aim, this is the right way to go, forget aesthetics.

I monitor with large, very accurate floor standing monitors (custom made for me by 2 sensible hi-fi audio engineers) married to a Genelec 7071a subwoofer. 1 kW total power amp output in a smallish acoustically quite dead room. Storage shelves filled mostly with clothes and fluffed up sleeping bags 2 feet deep behind the speakers take care of the dead end, live end is wood panelling/brick and the ceiling is not level: no standing waves.

*) the downfall with those B&Ws in monitoring situations is the low crossover point between the woofer and midrange. 5 or 6 inch midrange can not put out enough volume at 200 hZ when monitoring at high levels. I have the crossover at 400 hZ between 11" woofer and two 5" kevlar midranges. Genelec with two similar 5 " midranges with wave guide (about 5 dB more efficient) have the crossover at 600 Hz if my memory serves. Lowering the crossover point by one octave means that the midrange must pump 4 times the volume velocity. Thus large Genelecs have about 16 fold advantage over large B&Ws what comes to midrange output levels. An my system about 8 fold.
 
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Oh no, there are HUGE differences in a hi-fi speaker and studio monitor. That's like saying there's no difference between a TV and an editing monitor. They both show the real picture. Well, the TV has stuff in it to massage the image. Well, home theater speakers have stuff in them to massage the sound, too. NOT the same thing at all!
 
I am not comparing home theater spakers to studio monitors. I was talking about true hi-fi speakers like B&W 801 or 802. I speakers aiming to be true hi-fi sound much different from big, good studio monitors they are not hi-fi.

My kid brother has a home theater with 5 midsize Genelecs + subwoofer. Sounds great. Genelec has made private installations with even 5 large soffit monitors and 4 biggest subs (4x12" each with 1kW amps).

In my opinion it is not the duty of the speakers to "massage" the image. Just to change the voltage fluctuation into pressure fluctuation in air. There are well known design rules how to achieve that. Sadly many "home theater" speakers are designed for show, cheap (manufacturing) price & "impressive" sound (read: bass boost).

I just showed a travel DVD at a house with big TV system (we had to work the thing ourselves as the owners were not there, 9 remote controls...). Subwoofer must have been about 12+ dB for some "film effects"because we could not make anything out of the audio from this awfull wind rumble. And the same dvd was mastered using about 4 times bigger Genelec 7071 sub, but well balanced. I degress.

I would take a pair of Genelec 1038B monitors with 7071A subs to my living room any day...
 
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