Today and My Smoking Monitor

G

ggrantly

Veteran
Today, I was happily working in my office-workstation when we had a power failure. Err several power failures with 30 seconds. It was as if someone were flipping the power switch off-on very quickly. When things stabilized, My "trusty" (not an oxymoron) Behringer Truth B2031 active monitors began making bad noise and one started smoking. Crap. Fortunately, everything else seems to have survived.

I know not everyone embraces Behringer gear as top notch, but the B2031's have served me well for about 10 years and IMHO sounded very respectable for what I do. Now I am actively shopping new monitors. I could replace with two more B2031's for about $400 and if they were as good as the older ones I have, I'd actually be satisfied and not broke either. I use these to mix corporate type video and beyond that, they end up being a pretty nice music system for my office with a Traveler Mk3 as an interface. The single survivor might make a pretty decent PA speaker.

I would like to solicit opinions on other brands of monitors and might open my wallet up to $1000 for a pair that offer some significant improvement. My room is good sized and so units on the larger side might be better. The B2031 have a 8" woofy with some sort of tweeter, and that seems to be a good size for my space.

TIA
Grant
 
Behringer certainly had a bit of a stage where they had some pretty noisy preamps, but since they've bought MIDAS and Klark-Tecknik, I've become a fan of their new range. So now I have an X32 console, X32 core, S16 and SD8 stage boxes and they're great!

As for monitors, check out the PreSonus Eris range, my brother has a pair of the 5" and they sound very nice. They also have an 8" which might be more what you're looking for.
 
Also, invest in power protection, so you don't fry your electronics every time there is some electric spike or dirty current :)... one of the first things I did, seeing how I have a ton of very expensive computer and hard drive gear hanging off the outlet... one thing I did not spare expense on - get the best, it's worth it.
 
Having worked with them for 10 years and knowing them well ( and especially if you had success mixing with them) you might just stick with the Truth B2031, and maybe even find a single used one.
 
Yes, I agree with @stip. If you have been using them for that long and your customers are satisfied, why change? You are used to them and know what "good" sounds like on them.
OTOH, modern production units might not use woofer and/or tweeter drivers with exactly the same performance, so using one new and one used speaker might be a risk. But you could always buy one new speaker and compare to see if it is OK or not.
 
I will agree with the stick with what you know. Otherwise there will be some learning curve till you know how things translate.

As to protection. A whole house surge protector is a LOT more effective than the semi protection in various strips and such. Also Not all UPS's are the same. Some offer switching to battery and are fine for saving you from the occasional black out but it takes the really expensive one to actually isolate you from the AC. On the $$$ ones you are always running off the batteries and the AC connection is just keeping them charged. With that design you are completely isolated from whatever is happening on the grid AC side.

You might also check with the power company because you may be eligible for some compensation. It depends on locale and if it was their equipment or an "act of god", but worth asking.
 
I'll also jump on the "stick with what you know" bandwagon. If your speakers like to smoke, I'd have them switch to ultra-lights and the maybe move to vaping. Eventually they'll quit.
 
I was pretty shocked when I saw speaker smoke and my CPU going on and off like a flashing light. The stench of burning electronic components was pretty bad, and probably carcinogenic to boot. It had a nice little sizzle to it, like frying bacon in a hot pan. No fire extinguisher needed though.

Back on topic: What active monitors do you like for less than a $grand$

Grant
 
Is that less than a grand per speaker, or for the pair? I really like Dynaudio stuff, and you can get stuff for less than a grand per speaker with them. You might want to check out the JBL LSR305. I honestly have not used this speaker, so I couldn't tell you if it's any good, but I have used the higher end JBL studio monitors (LSR4300), and they are my all time favorite powered studio monitors. The LSR305's are pretty inexpensive, so it's definitely one that I'd try before I buy.
 
I realy like Yorkville YSM-1's but they are not powered. They do have a powered version though probably under a grand a pair.
 
I'd like stay under a grand total. I was looking on th BH site and they have an interesting package that includes two jbl 308 monitors, a jbl 10" subwoofer, a Presonus monitor controller v2 and some extra swag for a grand including shipping. Seems like a good deal to me....

Grant

davefisk said:
Is that less than a grand per speaker, or for the pair? I really like Dynaudio stuff, and you can get stuff for less than a grand per speaker with them. You might want to check out the JBL LSR305. I honestly have not used this speaker, so I couldn't tell you if it's any good, but I have used the higher end JBL studio monitors (LSR4300), and they are my all time favorite powered studio monitors. The LSR305's are pretty inexpensive, so it's definitely one that I'd try before I buy.
Click to expand...
 
Lots and lots of monitors to choose from these days. Go a to a pro-audio/music store and start auditioning. I currently have a Equator D5 set (Equator= Ted Keffalo, co-founder of Event Electronics). I also have Auratones .. which BTW are being manufactured again at a reasonable cost, though they are not self-powered and I would not recommend as a sole set.
 
I have Mackie HR624's on two of my editing machines and think they're excellent. They've been going strong for about nine years now. Mine are the originals, not the current Mark II, but I'm sure the new ones are at least as good. They might be at the high side of your price range, however. I've also worked with the JBL LSR305's that Richard mentioned, and they are also very fine for the price.

I have to differ on the KRK Rokit 5's, though. I bought a pair of the G3's last year when one of my Mackies was out for repairs. I thought I'd get used to them quickly, but there is a harshness in the lower midrange that made male voices sound just a little off when listening closely. And they're very directional when used up close, producing a narrow "sweet spot" that requires positioning your head just so for the best sound. This left me physically tired after a long editing session with them. I should say that I don't consider myself to have really great ears for hearing subtle flaws, but the defects were noticeable to me, especially after lengthy use. The 8" model may not have the same issues, and I would still consider those if I were shopping again. The KRKs will live on for me since they're very compact and have a tough surface finish and a good low and high end -- I bought a case to carry them with my projector and screen when I go out to do slide and video presentations in the field.

FWIW.

- Greg
 
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Hmmm, we haven't noticed that tight a sweet spot with ours.

We also have Mackie HR824 (not sure if series 1 or 2) and those are very nice. We also have the sub for one pair and it definitely adds clarity to the HR824 but can change a lot depending on the style of music. You can probably put that down to sub location more than anything else, it is not optimal.
 
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