Which Powered Speakers? (newbie)

J

John.Malak

Member
Hello everyone! Forgive me if this is in the wrong section.

I'm a bit of a newbie when it comes to hardware so please bare with me. I've searched the forum and I have found some info but i feel I still need to ask some ?'s.

I've been wanting to purchase some speakers for the last few weeks now but I'm a bit lost when it comes to what to look for. What will I use them for you might be asking? Well, for two purposes, mainly for sound mixing/editing for films, and secondly for music production. I have set aside $800 for a pair of speakers.

The KRK RP5 G2's look really nice and they're just under my budget for the pair. Anyone worked with these before? Would any recommend these? Will I need any other hardware to get the best sound out of any powered monitors I may choose, like sound card, mixer or line conditioners?

I have some other questions but I will wait to post those. Thanks in advance! :happy:
 
Your mixing environment is just as important as the speakers you choose. The room needs to be relatively "flat" - no hyped or missing frequencies - and fairly well insulated from outside noise.
 
I would say your mixing environment is THE most important factor. If the room you're mixing in isn't treated PROPERLY, you might as well mix on computer speakers. (BTW, egg cartons are not acoustical treatment, they are a fire hazard.)

I don't want to discourage you, but I'm serious. If your room is crap, your mixes will be crap no matter what speakers you use. Many books have been written on the subject of room treatment. Search Amazon or go to Gearslutz.com and read through the Studio Construction and acoustics threads.

Treat your room first, then buy speakers.
 
My only experience with KRK speakers was very unimpressive, but to be fair they were probably under powered so??? I found them very muddy.

Ones I have used and Like or know well and are liked by folks in audio post.
Yorkville YSM-1 (there is a powered version), Echo 20/20's. Then out side your price range are Genalec and Meyers. The KRK's might be fine also, as I said I'm pretty sure the ones I used (not self powered) were underpowered and that might well have caused the muddiness.

As to rooms. You can spend a fortune tuning a room, but a lot can be accomplished for not a lot of $. Egg flats are not an acoustic treatment they are a reflective treatment. They serve pretty much the same purpose as the wood/ plastic cityscape panels that are sold for a lot of cash. They are not particularly a fire hazard, unless your putting candles around them. People use them for the wrong reasons and then *****. You could use them to break up large flat surfaces. But there are better options in many cases. If your studio is in a room in your house consider covering the wall behind you with bookshelves (with books in them). It will completely break up that big reflective surface and act as a bit of a bass trap and noticeably deaden you room. Carpets or throw rugs on the floor are also a good choice. Stuff on the wall behind the speakers that absorbs and breaks up the flat will also help (one place where those egg flats might work mixed with carpet squares or acoustic tiles.
My point is that unless you do a complete acoustic sweep of the room to tune it you shouldn't go too crazy on expensive solutions to problems you may not have. Plus those "solutions" may actually cause problems. The best and generally cheapest solution (if your working with near field monitors) is to try and take the room out of the equation. To do that you want a pretty dead room with as few reflecting surfaces as possible. Most small rooms are very LIVE so junk on the walls and a soft floor will mostly do it. If your pumping up the bass, then you should probably borrow a spectrum analyzer and see if you need any major bass mitigation. If your not using a sub this is not probably a problem. If you have a dedicated studio/ mix stage then by all means go for the whole shebang but if your "only" spending $800 on speakers you don't have the $$$ for a full analysis and treatment. What I described above is basically what my edit / mix room is and I have moved those premixes to big stages with very good results.
 
I have the original HR824s and love them, especially with the HRS120 sub. Everyone seems to have their favorite monitor speakers; these just seem to fit my ears, my room and they were right in my budget. I'm still looking for my alternate "cheap" speakers for A/B comparisons when I mix and am thinking of the Avantone MixCubes. One buddy of mine swears by them, but another guy I respect swears at them.
 
Thanks. I know people who love NS10's 8~P , there is just no accounting for taste...

I bought the YSM-1's because they were recommend, in my price range (at the time) and were a big jump up from what I had. But I have had a number of folks comment on how little ear fatigue they have working around them and they have translated SO well to mix stages that I'm kind of locked on them. Though with a bigger room and and a much bigger budget I would love to have some Meyers HD-1's...
 
I'm a fan of the JBL Pro LSR43xx series. I have a pair of LSR4328 that I really like. I'm unable to properly condition the room itself that I'm in and their computerized Room Mode Correction makes the best out of the situation. Excellent sounding monitors
 
The Quad 12L (active) and 11L(active) speakers are astounding. I picked up a pair of demo 12Ls for $600 about 18mo ago and couldn't be happier (they retail for $1200). The finish is perfect (they even ship with white gloves), but the sound is stunning. The reviews if anything say that the sound reproduction is too accurate and unforgiving, which of course is what you want for mixing. I'm sending them signal through balanced XLR feeds from my MOTU Traveler when I'm not using it in the field.

http://www.quad-hifi.co.uk/ranges.php?sector_id=2&range_id=5

Here's a review where they are described as "ruthlessly revealing"
http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/frr.pl?rspkr&1109030572&read&3&4

They work for me.
 
I have Yamaha HS 50 M's and I love them. Only 200 dollars a piece. You can get the bigger version of them for a few more bucks, the only difference is that they could get a little louder and produce lower bass frequencies.

As for the room the Yamaha's have controls on them to adjust to the room they are in. With near field monitors, the room becomes less important because you are hearing the audio before it has time to interact with the room you are in.

For best results, get the speakers away from the walls. You want to have at least a meter of space away from walls in any direction (ideally). Listen to Noizs suggestion on room deadening as well if the room you are mixing in is really problematic.

The most important thing about mixing speakers is that you have to be comfortable with them ,and you have to personally like the sound you hear. They also should be flat. Which mean it doesn't boost or cut frequencies naturally.

Hope this helps.
 
Thanks to everyone who replied, your input is greatly appreciated.

I decided to go with the KRK RP8 G2's, and let me just say, WOW! These are loud! I'm very pleased with them so far.

I'm still very much a beginner and a hobbyist, so "conditioning" the room will have to wait for a while. I'm definitely thinking about it though, so to that end I purchased some really heavy "thermal" curtains. Even though I bought them because of all the damn sunlight that floods the room from the windows that are ginormous, I think they will help with regards to the sound environment, eh?

:Drogar-Mark-04(DBG)How do I use the XLR inputs on these speakers?

I mean, I know they have to use the XLR cables but don't I need some kind of audio interface(FW/USB)/sound card or both in order to utilize them?

If I don't need both, which one is better? Sound card, or an Audio Interface(FW/USB)

:Drogar-Mark-04(DBG)How do you control the audio externally?

With my small desktop speakers all I had to do was turn a knob, now I have to get up and turn a knob that I can't even see.

:Drogar-Mark-04(DBG)If I wanted to connect a synthesizer to these speakers, as well as a midi keyboard (for SW based) how would I do that? I'm guessing a mixer, right? If so what kind are the best for this type of setup keeping in mind I might want to add other devices (mic, guitar), so expandability is key.

Ahh! So many question running through my head. Sorry I'm such a noob.

:dankk2:
 
Everyone's gotta start somewhere ...You'll want an audio interface without question. The connect to your computer via firewire or USB generally and then handle all inputs and outputs (midi, line outs, mics ins, headphone outs, ect...) The quality is generally higher with these and they'll give you easy to access inputs, outputs, and knobs so you won't have to jump behind the computer whenever you want to change something. And, depending on the interface, a lot of time the output is a TRS 1/4" jack instead of XLR. Both are balanced signals and work the same (although there are also TS 1/4" jacks which are un-balanced and lesser quality, generally you can find out easily what type of jack it is though)

If you want Pro Tools (industry standard), you'd need an Mbox 2 interface (several different models depending on what you need inputs and outputs wise), but if you're using a different program (Logic, DP, ect...) then most any interface will get the job done but spending a minimum of $100 will help you get quality stuff.

The inputs and outputs between different interfaces is key, and that'll likely drive price for you. More options means more expensive interfaces.

And for mixers, it really depends on budget, and if you want the mixer to work as a control surface as well (which is helpful, but expensive). A Digi 003, for example, works as an interface, midi input, control surface, and a mixer... and it costs $2200. If you have that kind of money great, but otherwise you should post a budget.

For controlling level, that should be done through the program generally. Create and lower the master fader when you want everything softer, but for the most part you want to set your monitors volume correctly, and then adjust your mix to sound good at that level. Some test files can be found at... http://www.abluesky.com/asp/catalogue/catalogue.asp?linkid=143
And all you need is a radioshack SPL meter to set everything (in large mixing stages they calibrate so those test files play at 85dB, but in smaller rooms it's usually better to calibrate somewhere between 79-82dB)

Now your room, if the curtains are thick and heavy, then that's perfect. To make them help some more try to space them 6-12" off the wall and they'll help even more with low end frequencies. And...

http://www.acoustics101.com/

Here's a site with some basic acoustics stuff to help treat your room. Which, even as a beginner, can help out immensely. In some ways it's even better since pros can compensate for the room to some degree if needed, but without experience that's not really possible so people mix to the room they're in. Learning on as good of a system as possible is best. At least handling the first order reflections can do wonders for stereo imaging and getting the pans correct.

If it's a money thing that's understandable, but once you've mixed in a treated room you'll never go back. The company running that site also does free room analysis as well based on your room's dimensions and general layout to figure out where the problems are and bases their suggestions around your budget.
 
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How does recently designed and compact speakers like the JBL Control 2P, work as an entry level speaker? They seem to be a good overall value for the price. Im aware they aren't best suited for an audio postproduction facility. More like a desktop environment. So as I said, they seem to fit for someone who is starting with his/her first pair of speakers.
 
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