Which speakers should I use for playback?

I

ironpony

Carbonite Member
I have been using the speakers off my boom box for reviewing my audio but I'm not sure if the speakers are powerful enough to hear everything. What specifications do I need?
 
Are you expecting critical monitoring for accurate mixes? If so, that's 40% speakers and 60% room (okay, there's no scientific formula, but just making a point...). It has little to do with "powerful" speakers, and everything to do with the listening environment.

For accurate monitors, look to Genelec. Mackie HR828mkII is decent as well. But the speakers aren't going to do you much good if they're in a terrible room. You need an acoustically-treated listening environment. Short of ripping out your interior to install a resilient channel, floating floor, and suspended ceiling... you can get some basic kits from Auralex and use them to tame corners (bass traps) and knock down reflections in key areas of your room.

A professional mix stage is heavily treated, much like a movie theater (but even better). Further, monitor playback levels are calculated to specific levels... 85dB SPL is typical, though in a small room you can set to 80dB SPL.

If you aren't looking for critical monitoring and just want something that's decent for edit decisions, something like the M-Audio AV-40 speakers should sufffice, or KRK RockKit.
 
Avoid anything calling itself a "computer speaker". There is no known good example of anything in this genre.
The cheapest pair of powered monitors for "home studio" use is better than the best "computer speakers".
 
Okay thanks. I'm not monitoring sound on the set, I just want something to review the sound afterwards. I could use the same headphones I use while monitoring on set, but I was told by some fellow sound students, that with headphones you can't hear all the unwanted low background noise that has to be eliminated.
 
ironpony said:
Okay thanks. I'm not monitoring sound on the set, I just want something to review the sound afterwards. I could use the same headphones I use while monitoring on set, but I was told by some fellow sound students, that with headphones you can't hear all the unwanted low background noise that has to be eliminated.
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?!

Um... good, isolating, accurate production headphones (like the Sony MDR-7506) will let you hear absolutely everything, especially the low-level background noises... sounds that are often masked in speaker systems that are set up in not-so-ideal listening systems.
 
Those RCA HP350 are quite remarkably low-priced. I would be worried that you aren't hearing the full range you need, and that what you are hearing may not be very smooth. Probably OK for checking that you really do have a reasonably clean signal, but I wouldn't want to do much qualitative evaluation with them.
 
"Low priced" and "hear everything" are two mutually exclusive terms - you can have one or the other but you'll never have both at once. Good studio monitors are pricey and as Alex pointed out, you also need to give attention to the room you're working in and spend some dollars to get its acoustics under proper control. For the monitors alone, entry-level starts in the ballpark of around $750 for the pair and you're going to need to at least double that to get into the mainstream. Accurate speakers are not easily designed or cheaply built.
 
For reliable production headphones, you're going to start in the $90-100 range. Sony MDR-7506 are $90-ish.
 
When selecting a monitoring system for my studio which would translate seamlessly to a sound stage without any surprises, on a very limited budget, I selected JBL LSR4328p monitors along with sub to fill out the low end.

But again, Alex is correct in that the room can make a huge difference in your ability to accurately monitor your sound.
 
ironpony said:
I was told by some fellow sound students, that with headphones you can't hear all the unwanted low background noise that has to be eliminated.
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Er - this is rubbish - you are more likely to hear low unwanted background noise on headphones than you are with loudspeakers.

If I want to hear detail on a mix I always use my Sennheiser HD 25-1 closed headphones for this - even though I have studio monitors costing several thousand pounds.
 
ironpony said:
Okay thanks. What are some of the lowest priced ones where I would hear everything?
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Forget "lowest price" - you get what you pay for.

Though getting decent cans an actually work out very cheap in the long run.

The Sennheiser HD 25-1 II are probably the best for location recording - they seal well and are also very efficient (120dB) so they give a good output without straining the battery-powered headphone amplifier on your portable recorder.

I bought my Mk.I version of the HD 25-1 over 20 years ago (1989 or 1990 I think) and they are still going strong. I replaced the earpads about 4 or 5 times over the years and the headband pads lasted 20 years before they needed replacing. Strongly recommended - and very cheap considering they will last well over 20 years. :laugh:
 
Steve, I believe he was talking about headphones in that post.

You can get good headphones for around $100, the Sony's come in around there. Now that could be considered cheap since really high end headphones can be in the $1,500 range.

You can probably get decent near fields for $500 - $750. The BIAS 20-20 were very well liked by sound editors and I've been very happy with my Yorkville's which were in the $250/each rang when I bought them, I think they are a bit higher now. But you can easily get into the $1,500 range (each).

You still haven't really explained what you need to use the speakers for. If it's for evaluating but your not doing the sound work you can step down a few notches and be OK. You don't have to hear all the subtleties, in fact it's probably a distraction. If your doing sound work on the files then you really need to have a decent set up and calibrate it and treat the room.

As a post person it's great if the sound is nice and clean but I would rather the director/ editor picked for performance than trying to second guess what I can "fix". If the performance is lacking it doesn't matter how clean the track is.

And I will second the you will hear more (and often too much) in headphones.

I would question any other advice you get from someone who has told you otherwise. A lot of folks in sound (and I imagine other fields also) will state quite firmly their beliefs as fact. It's always best to ask a few people who seem to know what they are doing about such things and see what the consensus is. And that goes for anything I say also. I have been known to say things on occasion that I thought were correct that were not.
 
So let me pop in and get this back on track.

And I am going to suggest something no one else has yet. Ironpony, you need 2 sets of speakers. A good set of reference monitors, and a crappy set. Dial in your mix on the reference set, and once you get a decent mix there, playback on the crappy to see how it sounds. Make fine tune adjustments to make it sound as decent as you can on the crappy ones without major adjusting (mainly in the mids-the meat and potatoes of the mix). Then pop back on to the reference, and listen. Split the difference of the changes.

You have to remember, people listen on all sorts of speakers so your goal is to mix for the lowest common denominator. Me, I use a pair of BX8's and a pair of Avantone MixCubes (of which I am partial to, seeing as how I helped design them:cheesy:), and when I want to get real anal, I will pop in my Klipsch towers.
 
Lots of good info in here. But I will say that a $100 pair of Sony, Sennheiser or Audio Technica headphones will be nice and provide you with as much as you're going to need if you're not doing ultra critical mixes, ie. huge budget features or major artist recording. For the indie film guy, corporate a/v guy, etc, They'll be great. If you want a decent set of studio monitors on the cheap, the KRK Rokit series studio monitors provide some very clean sound for a decent price.
 
Okay thanks I better use headphones then to mask out the room. I'll see if some stores carry those Sony ones.
 
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