Monitors

If you've had those speakers for a long time, and they're doing the job, I say keep them. You've got a lot of hours invested in training your ears to them; an upgrade might actually incur a temporary setback as you're forced to start the training process all over again.

If you're dying to blow some cash, consider a pair of nice hi-fi speakers to use as an alternate reference.

I'm no pro. Take everything I say with a grain of salt ;) Merely a hobbyist having a ramble.

I have the HS80m's also and was even considering getting that KRK sub. Do you like the sub addition by the way? I was more thinking of getting it for listening purposes than mixing as I thought it would be fun.
Back on track. The HS80m monitors seem to be pretty well regarded in the price range. I have had a listen to some higher end monitors and I believe I could hear into the mix much more than I could with the Yams. If you feel that your monitors are currently the weakest link in your chain, then upgrading is certainly going to be a good move, provided you want something to spend money on. It's a priority thing here. Maybe a nice new acoustic guitar or some acoustic absorption/trapping/diffusion work will give you more bang for your buck. But that's up to you.

The thing you should find with better monitors I think is that you can just hear more detail. The whole balance thing about having a really 'flat' set of monitors I think is slightly a bit silly. A typical well treated room is still going to fluctuate more than different well designed monitors (remember that grain of salt you were taking).

Not really much more I can add other than my interpretation of a few other monitors I have listened to when I was buying my Yams. I listened to the KRK VXT4's and I really liked them. I felt I could hear more detail in the music which would make eq, reverb and compressor settings that much easier to adjust. Also LOVED the sound of the Adams - specifically the A7's. If you want high end detail, these are amazing for that. Comparing them to any other monitor I have listened to, they sound clear and bright, but other monitors sound like white noise in comparison.

I'll have to pop down to a store and have a listen to some new monitors again now that I have had the Yams for a good few years and and used to the sound they put out. When I has A/B ing them I was mixing only on crappy hi fi speakers so I imagine my ears should be much more attuned to the sound of good monitors now.



The all important question though, what's your budget?

Thanks Matt - I wish I could go to a store with a selection of quality monitors to listen to - there are no real pro audio shops in Perth - the HS80s are about as high end as they get! But yeah totally agree, if I were to upgrade, I'd be looking to spend between $5k - $7k. But I have no budget for it right now, just wondering if it's something I need to be saving for...

Thanks Danny, that's pretty much what I was thinking, but wanted to make sure! And don't worry, I won't be buying anything - no budget for anything right now!

And yep, still going to send you my project to master, just need to find time to finish it off. Got everything recorded apart from vocals - have been awaiting for my voice to recover after a pretty bout with pneumonia. 

Great, so the consensus seems to be that I don't need to upgrade - very good news! I'll be very interested to hear what you reckon about the mixes I send to you, Danny - I think they're sounding killer, so if they suck, either there's a big problem with my monitoring environment, or I'm a total wood-duck!

I agree with the idea that your monitors are probably very useful as it is.

With regards to your question; It seems like it is useful to consider that, in 2012, the term "monitor" is more likely to mean "powered monitor" than "passive monitor".

My point being that speaker design and construction is fairly well established and furthermore modern construction practices have created the circumstances where very good speaker drivers and cabinet systems are easier to get than ever and probably, if inflation is considered, cheaper than ever as well.

The place where most affordable powered monitors fall short is in the actual power amp system.

If you want great transient response you need a great amplifier. If you want a great amplifier you need a great power supply. If you want a great power supply, you can get one for a traditional rack mount amplifier, or you can get two for a pair of self powered speakers.

I'd suggest that many popularly priced monitors that seem semi pro have really good speakers and good enclosure designs, but most have a power supply and an amplifier that can easily be demonstrated to have a less than deluxe a sound than can be had with the really good guts and parts.

All of this stuff I am speaking of is happening well below the fairy dust threshold and is just basic budget stuff until you get to about $1.5k per box.


That's why some popular 8" speakers have ratings like this:

Max Peak SPL:109 dB (what distance???)

Amplifier Class:Class A-B

Power Output:90W

High Frequency:20W

Mid-Frequency:N/A

Low Frequency:70W

and other *professional* 8" speakers have ratings like this:

   Maximum SPL (80 Hz - 20 kHz):>108 dB SPL / 1m
   Maximum Peak SPL (80 Hz - 20 kHz):>111 dB SPL / 1m

   Low Frequency: Sine Wave Power Rating:250 watts (<0.1% THD into rated impedance)

   High Frequency: Sine Wave Power Rating:120 watts (<0.1% THD into rated impedance)



 There is a lot more head room, which usually translates to smooth and powerful transient response, in the second example, especially if they are really rated at the same actual SPL output (which I doubt is really the case even though it has been implied by the omission of distance info in example 1)

 In this particular example, you can assume that the tweeter is also rated at a much higher power output and so it should be able to handle any transients with more ease and less distortion or aggressiveness.

 The nicer amplifier system will provide a crisper and more powerful impression of the kick drum and it will also provide a nicer representation of aggressive upper mid tones... even on less than nice speaker drivers.

 

 Best regards,
mike

Thanks for the additional info on speakers/amps, Mike, interesting stuff. I kind of had a feeling that getting a separate amp is better if you know what you're doing, but I clearly don't, so am happy to use powered speakers! My brain tells me that the manufacturers also match the amps to their speakers (in powered monitors), but maybe I'm just telling myself that to make myself feel better?!

Anyway, thanks for the good advice everyone - it reinforced what I was thinking anyway. Hopefully this marks the end of the upgrade train for a good while 

mattplaysguitar


So what do you think of the KRK sub, James? I was wondering how it sounds with the HS80m's purely for a listening enjoyment experience. I doubt I would mix with it on, but wondering if it adds much extra bass for fun times?!? Can you crank the bass a little more than you can with the HS80's?

I use a Polk audio 10" sub which I picked up when it was on sale for $199 many years back. Using MR5's wasn't giving me the lower end of the music accurately. I reasoned that a home audio sub should work just fine...... unlike using home audio speakers to monitor the playback, it's coloration of the music would be minimal since it would only be working (primarily) in the very low end of the music.  It augments the music nicely.