Just got "Mixing Secrets for the Small Studio" by Mike Senior and right in the first section he talks about unless you have really expensive monitors the low end transients are fairly skewed in that the "porting hinders the monitor's ability to track moment-to-moment changes in the mix signal. Specifically, the port causes any spectral energy at it's resonant frequency to ring on for a short time, and while it's this resonant buildup that generated the port's flattering low-frequency level boost for a constant noise signal, the same quality also adds short resonant tails to fleeting percussive attack noises (transients)". He also points out that "the resonance not only disguises the true decay attributes of the sound itself, but it can also make it difficult to judge the character and level of short duration studio effects (such as modulated delays and reverb), which are useful at mixdown".

I'm on firefox, so for the sake of clarity, I'd just add that when I was shopping for monitors (around the $500-700 range) I don't think there were any that weren't ported designs. I got the M-Audio DSM2's and thought they were decent monitors. I still think they are. I guess I'm just curious if anyone else thinks this is like a show stopper for mixing.

There are certainly some fairly high endy ported near fields that I don't think any reasonable person would consider to be junk by any means. I imagine most folks on the lower end have a lot more to worry about from their room's response than the response of good quality ported near fields, eh? Adam S4X-H cost like $11K and they are ported.

What did he suggest as an alternative?

A nice pair of 30" x 40" x 25" sealed boxes sitting on top of a Mackie meter bridge?

These are ported, and they look pretty nice? :-)

http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i-ADP-A77X-LIST

mike_mccue


What did he suggest as an alternative?

A nice pair of 30" x 40" x 25" sealed boxes sitting on top of a Mackie meter bridge?

I'd be interested in an actual suggestion from you.

I'm curious too.

If you could also tailor your answer to suit an average English speaker as well that would be even more useful.

Well, he mentioned ADAM A7X, KRK Rokit 8 and The DSM2 from M-Audio that I have as the "affordable two-way ported nearfield monitors". As for non ported, he mentioned NHT Pro's M-00 and S-00 combination (2.1 system with sub) and Blue Sky's Media Desk and Pro Desk systems. Never heard of these companies. I googled the NHT products and they are about the same price range as my DSM2s.

Save your allowance ;-) I say go big or go home! You'll never regret getting the really nice stuff. It may take longer? But in the end? In the long run? If this is your passion, then be impressed with, and impress others with your gear. You should see my guitars and basses... I hope my son learns to play? But if he doesn't, he can sell them for a pretty penny. Life is too short not to have the good stuff if you are passionate. Sorry, JMO. Just put it off for a while and get something "really nice." That's my advice, and again in the long run? You won't be dissapointed...

I recently purchased a pair of Adam A5x's (5.5") as a replacement to a pair of Wharfedale diamond pro 8.2s (i believe 6") - both of which are ported. I also read Mike's book and did as he suggested and stuffed the ports on my Wharfedales with foam. it made a little difference but it didn't matter, i couldn't for the life of me mix on those Wharfedales. It wasn't until I replaced them with the Adams (without blocking the ports) that I now can finally mix properly and have my mixes translate to other systems nearly exactly as I hear them from the Adams. What a great difference ! I should say, that I also use a sub with both. the point of this, I wouldn't be too concerned about ports.

I wouldn't necessarily assume that just because it's easier to get low end response for a low price point using a port that using a port is necessarily a fatal compromise. I would say it's clearly not given that many speakers that don't need to compromise due to their price point still use them. but probably anything you get in that $500 range is going to have pretty significant limitations whatever the design.

Focal Twin6 Be monitors are non-ported nearfields and are very widely used, though pretty pricey. They use a pair of 6" drivers with both handling the lows and only one handling the lower mids, to get a good low end response without a port or larger cones, but also not muddying up the lower mids supposedly without having to go with a three way design.

Speakers I think will always remain pricey for the good stuff, because they are mechanical devices so they don't keep getting twice as good for half the price like electronics. I imagine that computer based simulation and such has made a big difference in the last decade or so, but fundamentally they still have the same issues and dealing with them really well will probably continue to be pretty costly.

Anyhoo, I wouldn't want to give up the ability to hear the low end over worries about the port making it less than uber-perfect. If you can't hear them, it's hard to really judge the balance because you are hearing all the highs but not all of the lows.

The Mackie HR824mkII speakers are not ported, and they use an 8" woofer plus a sort of passive radiator on the back (though still sealed I think?) to get the low end response. They are about $700 apiece. I had a pair of these, and though the high enders will probably turn their noses up at them, they have pretty good performance and are large for nearfields as well which helps.