I'd lean toward a good set of headphones. You'll want a set anyway if you are recording vocals or acoustic instruments.
And they are great for keeping the peace in a home studio.
If nothing else, you can listen while you save up for monitors that are worth buying.

The Equator Audio D5 has made a big splash and go for $300. I think the Yamaha HS50 costs about the same. I would not bother looking for anything cheaper than that.

Steve, I believe that will be a good upgrade. I am running on BX8A's now and the HSM80's are my next set. I have been wanting to grab them and eventually will, but I have learned these monitors and my mixes are translating well so it's hard to justify the expense to myself, no less my wife! haha

I have an interM PA2000 amp. Would it be better to buy powered or un-powered monitors?(I don't have to use the amp...) is there a difference in price?

zoobooboozoo


I have an interM PA2000 amp. Would it be better to buy powered or un-powered monitors?(I don't have to use the amp...) is there a difference in price?

I think it will be hard to find passive speakers marketed as "monitors" these days. And definitely no real money to be saved. You could try and shop around for a pair of small neutral hifi speakers though...

is it any more possible to find hifi speakers that are neutral in that price range? 

Only in pawnshops.

I think it's important to gauge what the OP's standards are.  No professional studio or home recording artist planning on actually distributing music is likely to use a monitor in that price range, but if someone just needs something to get a rough idea on and plansd to finish mixing and mastering elsewhere it may work for basic needs.  I have known well respected producers in their respective genres that have used fairly modest monitors at home.  None would argue that these compared in any way shape or form to what they used in their studio of choice  but felt it was a huge upgrade over your basic computer speakers.  A person mixing backing tracks for their child's school assembly could easily get by using $99 m-audio basic model.  Would it be better top spend more money and get a better monitor?  Of course, but if someone has a fixed budget limit, I suspect they have some idea they are not getting what the big boys use.

ZBBZ...What are you using for monitors now? Not knowing much about your room treatment etc. I think that at that price point you may be hard pressed to make any real improvement from your current monitor situation. I would wait and save up some more funds and /or part with some gear that gets little or no use. If I was in your situation I would pony up $250 +/- and get a pair of ATH-M50 headphones as Bitflipper suggested and a Focusrite VRM box for mixing. Then some speakers that fit your budget for your listening enjoyment. Just my $.02.

Rocky

dubdisciple


I think it's important to gauge what the OP's standards are.  No professional studio or home recording artist planning on actually distributing music is likely to use a monitor in that price range, but if someone just needs something to get a rough idea on and plansd to finish mixing and mastering elsewhere it may work for basic needs.  I have known well respected producers in their respective genres that have used fairly modest monitors at home.  None would argue that these compared in any way shape or form to what they used in their studio of choice  but felt it was a huge upgrade over your basic computer speakers.  A person mixing backing tracks for their child's school assembly could easily get by using $99 m-audio basic model.  Would it be better top spend more money and get a better monitor?  Of course, but if someone has a fixed budget limit, I suspect they have some idea they are not getting what the big boys use.

What the "big boys" use should be out of reach of anyone not expecting a return on their investment. But IMO there's a certain price point where speakers marketed as "monitors" start to be of any real use compared to consumer gear. 


I, for one, would much rather be mixing on my cheap but fairly neutral Denon bookshelf speakers (assuming I already have a stereo amp, like the OP does) compared to KRK Rokits, which are basically disco blasters in my, and many others', opinion.