Monitors - do you really need them?

[tfarny]

Recording monitors, not stage monitors.
I know that 1) speakers should be transparent, if your recording sounds good through a very good, transparent speaker (flat eq) it will tend to sound good in a variety of situations - cars, ipods etc. 2) headphones, even good ones, are not good for mixing. The right amount of reverb in a headphone for instance is way too much in most instances.

So, I've been running my line out from my computer to my home stereo, which is a nice little Yamaha system with a 10" sub, it is not a cheap stereo, not "audiophile" but it's sure the best one I've ever owned, to me it seems very accurate, clear and strong. Am I still missing out - would lower-end monitors likely be an improvement over a pretty-good stereo?

 

[AndyG]

This is a subject of huge debate .... so I'll start with my professional 2 cents.

Soffit-mounted monitors in a studio require specialized acoustic treatment, because as they are mounted in the walls, the room actually becomes "part" of your monitoring setup.

Nearfield monitors were designed with the idea of taking the room out of the equation, as they were "point sources" of sound.  Now, the room you're in will always have some effect, especially on bass frequencies.

Having said all that, when mixing at home, the most important factor are speakers that you KNOW.  Doesn't matter if they're home stereo speakers, cheap studio monitors, or anything else, as long as you are familiar with them.  Listen to songs that you know and love, and compare them to your own mixes.  If they have similar qualities, they should translate to other systems in roughly the same way.  That's why Yamaha NS-10's were such popular speakers ... if you could make something sound good on them, it would sound good anywhere.

And I personally recommend NEVER mixing with headphones.  You can check and listen, but don't make any critical decisions based on what you hear through cans ..... You'll find your mixes WAY to dry, and very thin.

And BTW ... there is no such thing (regardless of manufacturer's claims) as a "flat" speaker ... they all have some kind of frequency response curve ... you just have to get used to that curve.

 

[Death by Uberschall]

No matter which way you go, be sure to tune what ever you use to what you like. What I mean by this is get a recording you really like. You know, the one that makes you go, "GOD, what a great recording mix and mastering". Play it through what you are going to use and dial it in, EQ it to match what you hear in your car, home stereo, iPod, etc. with the same recording. That way as you do your own thing, you'll be that much closer to getting it right. There's nothing worse than having something sound great at the board, but falls apart everywhere else.

 

[jay4321]

I have a couple of KRK RP6s, probably don't "need" them but just makes all the hookups pretty straightforward. Obviously true studio gurus would laugh at them, but they certainly do the job, and work well with my modeling stuff I'm forced to go with for the time being. Certainly my Pro Tools skills are the bottleneck right now, but even then I tried the headphones-only approach, and this is vastly better. 

 

[mayfly]

I ended up using my PA for mixing/mastering.  Of course, my PA is a pair of those Bose L1 Poles, which are pretty reasonable fidelity.

And as others noted, I know them.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

The majority of people that will listen to your music if on CD will do so in their car.  Their car may have a top of the line audio system, but most don't.  After a mix is done, we usually burn it to a disk and listen to it in our cars, for days if possible.  Studio engineers and producers have fawned over their top of the line studio monitors, but if it sounds perfect in the studio and like crap in my car, it's not a good mix IMO.  Mix with the bad system in mind IMO because that's where most will hear it.  Some studios even have a 2nd subpar system so they can see what it really sounds like.

 

[AndyG]

I have a couple of KRK RP6s, probably don't "need" them but just makes all the hookups pretty straightforward. Obviously true studio gurus would laugh at them, but they certainly do the job, and work well with my modeling stuff I'm forced to go with for the time being. Certainly my Pro Tools skills are the bottleneck right now, but even then I tried the headphones-only approach, and this is vastly better. 

You know, it's funny how many people do "pooh-pooh" the KRK speakers, but as far as bang-for-the-buck goes, they're probably some of the nicest monitors out there.  I've used a lot of speaker over the years, from the $6000 a pair K&H monitors sitting in front of me at work right now, to KRK's, NS-10's, Tannoys, Mackies, Audix's, etc, etc, etc!!!!!

Saying you have a poor mix and blaming it on the speakers is VERY amature .... Once you know your equipment, you should be able to produce results that you like.  At the end of the day, your ears are the most important tool in your mixing toolbox!

 

[tfarny]

Interesting - thanks everyone.  :icon_thumright: Most people who would listen to me would do so on an ipod on the subway here, in cars we spend most of our time cursing at other cars / pedestrians. Sounds like noone feels that using a decent stereo that I like is going to steer me wrong, and there is no compelling reason why monitors are better than a good stereo, for my amateur purposes.

 

[mayfly]

Interesting - thanks everyone.  :icon_thumright: Most people who would listen to me would do so on an ipod on the subway here, in cars we spend most of our time cursing at other cars / pedestrians. Sounds like noone feels that using a decent stereo that I like is going to steer me wrong, and there is no compelling reason why monitors are better than a good stereo, for my amateur purposes.

Yep.  Good comment on the ear-buds.  I did test recordings for both buds and for in the car.  Both had to sound good.

 

[drewfx]

Near fields are designed to direct their sound to a narrow spot, about 3ft directly in front of the monitor vs. stereo speakers which have a wide dispersion pattern to sound good anywhere in the room. In theory, this helps to reduce the negative effects of the room reflections. You want to hear what's recorded, not the effects of the room, which is why proper acoustic treatment is 100% necessary as well. IMHO, I wouldn't worry about monitors if you aren't prepared to address the room as well.

drewfx

 

[AprioriMark]

Good advice here.  It is your ears, more than anything.  I used 3 sets of speakers doing final mixes: near-field, a set of 80's era Yamaha home speakers and my car.  It had to sound "right" in the applications where I was used to hearing it.  I also had a couple friends at a college radio station and sometimes would have them play it over the radio for me to hear in my car (we did in-house mastering).  I never, ever, EVER use headphones while mixing/engineering.

-Mark

 

[-CB-]

And BTW ... there is no such thing (regardless of manufacturer's claims) as a "flat" speaker ... they all have some kind of frequency response curve ... you just have to get used to that curve.

+1000