advice Studio Monitors whilst I still have chance to cancel Amazon purchase

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okay studio monitors on a budget such as Kurzweil KS40a, Behringer MS16, Alesis Elevate 3..

then I see Amazon Warehouse have a Mackie MR6mk3 for £64.21 delivered tomorrow(I am Prime member) so I thought  'i'm over that baby'.. now I am wondering if I should have gone for a budget stereo pair... reason being I might not be able to afford a 2nd(@139) until last week of July..

what do you reckon?? last week of July is the absolute end of when I can afford a 2nd..
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Comments

  • HeartfeltdawnHeartfeltdawn Frets: 22096
    Cancel. Why on earth would you buy one? 



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  • randomhandclapsrandomhandclaps Frets: 20521
    Can you wait until the end of July? If so I would go with the Mackies. Are you intent on buying new? Within that budget you could get a used pair of Yamaha HS50s which trounce pretty much everything sub £500.
    My muse is not a horse and art is not a race.
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  • Can you wait until the end of July? If so I would go with the Mackies. Are you intent on buying new? Within that budget you could get a used pair of Yamaha HS50s which trounce pretty much everything sub £500.
    with getting one @ £64 I would be happy to pay £139 for a 2nd but hopefully Amazon Warehouse will have another in.

    is one speaker going to be useless then? mainly listening to recordings of guitar
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  • randomhandclapsrandomhandclaps Frets: 20521
    No, not completely useless by any means. I have an extra single monitor mounted centrally above my screen in the studio for checking mono mixes. In fact I start the vast majority of stuff this way as contrary to people's love of whacking everything out wide and then suffering problems in mono, it's a far better practice to EQ a good mix in mono and then use stereo imaging to expand it.
    My muse is not a horse and art is not a race.
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  • octatonicoctatonic Frets: 33725
    Problems in mono was only really an issue with AM radio, which is mono.

    It is good to be able to mix in mono, but mainly from a 'let's see how much I can do with limited options' perspective.
    I haven't really worried about mono compatibility for quite a while now.

    On the choice of speakers- I'm not being a snob here but there is very little in the under £1000 category that can be used as a single reference point to create music that is release quality.
    I'm not saying that there aren't nice sounding speakers- some of them sound quite fine, but they hype certain frequencies (bass and trebles) which leaves you with a very mid-sounding mix (as you compensate for the hyped frequencies by cutting them in the mix).

    If you just need something for home use, or if you own multiple sets of monitors and use them for a reference check then it isn't a problem.

    I do a lot of mixing on a little set of Avantone mixcubes- they are a small pair of reference monitors that don't sound that great but also don't flatter the audio too much either.

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  • CirrusCirrus Frets: 8481
    octatonic;640978" said:
    Problems in mono was only really an issue with AM radio, which is mono.

    It is good to be able to mix in mono, but mainly from a 'let's see how much I can do with limited options' perspective.I haven't really worried about mono compatibility for quite a while now.
    Funilly enough I think that a stereo mix that is mono compatable can translate over stereo systems better than one which doesn't translate in mono - or rather, a mono compatable mix is more robust over a wide range of listening environments because it's not relying in a certain stereo image to sound good.
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  • okay mind made up stick with the Mackie, I think it is the smarter choice in the long run.
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  • octatonicoctatonic Frets: 33725
    Cirrus said:
    octatonic;640978" said:
    Problems in mono was only really an issue with AM radio, which is mono.

    It is good to be able to mix in mono, but mainly from a 'let's see how much I can do with limited options' perspective.I haven't really worried about mono compatibility for quite a while now.
    Funilly enough I think that a stereo mix that is mono compatable can translate over stereo systems better than one which doesn't translate in mono - or rather, a mono compatable mix is more robust over a wide range of listening environments because it's not relying in a certain stereo image to sound good.
    Very much agree- that is down to how people learn to mix these days- which is mostly alone using sites like Gearslutz and youtube for tips and tricks, working with DAW's where every option is available at all times.
    Folks that learned from a tape background, where you had a limited number of tracks, effects and a noise floor that didn't permit crazy amounts of overdubbing had to learn to make do.

    All the sequencers have a sum to mono function and some monitor controllers do too.
    One weird thing I've noticed about studio gear is the sum to mono is almost always sending the mono signal to two speakers, which isn't really ideal.
    Sum to mono -> mono speaker is much more useful, especially in acoustically compromised rooms.
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  • so I might learn something only having 1 speaker for a month or 2 :)
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  • octatonicoctatonic Frets: 33725
    It is certainly possible. ;)
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  • Danny1969Danny1969 Frets: 10357
    Summing to mono is useful for checking phase issues but other than that I like as much width as poss and Sid mono
    www.2020studios.co.uk 
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  • AndyJPAndyJP Frets: 219
    edited May 2015
    I just read a book by Mike Senior.  He used to write for Sound on Sound magazine.  He had some interesting advice recording monitors.   He says unless you have a couple of grand to spend on speakers and acoustic treatment you are better with studio quality headphones.  

    He recommended these so I got em.  I'm getting better results with these than my KRK Rockett 5s.  


    Controversial eh?
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  • octatonicoctatonic Frets: 33725
    edited May 2015
    I tend to agree with him.

    The problem is people equate 'sounding good' with 'good to mix on'.
    In many ways (but not all) they are diametrically opposed.
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  • Drew_TNBDDrew_TNBD Frets: 22445
    I think he's wrong to be honest. The physics doesn't sit on his side of the fence.
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  • octatonicoctatonic Frets: 33725
    Drew_fx said:
    I think he's wrong to be honest. The physics doesn't sit on his side of the fence.
    What do you mean?
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  • IanSavageIanSavage Frets: 1319
    octatonic said:
    Problems in mono was only really an issue with AM radio, which is mono.



    I'm going to play Devil's advocate and disagree with you a BIT there - I've found a lot of pubs and clubs where the sound system is mono, particularly when there's multiple speakers dotted around the place at various heights and no particular 'sweet spot' (understandably, since you don't want a hard-panned instrument really prominent in one bit of the pub and non-existent in others) so for my money there's still no harm in checking that your mix translates well to mono before you finalise it.
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  • AndyJPAndyJP Frets: 219
    Here's a link to the book:
    Senior also recommends avoiding small ported monitors as the the bass response is inaccurate.
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  • Drew_TNBDDrew_TNBD Frets: 22445
    octatonic said:
    Drew_fx said:
    I think he's wrong to be honest. The physics doesn't sit on his side of the fence.
    What do you mean?
    The physics of how loudspeakers work, and the implications of certain enclosure designs. Neither of these are really related to how much money you spend, and the physics of how headphones affect your perception of sounds doesn't match up with the idea that unless you spend X amount, you can mix on headphones.

    You certainly SHOULD spend as much as you can on speakers. But you don't need to be spending £1000's on them. A reasonable £500-600 pair of speakers is more than adequate. Certain materials have certain effects - ribbon tweeters sound different to kevlar tweeters for instance, and 4" woofers sound different to 8" woofers, and those are the things that make speakers sound different.

    Acoustics of the room are massively more important than the speakers, imho. You can get a really good set of speakers for not much money. Equally, no amount of money is going to fix the phase cancellations and comb-filtering that is inherent in modern loudspeaker design.

    IMHO, you should never use headphones as your primary platform for mixing. The bass lift is too severe for one thing, and some headphones are scooped somewhat in the 1-3khz region, because this is where our most sensitive portion of the spectrum sits, and the ones that are not scooped tend to be very fatiguing for long mixing sessions.

    I wouldn't recommend it personally. I would recommend spending on acoustic treatment first, and then getting the best pair of speakers you can afford that are to your liking.
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  • Drew_TNBDDrew_TNBD Frets: 22445
    AndyJP said:
    Here's a link to the book:
    Senior also recommends avoiding small ported monitors as the the bass response is inaccurate.
    Depends if they're front or rear ported. Front ported tends to be a bit more accurate AFAIK.
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  • guitarfishbayguitarfishbay Frets: 7953
    Drew has made some good points.

    Honestly, sit where you mix from and run a slow sine sweep from your DAW.  I would be very surprised if you don't notice some frequencies jumping out and some disappearing.  Changing speakers isn't likely to affect that as it is mostly going to be room acoustics.  Room treatment is not very sexy, but it can do a lot of positive stuff for your setup.
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