Good active monitors for FG

I am very happy with my two KRK 5 monitors. I use them with the fantom G, but also for final mixing on the computer. The results are very good.

http://www.krksys.com/product_rokit.php

Mackie HR824 and HR624 have -3dB and -6dB low roll-off filters for use against walls and in corners that can be used to compensate for the increased bass that will occur in such a situation.

A separate issue is that with concrete walls (and no doubt a completely rectangular or even square shaped room) you're probably going to have issues with standing waves also. You might want to look into installing some bass traps.

What are your current monitors?

What don't you like about them?

How are they mounted?

I use a small pair of Genelecs witha seperate sub. This enables me to have the monitors backed against a wall but still get good, acurate bass in a fairly small room.

Are you certain you are getting good, accurate bass, in a small room with a subwoofer? I've only ever heard adding a sub is a nightmare to small rooms.

As far as monitor mounting, feel lucky you can put them against a wall even. I have even less space, for now.

Seems everyone has a set of Rokits around. Are they really that good of compromise with quality/price?

I've been looking at the JBL 2300/4300 series recently. The 4300's have built in signal processing(glorified eq?) and come with a mic to tune the bass @ listening position. I'd like to test them.

Of course, if money is no issue, B+W's

Arjan's note of adding bass traps is spot on. Diffusion panels at early reflection points too. Even the best speakers will be defeated by a bad room.

I use Roland DS-5, they are easy to fit (I have space problems) and I´m very hapy with the results. I use to hear music, play and practice. I tested the DS-7 also, and think they are better then DS-5, didn´t got it because the space and weight. And I had the DS-8 before, It was my first ones, and think they are not so flat giving boost to bass sounds, and got problems about the size and weight also. Just IMHO based on my ears and taste.

The boricua´s new piano for FG sounds very nice on my DS-5.

i took jessej's advise on the yamaha HS80's.

was a great choice.

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/HS80M


the mix i make on it translates well to other home stereo's, MP3 players, headphones, and even the speakers off my BlackBerry! :p

I use the ADAM P22As. They're awesome, but the ribbon tweeter takes a while to learn. I suggest burning them in for a week or so.

i can vouch for the krk rokit 5s

I like my Yamaha HS80's very much.

They translate mixes VERY well, just like kenchan states. They are a STEAL for the price.

Edirol M15-D speakers. Cheap, small and fairly accurate.

The sub works for me in a small room because I can place the satelites on light weight stands against a wall, where it's comvenient and gives a good stereo image at the listening position.

Then I can place the sub anywhere in the room that avoides standing waves and I can adjust the power level of the sub to balance it all up. With big speakers and big sub that goes really low, it wouldn't work in a small room. But with the little Genelec 1029s and the matching 1091 sub, it works for me. Sub is on the floor, against a side wall, about 2/5 the way down the length of the room.

Nik,

Then I can place the sub anywhere in the room that avoides standing waves

Changing the location of your sub or speaker is not going to magically eliminate standing waves. All this will do, especially in a completely rectangular and untreated room, is change the specific location of the peaks and valleys. So while this may result in a more balanced sound at your precise listening location (make sure to keep your head still), don't ever think that moving your sub is going to eliminate standing waves.

There are many online calculators to calculate room modes (ie standing waves), here's one:

http://www.marktaw.com/recording/Acoustics/RoomModeStandingWaveCalcu.html

If a program would take into account the location of the sound source it could actually calculate exactly where the peaks and valleys would be. They will be there.

Also what this means it that the output of your sub will be out of phase with that of your satellites which will affect the reproduction of transients (eg impact of a kick or snare hit). Ideally the sub should be the same distance to your ears as the satellites and coming from the same direction.

The 'place the sub anywhere' idea is nice for the living room (where it typically means 'out of sight', ie where your significant other won't see it) but it has no place in a studio, especially if you're going to actually mix or master audio tracks.

Have fun,
Arjan

Maybe I was over simplifying my method of sub placement.

A sub can be placed in a room in such a location that it does not exite the prevelant or most troublesome room modes.

A sub with a 4th order crossover at 80 Hz to the satelites is going to have little or no impact on transients due to phase:
Distance from head to satelites at listening position ~ 1.5 metres.
Distance from head to sub at listening position ~ 1.7m.
Wavelength at 80Hz ~ 4.28m.
Holding your head still is not really necesary when evaluating these low frequencies. It's only at high frequencies that small head movements can provoke tonal changes due to phase shift.

Also consider: the sub I use (and the music I make) has little or no output below 45Hz. Half wavelength at 45Hz is ~ 3.8m. Length of my music room ~ 3.8m and 1/3 of the back wall is occupied by an (open) doorway.

...And I subscribe to the empirical method of sub placement by placing it first at the listening position, then moving ones head around the room to find the location at which the sub sounds 'right'.

Over all, it's not perfect, but small satelites and a small sub are a legitimate method of getting good bass in a small room where monitors need to be placed against a wall.

Holding your head still is not really necesary when evaluating these low frequencies.

Very true, I was actually wondering if I should go back and edit that statement for clarity (ie quantify it) as I kinda anticipated that response after reading back my post.

A sub with a 4th order crossover at 80 Hz to the satelites is going to have little or no impact on transients due to phase:
Distance from head to satelites at listening position ~ 1.5 metres.
Distance from head to sub at listening position ~ 1.7m.

Your sub is at almost the same distance as your satellites so that's ok. It's the 'place the sub anywhere' bit that I objects against in this context. If the difference in distance gets larger (say >1.5m) it will affect transient perception at your listening position. It won't be nearly as bad as being in a null node of a standing wave but it still affects the impact.

And I subscribe to the empirical method

Absolutely. Calculating stuff is fun and sometimes necessary to prevent costly screwups but reality is hard to model so you need measurements to validate your setup. And when it comes to audio the best instruments for that are attached to the sides of your head

1/3 of the back wall is occupied by an (open) doorway

If that leads to a not too small space outside your room it could help tame your standing waves considerably since a lot of the LF energy may escape your room that way, essentially acting as a bass trap.

L8r,
Arjan