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My studio monitors just died. What should I get?
I had a very high quality studio set from about 25 years ago. (NHT Pro MT-00)
I still have the Subwoofer and it's working fine. Not sure if I can use it with more modern sets or not.
Greatly appreciate your recommendations for a reasonably priced good quality set of speakers. I'm inclined to take a look at Presonus. Seems to remember they have very good value studio monitors.
They don't have to be flat field studio monitors necessarily. Maybe just a really good set of speakers is good enough?
Thanks for any leads!
Greg
Comments
Have a look at kali audio lp6 - they are so good for the money.
Thats what I might be buying soon but not sure as they might have some hiss, plus I wont treat my room and they will also be right next to my ears. 300 plus stands is on the way to buying better headphones or a lyra 8, a new drum machine that releases, a new elektron release or something. Dont mind if they are good and I see people who dont bother with treatment. Would be good to be free of cans but not if I can hear more with them.
What do you mean by 'died'?
I been eyeing up the IK Multimedia iLoud Micro speakers apparently they patch a punch for the size and seen a lot of iOS musicians use them. The Amazon price is usually better.
https://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/iloudmm/?pkey=iloud-micro-monitor-white-special-edition
Thanks! They do look very good and right at the edge of what I would be able to spend...
Also considering these. Should I eliminate any?:
KRK Rokit 5 G4 Studio Monitor Speaker Bundle
Mackie Creative Reference Multimedia Monitor
PreSonus Eris E5
PreSonus Eris E44
Behringer MS16
JBL Professional 305P MkII
M-Audio AV42
One of the speakers just stopped working. troubleshot for a couple hours and talked to engineer at factory. It would cost a minimum of $200 to send in and may not be fixable. So the prospect of getting new ones seems easier and cheaper.
Thanks! Hadn't considered these! I will now though...
The KRK have really good word of mouth.
The JBL 305P's my kid stole from me for his studio, and they're on sale at BH Photo right now for $129 each, which is a good deal. They sound good to me, but I haven't really worked with them. I would say don't get the cheap Mackie monitors.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/998214-REG/jbl_lsr305_sr305_5_2_way_powered.html/?lsft=BI:514&gclid=EAIaIQobChMItajHsZfU5QIVFYbVCh2-vgLOEAQYAiABEgLS-_D_BwE
I’d recommend Adam ruban monitor (as far as I remember) the A8X are great, more expansive also but...maybe the A6x or something ?
Listened to a pair of A8X to a friend place and was really impressed by the quality of sound and stereo image provided ...
Thank you!
These look great and I bet they sound great but they are out of range for me. Hope I can find a pair for closer to $300 that will provide clarity and accuracy. Don't need power or loudness. My studio is in a tiny bedroom
Might be worth seeing if someone local can do it though. If it just stopped it's almost certainly the amp, and quite likely the power supply. There's nothing particularly complicated in an amplifier, no tiny proprietary chips or the like, so not very hard to fix.
See if you can get 6” something, I have never gotten good translation from a 5” monitor. 8” is best, but I understand your music making zone is small.
Given the age of your monitors, it's likely to be the power supply capacitors. If they've gone bad, you might be able to spot which are dead by looking for leakage. Power supply caps are usually pretty easy to replace.
You got a great list here, i would delete the behringer and the M-audio. Add the kali audio lp6.
Thanks! Good to know.
hmmm. Maybe I'll try and take it apart tomorrow just in case I can see something obvious.
Thanks Trevor. The Kali is looking pretty tempting.
Krk all the way. If your going super simple/compact, IK Micros.
I have had zero hiss from the lp6’s & although I use balanced cables when I first got them I set them up with unbalanced cables & even then there was zero hiss. I have to use a smallish fairly cluttered untreated space & the fact the bass is front ported means they can go against the wall which for me was a big advantage.
Yes I can confirm the difference between the Rockit 5 and Rockit 6 is substantial and well worth the upgrade. You can always add a sub later if you’re lacking bass but I’ve never felt the need for one in my small(ish) space.
Good to know. Think my u44 is unbalanced. Thanks Lurcher.
I have these.... These are ok...
https://www.thomann.de/gb/adam_t7v_desktop_stand_bundle.htm
@gkillmaster if you can, listen to the A3X from Adam... The KRK recommended here are also a good choice AMHO the Presonus might be cool (never listened to them, but they have good feedback on tests I read.)
I’ve been using the KRK’s for about a year now, very happy with them. I’d go for a bigger set though, as mine don’t always pick up as much bass as they should.
KRK6’s are a great value. IK Micromonitors are also amazing.
Micros are mostly great because of small footprint (easy to move around or travel, power off power brick on beach often), bluetooth, EQs switches and sharp looks. Unbelievable the sound they accomplish being so tiny. Magic really. They also have a cool led that monitors clipping.
KRK6’s are huge in comparison but capable of providing much more balanced mixes if bass is a focus of your creations. In this case, you get what you pay for and additional expense is obvious when comparing KRK6 vs Micro head to head.
Both are very well priced and great value but again, if you do trap/hip hop the Micros rattle with sub sounds unless played very low volumes. I usually mix in cans and playback on Micros, Krks then car speakers. I’m no pro engineer but since doing it this way my mixes have improved drastically.
I am listing my extra sets of both (Ferrari gray KRK6 & IK Micros) on EBay shortly if anyone here local to Soflo is interested in savings and want dibs. I’ve sold/given plenty of gear to members here if references are needed. Any shipping cost is responsibility of buyer.
Thank you!
the IK Micro Monitors look like they are 3", right? I guess in this case the size isn't as much as an issue?
I still have my very large heavy NHT bass woofer. Can I hook the studio monitors up through the bass speaker I have? It has 1/4" in and out for right and left.
The A3X are top (and expensive!). The high end is sweeeeeeeet
If I get a Active MTM Near Field Monitor, like the Presonus E44, would I need 2 or just 1? Looks like there are 2 speakers the same size in the one speaker box...