Speaker, Speakers, Speakers!

Speakers are a controversial topic. Seems like everyone's got a different opinion about what speakers to use and which speakers actually work well. There are some fundamentals to consider, and once you do, the choices are more clear. Anyone have comments?

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The AV Technology Guy

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They are necessary for

They are necessary for MAKING music -
sure you may not want to the final mix on cans - but what about:
overdubs?
tracking a vocalist in the same room as the engineer(feedback?)
panning fx? (like really subtle ones only heard on cans.
a lot of people are listening to ipods these days and one should reference what they will hear.
i personally like to check bass on cans because the room can't throw you off.

--

Will work for gear :)



2cents - You should have an

2cents -
You should have an array of listening environments and not any one speaker will do the trick.
I have Tannoy Reveals, NS10's, Klien and Hummels, Sony MDRv700 head phones, pioneer car stereo, and the dinky one on my Mac.
No matter what speaker you have though, what is really important is knowing them. I like speakers that make me work, if i put up the faders and it sounds good then the speakers are forgiving and suitable for playback for the band but not mixing. The K and H are great for that, dark but super detailed.

--

Will work for gear :)



when a person mixes on real

when a person mixes on real reference "monitors" (not headphones) they are "acousticly coupled" to the "space" and "air/vibrations" you recieve at the ear from that room...meaning if your room is neutral and the monitors are true/flat....what you hear is what you mix and vise versa..."headphones" are not "acousticly coupled" to the "room" so the mix is not true to the "space" you/people will listen to it in..so when you listen to the mix that was mixed on headphones it sounds like crap in the currant room your listening in...acoustics of the room are "VERRY" importaint to the mix...thats why studios spend so much "MONEY" on acoustics...the monitors need to fit the budget and the acoustics of the room (the room should be acousticly treated if needed)...most of the time only one pair of monitors is not going to give you a good idea of the "real" sound of the mix in all listening inviroments (so compare your mix to your favorite cd and make it sound the same as that cd in that space)...but not all of us can aford more than one pair of monitors... so you get what works for you/budget...and do your best...
squid



I would NOT use headphones

I would NOT use headphones while makeing music!!

Here is the reason why:

I started off makeing music listening into headphones while i doing it [i didnt have speakers at the time]

Then when the day came and i got speakers,i listen'd to my songs [which sounded amazing in headphones] it sounded like pure CRAP!

The reason being,headphones and speakers while they do the same thing,they do not put out all of the same sounds.



I found that the M-Audio

I found that the M-Audio Studiophile (BX-5) monitors serve my purpose well, but only when coupled with a ten inch sub base speaker from Creative.

I also run my final mixes through a pair of Fender fifteen inch amps at the same time, and find this gives me quite a bit of dimension.

I practice with phones, Creative Aurvana DJ.

Chris in Indy ..........



grandhighgamer 99% of your

grandhighgamer 99% of your work will be reproduced by speakers and also bass frequencies cant reproduce well on headphones cause there is no space between the source and your ear so its better using monitors ;-)
I have Genelec 8020a(perferct for their size and price) and M-Audio monitors but i think ill go on Mackies at the near future

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_Kostopoulos Tasos - V. aka Cyberdelica_
_Composer/Sound Engineer_
|| http://www.electrogrooverecords.com ||
|| http://www.myspace.com/cyberdelicamusic ||



What really matters is where

What really matters is where your project is going. Listen to the project through the speakers the end listener is going to use. If its gaming then buy some cheap computer speakers or headphones. Its also good to have a other full range options to hear the session at its best. I have studio speakers and a sub for this. Also when it comes to how wide the stereo field is use a pair of studio headphones.

I'm not going to sell you a brand of speakers or headphones here but I will say look at what the pros are actually using. I've used some great speakers and some expensive ones too, but it comes down to the project you are doing.

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BJF Music Canada - for more info on what I do goto www.bjfmusic.com



I prefer closed headphones,

I prefer closed headphones, but thanks anyway.

I bought my first AKG phones in 1979. I am on my third pair now.



I try the Beyerdynamic

I try the Beyerdynamic Headphones .. DT 531 i like them more than the AKG they give me more details :) but for recording its useful to mix with speakers.
I´ve tested the big Fames... and i wondered they are very good pan and linear .

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www.samplestore.de



Oh, thank you. :)

Oh, thank you. :)