Small studio monitors

robrtnickerson · Post by **robrtnickerson** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 3:06 am

I am looking for a pair of small studio monitors. Cheap ones. They will be hooked up to my PC. I have found several brands and models that seem as though they would fit the bill, but I don't wanna pay for some glorified crap PC speakers, I already have some crappy Dell speakers. The monitors I have looked at have been in the $100 range from M-Audio, Alesis, Samson and several other brands. I was just wondering if any of you guys had experience with the smaller, more inexpensive monitors.

Haze · Post by **Haze** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 3:26 am

2.0 or 2.1? and how many moneys you looking to spend? KRK seems to be the standard/most popular because they are fairly transparent and come inexpensive. If its just home use and you don't need them to be too loud don't worry about a larger speaker. For monitors the larger speaker surface area will help with perceived volume and may project sound more efficiently but in a small environment like a bedroom the introductory ones should be sufficient.

robrtnickerson · Post by **robrtnickerson** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 3:51 am

KRK is more monies than I'm gonna spend. I know what I want as far as specs are concerned, I've done that much research. I just wondered if people on here had any of the small budget model monitors or had experience with them. Basically if you go to MF or music123 or any of those and search for the cheapest monitors than that is what I'm after. 2.0 btw.
http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/pr ... sku=603709

http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/pr ... sku=600589

http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/pr ... sku=581050

http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/pr ... sku=423105

These are the types I am after, there are several other brands but you get the idea

brambleperro · Post by **brambleperro** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 4:43 am

For that kind of money, you're basically going to get what you pay for. They'll sound decent, but they certainly won't be reference-worthy. If you're looking to just listen to music, the M-Audio ones are fairly reputable. If you want them for mixing, I'd recommend holding out for a better pair, or get some nice headphones. You can get a pair of Sony headphones for that price. The MDR-7506 could suit your needs.

Oh, and something like that will be useful for riding the bus and such, too!

robroe · Post by **robroe** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 4:43 am

VERTICAL MONO

Al_ · Post by **Al_** » Tue Jan 11, 2011 12:34 am

A bit above your budget, but I've heard good things about these: http://axiomaudio.com/m2.html

robrtnickerson · Post by **robrtnickerson** » Tue Jan 11, 2011 3:22 am

A bit above your budget, but I've heard good things about these: http://axiomaudio.com/m2.html

A bit above the budget, but not unreasonable at all if the quality is there. I'll be running these off of my PC, would I want powered monitors? I have been only looking at powered ones, but it just occurred to me that I may not need 'em. Whatever, I may have just divorced from my mind the notion that a $100 set of monitors would be worth a shit. Damn.

avj · Post by **avj** » Tue Jan 11, 2011 2:47 pm

I bought a set of M-Audio Studiophile AV 40 speakers after Thanksgiving; Amazon had them for $119 on Cyber Monday. I haven't had a chance to break them in properly yet, but they came extremely highly reviewed on every source I could find and I couldn't pass up that price. (I previously used a set of KRK V8 monitors.)

You really can't go wrong with any monitors you choose, assuming they're of good build quality. Once you choose some monitors or headphones, do nothing but listen to your favorite music on them for a few months -- music that you're really familiar with and have listened to in a variety of spaces and places. This will help you reverse-engineer the process when mixing through your new system of choice. You can also verify your mixes by taking them around to a variety of places (car, hifi system, digital music player with shitty headphones), which is something I always enjoy doing.

Al_ · Post by **Al_** » Tue Jan 11, 2011 4:16 pm

robrtnickerson wrote: A bit above the budget, but not unreasonable at all if the quality is there. I'll be running these off of my PC, would I want powered monitors? I have been only looking at powered ones, but it just occurred to me that I may not need 'em. Whatever, I may have just divorced from my mind the notion that a $100 set of monitors would be worth a shit. Damn.

Yeah, I noticed after I linked those that most of the models you were looking at were powered. That simplifies things to a degree; but in general you'll get a bettter "speaker" at that price point if the amplifier isn't included. What you'd need is a small amp to drive them--probably something on the order of 60W would suffice. If you have an old hi-fi or something else around you could use that until you have the budget to buy a small power amp.

Sloan · Post by **Sloan** » Tue Jan 11, 2011 6:39 pm

Get some used KRK Rokit 5's. I've been using mine since 2003 and they translate pretty good.

blacktaxi · Post by **blacktaxi** » Tue Jan 11, 2011 8:37 pm

i'll second sloan on KRK Rokit 5's.

i use M-Audio BX5, got them used for about $200 few years ago, they are awesome. if not these, i would go for KRKs.

paul_ · Post by **paul_** » Wed Jan 12, 2011 12:29 am

robroe wrote:VERTICAL MONO

MONOLITH

jim93 · Post by **jim93** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 11:19 pm

I would wait on craigslist for a while. I got some yamaha hs50 for 180 a pair .

Sloan · Post by **Sloan** » Tue Jan 18, 2011 2:42 am

^^^^^do that

jim93 · Post by **jim93** » Tue Jan 18, 2011 2:45 am

Ive also seen some pretty good custom homemade ones really cheap because the sellers cant find a market and just built them for fun on ebay but these are more subjective.

dezb1 · Post by **dezb1** » Tue Jan 18, 2011 1:21 pm

Jbl control 1 these are what I have used for years and they go for verymuch cheapness these days...

MikeG · Post by **MikeG** » Thu Jan 27, 2011 10:55 pm

I've got a set of the AV30s. Very impressed.

mattyb · Post by **mattyb** » Sat Feb 05, 2011 1:16 pm

I have the ferrari red KRK Rokit 6's. VERY highly recommended (with or without the ferrari red.)

singlepup · Post by **singlepup** » Mon Jan 23, 2012 10:21 am

jim93 wrote:I would wait on craigslist for a while. I got some yamaha hs50 for 180 a pair .

yes, i third jim & sloan's opinion. the yamahas translate very well. I have the hsm80 (8 inch) and they are the shit. Not amazingly high end but I think some of the best in this price range by far.

honestly, i would wait and save up. 8 inch monitors really provide so much more detail than 5 inch IMO.