Studio Monitors

  • +1 for the HS8's, just remember playing through monitors will sound like playing through monitors no matter how much money you spend. High gain can take a while to adjust your ear to if you're used to tube amps and cabs but for an all in one solution for your stage, recording music and music playback, good quality monitors are the way to go

  • You need to be aware that the acoustics of your room can make a bigger difference than any speaker change so spending a few quid putting in some basic acoustic treatment is often a better use of funds than buying more expensive monitors.

    I'd like to strongly second this emotion. Just like you can play great at a gig but sound like crap if your sound man is asleep at the wheel, the most expensive monitors in the world will lie to you if they're in a room with poor acoustics. Even the low cost studio monitors available these days are really very good. Spending a few hundred on decent speakers such as those mentioned and then another few hundred on the room will give you much, much better results than spending the whole thing on more expensive monitors.


    Treating the room is actually more rocket science than just throwing up some Auralex panels and calling it done, as every room is different, offering different peaks and valleys that need attention. One size does not fit all. That said, even a little treatment, wisely placed, can make a big difference, especially if you just focus on how it sounds in the mix position.


    In addition to acoustic panels, there are software / hardware based solutions. There's a popular new plugin out there (Sonar Works, or something like that? Can't remember.) that lets you measure your room and then sets up a multiband parametric equalizer on your DAW's mix bus to compensate. You have to remember to take it out of the bus when rendering your tracks and a couple of other things, but it gives you the ability to tune your room.


    Of course, that doesn't do you much good if you just want to plug in the Stage and rock out. In addition to my acoustic panels, I also use a hardware solution, the DBX DriveRack PA2. It's the same concept. You do the measuring thing with a mic, and it then automatically creates an 8 band parametric EQ setup to compensate (editable, of course). Output of your Stage / mixer / audio interface / etc. goes into the DBX, output goes to the speakers.


    Technically, you could do this with a multiband equalizer before your speakers (which many of us did back in the day). In order to do that, you would also need to measure the frequency response of the room so you'd know what to tune, like cranking pink noise through the PA at a gig and running a real time analyzer to do exactly the same sort of thing. The VST plugin or the DBX unit offer the convenience of putting it all in a single package, with some automation. And you also don't have to endure minutes of pink noise, there's like a 5 second sweeping blip on each speaker and it's done.


    Whether you go the acoustic treatment route, use VST or hardware analyzers / equalizers, or a combination of the two, if it was my money I'd treat the room first and then with whatever I had left over buy the best monitors that budget would allow. You can always upgrade monitors in the future, but the room stays tuned forever.

    Kemper remote -> Powered toaster -> Yamaha DXR-10

  • I already have the headrush 108 that I use for gigs but I think lower volumes at home it sounds far from ideal lol. Studio monitors at home would def be better than the headrush 108 in my opinion

    I don't know...I don't have an issue with the HR 108 at home at lower volume. I do turn off the contour switch in the back of the speaker when playing at lower volumes.

  • Love my KRK VXT8's with the Kemper, sound is so defined even at low volumes and can be cranked to a level that could blow out the windows. +1 on the room treatment comments. Something to consider when buying monitors, In my case anyway, I opted for 2nd hand eBay VXTs vs brand new Rokits.......

  • So after some research, it doesn't seem feasible to do any room treatment right now since I won't be in my current place too much longer. This lead me to favor the iLoud Micro Monitors and the iLoud Micro MTM's the most. I have a small desk and smallish room so the Micro Monitors would be a convenient fit for that aspect, and apparently they're meant to provide a fantastic near field sound and I typically play right in front of my computer. So the Micro Monitor pairs checks the convenient, budget, and good enough sound boxes. However, since room treatment is so important and I can't do it right now, maybe I increase the budget for the MTM's which have an automatic "room calibration technology," which, "compensates for acoustic deficiencies." ----> Taken right from Sweetwater site. Usually with music gear, I tend to believe, Buy cheap, buy twice. Could be annoying to buy the micro pair and then a year later get the MTM's. Just talking out loud here lol.

  • Be careful not to confuse room “treatment” with isolation (often called soundproofing) which are two totally different things.


    Improving isolation is tricky if you don’t know what you are doing and it most definitely does require structural work that you wouldn’t want to do in a temporary space.


    However, you can do some really basic room treatment doesn’t need to be permanent or cause any damage to the walls and can be taken with you when you move.


    A few broadband absorber panels is a good starting point (unfortunately it won’t do much for the bass range but will help down to about 100hz). You can hang them from a picture hook or two so no worse than putting up a picture. If you are in the UK or Europe then the best material make them with is Rockwool RWA45. In North America the alternative is Owens Cornings OC703 Or maybe OC705 I can’t remember which is which.


    A pack of RWA45 which would make four 100mm deep 1200x600mm absorbers should cost around £20. Add in some cheap timber or MDF for a frame to hold it and a little hessian or curtain lining material to cover it and you can easily build panels for around £10-15 each. a few of these carefully positioned in the room can make a huge difference.

  • However, you can do some really basic room treatment doesn’t need to be permanent or cause any damage to the walls and can be taken with you when you move.

    As a working example, I used a DIY approach in the live room, approximately 30 feet x 20 feet. Here's the end result:

    https://www.happydragonmusic.com


    I bought a few boxes of 1 inch Owen Corning 703 insulation. They came in 4 foot by 2 foot by 1 inch sheets. Because it's pressed as opposed to rock wool, it was very easy to work with.

    https://www.acoustimac.com/owens-corning-703-1-12


    I also bought acoustic friendly / fire retardant fabric from the same vendor.

    https://www.acoustimac.com/aco…ically-transparent-fabric


    I used cardboard from big boxes for backing. I simply cut out a 4 foot x 2 foot piece of cardboard from the box, cut the fabric with a couple of inches of overlap, put the panel on the cardboard, wrapped it with cloth, and used shipping / packing tape on the back to tape the fabric to the cardboard. I then used the 3M Command Strips (kinda like Velcro but designed to be peeled off of a wall without damaging the paint) to mount them to the wall since fiberglass + cardboard weighs almost nothing.


    Cheesy as all that sounds, it actually came out looking fine cosmetically, and 1 inch was sufficient to tighten the room up nicely (I didn't want it totally dead). For taming unwanted reflections in your mix area, you can get a lot of mileage out of a small amount of money if you're willing to invest some elbow grease.


    As Alan points out, the upside of this approach is that you can use it in rental property to treat your room and then just take it with you when you move.

    Kemper remote -> Powered toaster -> Yamaha DXR-10

  • I will read more into this, thanks for the links

  • If you are hooked up straight to Kemper and into DAW then you don't need any acoustic decoration--only when using mics for recording. You can get away saving money by using a small closet at home and lining it with foam for an amp iso booth. Even works for singing if you are not claustrophobic.


    My wife wants all my amps in the closet when in use. ;)

    Larry Mar @ Lonegun Studios. Neither one famous yet.

  • If you are hooked up straight to Kemper and into DAW then you don't need any acoustic decoration--only when using mics for recording. You can get away saving money by using a small closet at home and lining it with foam for an amp iso booth. Even works for singing if you are not claustrophobic.


    My wife wants all my amps in the closet when in use. ;)

    I am not planning on any recording at the moment, just want some monitors to play songs and my kemper through. Right now Im just using headphones through Kemper and cable from kemper to computer so I can get the tunes through my headphones