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What Nearfield monitors or headphones are you using and why?


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There are many Nearfield monitors on the market, some old and some more recent. Many are promoted as being Pro standard but are hyped so that they will sell to any musician that is setting up a small studio. It would be good to hear what monitors Songstuff members are using and if they are pleased with the mixes they are getting from them.

 

My studio is small only 8ft 6in long X 6ft wide with an adjacent vocal booth of similar size. I used to use a small pair of 3" Harbeth nearfields but only for tracking and never for mixing which was always done by one of the producers that I work with. During the past year I have treated my studio and installed base traps in all 4 corners and midpoints of the ceiling. I also installed sound diffusers on the rear wall and decided that I would chance my arm with a larger pair of monitors that hopefully would not be too large for my room. I did a hell of a lot of research before I decided on the ones that would suit.

 

The monitors that I chose were the Neumann KH120 active and am very pleased with my choice. They are very accurate across the frequencies and are tweakable at the back to suit room dynamics. I have found that what I hear in tests through them translates very well to various other music systems around my house. We have yet to try a major mix so I will post one when completed. 

 

I also use Beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro and Sennheiser HD 595 open headphones to cross reference.

 

What do you use and why?

Edited by Ray888
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I bought the M-Audio BX5 monitors as they got a decent review for budget speakers. The sound is good and you can hear the separation when you are mixing, although I tend to do all my music using my Sennheiser HD205 studio headphones as my daughters don't tend to appreciate my music:censored2:

 

Budget equipment is fine for me at the moment, as I always thought about moving up to working at a proper studio for mixing etc when the time comes.

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I have a pair of M-Audio BX8's . Unfortunately some dust got into the pan pot of my interface volume control and popped. It took out a tweeter on one of them.The tweeter didn't completely blow. It just had a high range honk in it after that. That model is discontinued. I found another tweeter used online and put it in. I can still hear a slight clink in the upper ranges. They are still probably ok for basic work but after that incident I decided to look for new monitors.Old monitors can make a great mini pa system BTW. The BX8's sound pretty good with  stereo guitar effects plugged into it.

 

I ended up with a pair of JBL LSR305's. I'm really glad I made that choice since they are an excellent mid level monitor capable of making some wonderful mixes. I also use a smaller recording space. Having the 305 as opposed to the 308 works better in a small studio. I wrote probably more than you ever want to read about it here-

http://www.recordinghound.com/jbl-lsr305-studio-monitors-recording-hound-review/

 

As to the "why". I'm not in the business of charging to record so I can't justify a pair of Adams unless I hit the lottery. I decided to look for monitors in only one price range. TBH I was never thrilled by JBL and it took some convincing to get me to buy them. They have a winner here. Others worthy  mentions   in a simlar price range are monitors by Yamaha, Alesis, Mackie.

 

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4 minutes ago, starise said:

I have a pair of M-Audio BX8's . Unfortunately some dust got into the pan pot of my interface volume control and popped. It took out a tweeter on one of them.The tweeter didn't completely blow. It just had a high range honk in it after that. That model is discontinued. I found another tweeter used online and put it in. I can still hear a slight clink in the upper ranges. They are still probably ok for basic work but after that incident I decided to look for new monitors.Old monitors can make a great mini pa system BTW. The BX8's sound pretty good with  stereo guitar effects plugged into it.

 

I ended up with a pair of JBL LSR305's. I'm really glad I made that choice since they are an excellent mid level monitor capable of making some wonderful mixes. I also use a smaller recording space. Having the 305 as opposed to the 308 works better in a small studio. I wrote probably more than you ever want to read about it here-

http://www.recordinghound.com/jbl-lsr305-studio-monitors-recording-hound-review/

 

As to the "why". I'm not in the business of charging to record so I can't justify a pair of Adams unless I hit the lottery. I decided to look for monitors in only one price range. TBH I was never thrilled by JBL and it took some convincing to get me to buy them. They have a winner here. Others worthy  mentions   in a simlar price range are monitors by Yamaha, Alesis, Mackie.

 

I've had JBL 12", Alesis, Quested18", Harbeth 3", Yamaha NS10s, and 7" BBC monitors in the past. As you have pointed out, it always comes down to budget and what you can get for your buck. Like yours I don't hire out my studio because it is in my home and I tend to want to get to know what people are like before working with them.

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  • 3 months later...
  • Noob

If you only ever use headphones for mixing, it's all too easy to misjudge your mixes. Common mistakes include making the stereo field too narrow, and not splashing enough reverb onto vocals and synth parts, leaving them overly dry. Judging how much of any effect to use should be a decision that's made through listening on both cans and monitors.

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  • 1 month later...
  • Noob
On ‎10‎/‎1‎/‎2017 at 6:27 PM, tenrynice said:

If you only ever use headphones for mixing, it's all too easy to misjudge your mixes. Common mistakes include making the stereo field too narrow, and not splashing enough reverb onto vocals and synth parts, leaving them overly dry. Judging how much of any effect to use should be a decision that's made through listening on both cans and monitors.

I'm on a shoestring budget so I mix with GC sale AT cans... but I then listen to my mixes in my car. I read most music is still listened to in cars.

 

:)

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Hi Mark, Welcome!  I guess we use what we can right?  

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  • 4 weeks later...

Event 20/20 BAS (+ sub) because they sound good at a price I can afford. I have my room treated, too, which is probably MORE important than monitors (unless you have truly crappy ones, lol).

 

I wish I could afford a pair of Focal Solo6 Be 6.5 and a new sub to go with them...and a pony....and a shiny plastic rocket....and.... and.....

:P

 

--TC

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