KVR Audio

mattsamore · Post by **mattsamore** » Tue Jul 12, 2016 3:39 am

I have a YouTube channel that I started as a hobby but is growing to a point where I want to invest some equipment so I can produce better music. I've been using really crappy speakers for the longest time now, and was now thinking of purchasing better speakers to create better sounding music but I have a question. What's the difference between Audio Monitors and normal Speakers? My dad's a bit of an Audiophile and after a bit of research, he recommended I buy KEF Q100w Bookshelf speakers. While I have yet to go into a store to hear the sound (I'm sure it sounds amazing), is it ideal for music production?

Shabdahbriah · Post by **Shabdahbriah** » Tue Jul 12, 2016 4:16 am

mattsamore wrote:I have a YouTube channel that I started as a hobby but is growing to a point where I want to invest some equipment so I can produce better music. I've been using really crappy speakers for the longest time now, and was now thinking of purchasing better speakers to create better sounding music but I have a question. What's the difference between Audio Monitors and normal Speakers? My dad's a bit of an Audiophile and after a bit of research, he recommended I buy KEF Q100w Bookshelf speakers. While I have yet to go into a store to hear the sound (I'm sure it sounds amazing), is it ideal for music production?

The KEF Q100w's are indeed, lovely speakers, but not for "mixing". The object/function of near-field monitors is to be as 'flat' and uncoloured as possible. e.g: if you 'mixed' your tracks on "Bose" speakers, what other people would hear would be very different than what you thought sounded good. (only on them).

I've been very pleased with a pair of JBL's, w/powered sub:
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/LSR305

and an old pair of Alesis Monitor One MK-2's (passives) I've had since forever, to compare.

BertKoor · Post by **BertKoor** » Tue Jul 12, 2016 8:59 am

The main difference between regular hifi speakers and monitoring speakers, is their designed purpose:

* Hifi speakers are designed to sound appealing in a living room, positioned some meters away from the listener, allowing the room acoustics to play a big part.
* Nearfield monitoring speakers are designed to sound unforgiving, positioned less than 2 meters away from the listener, taking away (as much as possible) the acoustic influence of the room.

The goal is: if it sounds good on nearfield monitors, you can trust it also sounds good on any hifi speaker. Therefore it's also called a reference monitor. It should reveal things you'd not hear on a specific set of hifi speakers, but would stick out as a souring thumb on other hifi speakers.

Having said that, anything is better than crappy speakers. I'd rather have a good set of hifi speakers than a bad set of monitoring speakers (which do exist! ) So in the end you'd have to listen to them and preferrably compare side to side.

ATN69 · Post by **ATN69** » Tue Jul 12, 2016 9:04 am

Another important factor is that you need to get used to what ever monitors / speakers you use. In time and by listening to them you will know them and the sound they put out. You will know how a good mix sound like in your system. The ultimate goal is to make a mix that sound good no matter if you play the Music in your car, computer, ear phones, etc.

do_androids_dream · Post by **do_androids_dream** » Tue Jul 12, 2016 9:46 am

Basically nothing. Oh, apart from some marketing bs

Yeah, designed purpose and all that.. but it's really about getting used to whatever speakers/monitors you have enough so that you can make good decisions with them.

Michael Brauer reckons he does most of his monitoring on a cheap Sony boombox located far enough away that stereo imaging can't even be heard - make of that what you will

Sparky77 · Post by **Sparky77** » Wed Jul 13, 2016 4:20 pm

mattsamore wrote:I have a YouTube channel that I started as a hobby but is growing to a point where I want to invest some equipment so I can produce better music. I've been using really crappy speakers for the longest time now, and was now thinking of purchasing better speakers to create better sounding music but I have a question. What's the difference between Audio Monitors and normal Speakers? My dad's a bit of an Audiophile and after a bit of research, he recommended I buy KEF Q100w Bookshelf speakers. While I have yet to go into a store to hear the sound (I'm sure it sounds amazing), is it ideal for music production?

Keep in mind, if you want to reproduce your mixes accurately on other stereos, then you can only do this with flat monitors.
Professional monitors are designed for this use but home stereo speakers are not.

do_androids_dream · Post by **do_androids_dream** » Wed Jul 13, 2016 10:02 pm

Sparky77 wrote:Keep in mind, if you want to reproduce your mixes accurately on other stereos, then you can only do this with flat monitors.

No truth to that statement whatsoever I'm afraid.

DesertSound · Post by **DesertSound** » Thu Jul 14, 2016 12:03 am

Monitors are built to take more abuse. Many also have power amps built into them with 1/4" or XLR input jacks. Home speakers are powered by a separate amp and have speaker wire inputs. The sound of studio monitors are also usually more directional with the soundstage focused to a single point. Home speakers on the other hand have wide dispersion and attempt to fill the room with a sound which sounds similar at any point in the room. Monitors will also be relatively less colored (less hyped on the high and low frequencies) than home speakers.

What's the difference between Audio Monitors and Speakers?