Affordable speakers that aren't proper studio monitors? iLoud Micro Monitors?

[mgw38]

The good thing is that they probably reflect most people's speakers better than professional monitors do.
So, if a production sounds fine on the crappy Creative speakers, it will sound good to most people.

Trouble is, it'll sound like crap on any half decent speakers. In theory, mixes done on studio monitors will sound good everywhere.

I am not so sure of that, actually.

No? Which studio monitors do you have experience mixing on?

You need to have a professional grade studio setup for that to be true.

[quincy]

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone. Those budget Tannoy 402 monitors seem to have great reviews and a pair would only be about £200 so great value.

I’ve thought about a decent pair of headphones before and I certainly wouldn’t rule it out. I’ve only ever owned “consumer” headphones but I understand that there are some good budget monitor headphones in the £100-200 range.

I’ve read many good things about ath m50x and I’m sure there are many other good options. I also won’t annoy my wife with speaker noise when she’s next door watching TV!!

[rifftrax]

Look for some used Focal 8XX series or above. I picked up a pair of cobalt 806s for like $350 shipped (ebay) and they are pretty unreal in terms of price vs performance. I think new they were close to $2k but they're not very well known monitors these days.

[fluffy_little_something]

The good thing is that they probably reflect most people's speakers better than professional monitors do.
So, if a production sounds fine on the crappy Creative speakers, it will sound good to most people.

Trouble is, it'll sound like crap on any half decent speakers. In theory, mixes done on studio monitors will sound good everywhere.

I am not so sure of that, actually.

No? Which studio monitors do you have experience mixing on?

The problem is more on the listener's side. A song might be produced ideally, but end devices sound very different from each other. What sounds great on a HiFi system, might not sound so good on an average car stereo or boombox.
Not to mention mono vs 2.0 vs surround speaker systems.

[vurt]

The good thing is that they probably reflect most people's speakers better than professional monitors do.
So, if a production sounds fine on the crappy Creative speakers, it will sound good to most people.

Trouble is, it'll sound like crap on any half decent speakers. In theory, mixes done on studio monitors will sound good everywhere.

I am not so sure of that, actually.

No? Which studio monitors do you have experience mixing on?

The problem is more on the listener's side. A song might be produced ideally, but end devices sound very different from each other. What sounds great on a HiFi system, might not sound so good on an average car stereo or boombox.
Not to mention mono vs 2.0 vs surround speaker systems.

but a well mixed album will sound good on thw different set ups.
eg take any Michael Jackson recording, sounds good on a good system, but still sounds good on some mono radio in a garage
mixed and mastered using hi-quality monitors, yes the environment is important too.


the most important things for a hobbyist are, stay within budget and learn your set up, listen to lots of music on it, see where it has strengths and weaknesses. do the same with some practice mixes, get them sounding good on the monitors, then make note of where the faults are on as many systems as possible.

[fluffy_little_something]

I don't think it's so easy.
There are not even standards for what a good sound is. Different people hear things differently.
The human hearing is not flat, either, so flatness is not really a criterion. So, should one boost certain frequencies to please the human hearing? If so, how will different end devices react to those boosts?
Even the genre might play a role.

[vurt]

so we should record and mix using every available possible system? or its not worth even bothering, just turn out any recording?

what exactly are you advocating?

[mgw38]

...make note of where the faults are on as many systems as possible.

That is probably the key statement. When I started making music I thought I could just get a good monitor setup and work with that. Boy, was I wrong. The reality is that I can get it sound really good on 6 different systems and then, for whatever reason, the mix suddenly collapses completely on system number 7. Experience is what separates the boys from the men, I guess.

[vurt]

well, that and our big boy hair.

[fluffy_little_something]

so we should record and mix using every available possible system? or its not worth even bothering, just turn out any recording?

what exactly are you advocating?

Not sure frankly. I am just an amateur, but I think if I had to deliver a good production, I would use mostly good studio headphones for checking details, and a decent standard stereo for checking whether it sounds pleasant and in line with the genre.

[transmetropolitan]

What you guys are circling around is the issue of mix translation. That is, a mix that translates so it sounds good on anything from a mobile phone speaker to a PA.

To this end, checking your mixes on a variety of different systems can be helpful.

But as I mentioned earlier in this thread, mixing is about making decisions - if you cannot hear what is going on in your mix, you cannot hope to learn what you need to do to respond to any problem.

So the goal from monitoring is to get a system that is as accurate as possible, that you know really well, understand and learn to trust. And then to check how your mixes translate on other systems. And over time your decision making will get quicker, better and more consistent.