KVR Audio

priyankeshu · Post by **priyankeshu** » Fri Apr 11, 2014 8:21 am

been reading about importance of monitors. I certainly understand the importance of good monitors.

I do not have money to buy monitors at the moment. So I have some questions...

The questions I have are>

1. Is it possible to get a passable result using multimedia speakers?

2. If i use multimedia speakers. is it okay to use 2.1 vs 2.0 speakers?

Apart from this, do you know any examples/people who have mixed using only small speakers? One example i remember is Michael Jackson's Thriller...

Kindly let me know!

MadAnthony81 · Post by **MadAnthony81** » Fri Apr 11, 2014 9:10 am

There are tiny speakers you can buy, I find very few studio monitors are even worth while. BEcause they make them not even worth getting. I like my bx5a I got used. Theyre on sale now now. the d2 would be nice.

Very few studio monitors are made properly. Wait till Easter. thell be sales.

ghettosynth · Post by **ghettosynth** » Fri Apr 11, 2014 9:17 am

priyankeshu wrote:been reading about importance of monitors. I certainly understand the importance of good monitors.

I do not have money to buy monitors at the moment. So I have some questions...

The questions I have are>

1. Is it possible to get a passable result using multimedia speakers?

2. If i use multimedia speakers. is it okay to use 2.1 vs 2.0 speakers?

Apart from this, do you know any examples/people who have mixed using only small speakers? One example i remember is Michael Jackson's Thriller...

Kindly let me know!

Who told you that thriller was mixed on "multimedia speakers?" You are probably thinking of the Auratone 5Cs that Quincy Jones referred to as "the truth" speakers.

Yes, they're simple and there is something to be said for a full range (single speaker) monitor, but not very many people work that way.

But back to the question, passable results for what? Just use what you have and write music. If it doesn't sound good on other systems, then the answer to your question is no. I think that a lot of people overrate the use of monitors. I have a pair, they're somewhat expensive, but not by professional standards, I don't use them much because a lot my music activity isn't "mixing." It's jamming, writing, working things out. I do that on bigger speakers. In my case a pair of Alto TS210s and a JBL18" sub. It's not an "accurate" setup at all, but I don't worry about uncompressed vocals stressing my monitors either.

kritikon · Post by **kritikon** » Fri Apr 11, 2014 2:48 pm

1. Is it possible to get a passable result using multimedia speakers?

Yeah, it's possible, but you have to get used to how they affect the sound. Mixing on them will sound radically different when you play it back on a HiFi or anything even remotely full range. But all you do is get used to how they overemphasize the highs or bass etc, and adjust your mixes accordingly. I recently got a set of Logitech speakers with sub, just because all my studio is packed away ready for a house move, so no real speakers etc. Must admit i was a bit surprised at how the bass sounded quite acceptable, although the actual balance between highs/lows was crap, and the midrange is pretty...errr...awful, I think, is the word. And they're even more susceptible to speaker positioning too - I move my head 4 inches up or down and the sound changes radically.
But just play lots of commercial music of a similar style to yours and get used to how it sounds. Make your mix sound similar and you'll be close. You'll find that mixing on el cheapo speakers will be a little strange at first - you have to boost and pull down all sorts of things that at first hearing sound OK.

But it's like with almost any speaker - most of them colur the sound in their own way (as does the room) and you make concessions for it.

2. If i use multimedia speakers. is it okay to use 2.1 vs 2.0 speakers?

Yes

murnau · Post by **murnau** » Fri Apr 11, 2014 2:57 pm

load up some tracks you mixed with them and you'll get a real answer.

priyankeshu · Post by **priyankeshu** » Sat Apr 12, 2014 6:35 pm

thanks all for the great tips there... i like the idea of matching it with reference track!

mifzan · Post by **mifzan** » Wed Apr 16, 2014 12:00 am

well, basically it doesn't really mater what speaker you're using. You could literally use anything and achieve any sound. A good example could be zedd's old song (he stated it in an interview on 2013)

DJ Warmonger · Post by **DJ Warmonger** » Wed Apr 16, 2014 10:19 am

You can achieve good results with some nice casual speakers. Don't need to buy high-fidelity monitors until you have good listening skills. I mean, no point to hear unlimited depth of details if you can't tell what's actually going on and deal with it on mixing stage.

tehlord · Post by **tehlord** » Wed Apr 16, 2014 10:33 am

Not all multimedia speakers are created equal of course. If it's a $20 bargain bin pair then it's highly unlikely you'll be able to hear any useful information out of them.

Far better to buy a cheaper pair of decent monitoring headphones tbh, and use the multimedia speakers to reference on.

SASonlinemastering · Post by **SASonlinemastering** » Fri Apr 18, 2014 11:49 am

I would advise waiting or using a set of 1/2 decent hi-fi speakers. Multi-media speakers will be a serious compromise to good results. The speakers you work with will affect every decision you make... good decisions will mean good mixes. You can guess what bad decisions make.

MadAnthony81 · Post by **MadAnthony81** » Wed Apr 23, 2014 9:35 am

I would also recommend those brand GENERIC headphones., I got mine in green and tghey are only 64 ohm so they really don't get loud but actually for 7 bucks they sound sgreat and don't break like the reviews said by some people.
7 bucks I think theyre called GENERIC dj headphones at amazon. they sound real good to me for 7 bucks and im sure I can mix decent witht hem too. sounds crazy but its true. I can turn them up on my ipod and they don't burn or smell, or distort at all., and ive listedn to some of my tracks on them with saturation and they still don't burn and smell.

monitors questions