KVR Audio

benjamind · Post by **benjamind** » Fri Jul 15, 2005 4:30 am

I've narrowed it down to a choice between these two:

Edirol MA-20D at $499 or Behringer Truth B2031A at $560.

What do you guys think?

Ben

mark77 · Post by **mark77** » Fri Jul 15, 2005 4:37 am

A friend of mine has a pair of behringer truths, they sound good, but then again i dont have the experience to make honest comparisons to anything since i havent heard that many monitors. Plus how it sounds in his room will sound different in your room, etc, and so basically this is something that is purely subjective. I heard some bad things about the behringer thruths, but i cant remember what it was or even if it was true. My best advice would be to ask people at the shops, more than anything my concerns would be how fatigueing the sound would be. I mean monitors are monitors they shouldnt be THAT far off accuracy wise, but given that they're accurate, they should be at leat a little bit satisfying to listen to for long periods of time.

benjamind · Post by **benjamind** » Fri Jul 15, 2005 4:56 am

I can get the MA20D for $418, after a bit of checking. So that helps a bit. The thing is, I'm not sure how they compare. I need someone who knows the differences between these two monitors to give me some idea of what to expect.

Thanks for your input,
Ben

BONES · Post by **BONES** » Fri Jul 15, 2005 5:23 am

I have been very happy with my MA-10's and considered upgrading to the MA-20D but decided I had better things to do with my cash. I've not really had a good listen to either though but these days I don't see the need to agonise over these decisions as its pretty hard to find a poor set. Once you have lived with them for a while and learned how they sound, you will be able to get good results from whatever you decide to get.

benjamind · Post by **benjamind** » Fri Jul 15, 2005 6:37 am

The good thing with the MA20Ds is that they accept a digital input. My Yamaha reciever has an output aux digital so that I can just switch between my standard speaker setup and the monitor setup with ease.

fabriknos · Post by **fabriknos** » Sun Jul 17, 2005 5:51 am

ive got a pair of the MA20Ds and they sound great for TV, movies and the like. but not very good for producing music. they lack those essential low freqs from about 30hz to 90hz - seriously, they dont represent low end well at all. however they sound spectacular with mids and high-mids, such as an acoustic guitar, dialogue, sound fx and other non-bassy material.

the digital in is nice. also nice to be able to hook up via RCA or quarter inch. another downside, though, is you have to power the left speaker with the right one which can cause some volume balance issues. after plugging mine in for the first time, i noticed one speaker seemed a tad louder than the other. turned out i needed a new RCA cable and that solved the issue. still, that's somewhat of an inconvenience.

the behringer truths i don't like for production either as they simply dont have the components of more expensive models such as mackie 824s, krk v8s, event sp8s and so forth (i know - totally different price range - but after hearing them its hard not to use them in comparisons). they dont have the most accurate low end - they sound good at first but on repetitive mixing you will notice their limitations. they require "frequency workarounds" as i call it, meaning they are not as accurate as you think, once you test your mixes on other systems.

why pay any amount of money if you are not getting accurate results? my suggestion would be to save up a little bit longer and get a more professional pair - your ears, and your fans, will thank you in the long run. i just put the MA20Ds on my TV set and now have a pair of KRK V8s rockin the studio. best choice i made in a long time regarding my music.

fabriknos · Post by **fabriknos** » Sun Jul 17, 2005 6:16 am

(just for the record though, if those are your final two options, go for the Truths. they are actually more in the 'professional monitor' field than the MA20ds, which are considered 'micro monitors')

benjamind · Post by **benjamind** » Wed Jul 20, 2005 11:12 am

What about Yamaha MSP5A? Has anyone used these and can they attest to it's performance. I keep hearing good things about these, that they translate well and they can go fairly loud. Not sure about anything else, but was reading in an Australian forum about them.

the_nihilist · Post by **the_nihilist** » Wed Jul 20, 2005 4:03 pm

Save up for a good pair of monitors in the $1000 range... you'll be alot better off, and never have to worry about buying another pair for years.

fabriknos · Post by **fabriknos** » Wed Jul 20, 2005 8:56 pm

yeah, that's the ideal thing to do, but going from a $350 pair to a $1000 pair is a big jump and could take months to save up for, months where you've got the creative juices flowing, and just need something to get those ideas down as good as you can. a good compromise would be to buy a decent pair of headphones until you've got enough money for pro monitors, cause you'll want good headphones anyway. my recommendations are the 500 or 700 series from Ultrasone, they blow my MDR-7506s out of the water.

BONES · Post by **BONES** » Wed Jul 20, 2005 11:18 pm

Once you get used to their sound, you can do good work with relatively cheap monitors. I managed to finish two albums, and master the latest one, with my MA-10's and the label has been very happy with the results. If I bought new monitors, it would only be to get louder ones.

whyterabbyt · Post by **whyterabbyt** » Wed Jul 20, 2005 11:26 pm

Ive got the Truths, but (IMO) it possibly matters less as to which ones you go for than how familiar you are with them. Spend a while routing all your favourite CD's through them, and you'll get a decent idea of them in context... and be able to work around any shortcomings in their response. Nobody else is ever going to hear what you do anyway.

mandolarian · Post by **mandolarian** » Thu Jul 21, 2005 12:17 am

whyterabbyt wrote:Nobody else is ever going to hear what you do anyway.

Especially the voices!!! Please stop the voices!

Just to make your decision harder, two other worthy canidates:
Yorkville YSM1p active monitor 400.00/pr range
Tannoy Reveal Actives $500ish per pair

Would choose those two over the Truths or the MA20 units. But that's just what the voices tell me to tell you.

fabriknos · Post by **fabriknos** » Thu Jul 21, 2005 3:00 am

i have to strongly disagree with the notion that cheap monitors are "just fine after you get used to them." i can get used to drinking Budweiser, but it will never be as good a beer as an Anchor Steam. there are reasons that there are such huge price differences between monitors - you get what you pay for, and if you only pay $150 for speakers, you are going to have to deal with their shortcomings.

i'm amazed, Bones, that you were able to master tracks on MA-10s... are you actually a mastering engineer, or bedroom producer? (no offense intended by that question, btw) because i don't know one mastering engineer that would even think of working on little speakers like that - and it's not just the volume they put out, its the amps they can handle, the frequencies they reach, the STN ratio, maximum SPL, and a zillion other things. they may sound good to your ears, much like a car stereo can get tuned to sound good, but it still doesnt mean your frequences are getting represented right. i'm amazed you can produce on those things! there is no bass whatsoever, just a general 100hz "presence."

there are Hyundais, and there are BMWs. in the same way, there are Edirols and Behringers, and there are Dynaudios and Genelecs. i'll say it again, you get what you pay for. and you'll never know the differences until you A/B these things.

A_Gruesome_Discovery · Thu Jul 21, 2005 3:14 am

...Worthy of note is the often terrible quality of D/A converters on monitors with digital inputs in this pricerange. I wouldn't let digital ins be a mitigating factor in your final decision. I suppose it's nice keeping your signal "digital until the very end", but a cheap D/A will make your cheap monitors sound cheaper. Unless, of course, the D/A on your soundcard is worse than that of these monitors, in which case I'd say "buying new monitors" should be moved a bit further down your to-do list.

Edirol MA20D or Behringer Truth???