studio monitors under 300 a pair under 200 usd would be even better.

[stillshaded]

Save up just a bit more and get these: http://www.equatoraudio.com/mobile/Prod ... x?id=37391

Just do it.

Monitors are the last thing you want to skimp on. What good is omnisphere if you can't accurately hear what it's doing?

I kind of agree with most of your points but still IMO monitors are the most important thing in the studio. Though you can never blame a bad mix on monitors, I've seen first hand how many producers create better mixes when they get some decent monitors (and set them up correctly).

I guess like you said monitors can be flat but not detailed.. The same goes for a mix, on crappy monitors you can make it flat but I think it's more difficult to make a detailed mix.

At the end of the day I would just say that anything below 300 is not worth the money, might as well pick up some decent hifi speakers from the pawn shop.

[Spiritos]

They're much underrated. I'm using the 601a's now, although they've been discontinued now I notice in favour of the new 401/501/801 range.

I second the (new) Tannoys. I have the Tannoy 502's and compared them to the Tannoy 601/Rokit RPG3/ Yamaha HS-5/Alesis MKII/Mackie MR5 MK3 and found them to be to most crisp, yet with a very tight punch.

They do have quite an audible 'hiss' (maybe because they're not grounded) but I have them placed about 70 cm away from where I sit and then I don't hear it.

[tehlord]

My 601a's actually hiss a LOT less than the HS80s I had previously. I think it's as much to do with your overall setup as the monitor themselves.

The alternative is a good set of monitoring headphones of course, and I reference my Tannoys with some AKG 701's which are pretty much superior in every possible way to an average untreated monitoring setup.

[Spiritos]

Well, they're my first monitors so I can't really compare. However I don't think it's due to setup as it's the same as in the store.
But like I said, it's inaudible from a small distance and surely when there's music coming out of 'em.

[jeffh]

For your price range, I'd recommend a decent pair of studio headphones, you can get so much more for $200-300 than what you can get with speakers...

I have some Shure SRH840's that I bought years ago, and I still tend to do more work with them than any of the speakers I own:

http://www.zzounds.com/item--SHUSRH840

[Uncle E]

I have some Shure SRH840's that I bought years ago, and I still tend to do more work with them than any of the speakers I own

These are killer.

[AstralExistence]

I have some Shure SRH840's that I bought years ago, and I still tend to do more work with them than any of the speakers I own

These are killer.

http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i-SHU-SRH1840-LIST

i could afford these for er sure. that's a very interesting comment. "then any of the speakers i own" what do you actually own that the shures have replaced because that's a very bold statement to say the least. could i really get the same mix quality using very high quality monitoring headphones vs spending much more for studio monitors. i have thought about that before that being, if one buys very high quality studio monitor headphones do you actually get a better value and more bang for your buck since your only buying headphones which are not costly for the manufacturer to make vs the cost of making a pair of studio monitors. that im not sure. and the headphones do cost 500 dollars. but that would solve my payment plan issue since i need to buy left and right studio monitors i can't afford to pay for two payment plans at the same time.

[Uncle E]

Open backs are nice, especially when you work on them for long periods. The ones you linked to are a lot more expensive than the SRH840's. If you avoid stereo effects and are judicious with your reverbs, you can get away with mixing 100% on headphones.

[AstralExistence]

Open backs are nice, especially when you work on them for long periods. The ones you linked to are a lot more expensive than the SRH840's. If you avoid stereo effects and are judicious with your reverbs, you can get away with mixing 100% on headphones.

uncle e if you had a budget of 190 (to make using the 3 easy payment plan on ams/sweetwater) 160 would be much better what which monitoring headphones would you buy?

http://www.americanmusical.com/Audio-Headphones

or

http://www.sweetwater.com/c453--Headphones

must be 3 easy payment.

or non easy payment plan but less then 190 with shipping in one payment.

[Uncle E]

You can't go wrong with Audio Technica ATH-M50's. Also, we can sell them for *A LOT* less than the $169 AM&S is selling them for and you can use PayPal Bill-Me-Later with us.

[jeffh]

what do you actually own that the shures have replaced because that's a very bold statement to say the least.

Event TR8 monitors
M-Audio BX5a monitors
KRK Rokit 10S subwoofer

Headphones are great for precision listening and A/Bing because they are very accurate and take the room acoustics out of the equation, and thus I do about 75% of my producing in headphones. I've spent significant amounts of money treating small-ish studio rooms (like 12' x 12' -ish or smaller usually), and still had resonance problems, with headphones it's absolutely a non-issue.

For most of the other 25%, being that I make boomy EDM music, I really need to know what something sounds like in the club. I've not found that any headphones, monitors or monitor-grade subs really reflect what any piece of music sounds like in the club, so I then turn to my PA rig which is a decent QSC amp, and some generic 15" speakers and 18" subs (with a total weight of 300+ lbs, and a hard requirement that I live in a house not too near any neighbors).

YMMV depending on genre...

EDIT: You linked to the SRH1840s, not the SRH840s. I don't have experience with the former, but I think you'd be better off with the $200 SRH840s than any monitor speakers in the $200-300 range. I'm not so sure that $500 headphones make sense for any budget constrained musician.