Studio monitors: 5" vs 6,5" for small room and hammer midi keyboard

[musicadivine]

Hi,

Can anyone help me with advice about which size of studio monitors will be better for me: 5" or 6,5"?

I will use them in my home small room which is apr. only 7,5 square meters (3,6 x 2,1 m size) and the sloped ceiling so the height is 2,4 m at one side and 1.6 m at the other.

I will go with front ported, so I can put them nearer to walls and something with bass control to be able to adjust to my small and untreated room, but I will try to add some treatment soon. I will use monitors mainly for listening myself when playing my midi keyboard or singing into my LDC mike so I am not fanatic for extreme flat response but more to musical quality, but I will also use them for other usual studio tasks like mixing and recording in Studio One. I have a good headphones but will buy monitors now. I am afraid that the 5" size won't be able to reproduce the lowest notes on the 88 midi keyboard decently, so thats why 6,5 is in my mind also.

I think I will go with Tannoy gold 5 or 7 or KRK Rokit 5 or 7.
Thanks for help with advice

[3ee]

go with the larger one if you need low freqs (even 6.5 is not enough if you don't get a sub, this depending what you want them for) .. the room is already small/a problem, getting a smaller woofer will cause another i.e. not having enough low end..

[el-bo (formerly ebow)]

Be careful of going too large in small, untreated rooms. Check out the Kali LP5. They are front-ported, and are reputedly quite the giant-killers

[musicadivine]

Check out the Kali LP5.

You probably ment Kali LP6 with 6,5" woofer, since I don't think LP5 exists. THX

[thecontrolcentre]

+1 to what 3ee said ... if you want to hear accurate bass/ sub bass, even 6 1/2 " speakers wont cut it without adding a sub. You need at least 10" to reproduce bass frequencies.

I have a pair of 5" Genelecs with a sub. Before adding the sub, everything under 60hz was inaudible.

[el-bo (formerly ebow)]

Check out the Kali LP5.

You probably ment Kali LP6 with 6,5" woofer, since I don't think LP5 exists. THX

Yeah! Confused with it's closest competitor - JBL LSR305P MKII

[roman.i]

Hi,

Can anyone help me with advice about which size of studio monitors will be better for me: 5" or 6,5"?

I will use them in my home small room which is apr. only 7,5 square meters (3,6 x 2,1 m size) and the sloped ceiling so the height is 2,4 m at one side and 1.6 m at the other.

I will go with front ported, so I can put them nearer to walls and something with bass control to be able to adjust to my small and untreated room, but I will try to add some treatment soon. I will use monitors mainly for listening myself when playing my midi keyboard or singing into my LDC mike so I am not fanatic for extreme flat response but more to musical quality, but I will also use them for other usual studio tasks like mixing and recording in Studio One. I have a good headphones but will buy monitors now. I am afraid that the 5" size won't be able to reproduce the lowest notes on the 88 midi keyboard decently, so thats why 6,5 is in my mind also.

I think I will go with Tannoy gold 5 or 7 or KRK Rokit 5 or 7.
Thanks for help with advice

None of these monitors will produce the lower note on 88 piano frequency, it's around 27Hz. What you're hearing in music are upper harmonics of these notes. You can excite/enhance your piano plugin in a similar way with plugins like Maxxbass, so you'll hear the lower notes on smaller speaker. So the speaker size decision should be based on how much bass you want/need. 6.5 inch can go lower obviously, but then you should put bass traps in your room, otherwise it will be overwhelmed with basses. Also, 6.5/7 inch usually will sound bigger and wider. 5 inch requires lighter treatment, without bass traps.
Regarding the front port, I don't see any advantage in this. You may think that you can put the speaker right against the wall and the front port will solve the bass resonance problem, well it won't. In this regard there is no difference between front and back ports. The only thing port is affecting is the air release, so if there are few cm behind the speakers - it's enough to release the air. In any case, there should be a distance between the speaker and the wall, at least 30-40cm from the woofer of the speaker, plus some acoustic treatment between the speaker and the wall to eliminate the resonance. The port can makes air noises and preferably should be located on the back of the speaker.

[musicadivine]

Thanks to everyone. I think I will risk and just go with Tannoy Reveal 502 or JBL 305P Mk2 for start. They have frequency range from 49 Hz up, so basicaly it should be good enought for my tiny room. If not I will buy pair of 8" later. Thanks!

[musicadivine]

Thank you Roman for detailed explanation. Now I understand things a bit more and see a bigger picture of challenges waiting for me. Anyway, with my tiny room, it looks a tricky situation with pros and cons whichever option I choose. Thanks again to everyone.

[gbaddis]

I also use Jbl 305. Amazing sound, cheape and good for start!

[ashh]

I also use Jbl 305. Amazing sound, cheape and good for start!

308s here and they're bloody great!

[SparkySpark]

Haven't heard them, but I noticed Presonus Eris just came out in a new version that lowers the bottom end... end.

Otherwise, the iLoud and iLoud MTM should probably have been my first choice, so at least take a look at them.

[SparkySpark]

Dp