Decent pair of studio monitors for $400 (pair)?

Can anyone recommend to me a good pair of studio monitors that cost around $400 (CAD) for the pair?

Active vs. Passive: i dont really care. I have an amp at home
Frequency Range: 40 HZ - ?? Khz? (they're for dnb so they need to have a good bottom end)

Thanks in advance

[mux]

Originally Posted by Junglist

Can anyone recommend to me a good pair of studio monitors that cost around $400 (CAD) for the pair?

I've heard good things (surprisingly) about Behringer Truths. Other options - a used set of Tannoy Reveals or Event 20/20's. Maybe the KRK's?

Active vs. Passive: i dont really care. I have an amp at home

You should care, or consider also buying a 31-band stereo EQ and renting a reference mic for the weekend. Amps colour the signal, if your amp is not matched to your speakers, you'll have to correct the problems that arise, or they'll hurt you later on. Say your amp has a 6dB spike at 3000hz... when mixing your music, you'll unconciously mix around that spike, so listening to your tunes on any other system, you'll hear a 6dB *drop* around 3000hz.

Frequency Range: 40 HZ - ?? Khz? (they're for dnb so they need to have a good bottom end)

This is a touchy one - you don't want speakers that have a "good" bottom end, you want speakers that accurately represent the bottom end. Home stereo speakers are designed to make well-mixed music sound better; studio monitors are designed to show you exactly what your music sounds like. For dance music production, you probably will want to add a subwoofer, but again, a reference mic is your friend here. "Good bass" in speakers often translates "bad bass" in recordings.

The main trick is to really know your speakers; listen to stupid amounts of music on them, basically. You can also rent a reference mic for the weekend, sit the mic where you usually sit, and play a sinewave sweep from 20hz-20khz while recording the mic output... examine the waveform in software, and you'll be able to see where the peaks and valleys of your monitoring setup are...

Thankyou for your response. Very helpful! A few more questions arising from your response. after reading that im pretty much sold on active monitors:

Are active monitors typically more expensive/highend?

Where can you purchase used monitors in Vancouver? What about wear and tear? will the high end become dull with excessive usage?

What would you consider a good upper frequency limit? The human ear, if lucky, can only hear 20Khz, but I notice that some monitors actually go up to 40Khz. Is this just some marketing gimmick? or do you see any value of being able to hear above 20Khz?

For dance music production, you probably will want to add a subwoofer, but again, a reference mic is your friend here. "Good bass" in speakers often translates "bad bass" in recordings.

very true!

Heres a couple monitors in my price range:

KRK:
http://www.tomleemusic.ca/main/recor...168&inv=107801

Events:
way out of my price range unfortunatly

Behringer:
http://www.tomleemusic.ca/main/recor...=168&inv=96361

What about M-Audio? are they a new market player? their prices seem reasonable

[shift]

The important spec with monitors isn't the range of the frequency response, but how far it deviates from flat at any point within that range. Most will say 20hz to 20Khz +/- 3 db or something to that effect. The smaller the number of deviation the better, but even more important is where the diviation is in the frequency response of the monitors. Some manufaturers will provide a chart to show that sort of thing, this can be really helpful. I wouldn't worry about the 40Khz thing, anything that high in frequency won't influence decisions, even if you can hear it.

Also, in my experience quality monitors with a quality amp will generally sound better than active monitors. They have to fit the amp in the cabinet, which opens the door to design flaws acoustically, and corners cut with component quality based on space and budget (most active monitors are aimed at the home studio market). I have never seen active monitors in a professional mixing/recording studio.

Some great advice from mux in his previous post, don't have much to add to that, but I don't recommend using subs at all, at least when you're mixing. They are more often then not callibrated improperly, and you will end up mixing your songs light in low end to compensate. Get some good full frequency monitors and you will be able to guage bass response more accurately.

As for brands, I've heard good things about some of the KRK models. I'm not a fan of Tannoy stuff for the most part, and Behringer makes some pretty half assed stuff all around (although I haven't heard those particular monitors, so who knows...)

[Revolver]

i purhcased a pair of the truths about 3 years ago.

i did some really intense referencing between them and higherpriced monitors.

the behringers are your best bet and give the most vaule for money

esp. with your cap of 400

how far it deviates from flat

ahh ok. so ultimately, its the deviation chart that dictates the accuracy (ie. how far in dB it deviates from flat across the frequency spectrum) of the monitors! that makes sense. Hopefully common vendors like Tom Lee can provide this information for me.

Also, in my experience quality monitors with a quality amp will generally sound better than active monitors.

I'm thinking that active monitors will do me more justice. My amp is crap (geared towards home theatre) and is hard to configure (It doesn't seem to have a "flat" preset). I don't have the $ to invest too much,.. yet.

They are more often then not callibrated improperly, and you will end up mixing your
songs light in low end to compensate. Get some good full frequency monitors and you will be able to guage bass response more accurately.

Very good advice Alex. Thanks!

i did some really intense referencing between them and higherpriced monitors.

the behringers are your best bet and give the most vaule for money

esp. with your cap of 400

Thanks for the advice. I've heard a lot about the Truth's. I'm seriously considering them

[beedub]

http://www.tranceaddict.com/forums/s...hreadid=327461

[Code]

I wasn't too pumped when I heard the KRK's, Behringer truths sounded better to me...

Mackie HR824's !! sell your car, shake your room...$1580 new inc tax

[angst]

Check out Tapco, which are basically Mackies.

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/S5/

[Royal_Phunk]

KRK sounds good to me over the truths, dont really like the sound of the cabinet. Picking monitors is really going to depend on your mixing style, I have the Tom Lee guy telling me all the time he mixes on dynaudios and he thinks theyre the greatest sounding speakers but he hasnt learned how to mix on them, So bare in mind as these guys said up a few posts that you should play a crap load of ref material on them (stuff you know like the back of your hand and have heard on many systems) Really like the Event Studio Precision 8s i have now, definately recommend the 6's for budget speaks.

I ended up going with the KRK Rokit 6's... dramatically better than the truths (which I found sounded kind of muddy), and only a hundred dollars more

[beedub]

Where'd ja get 'em, good price? Lots of ppl on tranceaddict.com like the KRKs.

Originally Posted by Junglist

I ended up going with the KRK Rokit 6's... dramatically better than the truths (which I found sounded kind of muddy), and only a hundred dollars more

[shift]

Had a chance to check out the Truth's last night and I'm with Justin on this one, they are definately a bit muddy. Very little definition in the bass and low mids. Let me know how the KRK's work out for you dude.

Where'd ja get 'em, good price? Lots of ppl on tranceaddict.com like the KRKs.

Got them from Tom Lee for $525 (pair). I think he gave me a bit of a discount.

Let me know how the KRK's work out for you dude.

Definatly. Should be comming your way with a batch of tunes in the not-too-distant future.

[beedub]

Good price, competitive with U.S.

I've got 2 sets of stereo speakers by Paradigm but they don't sound good with EDM, not enough bass to get a good drum sound & midrange is muddy.