Equipment selection is not really my (near) field
June 2, 2010 1:54 PM
In search of: relatively inexpensive and compact but still decent near-field active monitors.
Taking the next step in my little home studio, after completing a project just-in-time, only to find there's a horrible high-pitched whine over the vocal from some room source -- actual near-field monitoring instead of relying on headphones.
The footprint needs to be small, and they'll either be on a desk or hung on the wall; active preferred but passive acceptable. Any recommendations?
posted by davejay (10 comments total)
Taking the next step in my little home studio, after completing a project just-in-time, only to find there's a horrible high-pitched whine over the vocal from some room source -- actual near-field monitoring instead of relying on headphones.
The footprint needs to be small, and they'll either be on a desk or hung on the wall; active preferred but passive acceptable. Any recommendations?
Yamaha HS50Ms are pretty hot right now. I wanted to buy them with my parental Christmas money but I got an amp and some new headphones instead. Still on my list.
They're supposed to sound like shit; totally flat so that you can get a true representation of your mix instead of using monitors that lie to you.
posted by chococat at 5:13 PM on June 2, 2010
They're supposed to sound like shit; totally flat so that you can get a true representation of your mix instead of using monitors that lie to you.
posted by chococat at 5:13 PM on June 2, 2010
another satisfied alesis M1 customer here.
on the high pitched whine (probably a computer fan?) you might well be able to notch it out, or at least reduce it significantly. audition allows you to take a 'footprint' of the room noise and remove that from the rest of the vocal track.
posted by kimyo at 8:45 PM on June 2, 2010
on the high pitched whine (probably a computer fan?) you might well be able to notch it out, or at least reduce it significantly. audition allows you to take a 'footprint' of the room noise and remove that from the rest of the vocal track.
posted by kimyo at 8:45 PM on June 2, 2010
The odd thing about the whine is that I've recorded in the room many times without it. But the key thing for me wasn't the whine itself -- as you said, easy enough to get rid of it from the source, if not through EQ -- but I have ProTools without external monitors currently, so I can't listen through the laptop's speakers until I bounce out first, and the headphones I have didn't reproduce the whine at all.
posted by davejay at 8:53 PM on June 2, 2010
posted by davejay at 8:53 PM on June 2, 2010
I really like my Alesis M1 Actives as well. I've had them since about '98, with nary a problem. For the price, they're really very good. I tried them out side by side against a pair of Yamaha NS10s which were all the rage in the 80s, and the Alesis smoked 'em for about the same price.
posted by Devils Rancher at 10:13 PM on June 2, 2010
posted by Devils Rancher at 10:13 PM on June 2, 2010
how close is your monitor to your speakers (or microphone)? - that could cause it - or any other electromagnetic source
posted by pyramid termite at 10:11 PM on June 3, 2010
posted by pyramid termite at 10:11 PM on June 3, 2010
I should have added to my note on this that, frankly, I rarely use my near-fields now. What I use for almost all my mixes is a pair of AKG K701 headphones. They're expensive, but worth every penny in my view. The quality of my songs is pretty inconsistent, but I do tend to get quite a lot of compliments about the quality of my recordings/mixes. And I would definitely regard myself as a rank amateur when it comes to acoustics or sonic architecture - I'm a musician not a sound engineer.
So I increasing wonder whether the "rule" or orthodoxy about not mixing on cans is questionable. I figure that nowadays most people listen to music on some kind of headphone (mostly earbuds I'd guess) - so why get so uptight about things sounding good over hi-fi speakers? Maybe they're fast going the way of the dodo? I know that's a polemical view and it's not one I'd die in ditch defending. But there is, I think, an arguable point there. Therefore - if you have a shitty recording environment that makes monitoring on near-fields a nightmare in terms of getting an objective mix, don't bother with them and invest in a pair of shit-hot cans.
posted by MajorDundee at 3:27 PM on June 4, 2010
So I increasing wonder whether the "rule" or orthodoxy about not mixing on cans is questionable. I figure that nowadays most people listen to music on some kind of headphone (mostly earbuds I'd guess) - so why get so uptight about things sounding good over hi-fi speakers? Maybe they're fast going the way of the dodo? I know that's a polemical view and it's not one I'd die in ditch defending. But there is, I think, an arguable point there. Therefore - if you have a shitty recording environment that makes monitoring on near-fields a nightmare in terms of getting an objective mix, don't bother with them and invest in a pair of shit-hot cans.
posted by MajorDundee at 3:27 PM on June 4, 2010
MajorDundee, you're the second person to recommend headphones, for exactly the same reason -- my f'd up room environment. I think I'm going to go that direction, and save the near-field advice given above (and very much appreciated!) for when I have a dedicated room. Thanks, all.
posted by davejay at 11:43 PM on June 6, 2010
posted by davejay at 11:43 PM on June 6, 2010
Major, those K701's were the headphones I was lusting over a few months ago. I had $500 Christmas money from my parents but I decided to go with the K271 MKII headphones...'cause then I could also get a Vox AC4TV! I still yearn for the 701's but the 271's are really great and a world of improvement over my old Audio Technica 910's. And the Vox amp kicks ass, so no regrets there.
posted by chococat at 11:47 AM on June 8, 2010
posted by chococat at 11:47 AM on June 8, 2010
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Frankly, proper acoustic treatment of the room is equally or more important, and probably the first thing to think about - you're perhaps subconsciously hinting at that in your post. If the room sounds shit it doesn't matter how good your monitors are. You wind up EQ-ing the room rather than the track if you're not careful!
If you can't do much with the room physically (or aesthetically if it's a shared space) you might want to think about getting a decent reflection filter like those made by SE Electronics. They're not a total solution, but the reviews are pretty encouraging. I'm thinking about getting one of these because the space I use isn't particularly good.
posted by MajorDundee at 2:33 PM on June 2, 2010