Audiophiles Anonymous

[Vaylos]

Hello, my name is Vaylos, and...I\'m...an audiophile.



Well, sorta heh.  I\'m planning to save up for some audio monitors to try to up the production quality of my music...and just for listening purposes in general. Been doing some research this past month, and I\'m just now getting around to trying to do some listening tests.

However, G\'ville FL isn\'t really a great place retail wise....well, at least for monitors.  There\'s like...2 speaker stores I know of:  Sound Ideas, and Discount Hi-Fi.  I\'ve tried Sound Ideas, and the only thing close to monitors they have are some Paradigm Monitor series. Namely the Monitor 3\'s and the mini-monitors.  I don\'t really consider the Monitor 5\'s small enough to be near-fields...maybe midfields though.

However I don\'t know if these speakers really count as audio monitors. They claim (in the specs) to have a Frequency response of +/- 2db from 56hz to 20Khz on-axis and +/- 2db 56hz to 18Khz when 30 degrees off-axis (whatever that means, i\'m not an engineer) So, I don\'t really know how good or how flat/transparent that is. It\'d be helpful if they included a graph with the specs >_< Anyhoo, I gave the Monitor 3\'s a listen, and they sounded -good-  I kinda wanna go back and hear the mini-monitors, but I don\'t have any real references as to what a decent monitor -should- sound like.  So I plan on heading over to Mirror Image (the local studio) They list Genelec 1031\'s as well as the (in)famous Yamaha NS-10\'s  I think they also have a pair of Dynaudios, but i\'m not sure.

Sound Ideas was pretty helpful though. They said if I wanted to borrow the speakers to hear them at home, they could arrange it. And I could always bring in a pair of speakers to do an A/B switch to test the differences. But as far as monitors go, Paradigm was the only set they had on display. And they seemed a little uncertain as to what I meant by \"monitors\" Til one guy piped up and was like \"oh, you mean those expensive-ass type speakers\"  And I was like...welll...yeah...kinda...they are more expensive than some consumer speakers.

I\'ll see if they let me do some listening tests so I have a reference as to what studio monitors should sound like. Then go out and look for something in the 500 dollar range that sounds close-ish.  The guy also said I might want to try down around Tampa for doing listening tests. I may make plans to do that at some point. I\'m in no rush hehe.

Current setup:  well, not much of a setup. I just have a pair of Infinity RS2\'s that I got back in high school.  I did use my spare CD spindles to mount them on either side of my monitor though ^_^  gets em closer to ear-level.  These things aren\'t nearly as clear as the Paradigms I heard, but they\'ll do for now *lol*

Plans:  I kinda want to get ahold of some fiberglass or foam or something, and some cardboard boxes to jerry-rig some bass-traps for my room\'s corners.  Unfortunately it\'s a long room, and i\'m stuck at one end for my sequencing/mixing purposes.  (the desk is gi-f\'ing-gantic and came with the room)

[zanzibar]

If you want to build a cabinet, I recomend trying yellow pine.  I\'ve heard really good things about it from professionals -- the word is that yellow pine replicates aged wood found in boutique amps.

With monitors that you\'re using to mix music, you don\'t want them to sound good.  You want them to sound natural.  The problem with high end sound systems is that they\'re designed to change the sound of the audio to make it sound more proffessional.  But when you\'re mixing music, you want to hear what the audio really sounds like.

I have speakers that I use to listen to music.  The problem is, they scoop the lower mids, so if I\'m mixing something I know that there\'s a 6 decible spike at around 250hz that\'s being hidden.  That\'s why I can\'t use those speakers to mix, even though they sound good.

[Vaylos]

right I know.  monitors need to sound accurate...er...natural...uncoloured. i.e. not having that \"disco smile\" effect.  Which is why I was kinda suspicious of the paradigms.  anyways, I think hearing things over at mirror image will give me an idea of things I need to be hearing when I go do listening tests. I mean, my price range is far inferior, but i\'ll at least have something to go by.  I\'ll also check by UF\'s audio people and see if they have a studio or something.

I want to hear the tannoy reveals, the yorkville YSM1\'s the wharfedale diamond 8.2, some KRK\'s either the rockits or the v8\'s if I can find them, and maybe some events. Heard good things about the 20/20\'s  It\'s such a subjective subject though. Just as many good and bad reviews for the same products.  Anyhoo, I gotta find what feels comfortable to my ear i guess. I\'m not an audio engineer by any means, just want to up my production a notch.  The things I\'ve gleemed from reading, and asking my own brother since he used to do music engineering, is A) do listening tests to figure out what sounds \"right\" to your ear and B) you get what you pay for.

The other thing, is my amp/reciever is a bit old. it\'s an old Sansui G-5500.  older than I am lol.

edit:
Oh, thanks for the advice about the cabinet, i\'ll take that into consideration.   This room sux for mixing, since it\'s long and narrow and my desk is in a corner, but eh...it\'s not that important right now.  I\'m not getting paid to do my hobby  (yet).  I just want to notch up the quality of my work.  Right now I don\'t have a decent idea of how it sounds on different systems...but I do know they sound okay on my Infinitys and in my car, I should take some of them home to my parents and listen on that Sony system my mom got last x-mas.  It\'s like a boombox/component system kinda thing.

[Radiant Memphis]

Might I suggest just a nice pair of studio Head phones. Not as expensive as a full set of monitors and can accomplish the same thing for mixing if money is an issue. I actually would rather have them although I need to get some newer better ones at this point.  :]

[zanzibar]

Originally posted by Radiant Memphis
Might I suggest just a nice pair of studio Head phones. Not as expensive as a full set of monitors and can accomplish the same thing for mixing if money is an issue. I actually would rather have them although I need to get some newer better ones at this point.  :]

Never use headphones to mix.  First off, the stereo field gets exagerated.  Secondly, headphones always sound clearer than monitors because the sound travels a shorter distance.  There\'s also the issue of how your head participates in shaping the sound -- different people have different heads, so the same set of headphones will produce a different sound.  Another part of it is the tendency for bass to disapear over distance, so headphones sound closer than monitors as well.

That said, I have a set of audio-technica ATH-M30\'s which I use to check EQ levels.  The stuff I get involved in is usually punk or stoner rock though so audio quality isn\'t always on the short list of things to watch out for.

[derwoodly]

I don\'t know jack about mixing but if your serious about building your own.

http://www.audioxpress.com/magsdirx/spkrbldr/sbbilist.htm

I think I have a copy of this one some where...

http://www.mfr-eng.com/ldc.htm

[Vaylos]

*seconds Zanz\'s post on the headphones*

Might use em for checking EQ levels, but never for the final mix. Right now i\'m just testing my music on a number of different systems, Car, my speakers, friend\'s speakers, my own crappy altec lansing headphones, sending to some acquaintances of mine and getting feedback, etc.

And no offense, but I\'m not planning to build my own speakers, so those links don\'t help me much. Might help others though I plan to keep researching, and I\'m still going to go down to the studio and hear their monitors so I have a reference to go by.

Anyhoo, i\'m at work at the lab, and need to get back to doing things.

*hops afk*