Nono had a recent post that prompted me [yet again] to qualify my “preferences” in something he asked advice about… namely audio stuff. More specifically, studio reference monitors for his “home studio.”
The universal answer would obviously be: “it depends”
But you know me, regardless of the truth in that statement, I’d still like to try to do the math (figuratively) and try to come up with a real world argument instead of the cop-out “it depends” answers people love to give. Of course I’ll still probably end up saying it depends ether way, but at least I’ll try to make the situation clearer – and hopefully more conducive to make an informed decision on.
First is that when talking about studio monitors, the rule of thumb that somewhat can be trusted is that you can’t really go wrong with the known brands. Sure they may have glaring differences between each other – which may be disconcerting because the whole point of having reference monitors is to get as neutral a sound as possible; which implies that in a perfect world, all speakers that truly were “neutral,” should all sound alike (at least) in principle.
The rule still stands though, that generally, whatever your choice is, you’ll definitely be getting speakers that are more accurate than anyone else’s “normal” speaker – which is 90% of the time.
Of course the price is always a concern. For me, when it comes to this type of investment you really should not settle for anything less. Hopefully this issue will die over time because of the advent of the whole “portable digital player” era. The audio industry in the past used to cater to a very limited market – a very elite group who 1. Really needed the technology they offered, 2. Had the money/means to acquire their products, 3. Was a very specialized market. These factors made all those high-end audio gear really expensive regardless of the competition – so markup was no problem.
Now on the other hand, the technology has progressed so far that it’s really easy to manufacture good audio circuitry dirt-cheap (the question is if they’re willing to sell it dirt-cheap as well). Coupled with the fact that the power of “audio content production” has been given to the regular joe as well (e.g. podcasting), companies are beginning to cater to this market; trying to give them the best quality tools possible for their budget. So it will get cheaper (hopefully) But for now, they’re not yet quite there yet.
So what has this got to do with anything? Whether it’s relatively cheap or not, reference monitors are still pricey. And the price you’re dropping for a really cheap pair would probably be better for buying really good reference headphones. Simply put, a 50k budget for speakers is really stretching it if you want to get “quality,” but throw that same amount at the headphone arena, and you know you can get something spectacular out of that.
In case it hasn’t been mentioned, headphones of whatever quality will always sound different from speakers of whatever quality. Which is a valid concern people may have. That’s what makes mixing/mastering so fun, because you try to find a median of ALL possible avenues of auditory perception and try to craft your mix to sound good with most if not all cases.
What makes the argument of using headphones more appealing nowadays is precisely because of the whole portable player era. Everyone is using headphones nowadays. I’m willing to bet that statistics will now show that more people listen to their music through headphones than regular speakers… and if they do the latter, it’s probably in the car anyway… and how many people have really good car audio systems – I myself don’t.
Don’t get me wrong though, speakers are important as well. Ultimately, you really need at least both. But here’s another concern/question. Monitors require acoustic treatment to your “studio” for them to work properly. You need them positioned a certain distance (equidistant) to your head, and you should have your room treated to make sure you don’t have phase issues. If you had a real studio, sure it would be a very good idea to get those speakers, since your room is prepped for it. If a person is not going to take those considerations seriously (or is going to be lax as far as their “listening” environment is concerned), then might as well just buy a good (and cheaper) speaker set for general listening, because you have just defeated the purpose of having those monitors.
I’m now putting that issue to rest, and will go on somewhat different topic – about how to choose in general, which will return us to the “it depends” mindset again.
The reason why I couldn’t give a specific brand to choose, regardless of price – is because people really interpret audio differently! I know one person who likes using Samson speakers. I liked the sound of his mixes even if the Samsons weren’t doing it for me during mixing. Similarly, he commended me on a couple of my mixes, which I did with my Klipsh Promedia system… which weren’t even studio monitors to begin with!
So the lesson to be learned here is not what people say is good/best, but what makes you produce the best results. Who knows, maybe you could mix better with headphones alone, maybe not (and probably not hahahaha). Just like with anything else, what makes a person great at what they do isn’t because of the toys they have, but because they know the limits of those toys and could adjust accordingly.
Point is, when it comes to audio, you can only trust your ears. I noticed that I like “brighter” sounding reference monitors, ones with good mids and highs. The Genelecs and Yamahas are like that, my Etymotic headphones are like that as well. So when I get to the point that I intend to buy monitors, I’ll probably looking at those brands first. I also love how B&W speakers sound in general, my dad has them downstairs… I just haven’t got to listen to any of their studio-grade monitors – so I don’t know.
But coming full-circle back to the question Nono had, my answer would be:
If you intend to get near-fields which you haven’t heard yourself, and base your decision largely from the budget you have, I’d say that that’s already a clear sign that you shouldn’t jump the gun just yet. You might just end up regretting not holding out and buying the model(s) you really wanted.
Oh and I never got to listen to the Tannoys, I just heard they’re cheap as well (800 for a pair) so they’re pretty close to the Samsons. But people say they sound spectacular for the price. I haven’t listened to them myself, therefore I can’t comment on them.