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Please pardon my ignorance. What's the difference?
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09-21-2018 09:20 AM
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I could type an explanation but the link below
provides a good explanation of the differences.
What’s the Difference Between Home Stereo Speakers and Studio Monitors?
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If you’re mixing music, you want studio monitors.
Home speakers are very colored, the decisions you make listening through that “lens” may not translate to another speaker.
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Thanks. Sort of like the difference between playing through an FRFR speaker and a guitar cab (?)
Is there a downside to using studio monitors in a room to listen to regular commercial CDs? (Jazz, classical, pop, etc)
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Today’s MF SDD
Stupid Deal of the Day | Musician's Friend
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Not to my ears with my monitors in my room i.e. depends on the size of your room, shape and size of your monitors. I play music through through a set of JBL LSR 6328P monitors located in my music room/office. Sound great.
Originally Posted by Woody Sound
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I saw that. 3" woofers??? Originally Posted by TedBPhx
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I saw that also and was thinking those would work as a second set of monitors to check a mix on smaller speakers. The pros have two (or more) sets of monitors. Originally Posted by Woody Sound
Last edited by fep; 09-21-2018 at 02:00 PM.
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The main difference is operational; monitors are used for "near field" listening (e.g., critical listening at the engineering console); home speakers are used "far field" for larger spaces.
The near/far field distinction has to do with the listening distance beyond which the sound becomes coherent (so it sounds "right"). The monitors need to be designed a bit differently in order that they sound right in the near field, whereas the home speakers are designed to cohere and sound right in the far field out at a further listening distance into the room.
The majority of the technical/acoustical design and engineering differences are with respect to the influence of the listening space (room effects)... monitors in near field listening do not take into account the room effects because of the close proximity of the listener; home speakers are designed to take advantage of room effects (reflective bass gain, dispersion, diffusion, diffraction, etc...) that are going to be in effect with listener being in the far field.
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Monitors are much flatter sounding than hifi speakers. They are not meant to enhance any frequencies in the audio spectrum, so to the average listener they usually sound like they are "lacking"...because they are designed to be lacking.
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Not necessarily. They're mostly for recording/mixing. Originally Posted by Woody Sound
Its creator hardware. You purposefully use the most flat response sound so that you can produce a sound in your own recordings which will sound best on all other types. If you mix thing to sound good on a specific set of stereo speakers , it will sound crap in the car or through different system etc.
If you're not going to be recording for others to listen to as a consumable product , you may be paying for something you don't need or want. If you're just listening to CDs etc., speakers are probably going to be fine for you. The word "studio" is somewhat ambiguously used by many people . We largely use it as a term for "playing space" or " music listening space" etc. This product is probably better understood as being "RECORDING/MIXING STUDIO" monitor.
Are you recording and mixing your own music?
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i do it everyday unless i want to go to the other room where my audio system is. so much is on the internet you know... Originally Posted by Woody Sound
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Today's studio (near field) monitors are so advanced technically, that they are head and shoulders over most any 'stereo speakers' on the market. Even some of the less expensive brands are fantastic. No need to break the bank unless you are serious about recording, mixing or other high end intention.
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Another name for the most frequently used studio monitors is near field monitors. So, you sit close to them, put them on the desk and create an equilateral triangle with your ears and the monitors. Also, stay away from the middle of the room. With near field monitors you hear more of the speakers and less of the room reflections. This is better for home studios with untreated rooms.
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Those near-field types have a well-defined sweet-spot. Move away 50cm from that and they stop "working" as they are supposed to. I guess the common home stereo speakers are meant to blast the the room full of every kinds of waves shamelessly. Different selling points.
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This is what I found when trying to use studio monitors as my main home practice setup. When I was sitting a few inches off center or back a bit further than usual the sound really changed. I took them back and bought something else since I'm not interested in recording and mixing. Originally Posted by emanresu
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If we are talking same price range, for most people stereo speakers will be more enjoyable than studio monitors for music listening, cause they color the music the way you hear everywhere. They are also less directional, they sound good everywhere in the room.
Studio monitors are very directional, they sound optimal in a particular spot. Their sound is kind of an acquired taste, very clear. What i enjoy the most is this clarity, the ability to hear every instrument clearly in the mix. Kind of what you try to do playing in a band..
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In all my audiophile years I've owned 2 sets of "studio monitors." The first set were self powered Dynaudio BM15A's I owned some 20 years ago. An audio friend who owned mega $ audio gear took them in trade. I was floored how good they sounded. I owned electrostats at the time, but bought them anyway...like guitarists, audiophiles can always justify owning more gear.
The great thing about the monitors being self powered, and this was before Class D amplification became the rave (for some), my CD player had XLR outputs, and the BM15's have XLR inputs. So to save money one could forgo purchasing an amplifier ($5k used for a quality space heater, aka, Class A amp), and a preamplifier (another $5k for a used preamp), and voila you've got great sound on the cheap. The sound produced from these BM15A's really made me rethink some things about audio.
Also Dynaudio has been making home speakers for decades.
Dynaudio BM15A 10" Powered Studio Monitor (Left Side) | Sweetwater
8 years ago I purchased a high dollar electric piano, but a pair of Rocket 8 monitors work just fine - But never in my life would I use them for home audio listening, UNLESS I was looking to do off axis listening in say a garage.
And yes, in case you were wondering, LP's do produce far superior sound than any CD.
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Man I love my BM15's too !!
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OP here, thanks for all the very informative info. Especially about the narrowly defined listening space ("sweet spot").
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Yes. In the event we are talking about active, (powered) monitors, there is the hassle of having to have them plugged in to ac, and having to turn each one on and off with every use along with the sound sources. Also, with the amps onboard, it can be difficult to implement any eq options. This can be a serious limitation for pleasure listening, depending on your perspective. I have been doing this for years, and like anything it has it's pros and cons. Originally Posted by Woody Sound
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I'm amazed by this statement in that article:
I'm as much into "hi-fi" as I am into guitar and music in general. (I try to avoid being an audiophool, who spends $1000 on an AC power cord.) But I've never met a fellow audio enthusiast who would agree with that statement. The function of any speaker, be it monitor or home speaker, is to accurately reproduce the signal sent to it without coloring the signal. Now I'm not so naive to think that most home speakers accomplish that. But, at least, that should be the goal."It doesn’t really matter if the sound they hear is an accurate reproduction of what the artist intended."
IMHO.
Artie
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We got a couple pairs of smallish "bookshelf" speakers when we bought out another photo studio years back. Set them up in our conference/sales room for music for clients during slideshows of their portraits.
Noted that wow, they had to be pointed just right, and weren't as "warm" as most bookshelf speakers are. So I asked the former owner where he'd got them.
He got them cheap from a guy he knew who'd had a recording studio setup in his garage with these four surrounding his mix station. Some kind of "monitors" or something. He'd never liked them much. Thought the problem was they're sealed boxes, no ports.
So I brought them home, hooked up to good receiver and ran a test CD with a sound meter.
Pretty decently flat within about 4dB from around 80hz to 17k.
On center, that is. By 30* out, at one metre, they're showing problems with the woofer clearly overpowering the tweeter. Muddy.
Now I spend most of my time working video post software at the studio I've built a 5.1 setup with a pair of them at the front corners and a spendy Klipsch center and pair of surrounds that are decent and small/light enough to mount where they need to be.
At 38" from my nose, level with and pointing at it, they are very fine, a full and even match with a very good center speaker. I built the sub, so the crossover in sub and sub-out circuit in receiver work perfectly together.
But ... in a 13x18 foot room, trying to do "normal" speaker job, meh.
Definitely designed as studio monitors.
Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
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$1k on an AC power cord? Some would say yes, "to justify checking all the boxes in a $40k system." Personally I much preferred paying an electrician $400 to install a pair of dedicated 20 amp circuits in my listening room, so I'm not competing with the fridge, washer, etc, etc. We're each still dependent upon our power only being as good as from the source and into our homes. $1k or more for speaker cables and interconnects? Absolutely! Originally Posted by Artied2
I'm amazed by this statement in that article:
I'm as much into "hi-fi" as I am into guitar and music in general. (I try to avoid being an audiophool, who spends $1000 on an AC power cord.) But I've never met a fellow audio enthusiast who would agree with that statement. The function of any speaker, be it monitor or home speaker, is to accurately reproduce the signal sent to it without coloring the signal. Now I'm not so naive to think that most home speakers accomplish that. But, at least, that should be the goal.
IMHO.
Artie
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Clear of course but what always hits me is how dry the good ones sound. Kinda "I can hear everything! ! ! but it isn't much?!?" Originally Posted by Alter
(the monitors)
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