I should also say that there are 2 schools of thought on monitors, one says go for the best sounding monitors you can afford that fit your space, the other says go for brutal “nasty” sounding monitors which if you can make your mix sound good on it should sound good elsewhere.
Personally I favour the latter approach for two reasons, one being budget, the other being that whenever I have used good monitors in the past I seem to be more easily pleased at the time, then disappointed when listening on lesser speakers after recording.
This isn’t to say that this approach is better, but for me it is. And in either case you definitely want to ensure the room has as little reflections as possible.
Back in the day 2 of my favourite nearfields were NS10s and Auratones, and a lot of other engineers liked those also, making them almost industry standard in the 80’s. The D5s are very similar in sound to the NS10 (IMHO) and the iLoud are quite similar to the Auratones (IMHO)
The idea being that they don’t really smooth anything out, they are pretty brutal, and whilst they are ok to listen to for extended periods it is better to keep the levels fairly low whilst composing, then if needed turn them up when doing anything critical, like sound design or mixing.
The iLouds are more mid forward than the D5s, obviously the bass isn’t quite as deep but in a small room that isn’t a bad thing. Most of the time I am listening to the iLouds then I flick the D5s on to compare.
The NS10 were midscooped to the max, which just goes to show - once you know a speaker, you can do your thing with them!
The Auratones are specifically focused on mids and are supposed to emulate consumer grade playback devices (eg radio). So they are meant as second reference speakers and are great for that (I have friends that have a single speaker of these in the studio as reference speaker, and they swear by this mono setup).
It is a small investment and when you will have more money you can buy a bigger pair and still keep the iLoud for portability or for a second listening option.
Something I’ve always wondered : how do people reconcile the bass roll offs with these nearfields? Do they just trust the bottom end is ok? I usually use headphones to target the low end but it’s probably not ideal…
Whichever monitors you use (good/bad) you need to learn them. NS10s are garbage for the most part but have one thing about them that is really good (impulse response). Some people also used them for a very long time so for them they are a useful reference. They are irrelevant in 2020 unless you are already used to them.
IMHO there is no point in using shit monitors. Buy the best you can afford. We live in a time where you can get exceptional monitors for not a lot of money.
Yeah, interestingly neither have ports either, I definitely seem to favour unported monitors, just seems like a tighter sound that comes across as more revealing to me.
Dumbest thing I did was sell my Auratones a few years back, I really loved the sound of them.
If your room is not treated how do you reconcile any of the many issues that arise?
Answer is as with any speaker in most home settings, you experiment and learn how your setup’s sound translates and take it from there
I researched and experimented with monitors for quite a while and spent stupid money looking for the perfect speaker until I realised that, no matter what I get, I’ll have to learn it. There is no such thing as a 100% true reproduction.
Yeah, unported definitely is tighter to my ears as well. Too bad that there are so few options in the lower price tiers!
Personally I don’t mind rear-ported speakers though - certainly not as much as people make them out to be terrible in forums. But then I also don’t produce bass heavy music for the most part.
Monitors are SUCH a personal matter, there’s the whole science of a speaker in a lab, but that objective side doesn’t translate 100% to real world application. Room, ears, material, placement, taste/preferences, etc all play a role.
And I hear you about the Auratones, I want one of those as well!
Cheers for all the replies everybody, I think I’m now decided on the ilouds, as for headphones that’s another matter I’ve posted on the headphone thread and narrowed it down to Sony MDR 7506 and Focal listen pro’s. any advice on this would be great if anyone wants to pop over there
A while back I picked up some used ATC passive hi-if speakers for £300 and they’re really excellent. Well worth looking out for and can be powered by a small(ish) amp.
In the studio I have a pair of APS Aeons, which are great.
Definitely concentrate on the room acoustics though, get that even half right and it’ll make any mix a lot better.
I’ve recently switched to the iLoud micros. Previous I’ve used Kef LS50s and B&W 601S2 as my monitors. Both are now in use elsewhere, and I needed something to fit a really small space.
I deliberated a lot over the iLouds. The reviews were great and a lot of people here love them, but I just couldn’t quite get my head around something so small sounding good. However, I’m so pleased I went with them, they’re spot on and at the low volumes I monitor at I have zero complaints with how they sound or how low they reach.
