The Studio Monitor Lie- Do you need them?
Вставка
- Опубліковано 10 кві 2017
- In this video I give my opinion on whether or not you even need studio monitors. I use monitors currently, but for years i used headphones and home stereo speakers. Last year i made a promotional demo for wife that was mixed on headphones and my macbook pro's built in speakers- and she's landed many gigs from the demo! As long as you understand your playback system and use reference material, it doesn't matter! Your mixing skills are far more important than what speakers you mix on.
Since this is an opinion video, tell me what YOU think? What's your opinion on the matter? Let's hear it in the comments!
if you cant afford monitors , mix on your stereo .. then make sure it sounds good in your car , laptop & even phone ...if it sounds good on multiple platforms the your set
Her friend, thank you so much for taking the time to watch and leave a comment. I agree, multiple system checking is key! Hope you are safe and healthy in this crazy world right now.
Ya that's makes sense most can't even buy, or have the understanding to why , but i have news for you if you do use home stereo i doubt you will get the awesome mix your hoping to achieve in your car etc etc you need something that was designed to be flat not enhanced .
I use 2 - 3 different headphones, then test sound quality in the car etc...
I agree, my son gave me the same advice
@@christopherdunn317 the only thing i dont get is if all monitors are suppose to be FRFR why do they all sound different :D the answer is clearly that there is no pure FRFR and that to me is why monitors are over hyped, i would however advise to go for a 8 or 10 PA speakers rather than monitors cuz at least its gives you versatility
thanks for not trying to sell us something we don't need. The advice is much appreciated!
You are very welcome. Very glad it was helpful for you, even with the gear tests I do I try to just leave it up to the listener as much as possible for them to make their own decision. But especially with speakers and mixing, just because you can hear something a little bit better with more expensive speakers with more detail does not mean you can mix something better, and I think that's a trap people tend to fall into. But anyways, thanks again for watching in the comment, best of luck and best wishes with music and mixing!
@@tomszymusic well technically if a better speaker gives more spectrum detail , it could help you get a better picture what your'e actually doing at a more detailed level ... sure if your mixing sucks that wont help either Lol
Just wanted to say thanks so much for the great discussion and everyone who has had something to say, whether you agree with me or not! There have been a lot of great comments recently- keep them coming!
great vid my friend thx . I have a question i did a quick and very loud
audio spike for about 5 sec would that damage my studios speakers? transients. i think its called
I agree with you. I also read an article on sound on sound that many of the songs that where only mixed on studio monitors sounded unbalanced and strange on headphones ect. So many of us are using cheap in-ears when listening on music on our phones, so its also important as a mixer or mastering to make sure that it translate well to all sorts of devices
Thank you for your honesty.
I was about to spend money that I didn’t need to spend.
Hey friend, thanks so much for taking the time to watch the video and leave a comment. I'm glad it was helpful for you. Hope you are staying safe in this crazy world!
As 24 year old who is a beginner and interested in making music. Thank goodness I discovered your video because my mind is completely blown.. I was looking for studio monitors but I've been seriously struggling to figure out ways I could even fit them over my desk without sacrificing anything. Not to mention I really wasn't looking forward to downgrading from surround sound to stereo. I enjoy them so much in video games/films it would be hard to step down. You honestly make such a good point about knowing your speakers and using reference tracks. It's definitely had me thinking that songs within different genres are typically meant to sound fairly alike in many ways, and are likely even mixed on monitors. With that said I don't really see any reason why you shouldn't be able to get similar results with careful listening. Anyone who says otherwise just makes me think they've fallen for all of the marketing/word of mouth that you need these to create music with. I suspect that "GAS" (aka Gear Acquisition Syndrome) could also be a common issue, and people are only looking for ways to defensively justify their expensive purchases or make new ones.. I mean.. Sure personally Id definitely still love to try some really good sounding studio monitors, but I already have some Beyerdynamic DT-250s that I'm sure will work really well as a reference source. While I wasn't 100% set on buying some it's good to know I won't have to think about shelling out 500+ anymore, and not worry about any of my previous concerns. Thanks so much for this video.
Hello friend, thank you so very much for stopping by and the wonderful comment! I'm glad the video made some sense and was helpful to you.
I'm certainly not against having monitors, I use them myself, but I think too many people get hung up on them. The fact that you need to know your system, use reference material and the finer details of mixing will probably get you farther than super expensive speakers. I feel this is especially true if starting out.
Anyway thanks again for stopping by, hope you have a great day and stay safe and healthy!
If you record it to sound good on a pc surround sound then that may be the only place it sounds good from
"With that said I don't really see any reason why you shouldn't be able to get similar results with careful listening. Anyone who says otherwise just makes me think they've fallen for all of the marketing/word of mouth that you need these to create music with. I suspect that "GAS" (aka Gear Acquisition Syndrome) could also be a common issue, and people are only looking for ways to defensively justify their expensive purchases or make new ones" dunning-kruger effect. you yourself said you're a beginner, you literally don't have the experience to make a judgement like that so you should listen to the experts (most of whom don't actually recommend getting expensive gear, just what you can afford. many don't even have super expensive or fancy home setups.) when they tell you you need studio monitors, in a properly treated room you are going to be able to hear things you wouldn't otherwise. Headphones fuck up the soundstage so you're not actually hearing what you're doing properly, which is why the industry overall uses them for quick checks and that's it. Unless you really have no other options mixing solely in headphones is recommended by almost no professionals.
obviously this is in reply to a 3 year old comment, but we found it and undoubtedly so will other people.
@@nerds-nonsense Now that I'm more experienced I actually don't really disagree. Having fancy studio monitors is great but I still think it's over emphasized a little though. Back then I just assumed I wouldn't be able to produce anything decent without them, but ultimately my mixes were still pretty satisfactory to me and other people who have listened. Me being too paranoid about my listening setup just delayed and prevented me from actually making music, which was exactly what happened before I came across this video. That said, I'll say that listening in on as many sources as possible and comparing my music with "professional" mixes was always what helped me the most. Not my speaker or headphone setup. Obviously after a few years I did spoil myself a little with the Vanatoo T0s and a Yamaha Sub, which has helped me mix much better (and faster) than my Logitech/DT-250 setup. But yeah I still would say studio monitors don't matter as much as people made me believe. It's how it sounds compared to professional mixes that matter more imo. Unfortunately it can just take much longer to mix if you're not able to hear the frequencies properly, but it's not impossible even as a beginner. One other thing is that I thought I needed to buy speakers specifically branded as studio monitors, but without a treated room it hardly matters anyway. Anything that at least outputs the fullest audio spectrum possible within your budget should already do it. Also regardless, depending on just one "professional" setup is not really the wisest since every listening experience and environment is different. I think it's much better practice to do multiple checks with different setups anyway, which helps with consistency and finding any harsh or underwhelming frequencies.
If you know the speakers you grew up with, your brain is adjusting so as to mix properly. But I think it will be easier if you have neutral studio monitors. It's like mixing paint for your living room, but wearing colored sunglasses. If you've worn those glasses all your life, you will be able to adjust to it. But it's easier if you took them off.
I feel like the biggest difference will be in specific frequencies that whatever speakers you're using biases. Every speaker has a frequency bias and studio monitors are designed to be flat, also more accurate. Most computer speakers or sound systems are more bass heavy, so the mix from those speakers will sound different on a set of flat speakers.
great and honest advice, thank you. It was really good for me to hear it as I'm just about to get some entry level studio monitors. It turns out that (as for almost anything gear related), that you gain more by knowing your system thoroughly, than chasing more and more expensive stuff.
Thank you thank you thank you I learned something here today and saved me from this studio monitor frustration, I'm building my own set diy because I had this issue of sounding good when I do a mix and then it sounds crappy elsewhere so I'm just going to use normal homemade speakers I've tried that already and gotten better results so I'm now more confident that I don't need pricey studio monitors that I can't afford anyway thanks.
I couldn't resist leaving a comment though the video was posted such a long time ago. You will never know how much your honesty means to me because all I have at this point are speakers and the studio monitors are very costly in my country. So I will get to learning how it's supposed to sound and work from there. Thanks a mil
Thanks a lot for a great video! I absolutely agree with your reasoning around this issue! I have even put some friend to the test on this, and it confirms it as well.
Hey David, thanks for watching and your comment. As i said in the video, NS10's really are the proof in the pudding for this one. Personally, i think they sound dreadful, they are very limited in the high and low end, and I don't care for them myself. But tens of thousands of records have been mixed on primarily them, as engineers have learned their sonic signature and how to use them as tools. I'm far from the world's best mixer but have used only cheap koss headphones to mix multiple demos for my wife who is a professional singer, and she's landed a lot of work from them. Thanks again!
Thank you so much for confirming what I suspected all along, " I know what I want my music to sound like and be confident in what I am doing". Using a reference track will put the nails in the coffin. Killin' Em' !!! Thanks inspirational videoo
You're very welcome! Thank you so much for taking the time to watch and to comment. Regardless if you're using $5 or $5,000 speakers you need the reference material! Thanks again and hope to see you in other videos
Totally agree on this subject! Great video, and I subscribed to your channel. Just because the fact you are honest and don't make it harder or less like other channels. You give advice that's useful and we can figure out for ourselves. Some vloggers almost throw their own opinions through your ears. It's subjective what some people define as good or bad regarding to a certain subject, so great job buddy!
Hey thank you so much for the kind words and subscription! I sincerely appreciate it. Yeah, i mean i try to be honest and regarding the studio monitor lie video- just wanted to pass along what i felt learned the hard way, jumping around from gear (including speakers) and losing sight of what was important! Thanks again, can't wait to get some more videos out for you guys!
Beside me I was just waiting for someone else who was courageous enough to say this. Knowing how things should sound like in your playback system will save your soul.
thank you for posting, will support your content Tom
This is incredible advice, thanks so much!
You are welcome my friend. Thanks for taking the time to watch and comment. Hope you are safe in this crazy world right now.
Do you know what budget speaker I can use for a beginner like me in mixing at mastering
Just the right video I needed right now. Thank you so much. Really appreciate this video. Keep it up
Thank YOU so much for stopping by to watch and leave a comment! I sincerely appreciate it. But I'm glad you found it helpful. Too many times with people (myself included) their gear acquisition outgrows the pace of their skillset. Take care and stay safe!
Tom, you have just cured my headaches, not to mention saved me a bunch of money. I have had a set of
Creative Inspire P5800 for over 10 years and I love their sound. I must admit, my early work sucked, but when I compare my latest work to some studio recordings I have made and paid good money for years ago, I kinda have to prefere my latest mixes and yes, all done on the Creative Inspire P5800 computer speakers. Maybe in years to come I may get some flat response studio monitors but for now, I stick to what I've got... Thanks a bunch for your advice.
I’m so glad I watched this, thanks bro!
Hi Tom thanks for the video, i want to confirme what you said because i mixed songs with multimedia speakers the cheapest ones and my mixes sounded good everywhere, cause when i mix i always think about the aspect of the sound on that speaker and imagining it like a circle or a triangle or whatever comes in my mind and i compare it to commercial songs that i love. In my country it's hard to get cheapest studio monitor cause our minimum wage is about 100 dollars and mid wage is about 250 dollars !!!! but even on the cheapest speakers i enjoy making music that is the important thing, good gear are juste a comfort, salutation from Algeria
Just wanted to say thank you so very much for taking the time to listen and comment. This is the amazing thing about UA-cam and how it can connect people from all over the world with similar interests. I know I'm guilty of taking my home studio for granted at times myself. And the information you provided regarding the pay scale and cost of speakers in your country is really eye-opening. This should force us all to think, what can we do with the gear we have? You're able to turn out great results with minimal gear, and so are hundreds of thousands of other people. We all can just get caught up and chasing the best of any type of gear, including speakers. However that doesn't make us better at mixing. The end result is what matters, and I'm so glad to hear you are getting great results on more of a minimalist set up. That's a testament to your skill and not the gear, and skill is what is always the most important thing anyway. Thank you again so much and best of luck with life and music and mixing!
Thanks very much for the advice. But I have a question. I don't have money to buy studio monitors because they are too expensive in my country. But I want to buy a little mixer with a built-in amp in it, how should I set it with my audio interface to get quality sounds for mixing and mastering in my studio?????
dude thanks a lot, you saved me some money and more important eased my doubts, have been using home LG HI-FI system since years, so i know how tones are supposed to sound like and then producing the tracks to my phone to check how they sound, and they sound totally normal to me and the way i expected, but then you hear and read everywhere in music production about monitor boxes that you start doubting.
Sorry for the belated response, thank you for watching and the comment! I'm glad this video is helpful for you. It's become much more popular than I ever thought it would, LOL. But you hit the nail on the head, as long as you have a system you know and can get great results with it, getting monitors will not yield you better mixes. In fact it may do the opposite because you're introducing a completely new way of listening to something than you're used to and will have to readjust and recalibrate your brain and ears. If it ain't broke, don't fix it! Happy music making and listening!
Man i have been saying this for a long time! Great vid! Subbed!
Hey friend thank you so much for watching and the comment, but especially the sub! It's funny I never thought this video would get any views, it was just something off the top of my head when I started the channel. I should probably do another one of these opinion videos soon! Thanks again and I hope you are safe and healthy
Thanks for the advice! I've decided to get some monitors anyway because I've decided my consumer grade headphones and bluetooth speaker aren't giving me enough bass response and a flat studio monitor would allow me to more easily identify problems with my mix. I'm on a budget, though, so I'm wondering how best to spend my money. I could either buy two budget studio monitors, one slightly nicer monitor, or one budget monitor + a subwoofer. What are your thoughts about mixing in mono (I would still have my headphones for stereo), and how important is a subwoofer? Thanks!
don't want to mix w a sub woofer, and you always want a pair (two) of monitors. also, some decent headphones specifically for mixing are available and some pretty affordable.
Bobby Armstrong thanks! I ended up doing some research, realizing my comment was pretty dumb, and buying a pair of decent headphones. Was the right choice!
I‘m planning on starting to record and mix my own music. I‘ve ordered a pair of studio monitors but they only had 1 on hand. The other is gonna arrive in 2-3 weeks time. Can I start with 1 already??
This is a wonderful & timeless video. Yes reference good quality material & aim to get into that "ballpark"
Thank you so much my friend! It's funny I never thought this video would get as many views as it has, but it was just what came to my mind after seeing another video that had the exact opposite viewpoint of mine! Anyhow thanks again for watching and the kind words
I love the intro sentence, it's very wholesome
Thanks for your honest and clear advice. Could not agree more. It's not about the monitor, it's all about your ear
You are welcome my friend! Thank you for stopping by to watch and comment!
Mixing against reference material is a great way to learn how to mix imo. Good advice.
Derek Jones thanks so much for watching and the comment, reference material is the great equalizer no matter what system you are listening to!
That's why if you are an audiophile.. you must own at least ONE GOOD Speaker Monitor. For REFERENCE..
I have my desk standing half way into my living room so I have my studio monitors where they need to be… this gives me courage to try putting them in a box and moving my desk to the wall and use the stereo speakers and headphones for most of my workflow. Writing, recording, etc. I can still get them out for when I mix and master but I think I should anyways break up my workflow more. I always end up getting caught in little tweaks and equalising when I should be focusing on song structure. Thanks for this video
Thanks. You just cured my headache and confusion. Going right back to what I have
Thank you, now I could convince myself continued mixing with my multimedia T40 ii. I used to mix some tracks with my headphones but somehow I realized that they sounds pretty bad in tons of different devices, like mobile phone or budget speakers which were used for listening music by most people from anywhere. The best mixing, mastering pieces are customized for its' targeted user range, or even could be remastered for audiophiles or common costumers if needed.
Thank you so much my friend for stopping by and leaving this comment! I'm certainly of the mindset that if you are getting good results with your system, regardless of what it is, why change! I'm certainly not against studio monitors, but people can make it work without them. Thanks again so much for stopping by, hope you are having a blessed new year and stay safe and healthy!
So I can Mix & Master on my Logitech Speakers.
Thank you for the advice!
Btw ,can you give some Mastering Tips?
Well, believe it or not there are people who do it. Or quite cheap headphones. There is a great read by the title of behind the glass, that gets a lot of one-on-one information and interviews from top engineers of the past several decades. I forget which one said it but he used to do most of his mixing on a small Boombox or a set of TV speakers as it was what most people listened to and he learned to mix on them because of that.
Also, as I said in the beginning of the video, that this was a response video to another UA-cam video that had hundreds of thousands of views that said you need studio monitors to be successful at mixing. I don't agree with that statement and the crux of that video. If you don't agree with mine that's perfectly fine.
And lastly, the larger take-home message I want people to understand is at some point you just need to buckle down with a set of tools you have regardless of what they are, how you can learn those tools and therefore learn how to mix better. I myself went down the speaker rabbit hole for too long thinking that's what I needed to mix better, when in reality I just needed to stick with some speakers and simply practice mixing more often.
Although I know your comment was dripping with sarcasm, the best mastering advice I can give you is this. Get your material Mastered by a professional. A few years ago an Ep I did for a friend was Mastered by Brian Lucey. If you don't know his credits look them up. I then compared my pre Master with his master and learned a lot about compression and EQ that way, highly recommended.
Take care
@@tomszymusic behind the glass - could you link me to the article? Also interested in your current speaker set-up out of curiosity.
@@mattzere78 hello friend, so behind the glass is an actual book. It may exist somewhere in electronic PDF format but I read the actual book.
www.amazon.com/Behind-Glass-Record-Producers-Craft/dp/0879306149
@@mattzere78 also regarding current Speaker setup, I have gone through many different setups over the years. Currently all I have in my studio is a pair of JBL lsr308, the original version. I've tried a lot of the cheaper speakers and I still think they are the best bang for the buck. I use quite a bit a pair of cheap headphones and believe it or not hooking up my MacBook to our television to balance vocal levels for a project. If you have a laptop give it a try sometime, just set the vocals listening through your TV where they sound appropriate and see how it translates to other systems, been working well for me!
How about yourself, what is your speaker setup like?
Great advice and I agree, but I think it helps me personally to have speakers that can put out some good bass. I've mixed on a laptop and the little speakers I use with the laptop just don't give me the bass I need to hear. That's just me though.
Thanks for all that usefull info Tom. One thing you forget to mention but it's so obvious in your video, is about how many things can someone put onto his speakers as a decoration 😃
connecting hi-fi speakers to an interface eg the Focusrite 2i2 to the jacks behind the interface without using the headphone input in the front. how would you go about it
Hi-Fi speakers? Are you talking about passive speakers that are powered from a separate power amplifier or receiver?
If so the 2 I 2 should have quarter-inch line outs, and you can get cables that run from quarter inch to RCA connection on the other end, which should connect you to any power amplifier or receiver
Tom, do you think my Samson BT3 will still do my job? Despite the fact that it lacks sub frequencies (only 95 hz low end)?
Sorry for the belated response! But thanks for watching and the question.
I think the speakers will do an excellent job for you- the same rules apply as everything else: Know them extremely well and listen to all sorts of music on them, and know how they sound. Don’t just use them for mixing, that would be the worst thing you could do. Use them for all of your music experience, that way your ears are acclimated to how things sound on them. In terms of the lowest frequency’s, a cheap pair of headphones or your car system can be used to tell you if the low-end needs adjusting or not, but I think those speakers will do a fantastic job for the majority of your mixing duties.
For years when I was getting started I used a Pair of Sony VAIO computer speakers For most of my mixing duties, and used a set of bigger home hi-fi speakers to check the low-end. The combination worked extremely well until I had money to upgrade to some other things.
Tom Szy Music now i understand what you want to tell in the video, and i hope this will change my entire work on mixing.
Thanks a lot, Tom!
Can I mix on Edifier R19U .. together with Samson sr850 headphones?
I realized that I've been using the "reference material" al along. I have some songs that I know by heart, every single beat... and I play them to test acoustic devices.
Hey friend! See that, you're already ahead of the curve and you didn't even know it! That's awesome to hear though, and really the best way to calibrate your ears on any system, and even throughout mixing always great to refresh and listen to material you know sounds good to see if you are on track with what you are doing yourself! Thanks again for taking the time to watch and listen and comment, hope to see you again!
Any trick to Setup a equaliser in system based equaliser (such as dell Audio in case of dell system) to make it sound like studio monitor like sound
thank you so much I was busting my brain want to set up my home studio so I was going to invest stereo speakers this help me allot on my way to make awesome beats ty
Hey friend, thanks so much for stopping by and the comment. I'm glad it was helpful too. I'm certainly not against monitors as I use them myself, but I do think the job can be done without them. I think acoustic treatment is probably the most important thing to focus on if you're using any sort of speaker or recording any sounds live. Good luck with the studio, it's a lot of work but a lot of fun!
I appreciate your knowledge shared ! I've a pair of used Cerwin Vega XD3's, CubaseLe4 music production hardware in my home studio. When I wav to mp3, put the mixes on a cd to hear the mix, I'll just adjust the bass up, down If necessary...thanks again !
Hello friend and thank you for taking the time to watch and leave a comment! Glad you have a system that works for you, and it doesn't break the bank! You can be done!. I hope you are safe and healthy in this crazy world right now.
@@tomszymusic, you stay safe also.
Thank you so much for this video
This is absolutely true!! I mix on headphones since 7 years now and still my tracks sound great. You really need to know what the instrument is supposed to sound ⚡️
Thanks for watching and the comment. Glad you are able to get great results on headphones, it can be done! Hope you are staying safe wherever you are in the world
Tom Szy Music got me thinking . I was ready to shell out money on studio monitors . I need to learn how to mix first on the pc speakers I have .
@@TheShyArmyTV I replied to your other comment, but yes, exactly. First learn some basic mixing on speakers you already know. If you don't know how to mix and you're getting new speakers, then that's two variables in the equation. You're trying to learn the sound of new speakers and learn a new skill and I would not recommend that. One variable at a time.
I agree! It's more on your ear that your gear.
Exactly! That was the take-home message I was hoping people would get!
I like the idea of a tube preamp two speakers for playing music and yes a microphone and headphones to record with
I have a question. I personally only have one studio monitor speaker and have been wondering whether I even need another one. But if I do choose to mix on just this one speaker, shouldn't I do it in mono?
Hey friend, thanks for watching and the question. I'll do my best I can to answer it.
I think it ultimately comes down to, how are the mixes translating with your current setup? If you are satisfied then I would say if it isn't broken then don't fix it. Personally I would find it very challenging to try and get the balance of a mix and panning correct with only one speaker. Monitoring in mono is helpful though for checking phase relationships between different sound sources I have found.
Regarding mixing in mono or stereo, if you only have one speaker then you are forced to mix in mono... You only have one speaker. But regarding the source which is most likely the output from your audio interface that's coming from your Daw, make sure in your Daw on your master bus channel that everything is summed to Mono. Most DAWs have the ability to flip between mono and stereo or if not there are free plug-ins that can do it. Or some monitor controllers and interfaces have the ability to sum to Mono as well. If you're not doing that somewhere along the line then your single speaker is only playing the left or right Channel output ... And you would be missing important information in that speaker unless all your individual channels are panned Center in your Daw. But that would not make for an engaging mix to have everything straight up the middle panning.
Let me know if this makes sense?
Hi what’s your opinion of jbl 4333 monitors and ads 910s are they really really good. Thanks
Can you use monitors to produce a softer/quiet sound? I have my usb interface to my bass amp and it is annoying the neighbors.
Hello friend! Thanks for watching on the question! Low frequencies are what you hear most between room-to-room and through walls... and I could see why running your sound through a bass amp would yield that problem. I would recommend a pair of 6 inch or smaller speakers to use, especially if the neighbors are a problem... Maybe something in the 4-inch range? I guess the question comes down to, are you listening for enjoyment or mixing or both? I would probably say if low frequencies and neighbors are problem then get a pair of speakers with 4 or 5 inch drivers, that you can use to listen to music, and then use a pair of headphones to check for the low end of you are mixing. Let me know what you think of this? There are quite a few small monitors that are very accurate at playing at low levels
@@tomszymusic I was thinking about 5 inch monitors. I want to enjoy them wile listening, i thought about that as well and i think that it is more inspiring to play guitar or bass when it sound good. I want to focus on recording first. When i am done recording i switch to my stereo speakers with a little sub to mix but i can't use these speakers with my interface because of latency. I have to go to the city first to listen to some brands, i am still doubting if i will first bey one expensive or two cheaper. I will need my ears for that decision. Your reaction is helpful, thanks
Always amazing how i get only reply from smaller channels. Very much appreciated m8.
You are very welcome! Let me know what you decide on, I'm always curious to hear what other people end up using! Thank you my friend, hope to see you back on future videos!
Best advice on the subject. I've watched 20h of content to find this video... thx.
oh man thank you so much!!
i have been going crazy the last 5 days trying to figure out if i need studio monitors, if it is worth it in the budget i have, if it is worth it if i cant do proper acoustic treatment in the room, man even if the room was ok, and i know it all affects on a degree, but i was just more into a spiral the more info i learned; all to end up thinking.. well it isnt worth it because i cant afford thousends of dollars of equipment to listen well. You helped me so much and cleared most doubts in an accurate, to the point and truth revealing 4 minute video.
Thank you so much!!
I will buy the best monitors that are inside my budget and start listening to refence tracks and learn how it sounds.
What are better headphones to mix on? Senheisser 280 HD Pros or Beyerdynamic DT770 80 OHMS?
Hello friend, thank you for watching. Unfortunately I've never listened to either of those headphones so so unfortunately I can't comment on them. Something I prefer and many others do is when you get a headphone for mixing that they are open back, Opened back yielding to perhaps a little bit more natural sound and not as closed off and in a vacuum as closed back headphones. So if either of those is open back, I would go for that 1.
Do you think The Hercules xps 2. 080 combined with the headphones audio technica ath-m30x are a good choice to start producing?
Thanks for the question! Yes! I absolutely think that is a fantastic pair of speakers/headphones to start your producing adventures. I started using just a desktop computer (eventually a laptop) and a cheap pair of koss headphones (still use them to this day) and a pair of sony VAIO PC speakers. I eventually upgraded to some nicer things, but i still use cheap stuff as well! I have mixed multiple projects on the $20 koss headphones over the past 2 years- and they all have landed many gigs for my wife who is a professional singer.
The absolute best piece of advice i could give you would be to just use those speakers/headphones constantly for everything. Production/mixing/casual listening....know them inside and out. That way you will know how things sound on them and when it comes time to any sort of mixing or production decision, you will be intimately familiar with their sound and then the only thing your brain has to focus on is your musical decisions and not what things sound like through the playback system.
Also as i said in the video- refer to reference tracks frequently. That way you can compare your work to things that you know sound good- and you can sculpt your own audio work accordingly.
Let me know if you have any other questions and if you get that setup- how it goes for you!
Tom Szy Music Thanks a lot for the very useful advices. I'll let you know, Im going to buy the headphones and the speakers very soon!
Awsome bro. All this time I've had certain doubts about using expensive studio monitors, and you confirmed my theory: there is no need to.
As long as your results are turning out the way you want them, that's honestly all that matters! Sorry your comment got buried and I only saw it now, but thank you for stopping by to watch!
So i will ask you
if you can hear the deference of 0.5 db in HFQ on your cheap studio monitor
thank you for explaining!!
In my opinion I just like the way it looks on a gaming setup:)
Hey Gabe, thanks for watching! Yeah, there is definitely something to be said for the aesthetics of a nice pair of monitors! Thanks for the comment!
One thing I found DRAMATIC and Eye Opening was listening to one of my favourite post production recordings that I had probably heard 200-300 times. When I heard them on those old massive tannoy in the studio they sounded awful. It was in that moment that I realised 'All sound is relative'.
John Williams Venezuelan guitar recordings.
Thank you so much for sharing that my friend! Depending on what you're listening on can certainly change the perspective quite a bit! Which can be a good thing, or not. Thank you so much for watching and taking the time to leave a comment, I seriously appreciate it! Hope you are safe and healthy and having a great new year so far
Awesom video. Agree with all the points. I use cheap speakers to mix on, and the takeaway I get from that and this video is, if you can mix great on these, the final product will be awesome.
Hey Will, just wanted to say thanks so much for stopping by and taking the time to leave a comment. There are many people out there who mix on cheap speakers or speakers that are not designed as studio monitors, who get great sounding mixes. I always believe it's more about the skills of a mix engineer than the gear itself. Thank you again my friend, stay safe and healthy!
If I'm working off Protools 12 and I got Bookshelf Speakers .. what speakers yall suggest for better mixes and mastering ?
The Yamaha 5"s maybe ? And some good headphones
If you are going to go the route of studio monitors- I would look at the JBL lsr308/kali lp8.
But great mixes can be made on bookshelf speakers as well! As I stated in the video, just look at what happened with the yamaha ns10.
Either way thanks for watching and happy music making and mixing!
Very good advice thanks Tom
You are so very welcome! Thanks for watching and the comment!
Can i enjoy the music from these ..i don't mix the audio's very rare... i all ways keeps time on listening my playlists... can i use studio monitors as speakers?
Hello and thank you for watching! You can most definitely use monitors as listening speakers, many people do. In fact I think you will enjoy that decision if you do! Thanks again and happy listening!
You just saved me money and my wife the headache of listening to the mixing process 😂 just with the simple concept of a reference track
is Yamaha hs8 good for listening music?
I use headphones mostly, but I also use a set of satellite speakers with a bass cannon under my work desk, this was by Gnt some years back for pc's and other use ! It's has bass, treble, & vol. controls.
They sound great and are powerful enough !
thanks for the video.
Great sounding speakers makes it easier to identify and thus control reverb, compressors, placement and depth. There is no doubt about that.
Thank you so much man you saved me a lotta bucks . Thank you for givibg me the knowledge i need as a beginner. When the other guys on youtube are say i need one studio monitor when u really cant afford one comfortably. This made me worry a little bit . But now you told i dont need one i will invest the money i should on the thungs i really need .Sending lots of love
You are very welcome my friend! Glad you found the video helpful or informative. Your speaker and recording needs will likely evolve as your skill-set does, but I can't tell you how many times I come back to Old speakers I have just because I know them so well, regardless if they are Studio monitors or not. And I'm certainly not against monitors, I just have the opinion that it is possible to make good music regardless if you have them or not, don't get hung up on the gear. Thanks ever so much for watching, hope you are safe and healthy and having a good new year so far!
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻I totally agree!!! Well spoken!!!
I do guitar live looping in Ableton and use the aux from guitar amplfire which is sounds good enough at home but I'm afraid of if all my projects will sounds differently on gigs cause probably I should use monitors there , appreciate if you give some advice
Hey friend thank you for stopping by and watching. Not sure I exactly understand your question. But I'll do my best to try and answer.
If you're talking about engineering Loops in Ableton in your studio and then playing those loops on a live pa system- monitors won't necessarily make your Loops translate better to a live setting. It's possible they would, but it's most likely you need to practice mixing more. Also play the loops you are working on in the studio back over your phone, your car, a Boombox, multiple systems and if it sounds good on multiple systems it will most likely sound good in a live setting.
If your question was asking should you use studio monitors to playback sound at a gig / live music setting, I would not Advocate that at all. They are not designed for that and will not hold up to the volume and fluctuations for music performance in a venue.
Hope that helps, if not try rephrasing your question again, thanks!
Thanks a lot 🙏🏼
Thank you for your very practical advise .. "learn it, know it and use it" Totally an enlightening way to view monitors. To make a sound good even with a crappy speaker will make it sound good anywhere. That's a great advise and challenge I will cherish in my learning and work frame with sounds and music. 5 Stars for me. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Today's studios are small basement/home project studios-- you don't need studio monitors. But, in a commercial application with revolving engineers you absolutely do need a coherent playback system.
Nice... Great suggestion
Thanks Man!
thanks for this
Wise words and spot on conclusion.
Honest explanation
Great video!
This video has got me thinking. Since I currently can’t treat my room I am beginning to wonder whether just a decent pair of regular speakers would do. What would you recommend. I own a pair of Monitor Audio Bronze 3s but can get something else too. Since I own a Focusrite I would need an amp too right? Any advice would be welcome. Thanks!
Hey friend just wanted to say thank you so much for taking the time to watch the video and leave a comment. Regarding your other question I believe you left on room treatment, I think it's Paramount. It's probably up there as number one with importance if you are recording anything live and using anything other than headphones for mixing. You mentioned not being able to treat your room, even if you can't hang anything on walls get a couple of mic stands, and by some 2x4' auralex or similar acoustic foam sheets and hang them from a mic stand, raise the stand to the maximum height and then make the boom arm in the shape of a t so that it's parallel to the floor and then hang the foam from it. You can at least treat first reflection points on your rear and side walls this way. You can also either DIY Broadband / low-frequency absorbers that are all over UA-cam with rigid insulation, or buy some from gik Acoustics. Straddle the corners to help tame low frequencies a little bit. Just simply lean them against the corner straddling them. Nothing permanent or destructive. It will make a world of difference, trust me.
Regarding speakers, if you want to go the route of passive speakers with an amp, tannoy made a series of monitors called the PBM series years ago, look up the six or eight in versions on eBay. Can be had 200 and under per pair. For power amps, check out yamaha's professional amps from the 80s and 90s, they were amazing. Also Adcom series 535 / 545 / 555. Great bang for the buck. Also technics made some great larger bookshelf speakers too in the 70s-90s.
If you want to spend more than 200-300 on speakers, then just look for used JBL lsr308. Probably the best bang-for-the-buck monitors out there.
Hope this all helps!
@@tomszymusic Hi and thanks so much for your very detailed reply. Will consider all that you are saying. Maybe it’s time I did at least a little room treatment. Slow and steady wins the race :) Will check out the passive speakers and amps you mentioned as well. You’re talking mostly second hand right? Thanks again!
@@accentontheoff you are very welcome, I hope it's informative or helpful in some way. And correct, second hand. I'm a huge believer in buying used studio equipment. Been doing that for years and it's how I get the gear to test for all my demo videos. Nearly never have a problem, and if you do and buy it on eBay you can return it within 30 days hassle-free.
@@tomszymusic Oh it is useful, thanks. As to second hand I need to explore the market here in India. Never considered it seriously but hey why not. Thanks.
Am also researching the idea of mic stands with foam. Sounds interesting and simple.
You said it i appreciate
can you use studio monitors for gaming or movies? When not making music?
Absolutely my friend. In fact if you do have monitors, the more things you use them for then the better your ears will become accustomed to them. But they would still make fine speakers for purposes other than music making or mixing as well. Hopefully that's helpful and you are safe and healthy and have a great holiday
@@tomszymusic 100% helpful, thanks a lot for your response and well wishes. Hope you are safe and all good for the holidays homie !
Could an argument FOR studio monitors be that they take balanced cables straight into the audio interface rather than taking the path from audio interface > to amp to speakers (with speaker wire) which could invite unwanted noise?
ive got a pretty busy studio with power boards and synths and pc's and the like and i do get interference from i dont know where. im just trying to justify buying monitors...
Hey friend, thank you so much for stopping by and the comment. Depending on the electrical setup of your environment, fewer cables could possibly be a better thing. Keep in mind powered monitors still have amps inside, so there's still cabling that has to go from interface to the speaker which has an amp and then from that amp to the drivers. It's just that the cable runs are shorter internally inside the powered speakers. I've gone through so many variations of monitors over the years and funny enough, the quietest connection I've ever had is with an old Yamaha power amp from the 80s to passive speakers. Absolutely dead silent. Most active monitors, especially lower-priced ones with class D amps have some hiss inherent in their design.
I'm certainly not against the monitors at all, just don't think they are absolutely necessary for everybody. Anyway thanks again for stopping by and have a great day, stay safe and healthy!
I've mixed on my home theater system before and checked the mix on my headphones... Came out tight through out.
This is common sense that deep down I've always known. However if you do choose to go the Hi-Fi speaker route you want to make sure that those speakers don't uniquely emphasize any part of the frequency spectrum because if your reference song does not utilize the same notes that your project does that could get you in trouble because you might be overcompensating with low mid or high frequencies in your mix if those speakers have a huge dip or Peak in the sound frequencies. I just confused myself a little bit but.... just make sure your speakers have a natural sounds to them.
Haha! Your comment made me laugh at the end there.
My point of view is this: if you know how to mix, and know how your reference system sounds, they don't need to have a flat response. That's why I use the example of NS10s, which have been used for decade, sometimes exclusively to mix tens of thousands of albums. They are about as unflat of a speaker as you can get... Serious lack of low-end and high-end, and a significant mid-range boost that can hit your ears like a nice pic. The opposite of flat. Yet people learned how to mix on them and they became a standard, not because they had a flat frequency response.
Anyhow, thanks again for taking the time to watch and listen and comment, happy music making and hope to see you again!
I made huge bass traps, bought acoustic panels, and placed them according to proven methods, turned on my room correction software, have two 5 inch monitors along with an 8 inch subwoofer.
Guess what? When it comes to fine adjustment during mixing & mastering, I rely on my reference headphones. They are far more detailed. Can I do the whole mix and mastering with headphones? Hell yeah.
Only downside would be, they are not comfortable to wear after half an hour. Thats why you need monitor speakers...
Very true
Can I use the studio monitor for rehearsal purpose?
Hello friend, thanks for watching and leaving a comment. I'm assuming when you say rehearsal purpose you mean practicing an instrument like an amplified electric guitar or bass guitar? If so that would be a perfectly suitable use for your studio monitor, just don't crank it too loud. The speaker drivers aren't designed to handle loud playback from Super Dynamic sources like live instruments. If you're talking about about an actual band practice then I just don't think that's a safe use of the monitors you have. But if it's just you plugging a guitar or bass or synth or something in, then sure that's more than fine at low volumes.
The point of studio monitors are for a reference on a neutral and flat level so your mix translates on ANY sound system well ..... otherwise only listeners with the same speakers in your studio are hearing the mix with your perspective.
Sure you can extract your mixes over and over and play them back on all kinds of speakers until the mix sounds good on all of them ... but why go through the headache?
Just get active monitors .
I certainly don't disagree with what you were saying about the point of studio monitors.... although if you take a modern JBL Monitor and a modern Yamaha monitor they are likely designed to be flat yet sound drastically different.
Also one could have 10k ATC speakers that are remarkably accurate, but it may not necessarily improve your mixing ability if you're mixing skills and use of reference tracks isn't up to par.
I'm certainly not saying that monitors are useless and there's no point in them, as I use them myself. Just that I think there's a bit of a crutch placed on gear, especially speakers. I feel like I learned that one the hard way chasing more expensive speakers yet my mixes didn't improve.
That's just my thoughts and everything, take them or leave them of course 🙂
Thanks so much for stopping by and taking the time to leave a comment, stay safe and healthy!
Welp, thumbs up for this sage advice. I was contemplating getting either a Mackie CR3-XBT
or a simple Creative Stage Air/V2 for my upcoming battlestation/workstation setup. Guess I am going for the cheaper alternative~
Glad it was helpful. I don't think there's anything wrong either with upgrading speakers as your skills progress, but I learned the hard way that my quest for better speakers outpaced my skillset to use them, and my mixes actually suffered as a result.
I used studio monitors to make a video, which sounded appropriate at the end, then when I uploaded the video, then played it on my laptop, the result was alarming, like the speaking voice was suddenly not loud enough. Great info here, thank you.
Thanks for your thoughts and observations. Just curious if you used reference materials to check the balance of your mix well on your studio monitors? Did you use another song in a similar genre to see how loud the vocals sounded compared to your mix?
@@tomszymusic The tip on using reference music is superb; my issue was mixing my voice with music in background...voiceover. On monitors I thought it was okay, but on laptop the piano was twangy...so I made some adjustments. Which makes me wonder if most of the world just listens to stuff on their cell phones now. I should look for a video on voiceover if you have one. : P
Just because of pure honest and sincerity, you got a sub from me
I totally agree!
“If it sounds good on these, it will sound good everywhere” is the definition of a bad loudspeaker!
Most good (or at least “decent” play back systems will try to sound good, be it loudspeakers, monitors or headphones.
The NS-10s were used in order to have a relatively predictable and consistent way of checking how would the mix sound on lower end consumer audio of the day (like the Auratones, in a different perspective), and by “consistent” I mean in the mid and upper range, which isn’t as sensitive to the room acoustics - considering that they usually used on top of the console, inside purpose-built control rooms.
As they were relatively small, many engineers would also use them as portable monitors.
But no engineer can adjust what he can’t hear, and that’s also the case with lower frequencies on the NS-10, which they simply can’t reproduce!
Despite the huge hype around them, most people forget that they were usually used along with big mid or far field monitors to get the whole “picture”, in a time when a mastering engineer would always listen, make the necessary adjustments (or ask the mixing engineer to make some changes if it wasn’t fixable at mastering), on much better monitoring systems, and with a fresh pair of ears.
Justa as an example, Andrew Sheps has been mixing for years on the same model of relatively inexpensive headphones, while checking his mixes on his old Tannoy monitors.
He even said in interviews that he usually doesn’t like the artist to listen to his mixes in the Tannoys, because they have their own sound, which is a well known reference for him, but not for the artist.
According to him, if he makes changes as requested by the artist in the first days of listening through the Tannoys, after a the artist gets used to the sound of the Tannoys, he requests additional changes to the same mix in order to compensate.
Andrew is very clear on saying that he wants the artist to listen the mix in his/her usual playback system, because the Tannoys are a well known reference for Andrew only (he loves and knows for many years how they should sound). 😉
This enforces what you are saying on this video, but Andrew S. also referred that “back in the day”, when engineers were usually working in different studios, they would take some recordings with them that they used as a reference on how that particular monitors/studio acoustics make those well known recordings sound, and let the brain adapt to that particular playback system.
That also confirms what you said in this video. 😉
The hard truth that most of us don’t like to accept, is that there is no monitors that are going to magically fix our lack of experience that these guys have, by doing in everyday for years/decades! 👈
I’d argue that for most part-time composers, musicians and “sound engineers”, it’s better to always have one or two monitoring references (and maybe the car as a third one), than entering the game of always buying different and/or more expensive monitors, since we’re not only introducing more variables on how our brains adapt to new “references”, as we’re also not pushing ourselves harder by blaming the monitoring system.😉
If our speakers/monitors/headphones sound good with the music we love, but not with the one we’re mixing, I’d humbly argue that the problem is not in the gear, but in our own lack of experience, and that’s what we should be addressing by practicing.
It’s interesting to see that when we watch an F1 or rally driver working their magic around a track, we don’t tend to think that we could do the same if we had those particular race cars.💡
We are usually more aware that it takes a lot of practice to get the skills (along with the passion and talent), and that it’s the driver who’s responsible to show what the machine can do, and not the other way around. 🙂
Finding whatever works best for us and practicing more and more is our best bet! 👍
We do have the benefit of not risking killings ourselves if we make big mistakes while mixing, unlike improving racing skills…😂
Some people say you need a studio monitor, but even the monitors themselves sound different to each other, so what does that tell. I'm addicted to Hifi speaker mixing though. I like trying different amps on the speakers I love. I also try to tame anything harsh in my mix, filter the edges if the eq spectrum a little to keep things fairly smooth. It's been paying the bills.
Long as you can translate your mixes well to as many other playback devices out there. That's the key I've found.
You’re making a very important point here an I do agree with you in principal. The problem I think is that if you produce on a pair of speakers lacking certain mids for instance, you will miss out on those mids both on the reference material and your own productions. So how can you control those specific frequencies when your speakers are not able to reproduce them? Some say you should test your material on a number of different speakers. Let me know what you think. Greetings from a sound geek 🤓
Hello my friend! I love discussing this stuff as I'm sound geek myself, LOL. I mean I think at the end you hit it on the head, use different playback systems and one should be able to cover the gaps that the other misses. The most obvious one is of course the car test, which I was actually going to do a video about my thoughts on that at some point as well.
But I think a pair of speakers and a pair of headphones can really cover a lot of ground. I've been using Koss headphones for over 15 years... I've grown so accustomed to them that the ones I use are discontinued and I bought like 10 pair on eBay years ago to last me! I just know them so incredibly well and have been shifting towards doing more work on just headphones and then checking in the car because getting out to studio in blocks of time has just been harder to come by with life and family lately. But they are $20 headphones and I can cover a ton of ground on them.
But I do think you make a good point in that every playback system is going to have deficiencies and especially some cheaper speakers will be deficient in the mid-range.
And I am certainly not against monitors , I actually use them myself. Although since I did this video I actually sold both those pairs and have just a pair of inexpensive JBL lsr308 for Studio use and have been getting along fine with them. The point of all this was just to say to learn from my mistake in that chasing better and more expensive monitors doesn't necessarily yield better mixes, as I learned that the hard way. You can definitely improve your mixing skills with the speakers you have, but at the same time have to find something that works for you
I gave the ns10 example because they are incredibly deficient in the high-end and low-end, I had a pair for a while and to me they sounded like a high and low pass filter were applied at the ends of the spectrum with an incredible mid-range boost somewhere around 3 to 5 K. I myself couldn't wrap my brain around them but of course many other mixers have, and they are a Love and Hate Thing for most.
So what's in your listening / mixing Arsenal? I'd be really curious to hear!
@@tomszymusic Hello Sir. What type of Koss Headphones do you used? I saw a bunch of different models.
Thank you for these institutions
Sorry for the delayed response, you are very welcome! Thanks for listening!
maybe you right but i found out that the studio monitors sounds realy much better for my keyboards like pa3x and roland E-A7 the point here is i use my pa also much as i can for pushing the sound louder but how ever i need to much time to produce a good clear sound and its still worse on my pa so i dont know maybe my pa are bad
I couldnt agree with this more! I mix on a pair of 12 inch QSC floor monitors but I know those speakers inside out!
Hello friend! Thanks so much for stopping by and the kind words. I'm glad you have a system you know inside and out, that is priceless! Honestly whatever gets you the results you are looking for. Thanks so much for stopping by and the kind words, hope you are safe and healthy and have a great holiday!
Tom Szy Music thank you for the kind words. I just subscribed to your channel. Kind of surprised you don't have more subscribers, you give great advice!
Finally one that understands! Thumbs up!
Thank you my friend for watching and the kind words!
the sound is like mixing paint, the studio monitor is the white paint of speakers, you can mix almost every colour/sound with them, but hifi speakers or headphones may have a tint/shade of another colour/sound bias to make up for something else, while you can definitely learn to mix on either, it'll generally be easier to mix on the white paint/studio monitor.