3" or 4" studio reference monitors?

[superblonde]

Are the 3" or 4" monitors even worth considering?

~$700 pair. Genelec 8010A 3 inch Powered Studio Monitor

~$1100 pair. Genelec 8020D 4 inch Powered Studio Monitor

~$800 pair. KRK V4 S4 4 inch Powered Studio Monitor



Disbelief that these sizes would accurately represent anything below ~80 Hz and that is the important bass guitar or kick region.

[garrettmiller]

I'm using the Genelec 8030's (4") but I'm also using a 7050 sub. It can really help or destroy your mixes depending on if your room is treated well.

[jdstamper]

In the reviews I've read over the years, mostly in Recording magazine, small monitors are always lacking in bass response, unless you also have a sub-woofer ... in which case all 3 speakers need to be set up pretty carefully or "calibrated". Although clearly many small monitors are continuously improving in bass performance as the technology advances.

Outside of a sub-woofer, you may overcome the bass issue by getting very familiar with how your monitors sound on both your recordings and reference material, using headphones and other speaker systems to check your mix (the car, etc), lots of A/B comparison, and metering for what it's worth.

For me, I'm not sure I could get by with such small monitors at this point, unless I had the sub-woofer. I'm used to my old Mackie HR824's. But I believe the most important factor is getting your ears trained to make good mixes on whatever monitors you're using, that's true of any monitors, no matter the size or cost.

I also think reading the reviews is critical, especially when considering small monitors.

Jim

[cosmicdolphin]

I managed quite happily with a 5" woofer for 10 years ( Adam A7's ) but I have 7" woofers on my current APS Klassik 2020's and the difference in how low they go is quite marked. I had thought about whether adding the matching Adam sub was the way to go but everything I've ever read said in a room as small as mine it might cause more problems than it solved so I got something with a good reputation for low end withing my budget.

It partly depends on the size your room , what genres you make , room treatment etc so better to have the right speaker for the space you have to work in than any nominal size of woofer. WIth smaller speakers you probably need to check the low end with some sort of metering to make sure your'e not exporting a load of sub bass that you can't hear.

Ultimately you tend to get used to whatever you have so any decent monitor can work.

[superblonde]

~$1200 pair. Focal Shape 40 4 inch Powered Studio Monitor . 60Hz-35kHz

~$800 pair. KRK V4 S4 4 inch Powered Studio Monitor. 58Hz to 19Khz


Seems like I'll have to stick with headphones.

I wonder if having monitors really matters anyway, because,
- the screeners use mid-price-range headphones as well
and
- music supervisors may preview tracks on smartphones or tablets

[cosmicdolphin]

I wonder if having monitors really matters anyway, because,
- the screeners use mid-price-range headphones as well
and
- music supervisors may preview tracks on smartphones or tablets

It's not really about pleasing the Screeners, it's about producing broadcast quality consistently. Just about every pro mixer says this is easier to achieve using monitors but not impossible using headphones.

Mixes have to translate once they leave your studio so no matter what the end user is listening on the mix doesn't fall apart. Mixes made on monitors generally work quite well on headphones without too much adjustment, but mixes made on headphones can sound surprisingly different when played back over speakers.

[superblonde]

I wonder if monitors only need to be good enough to get past the screeners and music supervisor (& producer) because they are the only ones listening to the audio with both trained ears and at full volume. In comparison the audience would not be the best judge because they will only hear the music track as a background element often under dialogue and at purposely mixed low-volume levels.

In considering monitor speaker size it seems odd that the speakers are not rated for volume of airspace which is likely the critical factor in the lower size ranges. Physically larger spaces presumably have very different responses and perhaps the volume of air would be a more important contributor to audio quality than surface reflections. Which is more important in a small space: room treatment, or distance to surfaces (walls, ceiling) whether treated or not.

It seems the best choice would be a monitor which is bundled with calibration features (i.e. microphone & EQ software) even regardless of size. Or for headphones, using calibration software.

[cosmicdolphin]

The only thing we need to "get past " is the inability to make licensable music that's useful to others.

[GBall]

There was a discussion a while back on the "The Womb" forums where a bunch of famous (and almost famous) mixers and producers hang out and they took up this very subject. The answer that stuck with me most was "Okay, but what are you going to recommend within the user's budget that is significantly better that the poster's KRK's?" That hit home for me. What they were saying is that you would have to spend a whole lot more than the amount of money we are talking about here to make a huge difference. I think the Adams or KRK's, etc. mentioned here are serviceable and fairly comparable 'less you want to spend the price of a car.

[Paulie]

I think more mixes are harmed by an untreated room than by 'insufficient' monitors. The beloved NS-10s are low quality from an audio perspective, Quincy calls them the "truth tellers." Get to know your monitors by constantly doing A/B comparisons to mastered songs and you will be fine. There are plenty of acoustic foam options on Amazon, put some blocks in each corner of your room (floor and ceiling), and perhaps one the walls behind and across from your workstation to cut down on extra reflections.