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  1. #1

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    I'm shopping for decent budget monitors for recording and maybe for using with a modeler (or amp VST). I'm taking a long hard look at a pair of Kali LP-6's and just wondering what you guys are using.

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  3. #2

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    I’ve used a pair of 5” Event monitors for 15 years.

  4. #3

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    Quote Originally Posted by wzpgsr
    I’ve used a pair of 5” Event monitors for 15 years.
    Paisano! Me too! About the same time period! I seem to remember mine are called Event Alps. They were near the bottom line for event back then.

  5. #4

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  6. #5

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    take a look at (super well respected) adam audio's (berlin) newer T-series...the t7v's..they use ribbon tweeters for extended highs and rear ported cab for deep lows...a bit more than the kali's you are looking at, but...save those ears!

    ADAM Audio T7V 7 inch Powered Studio Monitor | Sweetwater

    cheers

  7. #6

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    Quote Originally Posted by neatomic
    take a look at (super well respected) adam audio's (berlin) newer T-series...the t7v's..they use ribbon tweeters for extended highs and rear ported cab for deep lows...a bit more than the kali's you are looking at, but...save those ears!

    ADAM Audio T7V 7 inch Powered Studio Monitor | Sweetwater

    cheers
    One gets what one pays for. Those are far superior to the Kali product with larger drivers and a ribbon tweeter. For $100 more. That’s a no brainer. Those weren’t available when I purchased my Rokits 6 years ago. Had they been I’d have purchased them. Each pair is handmade too?! Great find NT!

  8. #7

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    I hear nice things about the Kali speakers. Before I packed everything up, I had a pair avantone speakers for the crappy sounds and a pair of presonus scepter 6. Went with those because they're a little more forgiving in terms of the sweet spot.

    Though it's overkill for most folks, I'd be remiss to mention that treatment is at least as important as your monitors, and sonarworks is an awesome tool that I rely on daily now that I'm headphones only (Ath m50s and grado sr80s).

    Somewhat perversely, I occasionally use my carvin pa thing or Roland ac33 in that capacity. Whatever's around, you know? You have options.

  9. #8

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    I'm using the Kali LP-8s. Sound good to me but since I was unable to listen to a bunch of monitors side by side I relied on reviews. And an added bonus was that they are a small company (in Southern Calif.) and the customer service... I've communicated with the owners via email and phone, yes the owners.

    The reviews of the Kali LP's are excellent, "best monitors you can get even if you were to spend twice as much" are the type of comments I've run across.

    I'm very happy with the LP-8s and chose them simple because sometimes I like to TURN IT UP, and the LP8s have more power than the LP6s. I will add listening to them is a very pleasant experience, not harsh at all to my ear which can be a concern with reference monitors.

    In case you didn't know the company was founded by former JBL employees.

  10. #9

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    I 've been using Tascam 8" with an extra woofer for years at my home studio, but the last months i bought a pair of really cheap Alesis elevate 4" monitors too, pretty happy with them.

  11. #10

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    M-Audio BX5's here.

  12. #11

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    Haven’t looked at the market in years but I went from the 5” M-Audio to Dynaudio BM6As. They’ve treated me well for 15 years now. Highly recommended.


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  13. #12

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    JBL 305P MkII 5" Powered Studio Monitors, here...

  14. #13

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    I'd like to add, I've treated my room and it makes a big difference. It's kind of amazing the change in sound I hear while I'm talking on the phone and walk from any room in my house and then into my music room. I purchased a 6 pack of Corning 703 2' by 4' panels, I covered them with burlap cloth and placed them primarily diagonally creating a triangle where walls meet, because of space mostly at points where walls meet ceiling. If you can find them locally a six pack costs about $65, add another $40 or so for cloth, glue and fixtures. Unfortunately they are bulky so shipping might be another $60 if you can't buy them in person.

    I'm going to buy 6 more. In smaller rooms (I think mine is 10' by 14') sound absorption is king.

    Here's a pic to show what I mean.
    Attached Images Attached Images What's everyone using for monitors?-studio-jpg 
    Last edited by fep; 08-11-2020 at 07:28 PM.

  15. #14

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    ^ don't get too hung up on the room...with baffles and such...you are using small nearfield monitors..they have a very limited premium soundscape...you have to be near-field!! haha... pointed at your head, across the board/computer!...like listenin in the car

    take care of your ears tho!

    cheers

  16. #15

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    Quote Originally Posted by neatomic
    ^ don't get too hung up on the room...with baffles and such...you are using small nearfield monitors..they have a very limited premium soundscape...you have to be near-field!! haha... pointed at your head, across the board/computer!...like listenin in the car

    take care of your ears tho!

    cheers
    Don’t move an inch or the sound completely changes. Only half-joking. I’ve experienced things like boominess being eliminated just by sitting in a taller chair.

  17. #16

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    Quote Originally Posted by neatomic
    ^ don't get too hung up on the room...with baffles and such...you are using small nearfield monitors..they have a very limited premium soundscape...you have to be near-field!! haha... pointed at your head, across the board/computer!...like listenin in the car

    take care of your ears tho!

    cheers
    Acoustic treatment makes a huge difference, one of the most important things you can do. Nearfield's still reflect and you can have standing waves pile up anywhere in a room, phase issues, distortions, including in the prescribed sitting point of the triangle. You also want to consider the room if you are doing any recordings with microphones.

    I'm speaking from experience, the sound in my room changed dramatically. Someone who is way more knowledgeable than me, read from an expert at post #17 of this thread: Acoustical Science/Philosophy Showdown - Cockos Incorporated Forums

    Small rooms* are inherently difficult to use as recording spaces. The central problem is *caused by* low-frequency standing waves, but the effects are heard throughout the frequency spectrum. This is a really, really important distinction to understand. In very unscientific terms, low-frequency standing waves cause stuff in the room, as recorded, to sound generally boxy, ringy, indistinct, muddy, "peaky," and uneven. Generally cheap and unprofessional-sounding. It is *NOT* merely a condition of "too much bass" nor "bass buildup in corners" nor any of these kinds of well-intentioned misunderstandings that seem to think of bass trapping as a low-shelf filter for the room (although they may be some of the symptoms). It is a spectrum-wide, phase- and frequency-dependent distortion that happens throughout the room, and to different frequencies in different places, but happens throughout the frequency spectrum.

    FORTUNATELY, there are ways of dealing with these huge, universal, full-spectrum problems that are CHEAP, SIMPLE, and EXTREMELY NON-TECHNICAL. More later.
    And it goes on with a lot of advice.

  18. #17

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    I think that there's little point in buying monitors unless your room has some acoustic treatment. I mean, the sole point of monitors is that they are neutral, accurate speakers. They are not hyped: the bass is not accentuated, the treble is not accentuated. So if you are in an untreated room, all that neutrality vanishes.

    On the rare occasions I mix something I will use a reference track: I import a well-mixed recording into Logic that I like with similar instrumentation and I then cut from my recording to that one, doing an A/B comparison. That means it doesn't matter whether I'm listening on hi-fi speakers in an acoustically skew-iff untreated room or a cheap pair of headphones: that track's EQ balance is my yardstick.

  19. #18

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    Event PS8s. Looks like these can be found on the used market at reasonable prices.

  20. #19

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    Hi Jim,
    I like the PreSonus Eris E.45 because aside from the great sound, the on/off switch, volume & headphone/aux in jack are sensibly placed on the front of the main powered monitor, not on the rear as many place them. The EQ controls (and other jacks) are on the rear. The monitors are 25 watts each:


  21. #20

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    Quote Originally Posted by helios
    Hi Jim,
    I like the PreSonus Eris E.45 because aside from the great sound, the on/off switch, volume & headphone/aux in jack are sensibly placed on the front of the main powered monitor, not on the rear as many place them. The EQ controls (and other jacks) are on the rear. The monitors are 25 watts each:

    That is a nice touch, I've always questioned why the switch is on the back of monitors. My work around, I leave them on and plug them into a power strip that is on my desk within reach, I turn them on and off with the power switch on the power strip.

  22. #21

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    Quote Originally Posted by skittles
    Haven’t looked at the market in years but I went from the 5” M-Audio to Dynaudio BM6As. They’ve treated me well for 15 years now. Highly recommended.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    dynaudio bm10’s passive

    love em , accurate , can go loud , and non
    irritating for long periods of listening ....

    and this is super-important ,
    and nobody (consciously at least) considers this aspect that much

    the sound is consistent at all listening levels ie they sound the same , quiet , moderate or Loud

    love em

  23. #22

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    Quote Originally Posted by fep
    That is a nice touch, I've always questioned why the switch is on the back of monitors. My work around, I leave them on and plug them into a power strip that is on my desk within reach, I turn them on and off with the power switch on the power strip.
    Exactly what I do as well!