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What's a good studio monitor? Can I get a decent pair of them for $200 total? Do I need an amplifier, or does a "powered monitor" have an amp in it? Should I get a mixer if I don't have one? (Edit: looking at the M-Audio Studiophile AV 40 Powered Reference Speaker System pair but taking all suggestions.)

Thanks in advance.

"Decent" is a matter of opinion. Powered monitors have built in amps, passives don't. A mixer is handy, but may not be necessary.

For home studios, since the typical monitoring environment is s***, a fair monitor setup to get stereo balance and spread and cancellation check while getting the sonic detail from good headphones tends to be a fair compromise.

I've got good (to me, at least) studio headphones. These guys: http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/pr ... sku=580948

But I don't always want to wear headphones for hours, and I want something a little better than a pair of Yamaha computer speakers I've had forever. Maybe a little nicer than the typical home studio setup. Suggestions?

For the money, the KRK Rokit powered monitors are nice, I use the 6" and love them. GC and MF have them marked down pretty frequently for open box or return items, may run about $250 for a pair that way. Saw some nice ltd edition grey ones sold as used on MF not long ago.

Do any monitors take a XLR cable input, or is that where the mixer would come in?

mathias wrote:Do any monitors take a XLR cable input, or is that where the mixer would come in?

Yes, most do (all of teh ones I've seen any way). Carvin makes powered and unpowered monitors for pretty good prices, they also have alot of good package deals

I have a pair of Alesis M1Active 520 monitors. 5" woofer, 3/4" tweeter, bi-amplified (25 watt tweeter, 50 watt woofer in each speaker). They have adjustments for room size/distance from the wall, and volume controls on the back of each speaker. They have mid-boost and high boost switches, and a switchable high pass filter. They have TRS and XLR inputs. They're heavy, at 13lbs each, and go down to 56Hz. I use them in a 12x15 room with 190 sq ft of acoustic panels covering the walls, and they get fairly loud. They're budget monitors at about $185 a pair, and I like them a lot.

The M-Audios look kind of like PC speakers. They have a single volume control for both speakers, and an aux input and headphone output on the front. The amplifier is contained in just one speaker, which is the same size as the other speaker. I wouldn't be surprised if the two speakers sound different because one has the amplifier taking up space. The pair weighs 14lbs, and they go down to 85Hz.



Mike

Holy Schnikes wrote:For the money, the KRK Rokit powered monitors are nice, I use the 6" and love them.

+1
use them since 4 years and like the sound for recording and mixing

Mike wrote:I have a pair of Alesis M1Active 520 monitors. 5" woofer, 3/4" tweeter, bi-amplified (25 watt tweeter, 50 watt woofer in each speaker). They have adjustments for room size/distance from the wall, and volume controls on the back of each speaker. They have mid-boost and high boost switches, and a switchable high pass filter. They have TRS and XLR inputs. They're heavy, at 13lbs each, and go down to 56Hz. I use them in a 12x15 room with 190 sq ft of acoustic panels covering the walls, and they get fairly loud. They're budget monitors at about $185 a pair, and I like them a lot.

The M-Audios look kind of like PC speakers. They have a single volume control for both speakers, and an aux input and headphone output on the front. The amplifier is contained in just one speaker, which is the same size as the other speaker. I wouldn't be surprised if the two speakers sound different because one has the amplifier taking up space. The pair weighs 14lbs, and they go down to 85Hz.



Mike

And the Alesis 520s are roughly the same price as the M-Audios (using MF for my price reference points ,but may order from elsewhere.)

univalve wrote:

Holy Schnikes wrote:For the money, the KRK Rokit powered monitors are nice, I use the 6" and love them.

+1
use them since 4 years and like the sound for recording and mixing

The KRKs are also an option now. Thanks!