Best nearfield studio monitors

Doug

Doug

Inspired
Unlike many of you on these boards, I'm a bedroom (or living room if you want to be specific) player with no need for the type of volume necessary for gigging or band practice. I've searched and read through a lot of posts over the last few days, but I'm finding that most cabs recommended may be overkill for the bedroom. Can anyone provide recommendations for me? I've seen a recommendation for the Rokkit - what else would be a good option? Would the Atomic work well at relatively low volumes? I'm thinking yes. My Axe-Fx should be here within the next few days, so I plan on trying out a few options soon. Price isn't too much of a consideration, I definitely don't want to short-change myself with a mediocre monitor.

Thanks!
 
Re: Bedroom Cabs

I've been using KRK V4 Series II's for a little over two years and they've been great. They've got a couple of features that I think are really cool, like an auto on/off feature for convenience and a speaker protection circuit for a little extra confidence that I won't blow them on the rare occaision that I get a little carried away ....

Recently though, I changed over to the Adam A5's. I moved my Studio to the basement ( a little bigger room ) and I got a really great deal on a close out for the Adams ....

If money is truly no object, a lot of guys are using the Adams A7's or the new A7X's.

I'm probably going to sell the KRK's cause I don't need them any more, so good luck with whatever you decide !
 
Re: Bedroom Cabs

Thanks R.D., I think I'll head to GC tomorrow to check out a few monitors (and return my Line 6).
 
Re: Bedroom Cabs

You don't need a "cab", IMHO. You need to be looking at powered studio monitors, lots of great choices available for those.
 
Focal CMS 65's,
Expensive, but amazing! I have heard good things about the adam's, but think the Focals (as do most online reviews) are a step up!
I guess it really depends on how much your willing to spend, alot of decent choices.
 
"Best" is sometimes hard to define.... I love my KRK Rokits, but I'm sure they are not the "best" because they didn't cost enough.... but they sound great, nonetheless ;)
 
Here's another vote for the Adam A7-X's. The A7's were already great, but the A7-x have added some improvements.

Approx. 40HZ to well above what you can hear - very clean neutral-sounding highs. Keep in mind that even a low 7th string tuned down to A will still be above where the low end starts to roll off.

A friend just got some Dynaudio BM6A's that he's raving about as well - might want to look at those too.

Here's a review of the Adam A7-x:
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/aug10/a ... am-a7x.htm

Product page:
http://www.adam-audio.com/en/pro-audio/ ... escription

The X-ART Technology:
http://www.adam-audio.com/en/technology/x-art
 
Picked up a pair of Behringer Truth B2031a's for $359 total....couldn't resist the price after reading some decent reviews. They work really well for the AxeFx to my ears. I like the big 8" size for guitar amp modeling much better than the Roland 5"ers I had a while back.
I don't think they are the best studio monitors for mixing by any means but they are possibly the best for the price for non critical listening because the lack of hype needed for serious mixing is apparently a good thing to make the sound enjoyable. You get the FRFR and a big sweet spot with supposedly less fatigue
 
we did a nearfield monitor shootout at a local studio
klein and hummel o300 were the best
I'm using pmc monitors at home which are very good allso
If price is no problem check them out
the klein and hummel are also soundonsound's favourite
 
Doug said:
Unlike many of you on these boards, I'm a bedroom (or living room if you want to be specific) player with no need for the type of volume necessary for gigging or band practice. I've searched and read through a lot of posts over the last few days, but I'm finding that most cabs recommended may be overkill for the bedroom. Can anyone provide recommendations for me? I've seen a recommendation for the Rokkit - what else would be a good option? Would the Atomic work well at relatively low volumes? I'm thinking yes. My Axe-Fx should be here within the next few days, so I plan on trying out a few options soon. Price isn't too much of a consideration, I definitely don't want to short-change myself with a mediocre monitor.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

I use the Adam A7's. From my experience, I think it depends on what you are after. If you want a totally flat reference monitor to perfect your tones, then the A7's may not be for you as they are not flat. I've found the bass frequencies are a little accentuated, and some of the highs are rolled back just a hair. And they come up short in the 500hz range too. You can flatten them with a 31 band EQ if you need to though. But, if you are just after a great sounding monitor, then I can't say anything bad about the A7's. I'm not familiar with the X version, but if it has more low end, I would go that way. One more thing - the A7's tweeter sounds so smooth, that it is easy to create a tone that sounds great on them, but a little harsh on most other speakers, even when the A7's response is flattened with an EQ. The flip side is that your tones sound great on them, even when they're not really all that great, which is cool when you just want to jam and have fun.
 
Thanks for all of the input everybody - this is a great site. I'm going to listen to a few tomorrow, and I'll start with the ones recommended here. I expect my Axe FX either tomorrow or Tuesday, so I should be up and running soon. I can't wait.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom