Desktop powered monitor recommendations?

Ledvedder

Ledvedder

Inspired
Hi everyone! I'm new to the Fractal world, and I'm looking for some recommendations for desktop powered monitors. I'm mostly going to use the Axe for home practice, recording, etc. with my computer. I currently have a pair of Kali LP6 monitors that I've used with my Fryette power station and amps, into my DAW. But I've always felt that they should sound better. https://www.kaliaudio.com/lone-pine-studio-monitors#page-5d70bbe86a06240001e46bd0

Maybe it's because they're only 6" monitors? I don't want to spend a ridiculous amount of money. How are the Yamaha HS series monitors? Any other recommendations are welcome.
 
In my experience, the Kali LP6 significantly outperform anything in their price range, and I prefer them over Yamaha in terms of accuracy. However, before you start putting more money into speakers, do you have any acoustic treatment in your room (not just pointless 1" thick foam pieces)? Upgrading speakers won't help much if the reflections are drastically altering what you're hearing.

Focal is great but they are a French company so make sure they have an authorized repair facility near where you live otherwise you'll be paying for shipping as well as the repair if they fail (one of my Alpha 65s failed and the closest repair facility was in Los Angeles).
 
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Hmm, maybe I'll just have to work on the settings with my Kali LP6's. Everything seems overly bassy from my Axe FX.
 
I have the Kali IN-8’s. They work great. Presonus Sceptre is another option in the medium / med high price range.

If you are getting too much bass on your presets.

Likely explanations can be..

Too high master volume settings. Notice it defaults at 5. Almost no tube amp you want to be cranking that loud in a room.

Your choices in IR. If you pull up a IR with a single royer 121, going from a single SM57 IR, it will feel like a blanket was put over your tone.

Your guitar. Might be like mine with insane bass output, but probably not. I have to use tube screamer type pedals for the low end not to be way too much. Like for example. Even with bass on zero on a typical Fender model, my guitar sounds almost like a fuzz.
 
Ledvedder said:
Hmm, maybe I'll just have to work on the settings with my Kali LP6's. Everything seems overly bassy from my Axe FX.
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I have the Kali IN8 set and I had to do the low-end roll off setting, and I put an eq on my Listen bus in Studio one with a wide q at about 90hz and cut about 2-3db. I know this because I have a room mode at this frequency and I measured my room and have treated it so that I have no more than about 2-3DB in any area still to correct. This way I can do the final tweaks with a little bit of EQ. You might try both the roll off and an eq on your master or listen bus. I would also try and download REW (room eq wizard) and measure your room just to see if or where you have room modes. This way if you need to use eq you know what to adjust and by how much.
 
jamesmarshall said:
I have the Kali IN8 set and I had to do the low-end roll off setting, and I put an eq on my Listen bus in Studio one with a wide q at about 90hz and cut about 2-3db. I know this because I have a room mode at this frequency and I measured my room and have treated it so that I have no more than about 2-3DB in any area still to correct. This way I can do the final tweaks with a little bit of EQ. You might try both the roll off and an eq on your master or listen bus. I would also try and download REW (room eq wizard) and measure your room just to see if or where you have room modes. This way if you need to use eq you know what to adjust and by how much.
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I don't have the proper equipment to do REW measurements. I'm just looking for simple ways to reduce the boominess that I'm getting from the Axe through my Kali speakers. I'm not sure what you mean by master and listen buss. Is that in your DAW?
 
Ledvedder said:
I don't have the proper equipment to do REW measurements. I'm just looking for simple ways to reduce the boominess that I'm getting from the Axe through my Kali speakers. I'm not sure what you mean by master and listen buss. Is that in your DAW?
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There's a lot of EQ options in the Axe III. If you're only playing at home, try the Global Output EQ. If you want to make the adjustments for each preset, start with low cuts in the Amp (Input EQ page) and/or Cab block (Preamp page). You can fine tune preset EQ with the Amp block's Output EQ.
 
Fizz said:
Maybe you don't have your monitors situated correctly and are only hearing the bass?
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^THIS. More often than not, monitors against a wall will be boomy. Audio frequencies can do funny things in different rooms, doesn’t matter how expensive the equipment is. As is already stated in this thread, I’d say that try and get some basic room treatment in place before you invest in new monitors. The Kali’s are well-loved in their class and so I don’t think they are especially bad or anything. Sure, you can get “better” monitors if you are willing, but they won’t perform optimally if you place them in an untreated room.
 
Ledvedder said:
I don't have the proper equipment to do REW measurements. I'm just looking for simple ways to reduce the boominess that I'm getting from the Axe through my Kali speakers. I'm not sure what you mean by master and listen buss. Is that in your DAW?
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Correct, those are in your DAW.
 
Yes. Being on the desk makes more resonance than there should be as well as having the wall right behind them. You want the desk a bit farther and it’s better to have the speakers not symmetrical with the wall.
 
cole lewis said:
Yes. Being on the desk makes more resonance than there should be as well as having the wall right behind them. You want the desk a bit farther and it’s better to have the speakers not symmetrical with the wall.
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So, spread out more and on stands? Also angled a bit?
 
Ledvedder said:
So, spread out more and on stands? Also angled a bit?
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Pull everything away from the wall is what he is telling you.

I am going to give you a not-so-great PIA thing that you need to do...

Move the whole desk around the room and try the speakers out in as many possible locations in the room as you can, if you can get 2-3 feet from a wall that might help a little bit, also stay away from corners.

Upon doing this exercise you should find a place in the room where the speakers sound the best and are not hitting your room mode as much.
 
Ledvedder said:
Also angled a bit?
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Definately! The tweeters send a more direct signal so you want those pointing toward your listening position. The speakers and listening position should form an imaginary triangle (IE; equal distance between the three points).

Are those 'Pads' the speakers are standing on some sort of absorption pads or are they solid wood? Proper monitor isolation pads made a huge difference for me.
 
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