More Musical Studio Monitors

J

journeyman73

Member
I currently have a pair of Yamaha HS7s and though I suppose they get the job done I am wondering if there are a more MUSICAL set of home monitors I could be looking at?

By 'musical' I mean I am willing to sacrifice accuracy and clinical transparency for a pair of speakers that just make my Axe sound as good as it can - but still with some sense of realism so it can effectively reflect all the Axe has to offer.

I don't really have a budget in mind - I am fortunate not to necessarily have a fixed number in mind that I am thinking about (though I guess something like $25k might be excessive lol) - provided the speakers really did sound that great with the Axe and just playing music.

Someone had recommended Focal Twins to me when I asked them about this...others have suggested something from ATC...but i don't know if there are others that would fit the bill better.

thoughts?
 
journeyman73 said:
I currently have a pair of Yamaha HS7s and though I suppose they get the job done I am wondering if there are a more MUSICAL set of home monitors I could be looking at?

By 'musical' I mean I am willing to sacrifice accuracy and clinical transparency for a pair of speakers that just make my Axe sound as good as it can - but still with some sense of realism so it can effectively reflect all the Axe has to offer.

I don't really have a budget in mind - I am fortunate not to necessarily have a fixed number in mind that I am thinking about (though I guess something like $25k might be excessive lol) - provided the speakers really did sound that great with the Axe and just playing music.

Someone had recommended Focal Twins to me when I asked them about this...others have suggested something from ATC...but i don't know if there are others that would fit the bill better.

thoughts?
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Have you treated your room and made sure the speakers are placed correctly and EQ’d to be flat? The room and its acoustics are equally important as the speakers.
 
Oooooo, I wanna be you! Shopping for new speakers when budget isn’t absolutely tight is FUN, and there are so many great ones out there. As a former pro audio salesman, if you came into my store I’d want to know more about your room (size, features, “sound”) and maybe more about what “musical” might mean to you, what kind of music you like/play or even DON’T like. I’d also ask about your other gear and if there are any size and/or volume level particulars. We already know you like quality gear — it’s just a matter of finding the right match for you.
 
I wasn’t suggesting HS7s were clinical or accurate - i was suggesting they were not particularly enjoyable. I suppose that could be another term instead of ‘musical’ - enjoyable and not fatiguing.

My comments about not looking for accurate or clinical, necessarily, were in the context of what I am (or am not) looking for - not what I have.

My space is lightly treated (not by a professional). It is fairly open and reflective, which has been a problem but it is what I am basically stuck with for better or worse.

As I say, though, I am not looking to perfect mixes or be overly accurate with the speakers in this room - just have something that sounds as enjoyable as I can.

I have tried Ax7s but didn’t like the top end on them. The HS7s were actually better in that regard for me.

In a way (and not in a literal way), I feel like I am almost looking for active stereo speakers that also can serve as monitors as opposed to speakers that can only serve a use case of monitoring and mixing. Again, I don’t mean that literally because I am not looking for stereo speakers but that is sort of the gist of what I am getting at.

I listen to predominantly classic rock, blues rock, 80s metal…im not into heavier metal than that or ambient type stuff.
 
All good info. Question: do you plan to “sit in the sweet spot” (like you would in a studio control room setting) or are you more “just in the room” with the speakers? What about how close (or far) you are from the speakers, and will they be free-standing or placed on/in furniture of some kind? I ask b/c these answers may very well push you more towards high-fidelity “sound system” speakers vs. “monitors” per se. FWIW, self-powered speakers are available in either format and can provide several advantages over passive speakers.
 
Don’t laugh but I’m still using Equator D5’s. In fact right before they went out of business I snagged a backup pair.

I‘ve been using them for years so “know” them.
 
journeyman73 said:
I wasn’t suggesting HS7s were clinical or accurate - i was suggesting they were not particularly enjoyable. I suppose that could be another term instead of ‘musical’ - enjoyable and not fatiguing.

My comments about not looking for accurate or clinical, necessarily, were in the context of what I am (or am not) looking for - not what I have.

My space is lightly treated (not by a professional). It is fairly open and reflective, which has been a problem but it is what I am basically stuck with for better or worse.

As I say, though, I am not looking to perfect mixes or be overly accurate with the speakers in this room - just have something that sounds as enjoyable as I can.

I have tried Ax7s but didn’t like the top end on them. The HS7s were actually better in that regard for me.

In a way (and not in a literal way), I feel like I am almost looking for active stereo speakers that also can serve as monitors as opposed to speakers that can only serve a use case of monitoring and mixing. Again, I don’t mean that literally because I am not looking for stereo speakers but that is sort of the gist of what I am getting at.

I listen to predominantly classic rock, blues rock, 80s metal…im not into heavier metal than that or ambient type stuff.
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I am going to tell you that every one is going to give you their own preference and what works for them.

I will give you something else to try.
Go find a use copy of Sonarworks reference 4 software. Not the new ID reference.

If your room is only partially treated you won't enjoy what you hear. Yamaha monitors are very good and should do just fine. Studio monitors in general are clinical and point out flaws on purpose. If you use home speakers they won't translate to anything else but your speakers in your room.

Try Sonarworks even if you just download a trial copy of the ID software. See if things sound better. New monitors probably won't do a whole lot, especially if you think Adams are not flattering in the high end.

I know this isn't what you want to hear, but I promise you will get better guitar sounds with an eq correction.

James

P.S. I never liked Yamaha monitors, myself. Even when the NS10s were in every room.
 
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journeyman73 said:
I have tried Ax7s but didn’t like the top end on them. The HS7s were actually better in that regard for me
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I thought the same thing until I had both of them in my room. Definitely not, the HS7's have much more high and high-mids than the A7X (and @marsonic link supports that). If you read my thread and listen to the uploaded sounds you'll notice. Presets that were unusable with the HS7s are now great with the A7Xs. Try them in your room and...make it quick.
Due to lack of semiconductors their production has been suspended and who knows when it will resume (asked them directly).

Anyway this is just my experience in my room. But I suggest you (as I was suggested) not to try new monitors in a store but in your room.
 
jamesmarshall said:
I will give you something else to try.
Go find a use copy of Sonarworks reference 4 software. Not the new ID reference.
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Why the older Reference 4? In my experience it's largely the same thing as Reference ID. Both are annoyingly buggy products that I would love to recommend if they worked smoothly but I don't have very good things to say about their development pace and even worse for adding user requested features.

Sonarworks also won't be useful for room correction without a reference mic to make the correction measurements in the first place.
 
laxu said:
Why the older Reference 4? In my experience it's largely the same thing as Reference ID. Both are annoyingly buggy products that I would love to recommend if they worked smoothly but I don't have very good things to say about their development pace and even worse for adding user requested features.

Sonarworks also won't be useful for room correction without a reference mic to make the correction measurements in the first place.
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I tried everything FOR FREE:
  • I got Sonarworks ID from their website. There is a pretty good trial period, nothing to buy.
  • I got Sonarwork mic from Amazon. After calibration I returned the mic.
In the end it didn't worked for me. No real benefit, few correction barely audible both to my headphones (Audio-Technica ATH-M50 X) and studio monitor (I have a small but fully treated room). Not impressed at all. Plus once I got the idea of the post EQ it made to my tone, it was pretty easy to get there with an EQ block in the Axe-Fx, no need of extra software.
 
Gl4th said:
I tried everything FOR FREE:
  • I got Sonarworks ID from their website. There is a pretty good trial period, nothing to buy.
  • I got Sonarwork mic from Amazon. After calibration I returned the mic.
In the end it didn't worked for me. No real benefit, few correction barely audible both to my headphones (Audio-Technica ATH-M50 X) and studio monitor (I have a small but fully treated room). Not impressed at all. Plus once I got the idea of the post EQ it made to my tone, it was pretty easy to get there with an EQ block in the Axe-Fx, no need of extra software.
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Different experience for me. It helped a lot for my Beyerdynamic DT990 Pros and for my studio monitors in a very much untreated room with not very good placement options for speakers. Less important for my Sennheiser HD6XX. I also use the global EQ options to apply the most important corrections in my FM3 but it's still a kind of a crappy version of what the IR-based solution from the software can do.

I like the software when it works but it's often just damn flaky for me, with issues ranging from correction not being applied without restarting the app or toggling between presets, audio becoming distorted in Windows out of the blue, issues with the app window scaling etc.

I still wish Fractal provided better global EQ features with presets as using the parameteric vs graphic EQ is a crutch for having separate correction for studio monitors and headphones.
 
Hi @journeyman73
You’re in a great position. I’d suggest finding a “boutique” audio store (they can smell money), and explaining you want to hear and compare a bunch of critical reference speakers - act, focal, quested, Neumann, etc. see if they can offer you some time in a listening lounge, where you can take a usb of all your favorite music, and see which is most “enjoyable”. I’ve done this for speakers, and recently power amplifiers (for an unpowered pair of monitors I have), and the differences are astounding. What suits you, may not suit others so it’s not much use us saying “try these”. In the end, you’ll be working with the right set of speakers for potentially decades so it’s important to at least try the best approach.
Keep us posted!
Thanks
Pauly

journeyman73 said:
I currently have a pair of Yamaha HS7s and though I suppose they get the job done I am wondering if there are a more MUSICAL set of home monitors I could be looking at?

By 'musical' I mean I am willing to sacrifice accuracy and clinical transparency for a pair of speakers that just make my Axe sound as good as it can - but still with some sense of realism so it can effectively reflect all the Axe has to offer.

I don't really have a budget in mind - I am fortunate not to necessarily have a fixed number in mind that I am thinking about (though I guess something like $25k might be excessive lol) - provided the speakers really did sound that great with the Axe and just playing music.

Someone had recommended Focal Twins to me when I asked them about this...others have suggested something from ATC...but i don't know if there are others that would fit the bill better.

thoughts?
Click to expand...
 
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