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[jfpenkala]

Hi all,
         I am seeking opinions on what a good pair of active nearfield monitors might be. I have been a professional live engineer for a number of years and am now looking to multi-track my live shows. My mixes will be for personnal development and will never be released commercially. For reference, the last time I was involved in a studio environment Yamaha NS10M's and Genelec's were standard monitors and 24 track, 2" machines were state of the art. As far as price goes, my budget is closer to the NS10M than the Genelec's! Any help will be appreciated. Thanks and take care.

JP

[Jim Williams]

2 cents:

Active monitors are a convienience but not necessarily the best solution. The power amps are the problem. You will not find the best in amplifier designs squeezed into those small boxes. Therefore, they are a compromise.

I prefer a great power amp coupled to high quality passive speakers with excellent passive crossover designs. That way my amplifiers are not "limited".

[Fletcher]

For what its worth I've been loving the Unity Audio "Rock" monitors which have power amps designed by Tim de Paravicini.  I have found them both musical as well as GREAT reference monitoring tools.

Peace

[Haolemon]

I really like my Dynaudio BM6a's.  And they seem to translate well.

[ben_allison]

Hey Fletcher, I know you used to be pretty stoked on Focals. What do you prefer about the Rocks?

Also, have you had a chance to listen to the Sonics Animas/Spiral Groove Studio Ones?

[burfco_cps]

I need major help purchasing new near-fields.   I don't trust salesmen at my local music store.. they usually do a good job but there have been a couple of times where I had them try to push me in a direction I was certain I didn't want to go..

I have been mixing on the Mackie Mr5 speakers for several for the past 5 or 6 years.

I notice my mixes tend to be bass heavy and I usually end up going back and pulling the low-end down after listening on other sources.   I hope that switching to 8" speakers is going to fix it.

I am not planning on spending over $1000 --- maybe slightly if it can make a big difference.

I love the way Adams sound.   I am afraid those ribbons will have me mixing in a way where I'm lacking clarity on normal speakers-- like car radios.   I am considering the Yamaha HS80m speakers.   To be honest, they never have reached out and screamed "buy me".

I just keep hearing people say that they are very "flat" and accurate.   Are they really accurate?
I am biased towards JBL.   I wish I wasn't.   

I'd also like any feedback or opinions on the MSC1 controller if you have it.   I may be going for the Yamaha speakers and that JBL controller for its ability to dial up the cross-over.  I'm not really sold on the room-mode correction stuff.

The other aspect I'd be interested in is how well the built-in crossover on the Yamaha sub works with the HS80m's.   Should I be looking at the Adams?  or something else for the money?  seriously, I can't see myself going in there and tweaking plugins on my favorite Daw on these speakers.. maybe I should try that.  they do always have a computer sitting there in these rooms.

[Fletcher]

Hey Fletcher, I know you used to be pretty stoked on Focals. What do you prefer about the Rocks?

I dunno - things just seem to translate better when I take the product out of the room.  Its something in the lower portion of the upper mid-range section of the sonic spectrum.  The Focal Twin 6's are still VERY useable monitors for me... but the Rocks seem to save me some time and confusion.

Also, have you had a chance to listen to the Sonics Animas/Spiral Groove Studio Ones?

Sorry, no.  I'm sure there are a few million others I haven't heard either.

[John Willett]

My own nearfields are the ME-Geithain RL906, but these would be much over-budget I think.

At a more affordable level (£1,000 mark), I rate the new Neumann KH120A the best around at that price range.

At a slightly lower price the AE22 are also excellent.

[davethesoundguy]

I am in the same boat, looking for "the" nearfield for me.  I sold my old studio, and am just now getting back into the game a little bit. My problem is that I am limited on space, so it is nearfields for now, and I tent to mix lowmid heavy unless I get something that is good down to 50hz.  Looking at the Adam A8's, but am always open to suggestion. 

I'll be following this thread with interest. 

Also, hello.

[Fletcher]

Check out the Pelonis nearfields... they're small - they're not all that expensive... and they didn't suck [at least that was my opinion when I checked them out... I wouldn't want to mix an album on them exclusively -- but they're good enough for "demo" work].

Peace