Welcome to part four of our series of articles for the beginner audio engineer looking to build a home studio set-up from scratch. This article focuses on how you’re going to actually hear your work, whether you use headphones or studio monitors.
The information and pricing in this article is correct as of October 2011 and is subject to change at any given time. Remember, this guide is more of a product pricing guide and does not include any information on how to use the products mentioned.
For the purpose of mixing we would always recommend a good pair of near field studio monitors over headphones because its the only way to really hear the full range of sound in its intended format but you should always test your mix on all formats because it will likely be listened to through many formats. This includes speakers, headphones, car stereos, radio etc.
Obviously if you’re working away from the studio, you’re fairly limited to headphones anyway, so i’ll cover both forms, starting with studio monitors. Believe me when I say, the more you can afford to allocate for your monitors, the better. All the money you spend on getting quality from every other piece of gear won’t mean much if you can’t hear the difference.
I’ll start with the best first. At Sound Devices we have recommended Genelec speakers over anything else for literally decades now. They have always been ahead of their time and the quality is rarely matched by other brands. They aren’t cheap, but if you care about the quality of your audio like any good sound engineer should, you need to get acquainted with a pair of these. I promise you that if you compare them with another set of monitors side by side, the difference is undeniable.
The 8020B model is the best value for money in my opinion. They boast a lot of power in a compact form without spending ridiculous amounts of money and overcompensating on massive speakers. You may feel that the bass drivers are a little bit small for your liking, in which case the 8030A model isn’t too far off.
This is all dependent on your room size though. I recommend these models on the assumption that you’re putting together a home studio in a typically bedroom sized room. Bigger rooms may require bigger monitors.
A pair of 8020B monitors retails at $1599.00 but call us for the best current price.
A pair of 8030A monitors retails at $2399.00 but we can sell you a pair for $1660.00 in store or here.
Now obviously Genelecs are not exactly ‘cheap’ speakers. One of our most popular products if you’re a bit short of going all the way to some Genelecs is the classic Yamaha HS80M. The HS80M is a well rounded and affordable studio monitor and Yamaha are in our experience, a good reliable brand.
While no audiophile will ever agree, some say that it is even better to use slightly lesser quality monitors for your mix because it will translate better to the general public who aren’t going to be using something like Genelecs most of the time to listen to your product. Most professional studio set-ups will have multiple pairs of monitors for such comparison.
A pair of HS80Ms will set you back $1199.00 at retail or $759.00 at our price. You can purchase them in store or through our online store here.
These are what I recommend but we have a large range of monitors at Sound Devices and will happily take you through a tour of everything we have if you’d like to come in for a demo. To keep this article at a reasonable length, i’ll now move on to some headphones.
I’ll start at the lower end this time with a classic set of headphones. The Fostex T20rp have been used in studios for decades and they are all also affordable. They’re the kind of headphones that are reasonable multi-purpose but you’ll often find a number of them on hand for the musicians who will be tracking in your studio and don’t need super high quality sound for the purpose of something like a mix.
If using them for tracking is your aim, you may wish to look at the other versions of the same headphones, the T40rp or the T50RP which basically vary between semi-closed and closed backing. Closed back headphones are generally better if you intend to use them for tracking because it reduces the amount of spill the microphones will pick up from the headphones.
The T20RP mkII retails at $279.00 but will cost you $139.00 with us. You can purchase them in store any time or through our online store here.
The next step up I would go to is the Sennheiser HD-25SP II. The HD-25SP II is basically a cheaper version of their HD-25 mkII headphones. While both may look small and simple, they’re very high quality headphones and an ideal standard for mixing on the go.
Upgrading to the HD-25 mkII will get you some comfort benefits, particularly in the actual headband and this matters when you have them on for long periods of time trying to get work done. Both will still offer you a high quality experience.
The HD-25SP II retails at $299.95 but sells at our price for $209.00
The HD-25 mkII retails at $599.00 but sells at our price for $419.00
Both are regularly available in store or you can click on the links to purchase them through our online store.
Again, there is a large range of brands and models to choose from at Sound Devices and to keep this short i’ll leave it at just my recommendations but we can cater for any budget and need if you would like to come in and have a look at our whole range.
Next article I will begin to look at some entry level microphones for various purposes as the puzzle of a home studio recording set-up comes closer to complete. If you have any questions about this article please feel free to leave a comment with an email address for me to reply to or call us at the store on 9283 2077.
Written by Dylan Mallia at Sound Devices – 12/09/2011
