ToyOS

Whats the difference between normal speakers and studio monitor speakers?

Whats best for bedroom use?

-
ATTN: RIAA/MPAA --> http://nmcog.dyn.ee/leech0r.jpg

Phasedreality

Well, like all these things there are several factors to consider before you
invest in a bit of kit so I will try and fill you in on the general ins and
outs. However, before I start I think it's important to note that studio
monitors are usualy known as nearfield monitors - Nearfieild means that the
monitors are designed to be used faily close to the listener i.e. about 2 to
3m away. They also have a quite a small 'sweet spot' i.e the space in which
the listener can sit and hear the stereo image accuratly. Normal speakers
are designed to give a much more general listening area and don't have such
a specific 'sweet spot'. So, now that we've cleared that up lets look at the
options...

Nearfield studio monitors come in two flavours - active and passive. The
basic difference is that an active monitor has an amp built into each
speaker whereas passive monitors require an amp. Essentially using active
monitors means that you can plug your speakers directly into the mixer /
mixing desk etc. without needing any additional equipment. This is good for
several reasons. Firstly it reduces the ammount of cable that you need
between your source signal and your speakers. This means that you cut out a
lot of signal degredation that can be caused by long leads e.g. hiss, hum
and crackle. The other good side to using active monitors is that the amp
and speaker are made by the same company and therefore custom built to work
together and hopefully provide a 'flat response'.

What is a flat response I hear you cry? Well this is the term used to
describe the so called 'ideal' representation of music produced by the
speakers i.e. all frequencies from the music are recreated as they were
intended without any boosting or cutting. In practice this doesn't always
mean that what you hear is better, and it can actually make music sound a
bit dull as we (especially DJ's) are used to our equipment boosting and
cutting certain frequencies (usually the bass but the mid and treble can
also be tweaked by modern Hi-Fi's / mixers)

So active monitors should, in theory, be the best option. In reality,
however, there is a huge ammount of variation in speaker build quality and
although many active monitors purport to having a flat response this isn't
always the case. This means that there is a big element of personal choice
involved when deciding which monitors to go for. One of the main things to
consider is what's known as 'ear fatigue'. Now it's nice to hear music
booming over the speakers with ripping deep sub bass and sparkling high-end,
but in practice this very quickly starts to affect your ears and they, like
any other part of your body that is working extra hard, soon start to get
tired and you will find that you are less able to discern the 'detail' of
the music.

So what about passive speakers? Well the upside of using passive speakers is
that you very often you get a much better speaker for your money. As you are
only buying the drivers and not the integrated amp a £400 set of active
speakers will not be able to compete with a £400 set of passive speakers in
terms of quailty. This sounds good, but as the speakers themselves are
useless without some sort of amplification you will have to either use an
exisiting amp or go out and buy a new one, and if your amp isn't up to the
job then your expensive speakers will be pretty pointless. It isn't all bad
though and one of the upsides to using a passive system is the fact that you
can easily replace the amp or speakers if anything goes wrong, also if you
want to improve part of your setup then you can do so without having to
completely replace the whole lot.

So to recap and to return to your original question "what is the difference
between normal speakers and studio monitor speakers". Well the essential
difference is frequency response. Both active and passive studio monitors
should in theory give you a more accurate representation of the music that
you are listening to. This is very useful if you are making / recording
music as you need to be able to hear all the different frequencies in order
to work out what is going on in the mix. However, if you just want to play
music and aren't interested in accurately monitoring all the frequencies
then it is probably better to spend your money on a decent pair of Hi-Fi
speakers + amp as that will not only be cheaper, but will probably give you
a more 'pleasurable' sound as it will have all the boosting and cutting that
you will be used to from modern hi-fi systems.

I hope this helps

Dan.


"ToyOS" <no@no.com> wrote in message
news:e8bf846311e444fd6431666ae4b33272@news.teranew s.com...
> Whats the difference between normal speakers and studio monitor speakers?
>
> Whats best for bedroom use?
>
> -
> ATTN: RIAA/MPAA --> http://nmcog.dyn.ee/leech0r.jpg

ToyOS

Phasedreality wrote:
> I hope this helps

Wow, thank you Dan!

Tomislav Crncic

["Followup-To:" header set to alt.music.makers.dj.]
On 2004-05-09, ToyOS <no@no.com> wrote:
> Whats the difference between normal speakers and studio monitor speakers?

normal speakers (especially consumer grade ones like sony
or technics) have 'colored' sound which means that they add
some of their own character to the sound they reproduce -
some have muddy bass, some have crisper highs, some add some of
the harmonics, etc. the main purpose of the monitor speakers is
to represent the music the way it is, and that's why most
hi-fi heads tend to call them 'dry', because they are
the monitors tend to produce no harmonics that aren't already
in the audio material itself, and their frequency graph
tends to be flat.

> Whats best for bedroom use?

does not really matter. if you will get into making tracks of your own,
get some good monitors.

--
Tech Support: "I need you to boot the computer."
Customer: (THUMP! Pause.) "No, that didn't help."

dj

Great response, I tried to elaborate but very well covered.
I think it's just if you HAVE a Studio as compared to a Kinda studio.
Real Studios are Encased in Glass, thus the need for such others are not.

"Phasedreality" <Dan@phasedreamovereality.spamorg> wrote in message
news:1084130155.25137.0@doris.uk.clara.net...
> Well, like all these things there are several factors to consider before
> you
> invest in a bit of kit so I will try and fill you in on the general ins
> and
> outs. However, before I start I think it's important to note that studio
> monitors are usualy known as nearfield monitors - Nearfieild means that
> the
> monitors are designed to be used faily close to the listener i.e. about 2
> to
> 3m away. They also have a quite a small 'sweet spot' i.e the space in
> which
> the listener can sit and hear the stereo image accuratly. Normal speakers
> are designed to give a much more general listening area and don't have
> such
> a specific 'sweet spot'. So, now that we've cleared that up lets look at
> the
> options...
>
> Nearfield studio monitors come in two flavours - active and passive. The
> basic difference is that an active monitor has an amp built into each
> speaker whereas passive monitors require an amp. Essentially using active
> monitors means that you can plug your speakers directly into the mixer /
> mixing desk etc. without needing any additional equipment. This is good
> for
> several reasons. Firstly it reduces the ammount of cable that you need
> between your source signal and your speakers. This means that you cut out
> a
> lot of signal degredation that can be caused by long leads e.g. hiss, hum
> and crackle. The other good side to using active monitors is that the amp
> and speaker are made by the same company and therefore custom built to
> work
> together and hopefully provide a 'flat response'.
>
> What is a flat response I hear you cry? Well this is the term used to
> describe the so called 'ideal' representation of music produced by the
> speakers i.e. all frequencies from the music are recreated as they were
> intended without any boosting or cutting. In practice this doesn't always
> mean that what you hear is better, and it can actually make music sound a
> bit dull as we (especially DJ's) are used to our equipment boosting and
> cutting certain frequencies (usually the bass but the mid and treble can
> also be tweaked by modern Hi-Fi's / mixers)
>
> So active monitors should, in theory, be the best option. In reality,
> however, there is a huge ammount of variation in speaker build quality and
> although many active monitors purport to having a flat response this isn't
> always the case. This means that there is a big element of personal choice
> involved when deciding which monitors to go for. One of the main things to
> consider is what's known as 'ear fatigue'. Now it's nice to hear music
> booming over the speakers with ripping deep sub bass and sparkling
> high-end,
> but in practice this very quickly starts to affect your ears and they,
> like
> any other part of your body that is working extra hard, soon start to get
> tired and you will find that you are less able to discern the 'detail' of
> the music.
>
> So what about passive speakers? Well the upside of using passive speakers
> is
> that you very often you get a much better speaker for your money. As you
> are
> only buying the drivers and not the integrated amp a £400 set of active
> speakers will not be able to compete with a £400 set of passive speakers
> in
> terms of quailty. This sounds good, but as the speakers themselves are
> useless without some sort of amplification you will have to either use an
> exisiting amp or go out and buy a new one, and if your amp isn't up to the
> job then your expensive speakers will be pretty pointless. It isn't all
> bad
> though and one of the upsides to using a passive system is the fact that
> you
> can easily replace the amp or speakers if anything goes wrong, also if you
> want to improve part of your setup then you can do so without having to
> completely replace the whole lot.
>
> So to recap and to return to your original question "what is the
> difference
> between normal speakers and studio monitor speakers". Well the essential
> difference is frequency response. Both active and passive studio monitors
> should in theory give you a more accurate representation of the music that
> you are listening to. This is very useful if you are making / recording
> music as you need to be able to hear all the different frequencies in
> order
> to work out what is going on in the mix. However, if you just want to play
> music and aren't interested in accurately monitoring all the frequencies
> then it is probably better to spend your money on a decent pair of Hi-Fi
> speakers + amp as that will not only be cheaper, but will probably give
> you
> a more 'pleasurable' sound as it will have all the boosting and cutting
> that
> you will be used to from modern hi-fi systems.
>
> I hope this helps
>
> Dan.
>
>
> "ToyOS" <no@no.com> wrote in message
> news:e8bf846311e444fd6431666ae4b33272@news.teranew s.com...
>> Whats the difference between normal speakers and studio monitor speakers?
>>
>> Whats best for bedroom use?
>>
>> -
>> ATTN: RIAA/MPAA --> http://nmcog.dyn.ee/leech0r.jpg
>
>