Buying First Set of Studio Monitors

Music Production Music Tech Discussion
1

Im going to buy my first set of studio monitors. I can get the Alesis M1 Active 520 USB monitors for £180, so this is the top end of my budget. Are these a good set to get, or are there other monitors for a similar price??



http://www.alesis.com/m1active520usb

2

I’m really not sure about those, but you can get them for £165 from here:

http://www.dv247.com/studio-equipment/alesis-m1active-520-usb-monitor-speaker–61708

If I were you I would save up a bit more for the HS80M for £199:

http://www.dv247.com/studio-equipment/yamaha-hs80m-powered-monitor-single–30741

These are a really good set of monitors with a much larger cone (so better bass reproduction).

3

Ah thanks for the website! Saves me some money!!

The only reason I found the Alesis monitors attractive is because of the usb connectivity, so it its simply plug in and play.

What would I need for non usb monitors. Would I need an external soundcard? Is it possible just to connect the audio output from my laptop into the monitors?

4

You can use them directly from your laptop with a 1/8th jack - RCA cable.

When I started out I made the mistake of buying cheap monitors and it was a really big mistake and cost me more very quickly. What you make is dependant on what you can hear.

It is worth saving up to get something that will do the job right. Take a look at KRK RP5, Yamaha HS50M or Adam F5. All are great monitors at the cheaper end of the market, but it is still going to cost you £230 upwards per pair.

Anything less is probably just a good pair of computer speakers / HiFi speakers.

5

[quote]TheAnt (11/07/2012)[hr]It is worth saving up to get something that will do the job right. [/quote]

+1

6

Well, considering your budget I would probably go with the Yamaha HS 50m speakers. They won’t overwhelm you with their noise and will give a accurate representation of the music, which will show any flaws there may be. There’s a great post on the Jee Juh blog called best studio speakers which gives you a bunch of other great options. I would recommend checking out that post to see what else is out there. Good luck!