I know these are very important, dont get me wrong, but how will they affect your production and sound? I only have a cheap pair of http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/StudiophileAV20.html, not proper monitors at all, and I dont earn much at all, it would take me many a month to save up enough for decent monitors, and still live at home, so cant really play music too loud. There is a discont lack of good low end in them and I want to upgrade but just wondering what difference I will notice, and help is greatly aprecciated!
And what could I do to soundproof the room for now?
Cheers!
Good monitors are a must once you know what you are doing with your DAW and you want to progress with yor production.
You don’t have to spend loads on a good pair to be honest, you can get KRK RP5 G2, KRK RP6 G2, Mackie MR5, M Audio BX8’s from inbetween £250-300 new and all do the job, also you don’t have to play the music loud when making a track, I find I don’t have it loud till it comes to the end of the track when sorting out my levels before mastering.
Good monitors - The most you can afford Mate - you wont regret it.
Also - Get some Mopads, or the cheaper alternatives frm thomann or musicstore. They honestly make a world of difference.
I’ve only added them recently to my set-up & its really like night vs. day. Ability to judge lows have improved by 100%. If your room is less than ideal, any assistance is a must.
BTW… Big difference between Soundproofing & Acoustic Treatment.
1st one is stopping other people hearing you kill cats :hehe:. The 2nd is making your room a nicer place to listen in.
I heard someone saying that sound is like water. If something soaks water, it’ll soak sound. If it wont, it’ll reflect sound. Thats a rough guide.
Best room is a rectangular shape. Box rooms, with equal LxW walls are bad as there are more opportunities when the maths are done, for the bad freq’s to build up & resonate.
Thats what bass traps & tiles etc… attempt to combat. Corners are cnuts for bass. Back of room reflects back to you. Wall in front reflects onto you. Sometimes panels are put on the ceiling above you to stop reflections from there.
If you do try & treat your room, dont deaden it too much. Need a happy medium. 
Soundproofing is a whole different problem, if thats what you are actually looking for Mate. Depends on so many things. What the walls are made of, plus - Vibrations. Doors… Windows. Being upstairs etc… Its complicated to fix. Taming a rooms acoustics for a better listening experience might be an easier effort.
Lots of stuff on the Net. Theres a SA Tut on making Foam Panels. Ethan Wiener is the Legend in this area. A google search will bring up his site if you wanna check it out further :cool:
cheers mate will look into this! thanks a heap
sounds to me, like a good pair of headphones is the answer for you
i got some head phones some shure srh840 but want to upgrade my speakers
ICN was n point. acoustic treatment is so important. as well as good monitors. so they go hand to hand. if you have one of those wrong your ears will play tricks on you and your mixes will sound muddy , dull ETC.
I’ve got a pair of Roland Cakewalk desktop speakers for 80 quid. Are these any good or should I chuck them in the bin after first smashing the little cones in?
I use the desktop monitors as a reference of my mids and high end. I have a pair of beyerdynamics dtpro 80 headphones which I use to mix the low end, it might not be the perfect solution as it’s probably best to feel the bass in your chest and ball bag, but these particular headphones have awesome bass response! Perfect if you are having a noise war with the family.
What I find helps me is if you have a sub in your car, get to know what commercial tracks sound like on it. Then play your track on it and pay attention to the bass end. This should tell you instantly if your kick is too loud or you need to lower the bass or apply more of low cut in your eq.
Good Monitors are not affordable (“in some cases”)…it is better to get a good studio headphones…open cup headphones are the one meant for production & of course they are cheap as compared to all those Adam’s…& in your case it is the best bet…for your m-audio’s you can buy a sub for low frequency reference…
I’m going to get the KRK RP8’s i think.
You’re not allowed to get them Rob. Sorry 
I think one of the most off important things is try before you buy - for me its going to be a toss up between Mackie or KRK
But I also monitor through headphones and it just does not sound right when I play on differnt systems
[quote]Harrysinner (07/11/2010)[hr]i got some head phones some shure srh840 but want to upgrade my speakers[/quote]
fair enough, like everyone said acoustic treatment is vital
I boaght some new KRKs and it made a world of difference especially in the low end. Im interested in these pads ICN i never realised they made such a difference, care to elaborate?
@Jan…
Night & Day Mate.
I only realised when I got them how used to the boom in my room! LOL
Still getting used to it now tbh. Everything sounds different. More controlled. You can actually hear the bottom layers in the track far better. More definition.
I can clearly visualise where the kick is sitting in relation to the bass.
Its the difference of
Before: Knowing in theory where everything was sitting but not especially being able to tell & just hoping for the best - A/B’n on other systems like a Mo’Fo.
After: Clearly hearing the difference that EQ changes make in the lower end.
Its funny. Still getting used to them. Have listened to lots of tracks to try & get a picture of whats going on in relation to what’s actually real now with my setup… Its surprising. You realise that stuff doesnt need to be utterly booming to be great.
Its far more refined & accurate now. No bad thing. I’d definitely recommend the cheaper Thomann / Musicstore types. 1/2 the price & do the job for me. Considering the money they cost vs. the price of the monitors AND how much you rely on the sound - they are a must.
Bought a proper workstation desk & while back (2nd hand - €100), so they’re now at the perfect height / angle etc… My room is 3.3m x 3.3m & speakers are about 30cm from wall. Not ideal - but as good as I’m gonna get & they tame the place so well. I’ve a large Ikea Bookshelf running along the wall behind me - full of books & random objects, big small etc… Boxes of Magazines & dense stuff in the corner section & along bottom. Also have a few homemade foam yokes on walls. Also have boxes of books stacked in the corners. On the other wall I have the decks on another Ikea bookcase, turned on its side. Plenty of storage space underneath, which is going to be filled with more Beer Boxes full of Magazines as soon as I can read / drink 'em - not ideal as I say… but it really makes a difference to my ears.
This is the bookcase, which I put on its side for the decks - about €50.
Perfect stability, height, workspace & storage for decks. 100% recommend them.
They’re from the Expedit range.
Again, Expedit - On the back wall. Think it was about €70 - maybe less.
More Expedit range. You could easily put these in a corner & fill them full of dense sh!t.
Or just beer boxes w.old magazines / books etc…
Think I saw CM make a bass trap by stuffing 4 duvets in & putting a cover on it.
Old Skool!! :hehe:
About €20
ICN the man from IKEA :P:D:hehe: