All language subtitles for Choosing the Best Studio Monitors on Any Budget

Hi, I'm Mitch Gallagher from Sweetwater.

What's the most important component in

your recording studio? If you were going

to spend your hard-earned dollars to

upgrade your studio, what would you spend

them on?(...) For me, my answer is the

number one most important thing in

creating a great studio is monitoring.

You have to be able to hear accurately

and with confidence in order to make all

the other decisions that you need to make

in the process of recording, tracking,

mixing, editing, mastering. They're all

dependent on being able to hear what

you're doing. So for me, when I look at

upgrading a studio, the two things I

focus on first are the acoustics of the

room itself and then the monitors.(...)

Now today, let's focus on the monitor

side of the equation. There are a number

of things that you should consider as you

go about choosing the best monitors for

your studio. There are tons of great

studio monitors available in all price

ranges and we'll be looking at quite a

few of those in just a few minutes. But

first, let's talk about the criteria you

can use for narrowing down the selection

to the perfect monitors for your room.

Now if you head over to Sweetwater.com,

select Shop by category and scroll down

to Studio and Recording, then choose

Studio monitors, you'll find that there

are two broad categories of monitors,

Active and Passive. Passive monitors, or

maybe you prefer to think of them as

unpowered monitors, require an external

power amplifier to drive them. So you'll

need to also be sure to get a power

amplifier that matches the amp with the

monitors that you purchase to complete

the system. The second type of monitor,

Active, has all the amplification and

electronics built right into the same

enclosure as the speaker drivers. This is

super convenient and provides great

results. Most studio monitors these days

are active and that's the type we'll be

focusing on in this video. Now speaking

of electronics, some monitors include

built-in filtering, room correction, and

EQ controls for shaping their response

and for adapting the monitor response to

match your room and placement in that

room. This can be very important. For

example, if you place your monitors near

to a wall, you may need to reduce their

low-frequency response to compensate for

the base build-up that results from that

placement. Some monitors take this

further and offer powerful onboard DSP or

digital signal processing, which in some

cases can analyze your room and

automatically optimize the speakers for

your space. On the high-tech side of

things, monitor speakers can even be

networked together for control and

optimization.(...) This type of

processing is very valuable with stereo

monitor systems but can become even more

essential as you add a subwoofer or

expand into multi-channel or immersive

monitoring environments such as Atmos.

The size of the monitors is also an

important consideration. Both the

physical size of the cabinet as well as

the sizes of the drivers in that cabinet.

In particular, the woofer or

low-frequency driver diameter directly

impacts the amount of low-end and the

lowest frequency the monitor can

accurately reproduce. The size of the

cabinet also affects this, as does the

amount of power available for driving the

monitors.(...) Now speaking of power,

you'll need a certain amount of power to

reach a given volume level with a

particular set of monitors, but a key

consideration is the amount of headroom

that's available.(...) Volume is one

thing, but more important is for the

monitors to play cleanly and accurately

at the desired volume level. How many

watts do you need? It depends on a lot of

factors, but basically you can never have

too much power driving your monitors. But

getting back to the size of the monitors,

physical size and how far they'll be from

your listening position are important

considerations. If the monitors are too

big, they may not work well in the room

and it may be hard to get a focused image

at your listening position. But too small

and they'll never fill the room properly,

especially on the low end.(...) Plus, the

monitors simply have to physically fit

onto your desk or onto your stands in

your rig. There are more considerations

of course, but one of the most important

is going to be your budget.(...) Top of

the line studio monitors can get very

expensive, but for monitors, as well as

every other component that goes into a

studio, we're truly living in a golden

age for gear. You can get great monitors

that will give you excellent results at

any budget point. The key is choosing the

correct ones for your situation, your

application and what you want and need to

hear, and then spend the time to

intimately learn their sound and response

and how they translate in your studio. So

having said all that, let's take a tour

of a selection of great monitors for any

budget, including all these fantastic

monitors beside me here.(...) We'll start

with the least expensive, coming in at

around $100 for the pair, and work our

way up to the most expensive, which are

priced around $25,000 for the pair, and

we'll hit every price point in between.

The Presonus Eris 3.5BT are a compact,

super affordable two-way studio monitor

that offer a 3.5" woofer and a 1" silk

dome tweeter. They're driven by 25 watts

of power per speaker. The BT in the name

indicates Bluetooth, which means that you

can stream Bluetooth playback directly

into these monitors, and of course we

also have 1.25" TRS and RCA inputs for

analog signals, as well as a front panel

1.8" AUX connection, and there's even a

headphone output.(...) The back panel

provides both high and low frequency

shaping controls to optimize

the response for your room.

Frequency response ranges from 80Hz to

20kHz. JBL's LSR305P Mark II monitors

provide a 5" woofer and a 1" tweeter,

driven by 82 watts of total power. Their

image control waveguide is drawn from

JBL's top-of-the-line M2 Master Reference

monitors and provides a wide, deep,

detailed soundstage and sweet spot.

Frequency response ranges from 49Hz to

20kHz, and you've got plenty of shaping

control, including a high frequency trim

control, as well as boundary EQ for

controlling bass build-up if the speakers

are placed near walls or corners.(...)

Each speaker gets JBL's 100-hour power

test, and you've got both XLR and ¼"

balanced inputs. If you're looking for

ultra-compact monitors that come in at a

great price, then take a close look at

the IK Multimedia iLoud Micro Monitor.

Each speaker is driven by 25 watts of

total power and features a 3" woofer,

along with a ¾" silk dome tweeter.

It can be on RCA or 1" jacks, and you can

stream directly in via Bluetooth. Because

you'll more than likely be placing the

iLoud Micro Monitors on your desktop,

there's an EQ control that optimizes the

response for desk placement, as well as

high frequency and low frequency EQ

switches for tuning the response to your

environment.(...) It's amazing how big

these little speakers sound, with

frequency response from 55Hz to 20kHz.

From KRK, we've got the GoAX 4. This

portable monitor is great for tracking

and mixing in the

studio, as well as on the go.

The GoAX 4 features a 4" woven glass

aramid woofer and a soft textile 1" dome

tweeter, driven by 50 watts of power per

speaker, with frequency response from

60Hz to 20kHz. There's also a built-in

headphone jack for private monitoring,

and input is available on balanced ¼",

unbalanced RCA and 1" connectors, as well

as USB and Bluetooth streaming. To

optimize the response, the GoAX 4

monitors feature one-button automatic

room correction. They even come with a

measurement mic, plus they have high and

low frequency EQ. The T7V monitors from

Adam Audio feature a low-mass 7"

polypropylene woofer, driven by 50 watts

of power, which reaches down to an

impressive 39Hz, along with Adam's

proprietary UART Accelerated Ribbon

Tweeter, driven by 20 watts of power.

That unique tweeter extends the highs up

to 25kHz.(...) The tweeter lives in

Adam's High Frequency Propagation Wave

Guide, the same one found in the premium

S-Series Adam monitors, and that provides

a wide, uniform dispersion pattern and a

broad sweet spot. You get high and low

EQ, an RCA unbalanced and XLR balanced

inputs. The Genelec 8010A monitors are

personal favorites of mine, I've had a

pair on my mobile studio rig for a long

time now. I chose the 8010As because they

deliver incredible sound from a super

compact package.(...) You get a 3" woofer

and 3 quarter inch tweeter, desktop EQ,

plus two bass tilt boundary EQ controls.

And the 8010A's ported aluminum enclosure

is not only rugged, but features an

integral isolation mount that allows for

a variety of angled placements, as well

as integral mounting points for wall or

ceiling mounts. A total of 50 watts of

power drives frequency response from 74Hz

to 20kHz at up to 96dB SPL. Kali Audio

pretty much exploded onto the studio

monitor seen a few years ago, although

the folks behind the brand have decades

of studio monitor design experience with

other major companies. Their IN8V2 is

available in white or black colors and

features a 3 way design with an 8" woofer

and a 4" optimized profile mid range

driver with a coaxial 1" textile dome

tweeter.(...) There are high and low

frequency boundary controls for

optimizing the speaker for 8 different

placements in your studio, as well as

high and low frequency trim controls.

We've got super low distortion, high

headroom, 140 watts of power and

frequency response from 45Hz to 21kHz.

RCA unbalanced in quarter inch and XLR

balanced inputs are provided. Yamaha

traces the roots of their HS8 to the

legendary NS10 white cone monitors they

made back in the 1970's. But the company

hasn't been resting on their laurels.

They've been constantly improving

everything about their monitors since the

NS10 days. A perfect example is the HS8,

which offers amazing accuracy and low

coloration. You've got an 8" cone woofer

and a 1" dome tweeter driven by 120 watts

of total power from amplifiers that have

been perfectly matched to the woofer and

tweeter. The frequency response is quite

extended from 38Hz on the low end to

30kHz on the top end. Room control and

high frequency trim controls are provided

and you can get the HS8 in either black

or white.(...) Balanced XLR and quarter

inch inputs are available. Focal's Alpha

monitors are well respected for their

accuracy and detail in the

studio at very reasonable prices.

With the next generation Alpha 80 Evo you

get a 1" aluminum inverted dome tweeter

and a slate fiber 8" cone woofer both

developed and handcrafted in Focal's

facility in France. The Alpha 80 Evo

features 115 watts of total power for

outstanding headroom and dynamic range.

(...) The monitors can be optimized for

your room using both low frequency and

high frequency shelving EQ controls. And

input can be on unbalanced RCA or

balanced quarter inch or XLR jacks.

Inserts for wall mounting and protective

grills are included. Next up we have the

Neumann KH120V2 monitors. I'm very

interested in these because I've been

using the original KH120 monitors

literally daily in my studio for years.

(...) The latest generation KH120V2

features a 5.25" woofer and a 1" dome

tweeter just like the original but the

power has been up to

245 watts of total power.

A DSP or digital signal processing engine

is now on board for improved performance

and automatic room alignment and you get

both analog and digital connectivity.

The mathematically modeled dispersion

waveguide directs the sound from the

tweeter for maximum depth, width and

detail in the sound stage.

Frequency response has also been improved

to 44Hz on the bottom hand up to 21kHz

and we've got bass, low

mid and high EQ available.

You can get a KH120V2 in white or black

and a version with AES67 connectivity is

also available. I was really excited when

Barefoot Sound joined the Sweetwater

family recently. They offer fantastic

monitors and the latest is the Footprint

O2 which we're looking at today. In the

Footprint O2, Barefoot brings to bear

three of their technologies including

their dual force 6.5" subwoofers which

drop the low frequency response down to

42Hz.(...) While Barefoot's proprietary

dual ring radiator tweeter not only

extends the top end to 45kHz but also

offers an incredibly smooth and wide

sweet spot.(...) At the mid range we have

a 4" aluminum cone driver. The third

piece of Barefoot tech in these monitors

is their Meme or Multi-Emphasis Monitor

Emulation technology which gives you four

voicing modes. In effect you get four

completely different monitor profiles in

a single cabinet. It's so handy for

referencing your mixes.(...) I've had a

pair of the slightly larger Footprint O1

monitors in my studio for a while now. I

absolutely love them. Here at Sweetwater

we're big fans of PMC's monitors. We

recently totally reconfigured one of our

studios for Atmos using all PMC monitors

and subwoofers and the results were

simply mind blowing. It sounds so good.

(...) Today we're checking out the result

6 which combines a 6.5" woofer with a 1"

tweeter with a total of 165 watts of

power for frequency

response from 45Hz to 22kHz.

A proprietary feature of these monitors

is PMC's advanced transmission line

technology which increases efficiency,

reduces port noise and lowers resistance

for improved bass performance and dynamic

range. ATL also helps with mid range

clarity and performance. The tweeter's

D-Fin Wave Guide provides a wide deep

sound stage. I've been using a set of

result 6's in my studio for some time now

and I absolutely love them. I know I can

completely trust what I'm hearing from

these monitors. Alan Sides, the golden

eared engineer and producer behind more

than 1000 incredible recordings and

productions for top artists, is also the

gifted designer behind Oceanway's

incredible line of monitor speakers.

Today we're looking at the Oceanway HR5

2-way powered studio monitors which not

only look unique but sound fantastic as

well. The design uses Alan's hybrid horn

slash waveguide system for 100 degree by

40 degree dispersion providing an ultra

wide sweet spot whether

you're seated or standing.

The HR5 features a 7" low frequency

driver and a 1" high frequency driver

with frequency response from 45Hz to

20kHz. These monitors are driven by a

total of 215 watts of power for maximum

clarity, headroom, detail and SPL.(...)

You get not only analog balanced XLR

inputs but also AES digital input. There

are two versions of the awesome PMC 6

powered studio monitors from PMC. There's

a 3-way version and the version we have

here today is the 2-way PMC 6.

With the PMC 6 you get custom drivers, a

6" woofer and a 1" soft dome tweeter,

mounted into PMC's acclaimed ATL or

advanced transmission line cabinet. As I

mentioned previously, ATL increases

efficiency, reduces port noise, enhances

linearity and reduces distortion for

improved bass performance and dynamic

range. We have 400 watts of total power

on board from the IcePower amplifier

which was a joint venture by PMC and Bang

& Olufsen. There's a single XLR jack but

it can be switched between balanced

analog input and

digital AES format input.

Frequency response ranges from 45Hz to

25kHz. The Trio 6 BE from Focal brought

together great sound, versatility,

features, format and price that was ideal

for many studios. But Focal never rests

and now they've completely redesigned the

Trio 6 for even better performance.

They've upgraded everything from the

cabinets and speaker bracing to the all

new drivers, from the new flared ports

for lower noise to the onboard

electronics. A key feature is the

enhanced 3-way focus mode which now

offers frequency response from 35Hz to

40kHz in full range mode. In focus mode 1

with one-way operation you get frequency

response from 100Hz to 15kHz and in focus

mode 2 with two-way operation you get

response from 80Hz to 40kHz. It's like

having three monitors in one. The

original Trio 6 BE was a fantastic

monitor but believe it or not, the new

Trio 6 ST6 is better in every way.

Genelec has been at the forefront of high

end studio monitor design for decades

now. I first started using Genelecs when

the 1030A came out in the 90s and I

currently have a set of 8351B monitors

and a 7360A sub in my studio at home.

They're just unbelievably good. Today in

our roundup we're looking at the next

bigger Genelecs, the 8361A monitors.(...)

They combine acoustically concealed dual

10" woofers with a 5" midrange and a 1"

metal dome tweeter in a constant

directivity waveguide and all that is

driven by an incredible 800W of total

power. Frequency response reaches from

36Hz to 20kHz and that's plus or minus

1.5dB so it's incredibly flat. The 8361

can be networked and the onboard SAM DSP

technology can accurately calibrate the

monitor's level, timing and EQ

performance for your specific studio and

also gives you flexible computer control

over your entire system of monitors and

subwoofers. I absolutely love ATC's

incredible SEM line of monitors. I've

done a ton of work on the popular SEM25

and I've always been thrilled with the

results.(...) Today we have the SEM25's

bigger brother with us, the SEM45A Pro.

The SEM45A Pro features ATC's proprietary

custom drivers with hand-wound voice

coils made from flat oxygen-free copper

wire with precision long magnetic gaps.

The driver array includes dual 6.5"

carbon paper low frequency cone drivers,

a 3" soft dome midrange driver and a 1"

dual suspension high

frequency super tweeter.

All this is triamplified by 235W of total

power and delivers

frequency range from 45Hz to 25kHz.

ATC monitors are handmade in the UK using

cutting edge components and processes and

you'll immediately hear why they're

considered among the finest reference

monitors in the world. Tapping out our

roundup of incredible studio speakers, we

have the Barefoot Sound Mini Main 12

4-Way Active Studio monitors.(...) Just

listing off the specs of these monitors

won't let you experience the glorious

sound they produce. But you get two 12"

dual force opposing subwoofers, two 7"

aluminum cone woofers, two 2.5" aluminum

cone midrange drivers and a 1" dual ring

radiator tweeter. That's seven drivers

powered by a total of 2000 watts of power

for incredible 20Hz to 50kHz frequency

response.(...) And each driver features

an underhung voice coil and advanced

geometry motor for

super long linear excursion.

Barefoot's proprietary meme or

multi-emphasis monitor emulation

technology is included which gives you

four voicing modes that recreate classic

studio monitors for maximum flexibility

when evaluating your tracks and mixes.

They're built in limiters on overcurrent

protection, high end converters, a

machined aluminum baffle plate and so

much more. If the Mini Main 12 fits your

budget, you'll simply be blown away by

the sound of these incredible monitors. I

hope that you've enjoyed this look at

studio monitors. As you can see, no

matter what your budget, you can equip

your studio with excellent sounding high

performance monitors.(...) Keep in mind

the points that we discussed earlier in

this video as you dig through the many

choices we've presented and also note

that we've barely scratched the surface

of the huge array of studio monitors

available at Sweetwater at every price

point.(...) To see them all, head over to

Sweetwater.com and then contact your

Sweetwater sales engineer to discuss

which one of the many choices will be the

perfect one for your

room, applications and budget.

Thanks for watching today, I'm Mitch

Gallagher from Sweetwater.