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Old 10 January 2011, 01:57 PM
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Default Studio monitors and studio monitoring headphones

As above really anyone on here make music and have any preferences?


I've been a very lucky boy over chrimbo and was the lucky recipient of a pair of these bad boys

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jun0...yamahas80m.htm


closely followed by these,


http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/mar9...essentials.htm


I then treated my self to one of these!

http://www.focusrite.com/products/saffire/saffire_6_usb




Funnily enough my wife has not seen a lot of me recently but has heard quite a bit as well as the neighbours!!
Old 10 January 2011, 02:58 PM
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I've got a set of NS10s (the industry-standard "guv'nors"!! ) along with some Dynaudio BM15as. Also got a set of JBL Control 5s as additionals.

The HS80s are quite good. The only downside with them is the harsh sound (also the same as the NS10s). Over a long session in front of them (I'm talking a pro-mixdown, so 18-20 hours ish), they can be quite tiring. (Hence the JBLs - quite warm in comparison)
A lot of people used to cover the tweeters with a single ply of bog-roll, just to dampen down the high freqencies.

Good all-round monitor though - not too hi-fi either (feckin hate all this "reference" b0ll0x - means NOTHING unless you've spend a shed-load on acoustically treating the room! Sorry, pet-hate )

I quite like the DT770s - not overly accurate, but they are quite nice to listen too. The old DT100s (a la the "pop videos") were shockingly bad. But for some bizarre reason, an industry standard
I'm using a pair of Bose Quiet Comfort 15s. Again, not accurate, but a nice sound, and once you get used to the sound-difference, VERY comfortable to use and easy to get good results out of.... plus you can easily cancel out the background noise - the wife! )

I've just recommended a Saffire 6 to a mate - very nice bit of kit. The good thing with the Focusrite stuff is that it SOUNDS fan-feckin' tastic.
I'm running a MOTU 828mk2 with a Focusrite platinum channel strip as the "front-end".....


I'm just waiting for an insurance claim to be sorted - my entire studio got wiped out over Christmas due to burst pipes and resulting flood
Saved a fair bit of kit, but the room is trashed, as were a few bits of kit. My one vision of Chrimbo was Wifey pouring water out of synths into the sink Also lost a multitrack hard disk and set of studio monitors.
Thankfully, my Macs and live rig were all flightcased up.
Will have to see about some other kit, as there's water-marks all over it - so I haven't tested yet.

In the meantime, I'm just speccing up a Korg M3 with Radias board, a Roland Fantom G6 and V-Synth XT.

With any luck by the end of Feb, I'll have a new studio and better kit.
(also looking to sell a couple of undamaged synths, as they'll be replaced by the new stuff - if anybody's interested!! )

Dan
Old 10 January 2011, 03:25 PM
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Your set up sounds awesome Dan!


I wanted some Dynaudio's but santa couldn't stretch that far but I'm more than happy with the yamaha's, although you may be able to help me! I've mounted them on wall brackets but they are angled down, will this be giving me a false sound or would you mount them flat?


You are right about the focusrite , the moment I connected it to the mac my sound quality went through the roof! £150 well spent! The chap in the shop was gutted as he paid over £300 for a bit of kit with one focusrite mic pre amp where this comes with 2 at half the price!

What kind of stuff do you make mate?

My humble DAW!




Cheers

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Gutted to hear about your flood!

Last edited by specialx; 10 January 2011 at 03:37 PM. Reason: adding pic!
Old 10 January 2011, 03:46 PM
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Hi there i have now just Audio Technica ATH-M40fS which are good for me at moment,but i'm now looking for something different,not sure what.
Really depend for what are you want using...
About the sound card,i will recommend M-Box just for using at Pro Tools HD and other SW,i have now M-Box and M-Audio Delta LT10/10, i must say Mbox is probably best Sound car available with KRK Rokit Powered 8 G2
I'm heavy user of Reason 4-5 and Ableton Live 8,now i'm looking little bit to Mastering and due this i brought M-Box and Pro Tools Combo,amazing combo.



Jura
Old 10 January 2011, 03:56 PM
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Have you tried Isotope's Alloy EQ and or Brainworx XL ? I got them other day and was very impressed granted they do a lot of the work for you but it has pushed my final mixdown quality higher still!

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Old 10 January 2011, 04:01 PM
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Originally Posted by specialx
Have you tried Isotope's Alloy EQ and or Brainworx XL ? I got them other day and was very impressed granted they do a lot of the work for you but it has pushed my final mixdown quality higher still!

Ads


I have some Waves plugins,which i use them mainly,with Blue Cat Plugins and not at moment i have IZotope Ozone,which my friend use mainly and i'm impressed with this,you can try.



Jura
Old 10 January 2011, 04:03 PM
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I'm using Logic Studio 9 with an endless list of plugins (both softsynths and lots of lovely processing plugs, Inc. the focusrite and ssl stuff. Nice)
Been through the Reason phase, but I've now got serious amounts of hardware (albeit wet!) so I've got a real rack instead. Good package but limiting. Same with Tools. midi programming is frustrating in Tools, so I use Logic for it all.
I'm writing funk/disco and fusion stuff + a lot of progressive and trance tbh.

Love the pic! My kids do the same!lol!
Speaker mounting - not a fan of wall-mounts: lose a large amount of bass. To make it easy, they should be mounted on something solid and dense. This will stop vibrations and sound waves on the one aspect cancelling out some of the sound going into the room. I can explain in more depth and give a piccy of the old studio when i get home - watching my daughter have a golf lesson now!

Dan
Old 10 January 2011, 04:10 PM
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I wouldn't agree with mbox being a good interface. Shocking a/d & d/a IMHO.m-audio is slightly better though. In terms of sound quality , you'd be hard pushed to get a better front end than focusrite. Their mic-pres, eq and compressors are some of the best out there.
Brainworkx stuff is good though.
Old 10 January 2011, 04:19 PM
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Same here I'm using logic 9, I came from reason and have found the jump to Logic 9 a large one! Logic just makes things so easy,with auto quantise etc and don't get me started on flex time!


I make minimal D&B as the natural progression from Jungle, I produced and released 13 tracks "back in the day" all on beloved vinyl but I now engineer for myself.

I'm still learning everyday but still have a long way to go with my final mixdowns trying to put each part in it's own space takes me ages but it's all good fun!


Any of you guys have stuff on sound cloud?

if you search for xtc-nottingham you will find me! (be gentle with your critique!)

www.soundcloud.com


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LOL at the Kids comment, my studio seems to be a kid magnet, the minute I start playing some music they come running in and start pulling shapes bless em!

Last edited by specialx; 10 January 2011 at 04:22 PM.
Old 10 January 2011, 04:27 PM
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Got some stuff on soundcloud, but most of my stuff is on YouTube etc - look for ub40
Old 10 January 2011, 04:35 PM
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UB40? ahem the real UB40 red red wine stylee ub40?
Old 10 January 2011, 04:55 PM
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Hi Ads your track Halftime is amazing,great sounds i really like,great potential for Remixing

About the Logic,i'm just learn use Logic,but main gear is Reason 4 which is rewired to Ableton,Pro Tools or Logic/Cubase.
Logic have great user interface and is probably best available out there,but i still like Reason rack view.But at now i'm considering buying Clavia Nord Lead 2x,i have now just Access Virus Ti(i win this on ebay for £600) and Roland JP-8000,Yamaha AN1X(this is my first analog synth,which i brought this in Czech Republic),and if i want use full potential of synth/racks,i must use Logic(Cubase is great,but user interface is just pain and etc.)



Jura
Old 10 January 2011, 05:05 PM
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Gary WRX
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When I still had my studio I had a set of KRK Rokit RP8 monitors - lovely crisp deep sound I would highly recommend them

Hung up the headphones for good a couple of years ago so sold up :-(
Old 10 January 2011, 05:10 PM
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yeh real ub40.

Been looking at stuff like the Nord Lead - V expensive and v nice sounds. The only thing that put me off was the performance controls (wooden pitchbend and stone mod-wheel) - when playing I felt that I would cause myself an injury on the sharp wooden stick!!

Did look at the Nord Electro and Stage though - dribble. Bit too much money right now for what they offer though.
I've got a Virus and it is a GREAT bit of kit - get into programming it (**** the presets off!), and it opens up a whole new synth. In fact, I have yet to find an "analogue" synth that is as meaty and fat as this for the money!! Good buy
Like the Roland and Yamaha too.

I wholeheartedly agree about the Cubase comment too - I was endorsed by them for a while, until I had a play with Logic came out (V1 was on the Atari ST!!) and then I switched. (in all fairness, I had all of the sequencer packages to play with) Haven't looked back since though.
The rewire function of Reason with Logic is also good

Nice to see we've got some muso-techies on this site - makes a nice change to all the IT nerds!!

Dan
Old 10 January 2011, 05:26 PM
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Originally Posted by ScoobyDoo555
yeh real ub40.

Been looking at stuff like the Nord Lead - V expensive and v nice sounds. The only thing that put me off was the performance controls (wooden pitchbend and stone mod-wheel) - when playing I felt that I would cause myself an injury on the sharp wooden stick!!

Did look at the Nord Electro and Stage though - dribble. Bit too much money right now for what they offer though.
I've got a Virus and it is a GREAT bit of kit - get into programming it (**** the presets off!), and it opens up a whole new synth. In fact, I have yet to find an "analogue" synth that is as meaty and fat as this for the money!! Good buy
Like the Roland and Yamaha too.

I wholeheartedly agree about the Cubase comment too - I was endorsed by them for a while, until I had a play with Logic came out (V1 was on the Atari ST!!) and then I switched. (in all fairness, I had all of the sequencer packages to play with) Haven't looked back since though.
The rewire function of Reason with Logic is also good

Nice to see we've got some muso-techies on this site - makes a nice change to all the IT nerds!!

Dan

Hi Dan i've used mainly Nord at my friend studio and i really like sounds,but i probably go for Rack version,which selling my friend(New cost crazy money),Access Virus i have also Rack version,programming i like,because i've create some patches for Reason,i will see
My friend have Moog Voyager and Doepfer A-100(for this i don't have room ),which are for me best of the best with ARP 2600 and Moog Modular(i like old school analogue sound)
Some ideas going,but at moment i putting my money to car(as usual).




Jura
Old 10 January 2011, 05:33 PM
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Yeh, I've also got the Virus sounds on a Refill Mine's a rack too
Refills - not as good as the real thing you'll be pleased to know!!

I had an Arp2600 and it's a great bit of kit - considerably more money than the virus though

Personally, it's "roll on insurance payout" at the moment, I've got loads of kit scattered all over the house, and no room to put it in

End of Feb..... and counting
Old 10 January 2011, 06:22 PM
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unfortunately, i'm not talented enough to be able to create my own music, but i wouldn't use anything other than active studio monitors in my hifi system. at the moment i'm using PMC AML1's..


love 'em! can't imagine going back to a traditional passive domestic 'speaker.
my next upgrade probably further up the pmc pro range, when funds allow. probably some time around the middle of the century then
Old 10 January 2011, 06:36 PM
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With the bayers do you plan on turning them into darth beyers?

Meant to turn them rather bassy mind.

http://www.headphile.com/page8.html

Don't really have studio monitors per se just a set of wharfdale rubiance, and some dynaudio 240's i haven't yet fitted to the car.

I do have custom iem's and they're fantastic i really should get a decent pair of cans at some point.

Im assuming you can change the dac chips in your saffire should you wish to?
Old 10 January 2011, 06:36 PM
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I *SO* approve!!!! <dribble>!!!

As transmission line speakers they're are BEAUTIFUL

Only use the big tall ones in Metropolis studios (Chiswick high st) - fantastic. as is the price.

Lovely - thanks for sharing the pic

Dan
Old 10 January 2011, 08:55 PM
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Originally Posted by ScoobyDoo555
yeh real ub40.

Been looking at stuff like the Nord Lead - V expensive and v nice sounds. The only thing that put me off was the performance controls (wooden pitchbend and stone mod-wheel) - when playing I felt that I would cause myself an injury on the sharp wooden stick!!

Did look at the Nord Electro and Stage though - dribble. Bit too much money right now for what they offer though.
I've got a Virus and it is a GREAT bit of kit - get into programming it (**** the presets off!), and it opens up a whole new synth. In fact, I have yet to find an "analogue" synth that is as meaty and fat as this for the money!! Good buy
Like the Roland and Yamaha too.

I wholeheartedly agree about the Cubase comment too - I was endorsed by them for a while, until I had a play with Logic came out (V1 was on the Atari ST!!) and then I switched. (in all fairness, I had all of the sequencer packages to play with) Haven't looked back since though.
The rewire function of Reason with Logic is also good

Nice to see we've got some muso-techies on this site - makes a nice change to all the IT nerds!!

Dan

I really wish I could play the keyboard I use mine to tap out a bass line or a melody etc then clean it up as I go!

My early stuff was all done using an atari ST with cubase an Akai S1000 etc telling a chap what we wanted to hear, so it's bliss to have the tools that are around today!

I just need to learn to use them properly!
Old 10 January 2011, 08:55 PM
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Originally Posted by stormyuklondon1
unfortunately, i'm not talented enough to be able to create my own music, but i wouldn't use anything other than active studio monitors in my hifi system. at the moment i'm using PMC AML1's..


love 'em! can't imagine going back to a traditional passive domestic 'speaker.
my next upgrade probably further up the pmc pro range, when funds allow. probably some time around the middle of the century then

Nom nom nom!
Old 10 January 2011, 09:10 PM
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Originally Posted by hux309
With the bayers do you plan on turning them into darth beyers?

Meant to turn them rather bassy mind.

http://www.headphile.com/page8.html

Don't really have studio monitors per se just a set of wharfdale rubiance, and some dynaudio 240's i haven't yet fitted to the car.

I do have custom iem's and they're fantastic i really should get a decent pair of cans at some point.

Im assuming you can change the dac chips in your saffire should you wish to?

Not really into the wood finish but I would like to hear some!

Pimpmyheadphones.com!

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Old 10 January 2011, 10:46 PM
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I use Senn HD25-IIs and have a pair of NMP5s.

Not expensive set up and sounds half decent.

HTH!
Old 10 January 2011, 11:38 PM
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Bubba po
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And here's me; been trying to get my 1980's Tascam Porta-one cassette four-track going tonight, lol.

It's like buggering about with a flint axe.
Old 10 January 2011, 11:48 PM
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Originally Posted by Bubba po
And here's me; been trying to get my 1980's Tascam Porta-one cassette four-track going tonight, lol.

It's like buggering about with a flint axe.


Something similar i have at home,but not Tascam Fostex(from 1980's and at these times has been crazy expensive)
Great retro,i really like



Jura
Old 10 January 2011, 11:57 PM
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Bubba po
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Originally Posted by jura11
Something similar i have at home,but not Tascam Fostex(from 1980's and at these times has been crazy expensive)
Great retro,i really like



Jura

Aaahh... yes! Fostex! The other main player. I made quite a few decent recordings at the time using that gear. Hard to believe now how much of a revolution it was, as I recall. I'd love to get mine overhauled, or learn how to do it myself. A couple of the channels and pots have gone down, and two of the VU meters have stopped illuminating. I know you can get computer-based multitrack for next to nothing nowadays, but I wouldn't really know where to start interfacing with the computer these days.
Old 11 January 2011, 12:08 AM
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Originally Posted by Bubba po
Aaahh... yes! Fostex! The other main player. I made quite a few decent recordings at the time using that gear. Hard to believe now how much of a revolution it was, as I recall. I'd love to get mine overhauled, or learn how to do it myself. A couple of the channels and pots have gone down, and two of the VU meters have stopped illuminating. I know you can get computer-based multitrack for next to nothing nowadays, but I wouldn't really know where to start interfacing with the computer these days.
Probably best(if you are PC user) Reaper is good start and is free,here is link for download http://www.reaper.fm/ probably worth buy decent sound card Maudio have good reputation,Tascam are also good.For mastering you can download tons of VSTi(EQ,Reverbs,Delays etc.)
This will need lots of patience,but worth every penny,if you are need help,PM me for help or question.


Jura
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