I have fostex PMO 4, put bluntly, they are crap, but they were my first ever monitors, and i knew little then.
A call around to all the places that can sell me some has found that most people in Australia who sell this stuff don’t have an understanding of the magnitude of the elektron gear, and what monitors will handle their range without compromise, most ask what is elektron.
I’m 300km from anywhere that can sell good stuff. And finding somewhere that has elektron and monitors is basically non existent, so cant try anything out.
Far better to ask those who already have the gear and monitors…help is required, is there such a thing as sitting in front of these and having your socks blown off with the brilliance of clarity?
My friend has Adam A7X , they are a lot better than my KRK Rokit 8. (Well, they cost a bit more, but they are really good.) Best is obviously to pair it with a sub, and to do room treatment first.
Spend as much as you can on monitors, if not more than you can.
They are the most important tool in a studio.
Even if you are ITB great monitors are the one thing you still require.
Generally a case of you get what you pay for, so the more you spend the better.
There are a million brands and types out there so you will need to do a lot of research on the net.
It’s impossible to summarise in a thread like this.
I have PMC TwoTwo monitors, cost an absolute shitload, but worth every cent.
Also consider the type of music you want to make. Some monitors work better for certain types of music. Go in and listen to all the monitors st your local shop eith a CD that you know really well.
When i bought rytm, i switched from krk vxt 6 to dynaudio 8’ (i dont know which i have)
Krk sucks, the vxt is not that bad bit lacks in low end.
Dynaudio is wonderfull, but expensive (i payed 1000€ each)
They are not only good but also very pleasant…especially clear when listening classical music
I bought a bigger house, left my dynaudio in the living room and bought adam a8x
Very good for elektron, not pleasant to listen classical music
Also they are ugly, with plastic coating
Maybe the adam 7 are even better, if used with a sub
Many people around me buy krk cheap sub and love it
They say (i dont know) that sharp sub is overrated and unnecessary expensive…
My friend is a professional musician and studio engineer and swears by his pair of Neumann KH120, no sub. I’ve heard his work on classic vocal jazz to hard classic rock to blues and more - all sounds good over a wide volume range. But he is also running everything through some seriously good preamps and DACs.
He doesn’t have Elektron hooked up anywhere - and I don’t think you really need think of Elektron boxes per se. when selecting monitors. I think good monitors are good monitors - I value “neutral” sound. If there is something specific to Elektron that needs adjustments perhaps a good EQ would be worth looking at… but then I don’t know what your system needs are…
Aside from longing for a pair of Neumanns I’ve also wondered at Focal speakers… but I’ve not heard them, only of them.
I mixed with KH120’s in a small studio for years, also without a sub.
They do sound good, and punch above their weight for sure, but they are only 5" drivers, and when pushed a little hard they tend to start sounding a little boxy and closed in, and tend to struggle to maintain that clarity and definition for truly accurate monitoring. They are great for real small rooms and low level mixing though.
When I had these I drove them with a Mytek 192 DSD Mastering DAC which as you mention is a critical point in an accurate monitoring chain also.
I haven’t owned Focal but used them a lot and are mainly a good brand, but they have released a really cheap line recently which may not have the same quality?
For the last 10 years or so I have only used ATC and PMC monitors and these are another whole level above again.
Like I said earlier, in my experience you tend to get what you pay for in monitors
I have Neuman kh 310’s, bigger brothers to the 120’s. no need for a sub, they punch way above their weight at any volume level. absolutely love them, translation is amazing. Low end is sooo clear and defined.
To the OP, I’d recommend a non ported design if low end accuracy is important to you
Been very happy just with my HS8’s. OT main outs plugged straight in no problem. They’re pretty unforgiving so it’s always nice to listen on the car stereo after getting the sound right on the HS8’s.
On a budget, a pair of Behringer Truth B1031 active 8 inch monitors can handle some serious lows. The type of lows to make desktop speakers faint. Incredible sound and loud and will rock the house and neighbors, with an EQ or preamp they become monsters.
However, these days I’m using a single Roland Cube Monitor CM30 and is rock solid handling the Digitakt. I can go loud as I want and low I can go without distorting the sound or the speaker.
If you do not have any acoustic treatment in your room, and your room is on the smaller side, invest in treating your room before even considering new speakers. Even subpar speakers can sound great in a treated room, while the most expensive monitors in the world will not sound their best in an untreated small room.
When I started treating my room, I found out that I could have gotten by with my old crappy berhinger truths, random people started commenting “these are very good speakers” etc… But in the end I upgraded them to another set of monitors out of power issues (the behringers couldn’t deliver enough SPL without sounding stressed for loud monitoring)
I’m not going to put a budget on it, I’m only going to do this once, so ill just go all out, take my time and get what’s seems perfect at the time. It’ll last me forever, so happy to spend if its worth it.
I also plan to build a metal desk/stand to hold everything, I’m getting some good ideas, and as i laser cut and engrave and print, there’s heaps i can do to make it look the part too.