Hi,
wich studio monitors would you recommend for home playing? i´ve bought the Plini recently and it sounds awesome (even in my normal speakers). I would like to purchase some quality stuff but trying not to expend more than $300.
Thanks!
jplyoto,
I don’t know if you mean $300 total or $300 per speaker, but I really like my Yamaha HS7’s ~$300 each now.
However you go, if you have a store nearby with a decent selection of near-field monitors, I would suggest the following process:
- Put together a playlist of varied song types on your phone that you are very familiar with when listening in several environments. Have them include sparse mixes (like just acoustic piano and voice), dense mixes like a Santana live set, dance music, classical, etc. I had about 7 or 8 songs.
- Have a sales person set you up in a room with several sets of near-fields that fall inside and outside of your range.
- Take you time and A/B/C/D…the range. Don’t let them rush you. Listen to very high end monitors to see what the fuss is about and where the differences lie between them and very cheap monitors.
- Move around in the sound field and change songs and listen for clarity, instrument separation, stereo field, frequency range, and distortion levels (anything that does not sound clean and clear).
- Decide if you would be satisfied with your budget and either choose your favorite set (not necessarily the most revealing pair) or wait and save some $$ to get the set that you want.
That was the process I followed from others recommendations and have a set that I continue to be very pleased with.
1 Like
thank you, this is gold for me!!!
hey man, perhaps you could (also) help me… i am playing the plini with and old MAYA 44 PCI-E (it works just fine) but i would like to know if it´s recommended to have a newer audio interface like 2i4 or similar.
Thanks in advance!
As long as the A to D converters in the MAYA can handle guitar frequencies (~5kHz and below, sample rate should be at least double the max audible frequency) and with a bit depth that allows for satisfactory dynamics just fine in other instances, I can’t imagine that it would be an issue. If it is 16bit and 44.1kHz (CD specs) or above, I wouldn’t imagine too many sonic issues.
If you have recorded vocals or a guitar amp using a mic and the MAYA and were satisfied with the sound, it should have the horsepower to sample the bandwidth and dynamics of a guitar straight in.
I’m no expert with amp plugins, so there could certainly be something I am missing besides sample rate and bit depth.
1 Like
i have active pickups, could that be an issue?
Only if it is causing clipping. Active doesn’t change what the strings can do. Only EQ and amplitude.
1 Like
ok, thank you mate!!!
I can highly recommend the scarlet solo from focusrite. I also used a soundcard before, but the scarlet i a complete different thing. No noise, clear sound and the headphone monitor is great too.
Just my recommendation if you are looking for an affordable audio interface
CU Thomas
1 Like
will check!
thank you
are there any substancial difference between the 2nd and 3rd gen?
Honestly, i have no idea. I found that the scarlet solo had a good ranking at my local (online) music store.
Also, they are in the business for many years now. A few customers wrote that they had issues/noise from their graphic cards which i cannot confirm. I use it on an old MacBook Pro from 2008 and on a DELL Workstation (Windows7). Installation was smooth even they do not include a cd with a driver.
Imho one will download the latest driver anyway so the cd is not important 
If unsure, check the internet for comments on the 2nd and third generation if there are big differences.
i already did it and they are almost the same. Im going for the cheapest one
i also did and the difference might be the pre-amplifer section which is comparable to the bigger interface line…
Anyways, it’s your decision and i would be happy if you share your thoughts once you receive it
of course i will keep you updated, i just only have to find the best deal!
i´ve decided for the scarlett 2i4 2nd gen, when it arrives i will give you the review.
I am currently using an Audient ID14 and it has been faultless! great converters, it sounds really nice. I also have Yamaha HS8s which are also great, pretty big, and they need calibrating with sonar works to get them flat, they have a 12db hump at around 100, which needs taming.
i´ve bought the AKG 240 MKII and they have been great to me!
I see there are some Yamaha HS users here. Yesterday I went for a pair of cheap HS5’s (I thought) but it happened to be HS8’s. Great deal of course and obivously better than the 5’s I thought they were.
But do people here recommend trading it for HS7’s? I’m making music in a small room and the HS8’s might be a bit overkill I suppose?
No the 8`s will be fine, they have plenty of adjustments for smaller rooms. I used mine in a smaller room before i moved house and i never had an issue.
They are quite large though, and will need to be moved away from the walls as they are back ported bass