I was recently asked by a colleague to help him with his new studio setup. He is one of the top jazz drummers here in Montreal. And, unsurprisingly, he finds himself completely out of work due to the limitations caused by Covid 19. So he is setting up an online lesson site, complete with live recordings and videos of him playing and teaching in his brand new studio space. He has minimal experience with DAW software and recording in general. But he's a smart guy and has been doing his homework.
So, I get there, and he has a beautiful jazz drum kit mic'd up with a pair of Audio Technica 3035 mics and an AKG bass drum mic. Nothing fancy, but they do the job just fine. He's got a thick curtain behind him, the drums are tuned beautifully, he's a monster player, and everything sounds fantastic. He's got himself a Scarlett interface with Logic running on a laptop. We tweak the mic positioning, the levels, the EQ and compression, and do some tests - and it's all sounding great.
Except for one thing. One missing ingredient. We're listening back on a pair of cheap multimedia speakers. You know, the kind you get at Best Buy for $70-$80 to use for gaming and listening to youtube.
And it got me thinking. There must be a lot of great musicians out there who, with the loss of work due to Covid 19, are looking to home recording for the first time. Also, some motivated amateurs with time on their hands at home, who are looking to use some of their newfound time setting up a home studio and creating music. Looking at gear specs for all the various components necessary for a successful home studio must be wholly daunting and overwhelming when coming to it all at once, and facing a brand new learning curve.
Sure there are tons of sites, blogs, forums, and discussion groups, with all kinds of information available. But sifting through it all and tuning out the noise is impossible for the uninitiated. So it occurs to me that it might be worth looking at the role of proper monitoring in these situations.
Here's the scenario: you are setting up a home studio for the first time. You are reading through all of the online forums you can find trying to figure out how to equip yourself best. This article is my contribution to try and help you understand the relevance and role of decent monitors. What to look for, how to choose, what's important, what's hype, what's not, and how to make sense of it all.
Monitors vs Speakers
We seem to use the terms monitors and speakers interchangeably, but they are quite different. Monitors, designed for use in studio situations, are intended to deliver a flat neutral response. Their frequency curves are unhyped so that you can mix your music as accurately as possible, absent from any tonal coloration that might obfuscate the result. Speakers, on the other hand, are what consumers listen back to music on at home. They are not intended to be neutral. They are designed to flatter the music and make it sound good.
They do this by boosting or attenuating specific areas of the frequency spectrum. For example, an increased low end helps the listener feel a solid bottom end to the sound. Enhanced high frequencies impart a desirable bright shimmer to the top end of music, making things sound crisp and bright. Scooping out a bit in the lower mids help mixes that may be problematic with lots of potentially conflicting lower-midrange frequency content.
Flattering EQ is precisely what you don't want from your studio monitors. The more accurately monitors deliver back to you a true representation of the frequency response captured at the source, the better you can decide how to modify the frequencies (EQ) the individual tracks that make up your mix.
So, how do these two playback devices, speakers and monitors, accomplish each of their tasks?
Active vs Passive monitors
Most home stereo speakers, or larger PA speakers, are what are known as "passive." Passive means they require external amplification for sound to be heard. Typical signal flow runs your sound source through an amplifier, which then powers the connected speakers. The amplified signal is sent through a crossover inside the speaker, which splits the signal between the drivers. Usually two, a tweeter and a woofer. The crossover is a type of filter which separates the signal based on a frequency split point.
Active monitors include purpose-built amplifiers. The signal entering the monitor is routed through the crossover before being sent to dedicated amplifiers calibrated for each driver. This format results in a more precise response from each of the individual speakers within the monitors, because the components are all well matched and because the crossover operates at line level rather than at the much higher speaker level found after the amplifier has done its work. It’s easier to design a good line level or “active” crossover than it is to design a “passive” crossover because of the smaller voltages involved.
In selecting compact monitors for your home studio, active are generally preferred. They avoid the need to calibrate the crossover split points manually and ensure each driver receives the frequencies for which they are optimized. The quality of the crossover components and programming is also essential. Ideally, you want a system with good phase response at the crossover, so there are fewer issues at the split point. Active monitors also remove the variable of having to match up the correct amount of power needed for the drivers. If you underpower passive monitors, they will distort when turned up. If overpowered, you may not be driving the power amp in its optimal range. Active monitors take care of all of these factors.
Near-Field Monitors
You will undoubtedly come across the terms near-field, mid-field, or far-field when doing your research. For compact home studio monitors, you want near-field. The drivers are generally smaller in size. A woofer between 3" - 6.5" is most common. The smaller woofers don't often go much lower 45 Hz or so, which is not a bad thing. They more faithfully replicate the frequency range found in consumer home or computer speakers, and so allow you to mix more accurately for playback on those systems. They are also optimized for smaller spaces and closer listening positions, which is ideally suited for home studio ergonomics. This means more of the sound will reach your ears than be reflected off of walls and ceilings farther away.
Ported or Unported
Many studio monitor cabinets are designed with holes, either on the front or the back. These are referred to as ports. When the larger driver (the woofer) is being driven, it vibrates back and forth rapidly, creating a build-up of air pressure within the cabinet. This is normal. The ports on well-engineered monitors direct this air pressure and can enhance the low-end frequency response nicely. Ideally, the tuning of the port is right at the monitor's cutoff point. If the overall cabinet design is not well calibrated, though, the resonance could be too much. This could easily result in an unnatural build up in the low register, causing things to sound muddier than necessary. Closed design cabinets tend to have a tighter bass sound, but with less of the extended range.
One isn't inherently better or worse than the other, however with ported speakers in home studios, results are generally better if the ports are on the front of the cabinet rather than the back. Monitors are often placed close to walls in small home studios. Rear ports are more likely to generate reflections off the wall if they are too close, resulting in unnatural resonances in frequency ranges where you don't want them.
Sound Treatment
Sound treatment is a whole subject on its own. Here is what is essential to understand: When it comes to choosing compact monitors for your home studio, placement is critical. If proximity to walls is necessary, place some foam padding or acoustic panels directly behind the speaker to absorb the sound; otherwise, the walls will generate reflections. This is particularly important for monitors with rear radiators or ports. Avoid corners. They double the potential problems. Position the monitors at ear level, ideally forming a triangle with you in your listening position.
EQ Settings & Room Correction Software
Most modern active studio monitors include onboard DSP for small frequency balancing adjustments. These are designed to compensate for common placement problems (proximity to walls, mixing board, etc.). Typically they provide options to boost or cut a couple of dB in the high, low, and sometimes mid ranges. These are often very useful, but will only go so far. It is not uncommon that your listening environment's deficits require a more tailored frequency curve to compensate for inaccuracies and resonances in different areas of the frequency response of your room.
Room calibration software is an extremely valuable investment when working with compact monitors in a home studio environment. The ARC system from IK Multimedia and Reference 4 from Sonarworks are the best around. They take a series of sound measurements by generating sweeps while you position a listening microphone at various locations in your environment. From these measurements, they calculate a frequency response curve to compensate for your room's specific response. Mixing with this EQ curve in place on your master bus ensures you are monitoring and mixing with as flat and neutral a curve from your monitors as possible.
It is difficult to get out to hear monitors for yourself these days. Unfortunately, we need to rely more on articles like this, forums, friends, and word of mouth. Hopefully, you now have a better idea of what choosing monitors is all about. With all of this in mind, here are a few suggestions for some reasonably priced compact active monitors to consider for your home studio.
EVE Audio SC207’s
The EVE Audio SC207’s are fantastic near field monitors that will serve you as your studio grows. They have garnered a lot of praise from reviewers and owners alike - offering a nice transparent top end and a tight low end. Full disclosure: these are the monitors I have been using for the past two years, and I love them. Working with them I found my mixes to be more detailed and have a better bass in them.
JBL 306p Mkll
The JBL 306p Mkll are growing in popularity amongst home studio enthusiasts. These are great bang for the buck. If your budget is tight, these are an excellent choice.
Eris E5 XT
All Presonus products have excellent build quality. The Eris E5 XT are a solid and dependable studio monitor, with a front ported waveguide - and are great value for smaller budgets.