hey guys, I am just starting out and looking into some studio monitors since i just got a AT 2035 however my budget isnt the best so I am looking for something that can get me by for now while I save up.

my budget is 150, I know I wont get anything good in this price range but as I said I just need to get by for now so as long as its better than headphones all is well.

thanks in advance

 

Last edited: Feb 13, 2020

Dude, you won't find any reliable ( imo, of course)reference studio monitor speakers below, let's say - 3500 euro for a pair (that's how much Thomann lists Neumann KH 310, which are the cheapest good monitors on the market).
Within your budget - with the same success you can mix on consumer grade gear...
Anyway, if you intend to do trap or hip-hop, only KRK go that low in this price range, I think.

 

I just bought Presonus Iris 3.5 Active studio monitors. I am very satisfied with them. Good quality speakers. They cost about 100 euros

 

exactly, me too .. small but they're beast ...

 

Monitors are a very personal thing.
What works for you might not work for others. Different ears, different rooms, different flavor of what makes a monitor sound good.
Some prefer flat others very midrange speakers, others very bassy speakers others need a microscope on the high end.
Some can work on cheaper monitors with great results, others can only work with very good monitors to get a consistent translation.

 

Last edited: Feb 13, 2020

I just bought Presonus Iris 3.5 Active studio monitors with bluetooth and they are very good for the price. I use it at home for producing, listening music, listening backing tracks and other. The pack includes also little pads to put under the monitors, for vibrations.

 

I'd save up to at least the $400 point, you'll be buying twice if you don't. Please skip the 3.5" garbage and get something that's more futureproof with 5" woofers and proper connectivity. If you're doing anything more critical than watching youtube videos, Bluetooth doesn't count as connectivity, you want good ol' wires here.

 

I know will have to buy twice but I need something to use right now, I don't mind buying twice since that was my plan from the get go.

Thanks for all the input though I know I will have to spend some more cash to get proper monitors in the future but I am currently using headsets and my computer speakers are crap so.


I will have a look at the Presonus Iris 3.5 Active studio monitors though I am not digging the whole Bluetooth thing.

Edit:I see there is a regular version that uses wires

This seems like it will do for now

 

hey man I have the sterling mx3 and I think they're great ive heard good things about the presonus but not gonna lie I get pretty good mixes with my mx3 ever since I got an arrow interface think the ad/da conversion matters a lot too especially with mics but with speakers as well I have at2020 the amount its improved bc of my arrow interface compared to my Scarlett solo lets me put off buying a more expensive mic and monitors for now just because sound has improved soo much through conversion

 

I'm a bit old school... if I was in your situation I would try to save some money at least for something like Yamaha HS5 or better 7 or 8, JBL LSR305, KRK VXT6 or 8, or Tannoy Reveal 502/802. I like the sound of Tannoys - they're enjoyable to listen to and incredible value for the money, esp. 802. Not the most accurate, but you can "learn them", just like you have to "learn" all the monitor speakers. Tannoys are front ported so they are well suited for smaller spaces.

Nice review of Tannoys: https://www.creatorbeat.com/audio/tannoy-reveal-502-studio-monitors-review/

 

Last edited: Feb 13, 2020

Mackie CR4s aren't bad.

 

i wouldn't call that a proper pair of monitor for a recording or mixing studio but in that price range i would get presonus eris 3.5 . that's the one i'm using when traveling. it's decent enough to sketch ideas and really good considering the price.

 

I will take a look at the arrow interface and the Sterling MX3 aswell as the presonus thanks for all the input bros, I have a behringer xenyx q502 interface and its garbage I tell you, I cant get the buffer below 256 in protools even though it shows 64 as the lowest in the list which is strange and I cant record with effects like reverb due to the massive latency so I have to record in low latency mode to get good cuts.

sometimes the audio even randomly drops out, I have searched high and low for a solution as to why it shows the lowest it can go is 64 and yet when I put it on that there is no audio from the speakers so I realized I need a better interface and studio monitors ASAP, infact that is the reason I cant spend much on speakers at the moment since I need a new interface aswell and I am putting most of my money into that

Edit: audio equipment is expensive lol however I still have to get work done so I use what I have until I can get better stuff

also can someone PM me the link to the sister site, thanks in advance

 

A studio monitor is defined as a loudspeaker that has a perfectly flat frequency response, uncolored: it has to spit out what you throw at it. It is a fundamental tool used in professional work environments. To have this performance, the studio monitor needs a good engineering project and high-level components. Now, hoping to find a pair of studio monitors for $ 150 is unrealistic: at this price you will only find ordinary hi-fi speakers, or a soundbar for TV.
To drastically improve the performance of your monitors you will also need to soundproof your homestudio therefore, also put that in the budget.
I have no advice on which studio monitor you can buy: everyone has their own way of perceiving sound: this is too personal a matter. what you can do is compare speakers in professional audio stores to understand what sounds best to you. I assure you that the difference between a $300 and $3000 monitor actually exists and marketing has little to do with it

 

I understand but as I mentioned before, I am just looking to get by for now and i am already soundproofing so that is in the budget
also could someone pm me the sister site link thanks.

 

no doubt that is true. also no doubt that we can't all afford $3000 speakers. and it is not realistic to tell someone who has a $100 budget that they have to wait until they can afford $3000.

 

Look up Alesis M1 or some of their other lower priced range. They are decent for starting out and fit your budget. You can find them used on ebay, reverb etc.

 

Will do

 

Speaking of recording studio: costs have drastically lowered compared to recent past. We live in an era where technology now allows us to emulate virtually any equipment needed: channel strip, distortion, chorus, echo, multiband compressor etc .. If we imagine having all the plugins of our DAW in their hardware version we would have a multi-million dollar recording studio at home, considering that our plugins can also be freeware or cracked.
According to that, it is easy to understand what a huge saving it is to have a recording studio now compared to 30 years ago

Investing in hardware instead, continues to be crucial when we talk about audio interfaces and monitors: in order to maximize the value to our work we must spend as much as possible on those.

as much as possible ...

 

Facts brother! Been getting by so far with a crappy interface and no monitors at all since I was focused more on becoming a semi decent engineer before I spend thousands of dollars on equipment so I buy as it becomes necessary and as it is I have outgrown my headsets and old interface by miles so.