EQUATOR D5 (w. a Paradigm under-the-DAW sub). Why these? Recommended by a guy who worked/works at Technicolor Studios. Felt that for the price, the clean translation of a sonic image flowing from only ONE source (Notice the tweeter IS INSIDE the WOOFER?) better represents sound directionally. I think I have noted this in my years mixing with them. (They make a larger 'D8' as well).

 

I skimmed through the replies here. Seems most of the "high-end" speakers mentioned aren't that high end, which is fine by me. There's a big difference between mixing and mastering. You don't need a $10k (or even a $3k) set of monitors to produce very good mixes. I'm not comfortable working this way, but people are producing great mixes just using headphones like the Slate VSX. I'd say budget wisely and spend your money on mastering if you really care about the end results.

 

Focal Twin 6 & Sub 6.
KRK RP7 G4.
Yamaha NS10M.
Dynaudio BM6A.

As you can see i love 6 - 6.5" speakers. I'd have more if i had more money. And wtf, more is never enough.
Cheers mates

PS: The best speaker ever was a vintage Telefunken 3" passive monitor from the early 70s. It had the sweetest sound ever until i broke one of them after a couple of years by playing it too loud. My tech said it was impossible to repair due to the coil wrap used for the woofer could not be reproduced. The one left i gave it as a gift to friend of mine who appreciates mono listening and he still uses it.
Cheers

 

But time domain is an issue in that overlapping frequency spectrum of different chassis. Because of that good monitors are linear phase from a certain f on or have a linear phase alteration over the f range.
Try to eq stuff in the range between tweeter and low/midrange on a phase linear monitor vs "manufacturer doesn't care" . It's day and night literally because to me it feels like flying blindly.

 

Did you get along with ATCs top end?
I just can't work on ATC, it's hard to describe it... They don't sound harsh, it's not like the genelecs of the 90ies. It's more like that Adam sound I would describe as 'too fast'. Know what I mean? Really hard to describe. That feeling when you're a little scared of a ride or a crash because the attack is faster than a bullet.

 

Sorry OP, I didn't really answer to your question.

I own and work on (I don't do pics) :
JBL 305II (now only for the road)
Neumann KH80 (editing)
Neumann KH120 (editing)
Neumann KH310
Genelec 8030 (legacy, not used for mixing, have them in my living room now, can't mix on those, never were able to get an Idea what they want to tell me)
Genelec 8341

Genre is what comes along the way, when I do stuff for fun it's Darkwave, new wave, post punk.
The mixes I do on the Neumanns are the better ones. I have to put more effort into it to make it sound right. But they always tell me what to do next. That's what I love about them. When I'm on a point where I say "mkey, that's a decent mix, there is nothing wrong with it, nothing in there that annoys me" the mix is done on the Neumanns. You get the Idea, they're all but exciting.
The genelecs on the other hand are way more fun. But that's the issue I have with those. I call it a day too early. But they are great to show what you did. Mixes I do on the Neumanns translate great to the genelecs, just sound bigger.

Edit: the KH 310 have a closed design, they are a little less demanding when it comes to acoustics and room.
Speaking of: When there is money left: PSIs active bass traps (Avaa) could be a consideration.

 

Last edited: May 5, 2025 at 9:18 PM

The ability for eqing is shown in the behavior of the early reflections. (the red line in the following pictures)
The better they correlate to the fundamental the better. The factor here is the directivity.

https://www.spinorama.org/speakers/KEF LS60 Wireless/ErinsAudioCorner/eac-0-degree/CEA2034 Normalized.webp
This correlation is good.

https://www.spinorama.org/speakers/Mackie CR3-X/ErinsAudioCorner/eac/CEA2034 Normalized.webp
This correlation is bad as seen in the 1500Hz to 4000Hz range.

That's the problem with headphones in comparison to iem's. Because they actually create a room between your head/ears and the speaker and it's a very bad one. Often they do not respond so well to eqing in specific ranges.

 

Last edited: May 6, 2025 at 12:03 AM

Who needs speakers when you can just use Span Plus?

 

When I first started making music, I had some Edirol products and was a huge fan. Edirol is a former division of Roland, founded in the late 1970s. Since I wasn't sure at the time whether I would continue making music, I started spending less money. Today, I use a Yamaha HS50M.

 

Mackie HR824s Mk1
Hedd Type 20 Mk1
Genelec 8020c

The Mackie's where my first serious pair of monitors, and I still use and love them, they are my reference.
The Hedd's are ultra transparent, and deep, they can sound so good, but a bit too critical sometimes.
and the Genelec' keep the neighbours happy.

 

Equator doesn't exist anymore, and haven't for like 10 something years now. They quietly dropped off the face of the earth and left everybody hanging with monitors falling apart left and right.

 

on a recommendation from a friend that works at Music Store in Koln many years ago i bought a pair of ESI nEar 5's and 8's sold the 8's as they were too much for the space i was in used the 5's for many years loved them. then i had to move back to the states. while working at Guitar center i bought a pair of M Audio BX 5 graphite's as M Audio speakers are made by ESI been using them 3 years now and love them. no pix because 1 im lazy like that and 2 my studio desk is a mess so im not sharing that ;)

 

I think having good reference material is also very important, as is taking the time to learn the sound.

 

Last edited: May 6, 2025 at 3:11 PM

I still use NS-10M .Have been getting used to those since late 90s . I did buy a Yamaha subwoofer later .I recently have been working on my room (still busy ) , it makes a dramatic difference . Even more with my secondary 8 inch coaxials

 

End of the road