I have mogami cables, I even compared them against VOVOX (super expensive swiss, like a few hundreds for a 3m piece) through Antelope converters/interface + ATC SCM45A Pro and made no difference whatsoever, not to me and not to all other guys + shop staff, even the staff recommended the mogami instead, unless I wanna pay for just the gold inside the Vovox cables to feel like a rich bling collector (lol, this comment came from the studio monitors expert in that shop).

Soundcard wise I use a Thunderbolt Focusrite Clarett 2Pre with 119db dynamic range converters which is not bad.
I did find out that the Monitor Station V2 is dergrading the sound a bit so I prefer to turn off everything then pull the cables from the station and plug it straight into the interface's outs for the main mixing duties on the eves, then turning the monitor station on whenever I wanna check the mix on all of them for reference. I do have my eyes on Drawmer MC3.1 or Grace Design m905.
My list for next year includes Amphion One18 + amp, Drawmer or Grace monitors controller, RME UFX+ (plus, the latest one), the latest motorized fader midi controller with about 4 or 5 extenders and a Neumann u87.
I always get my music mixed by another engineer before the song release, as i'm mostly a music producer, but being able to polish the demos myself before I send them to the clients helps a lot as I give them a close idea about how it's gonna sound on the radio and also the middlemen i'm working with has many producers and not many of them polish the demos good enough before sending them to the artists so I found out my demos stands out in the bunch and I get higher chances to grab the attention of potentially interested artists.

But hey,
anyone can make a living out of music production If they loosen up when it comes to personal preferences and look more into what currently sells or plays on the radio. I've 'made it' as a ghost producers working on just headphones and ESI Aktiv08 Studio monitors back in 2012, so budget is not really an excuse.
Another off-topic tip from earned experience is that happy/dancey music will always sell more than the sad music.
Stay positive peeps, I used to be depressed and it was never a good thing. When I finally started enjoying the positive music, jamming and dancing to it like i'm in the middle of a party the entire time, my whole life has changed both music and personal wise. I do write softer stuff from time to time, but focusing on producing what makes people happy, positive and dance gives so much more satisfaction.

 

If you got a decent amount of cash , I would use it on treating your room my friend.

 

The biggest mistake people do is selling their monitors which they have gotten to know very well and know how other and their music translates on them. Its a tool that gets least replaced in studios. At least keep something you know as B speakers.
Unless your mixes sucked anyway, then there is nothing to lose, not talking about you, but generally.

 

Before all, check your room response and find the hot spot, Before ALL !

 

Von Steyr is correct. Keep your old ones if you can afford it. Secondary reference is mandatory if you are doing professional work or really care about it anyway.
I recently came across the new S3 Adam and they have really improved what was there. When i bought my Focal Twins about 11 yrs ago my other option was the S3. This new speaker is by far better than the old one. It's more transparent, wider, better detailed, louder and cleaner at the same time. And with the current price tag it rivals anything around that price and even more expensive speakers.
I would still check Focal SM9 and Barefoot.
@Millenium The new S3 to my ears and in terms of quality is about a match to SM9. It depends if you like Ribbon tweeters better than Beryllium imho. Nothing beats Focal in revealing hidden flaws in a mix and silent/ghost notes or artifacts you would otherwise miss. I love the new S3 so don't get me wrong. When it gets an appraisal like this https://www.focal.com/sites/www.focal.fr/files/shared/catalog/presse/1309_SM9_GB.pdf then we 'll know that it is the new king. Very few pro speakers make you actually enjoy what you listen to. For me atm Focal and Barefoot rule the mid class studio. The new S3 has yet to be tested under strain to prove itself. Still a very exciting speaker all in all

 

I've Invested the equivalent of over 3000$(roughly around 3500$) in acoustic treatment and room measurements (I've got the EMX-7150-CF1 measuring microphone which is the equivalent of over 300$ alone, before the actual aforementioned room acoustics budget ).
Also all the panels and basstraps are 100% made in England, better value for the money and they actually compete head to head with Auralex but you get way more for the money and you can really tell it's high quality both in build and sound.
I even record my vocal producer/singer friends sketch vocals inside this room with a Rode NT2A that's surrounded by a 300$ Aston Halo Shadow and it sounds super clean and in your face, exactly what I need if I wanna mix the vocals to a satisfying quality level when I send my demos out.
Not the perfect room in the world for sure but I can get stuff done to a really greater than average extent.

Evorax

That's why i'm going to stop looking for any other monitors in the next 10-15 years as soon as I get the Amphions.
Dyns + Amphs + EVEs it's really.. just enough. Having more than one reference it helps, changing the actual references it hurts as you mentioned, but that's just for a few months or a year (roughly) until you work/create/mix as much music on them as possible. ​

 

Last edited: Nov 18, 2017

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Last edited: Dec 7, 2017

Not sure I can ever take the SM9 seriously now! What HiFi routinely five stars the absymal offerings of the same five manufacturers. I'd trust Zoella's opinion more.
Also, what was the point of the SM9 again (ahem, Trio6)?

 

@item
The point of the "what hifi" review phrase was to show these speakers are good enough, to make headlines in "territories" like hifi land, which are usually dominated by very different products.

Then maybe i am reading something different where Spector, KEF, B&W, Dynaudio, JBL, Monitor Audio, YG Acoustics, Neat, Sonus, PMC have all received 5 star speakers' reviews the last 15 months. Now perhaps you can enlighten me like the noob i am, which of these offerings is "abysmal".

SM9 = 600w RMS , Trio6 = 450w RMS . Is this good enough for a difference to you?

 

Last edited: Dec 6, 2017

I like the SM9, despite what What HiFi says. Not as much as the Trio, though.