Mackie MR8's

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Hello
Im looking into getting some studio monitors to go with the new pc setup (specs in sig). I want to get into production and im currently learning on Reason 4, but I dont really know much about speakers or sound cards so im after some advice.

I am leaning towards getting a pair of mackie MR8's, what would be the best way to connect these to my pc? According to the specifications there are balanced XLR, TRS and unbalanced RCA inputs, which out of the 3 are the best way?

I want to make dnb and house are these suitable speakers for that?
 
You'd be best off getting an external sound card as well, have you thought about a budget for this?
 
I got £350 set aside for the speakers (I havent seen them cheaper than that) and about another £100 for sound card/cables. But if I need more money I'll find it somehow lol.
 
I would respectfully suggest that I think you can balance your funds better.

First of all, where you actually put your speakers will be of utmost importance to you...especially as you will be mixing DnB which relies heavily on thumping kick drums and thunderous bass.

In light of this, I would HIGHLY recommend you budget for some speaker stands as if you simply place speakers on a table the soundwaves will propagate through the surface resulting in muddy bass frequencies and your mixes WILL suffer. You need to decouple your speakers from direct contact with tables (hence the stands).

Personally, I wouldn't go for Mackie monitoring either but this is more subjective than objective. Don't even think of buying passive monitors - always buy active as the amps inside the speakers are specifically tailored and designed for the speakers to which they drive. Likewise, the less to go wrong the better!

Look at the Alesis MK IIs. They're fantastic for the money (?£230?). Conversely, the Audio Interface will be the direct connection from your computer you to your speakers so choosing the right one will be quite important. You need to think carefully about your needs in terms of inputs/outputs and whether or not you need audio recording capabilities before you make an informed decision on an interface. Also, are you going internal, USB or Firewire with the interface?? I personally use RME gear but that will be probably be above and beyond your budget. Think M-Audio, Mackie, Tascam and Roland. STAY AWAY FROM BEHRINGER!!!

How serious are you about your production? Do you plan on mastering as well or take your mixes to a mastering suite?

Just to give you a bit of background I own and run a recording studio and have been actively involved with professional recording both as an engineer, producer and artist for the last 10 years. Now, I teach A Level Music Technology at schools/colleges and am currently recording an album so do your best to answer some of my questions and hopefully I can give you some decent informed advice!! Afterall, I was there 10 years ago and made too many mistakes to name - why do the same to yourself if you can help it??!!!

Tom

P.S XLR is the best connector out of those as it is a locking connection and is inherently balanced resulting in less EFI from other sources and hopefully retaining a higher integrity of source audio.
 
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I've just noticed that you have a Corsair H50.

I had a custom watercooled setup which I wanted to use for audio production in the studio but quickly found out that the pump (Laing DDC) was causing a silly amount of EFI and messing with my mixes. This was, at the time with a MOTU 828MKII Firewire interface so the problem wasn't even solved by using an external soundcard. Bear this in mind mate - you might find that you have a low level noise problem if you use watercooling in any shape or form...
 
I found the HR824s to sound very 'smiley'...by that I mean your typical 'rock' preset on a hifi (an accentuation @ 80-100hz and an accentuation @ 12-14kHz).

Wouldn't recommend and I've actually owned these as well!!!
 
I can't fault my M-Audio BX5A's and M-Audio Fast Track Pro sound card. If I had the space i'd upgrade the speakers but they are bang on the money for starting out :)
 
I would respectfully suggest that I think you can balance your funds better...

P.S XLR is the best connector

Thanks for your input. The other speakers I was looking at were the KRK RP8G2's, I was going to get some mopads to put the speakers on.
I would prefer a usb interface, could probably stretch to around £150 for this.

The Mackie HR824's are the ones to get. :)

These are out of my price range.
 
Yup good call on the MoPads.

I know you would prefer a USB but have you considered an M-Audio Firewire Solo?

It's based on Firewire -400 and for my money it has more features than the USB equivalent M-Audio external Audio Interface.

Just a thought!

T

P.S KRK make some good speakers although I haven't heard the ones you mentioned. Best to check out some reviews.
 
I can't fault my M-Audio BX5A's and M-Audio Fast Track Pro sound card. If I had the space i'd upgrade the speakers but they are bang on the money for starting out :)

I've been looking at the m-audio speaker range, I think i could stretch the budget and to CX5 or CX8's.

Yup good call on the MoPads.

I know you would prefer a USB but have you considered an M-Audio Firewire Solo?

It's based on Firewire -400 and for my money it has more features than the USB equivalent M-Audio external Audio Interface.

Just a thought!

T

P.S KRK make some good speakers although I haven't heard the ones you mentioned. Best to check out some reviews.

I was going for USB because I would need to get a Firewire card as the motherboard doesnt have one. But my minds open to change, just taking a look at the M-Audio Firewire Solo now.

Speakers wise I think I have a few options.

M-Audio CX5 Studiophile Active Studio Monitors (Pair) £335
M-Audio CX8 Studiophile Active Studio Monitors (Pair) £415
KRK RP8 G2 Powered Reference Studio Monitor (Pair) £399

Will add a subwoofer after xmas.

Obviously the original budget will now have to be altered. It was the same when i was reseaching the PC, originally looked at an i5 build but ended up getting a i7.
 
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I wouldn't recommend KRK to anyone after my purchase of the RP6 G2's. Not enough warmth in the mid range and they've gone wrong on two occasions now.

With regards to a subwoofer, I would seriously wait until you've got the monitors. The majority of the time, adding a subwoofer will mess around with your frequencies unless you properly treat the room first.
 
Ahh ok I remember yeras and years ago at College we used the KRK Rokits or summit?

I was too young and inexperienced to be able to tell if they were any good or not but I do remember them going down (although this is to be expected in a sixth form college environment).

As for the speakers do you live near any Music Tech retailers? It's always best to go and actually hear them before buying blind or based on "objective" reviews. Afterall, these are presumably going to be your ONLY pair of near-fields so they need to be right for you. Take along a CD which you really KNOW so that you have a reference point to go on.

Tom
 
Yeah KRK Rokits, but you probably used the first generation ones. It appears that they are a bit unreliable though, according to Maccy and a quick google around other forums.

I would like to be able to hear the speakers before I buy them, but my healths not that good so traverling any further than local is a bit difficult.

Im looking to buy everything in about 10 days time so theres still time to decide. Have you heard any of the M-Audio CX range?
 
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I haven't personally heard the CX range rebel but most of the stuff they do is of decent quality. Look up some reviews if you can't go and hear them for yourself.

I still stand by the Alesis MK 2 Actives though myself - fantastic speakers for the money and punch much higher than their weight class in my opinion. Also check out the Tannoy Reveal range but ACTIVE not passive man!!!
 
Ok thanks for all the help, I can order today if I leave the interface till another time. Is it possible to connect monitors straight into the audio device of the motherboard?
 
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I too would recommend the Alesis m1 active mk 2 monitors when i did my research on monitors in this kind of price range they were constanyly recommended to me and i was told you couldnt really get much better without going into the 500+ price range.

This was about 5 years ago thou but i can say there a great set of monitors and have served me for 5+ years without any hiccups or problems.
 
Ok thanks for all the help, I can order today if I leave the interface till another time. Is it possible to connect monitors straight into the audio device of the motherboard?

Probably but you would need a dual RCA Phono -> 3.5mm jack stereo lead to do so and even then it would be unbalanced (resulting in EFI).

I would strongly recommend getting an audio interface as the latency on your motherboard will be silly for any professional DAW work you want to do. This will severley impair your workflow.

Any of the M-Audio USB interfaces priced at around the £150 mark will serve you well although my recommendation would be the previously mentioned M-Audio Firewire Solo. I have this on my mastering computer and it's absolutely fantastic for the money!!
 
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