[alohachris]

Aloha Cotten,

Great advice so far on a topic that is NOT discussed much at AGF, beyond entry-level, near-field monitors for players trying to record on the cheap. Going above $300 on a pair of monitors seems to make many AGF'ers feel ill at ease based on past comments here.

But what if they could hear & compare obvious audible differences. Would they still stay with cheap monitors? I suggest we all should audition better monitors on a regular basis - just to understand the clear differences & to know what's out there before limiting our choices.

KevWind hit it on the nail, basically: Buy monitors that are slightly more expensive than you can afford. Do that and you can't go wrong.

After auditioning just about every available set of monitors out there for over 50 years, my current conclusion is that a pair of monitors priced below $1500/pair will not do it for me audibly. I hear the differences, especially in the area of ear fatigue.

The difference in quality & sound as it relates to pricing of monitors is well defined & clearly audible. Again, for me, no monitors under $1500 seem to work for my ears in mixing my simple, hobbyist home recordings. For a pro engineer it may be $3-4K or even $8k. Doug Young's Barefoot 27's cost around $10.5K new.

I use Adam A7X's (roughly $1500/pr.) in a well treated space. I find I can listen to these well-balanced, near-field monitors for hours w/o fatigue, a common issue with cheaper monitors.
The Neumann KH-120's are also excellent for around the same price. And these are at the bottom quality & price-wise for me.

Moving up the trough in monitors is a real ear opener! IMO, mic's 'n monitors are where to put the money in a home recording signal chain. At the source and for accuracy.

alohachris

PS: Unless you are willing to treat your space properly, spending money on any quality of monitors is a complete waste. - alohachris-