Studio Monitors For Home Acoustic Practice?

[wweiss]

I have read Elite Acoustic amps have sound quality closest to a studio monitor.

I would never use a studio monitor for live sound, but for home practice/near field listening would this be the best acoustic guitar sound?

I use my QSC K8.2 for gigs, but for home practice I am wondering if it would sound even better using my single Adam Audio A7X Studio monitor, which I have hooked up to an Allen and Heath Zed-10FX mixer? This speaker has a 7 inch woofer, ribbon tweeter, 150 watts, 42-50 Hz frequency response.

If the answer is yes, how many people use two speakers for stereo effect?

[Cuki79]

Originally Posted by wweiss

I am wondering if it would sound even better using my Adam Audio A7X Studio monitor, which I have hooked up to a Allen and Heath Zed 10fx mixer?

It will sound better definitely. I never tested both side by side... They are never in the same room in shops.

But I did try both. Most Monitoring speakers sound better than any PA speaker in a near-field situation.

The Adam are the best monitor speaker on the monitor speaker wall at my local dealer.

The best practice plugged in tone I ever had was with a pair of Presonus ERIS 8 and Allen Heath ZED 10FX... and I am sure the ADAM are better.

Note it is not the same price: You need two studio monitors to get a correct acoustic image.

my 2 cents,
Cuki

[shufflebeat]

I think it's more complicated than this. It depends on what you're putting into it, what your expectations are and what your room is like.

Remember that good monitors are good when they are not flattering so if you put a cheap piezo on a guitar you will hear it's flaws in all their glory, particularly as monitors are not usually built to accommodate a high impedance system like a passive piezo. A classic Les Paul sounds much better through a really inefficient and non linear Vox ac30 than it does dry through a Genelec.

What do you mean by stereo? Are you using chorus or stereo reverb, for instance? Two identical signals from separate sources is not stereo and can actually cause all kinds of phasing issues.

A good system in a great space will sound much better than a top-end system in a freight container.

[Cuki79]

Originally Posted by shufflebeat

Remember that good monitors are good when they are not flattering so if you put a cheap piezo on a guitar you will hear it's flaws in all their glory, particularly as monitors are not usually built to accommodate a high impedance system like a passive piezo.

The zed 10fx ah as a High-Z input.

Note if you just want to play at home and get a great sound, you don’t have to use a piezo pickup. Studio Monitor speaker Can accommodate Micing the guitar as long as you are not playing loud and You correctly position The mic.

[lkingston]

Yes, the sound of my Elite Acoustics D6-8 is very similar the that of a reference monitor with an 8" woofer.

I love it for practice as well as small to medium sized gigging.

My Schertler Roy has immaculate studio quality sound as well in the mids and highs, but with far more power in the low frequencies than a studio monitor

Exceptional live sound is particularly important to me because I have hearing loss.

[shufflebeat]

Originally Posted by Cuki79

The zed 10fx ah as a High-Z input.

Yeah, I was kinda generalising there but you're absolutely right.

The bottom line is if you have all the kit there you can give it a go and judge the results. You're unlikely to do any harm if you switch the monitor "on" last and "off" first to avoid spikes when un/plugging or powering up the mixer and if you do use a mic avoid feedback at all costs - PA speakers are generally more robust than little dinky, detailed monitors.

Let us know how you get on. I find it's always cheaper to learn from somebody else's mistakes than my own

[MikeBmusic]

Personally, I don't 'get' using an amp (any kind) for home practice unless wanting to use FX or a looper. If you can't hear the guitar well when playing unplugged, find a better spot where the room's wall reflections help. Playing in a big room with a lot of sound absorbing furniture and carpets will only amplify the tonal issues with the amp.

[ericcsong]

Originally Posted by wweiss

I would never use a studio monitor for live sound

If you want to use a studio monitor for live sound, check out Daedauls speakers: http://www.daedalusmusic.com/w803.html

[wweiss]

What I meant by stereo was using two speakers out from a mixer. From the main left/right outs. The two speakers are 6 feet apart. I like the stereo effect of being enveloped by the sound coming from the left and right.

[shufflebeat]

Got it, although the PITA little voice in the back of my mind is saying, "...well, strictly speaking that's dual source mono..." but he doesn't get out much.