Should You Forget Monitor Speakers & Just Use Hi-Fi Speakers?

[THE INTRANCER]

Just something, I've wondered about over the years, I mean if your mix sounds good on your stereo 3 way bass reflex cabinet speakers, but sounds shit after mixing with expensive pro headphones or monitoring speakers, what's the point in having expensive headphones or monitoring speakers which don't translate well to your own Hi-fi speakers which probably sound as good as they do in a club. Humm...

[ozinga]

The original Yamaha NS10 was released as a Hi Fi system, so there is that

[BertKoor]

If it sounds bad anywhere, then it needs fixing.
Never blame your tools...

[whyterabbyt]

The original Yamaha NS10 was released as a Hi Fi system, so there is that

"It became a legend that Clearmountain had chosen it because it was the worst speaker he could find"

[THE INTRANCER]

SOS provided an interesting answer to this question.

https://www.soundonsound.com/sound-advi ... o-monitors

[justin3am]

I know some mix engineers who reference through MixCubes, NS-10s and often in mono. I know others who almost exclusively work use headphones.
The studio where I used to work had a pair of Dahlquist hi-fi speakers as the main monitors in every control room.

Ultimately, it's not the tools so much as your familiarity with the tools. Being able to anticipate how something will sound through your monitors with accuracy, is the first step in the process of learning to create mixes that translate.

My wife (referring to kitchen tools) always says that fancy tools will not help a person who has not developed skills with them. However, a person who has developed those skills will know their tools well enough to determine when it's worthwhile to use the fancy stuff.

[_leras]

No.

No doubt there are many excellent hifi speakers, and once you're paying a decent amount they're all pretty decent, things like Focal Aria and KEF LS50 just have immense sound great transient response, full right bass, highly detailed, and are certainly mixable. They are tuned for sounding nice though, and may need a separate amplifier.

Studio monitors are going to be more neutral, but many are still vibey. They are more easily available as active with built in and matched amplifiers, and usually have better connectors i.e. XLR to connect to. Good monitors will be detailed, responsive etc and should translate better in general, and are setup better for the near/midfield ranges which can help make a listening sweetspot.

I'm sure, with lots of listening to lea n a speaker that some hifi speaker could get good results, but probably won't be as accurate or translate as well as a monitor.

[chk071]

Just something, I've wondered about over the years, I mean if your mix sounds good on your stereo 3 way bass reflex cabinet speakers, but sounds shit after mixing with expensive pro headphones or monitoring speakers, what's the point in having expensive headphones or monitoring speakers which don't translate well to your own Hi-fi speakers which probably sound as good as they do in a club. Humm...

I have a feeling that you don't really understand the point of neutral monitors or headphones. They're there to reveal problems, not to sound awesome.

That said, I REALLY hate the trend to boomy, bassy speakers and headphones these days. It's almost as if they think that every produzah wears gold chains and baseball caps these days.

[BONES]

SOS provided an interesting answer to this question.
https://www.soundonsound.com/sound-advi ... o-monitors

Why is this interesting? It's just what everybody already knows, information you can find in a thousand places on line.

I'm sure, with lots of listening to lea n a speaker that some hifi speaker could get good results, but probably won't be as accurate or translate as well as a monitor.

That's not been my experience. I've mixed on lots of different speakers over the years - computer speakers, boomboxes, hi-fi speakers, headphones and half-a-dozen sets of monitors - and I don't think it has made any difference to the finished product. The only thing that's made a difference is how well I know the speakers I am using and that only takes a short time to get a handle on.

[osiris]

My go to is to put it on a USB and play it on different things. I can play it through my TV but the best check is the car. If it sounds good in the car, then it's done.

[lfm]

My go to is to put it on a USB and play it on different things. I can play it through my TV but the best check is the car. If it sounds good in the car, then it's done.

And if it does not sound good, what do you do?
- you have to go back to computer and alter something and make a new version and listen on many devices again, maybe both mixing and mastering redone.
- and this can take 5-6 times or more to repeat this until good enough
- and in my case it was a single song
- what about redo a full album and similar????
- yikes that's a horrow show

So getting listening device that translate well saves a lot of time, more than anything else.
- it's just no fun redo that part over and over

If using regular hifi monitors I would try extensive use of good reference tracks to calibrate how those sound on those monitors. And shift back and forth a lot.
- then maybe you minimize having to redo that many times

[ozinga]

I use mix to mobile to listen realtime through my phone and also Slate VSX Cars
Solved a lot of bounce to listen to on phones and constant travel to car problems

[BONES]

And if it does not sound good, what do you do?
- you have to go back to computer and alter something and make a new version and listen on many devices again, maybe both mixing and mastering redone.
- and this can take 5-6 times or more to repeat this until good enough
- and in my case it was a single song
- what about redo a full album and similar????
- yikes that's a horrow show

So getting listening device that translate well saves a lot of time, more than anything else.
- it's just no fun redo that part over and over

Except it doesn't work that way because it takes only a very short time to learn how a particular set of speakers sounds. If you aren't regularly rendering out works-in-progress and listening to them on all manner of different set-ups, you're not going to get good results, no matter what you are using for monitoring. It's an essential part of the process, to confirm that what you are doing is working. I reckon I'd render out at least half-a-dozen album WiPs during the process of finishing one, over a period of a couple of months. If you're not doing it, if you are putting all your faith into your monitors, you're an idiot.

[jamcat]

The issue is not just getting a good balance and answering questions like “do I have enough bass?” Also at issue is if you’re hearing all the details that will help you make good mix decisions. Why your mix sounds bad on other speakers is because you’re hearing stuff you missed, and missing stuff you heard.

You can make any pair of speakers relatively flat with room/speaker correction. But the speakers have to be full range and have good, responsive drivers that can correctly reproduce dynamics and detail.

A lot of room/speaker correction software can now emulate different speakers and listening environments as well. I don’t think that can ever be quite the same as the real thing, but it should be good enough to get an idea of how your mix translates, as long as what you’re starting with is better than what you’re trying to emulate. I don’t think it works the other way at all, so your hi-fi speakers are never going to be able to sound like Genelecs. You can’t add detail that isn’t there. But your Genelecs could sound close enough to hi-fi speakers or NS10s for checking a mix.

[mirDR]

I really think that really knowing whatever you use is the most important thing. Use them for recreational listening constantly and use reference tracks when producing, A/B against yoru stuff. I think that the constant deluge of "needing" flat response "real" monitors is as much sales tactics and purchase justification, as it is "advice".