monitors for home recording

attached, I am adding the comparison of the technical data of the two mentioned models: ADAM A5X and YAMAHA HS80M

They are both nice monitors, both quite clean; those Yamahas mimic the NS10s. From what I've heard, I prefer the Adams, but regarding that, I would wait for Simone who might recommend another brand to you. My advice is anyway to go to some shops and hear them with your own ears

I listened to the ADAMs, which were highly hyped by the shopkeeper (actually, they were presented to me by the clerk).

They didn't particularly excite me, especially regarding the low-mid range.

Anyway, perhaps the audio files used for the listening session weren't exactly the best.

I was also wondering... could the choice of monitors also depend on the type of music one wants to make?

As far as I'm concerned, I am about to start working with "quiet" music: such as acoustic, chamber music,

voice and piano and, at most, symphonic music.

I agree with Micamahler, let yourself be guided by taste while listening live!

I would give this article a quick read

http://www.homerecording.it/articoli/tecnica/89-monitor-casse-acustiche-per-lhome-recording.html

I would say it has to do with the genre you choose to play. For the lows, you need a subwoofer...

interesting read, thanks!

They are two near-field monitors, a little bit small, but one would need to understand the dimensions of the room to begin expressing any opinions. Smaller rooms require smaller monitors and are easier to normalize... You understood correctly, also budget some money for normalizing the room; otherwise, choosing good monitors for a room with comb filtering phenomena is useless. In this case, you must also consider, as mica told you well, a sub for the lows. It's right to listen and choose what we like most during listening, but for monitors, the issue is a little different. They must be listened to in prepared environments using the same audio tracks, and generally, I am always inclined to consider technical data before making a purchase. Monitors are used for mixing, and a monitor that sounds good to us does not always correspond to what will allow us to achieve a correct mix. The ones you have taken into consideration both have quite small cones, and we must consider a low-end roll-off at 50/60 Hz (I don't have the frequency response diagrams at hand), which is why a small sub becomes necessary.

In general, however, I would advise you to start by purchasing the Yamaha NS-10s. They are monitors that are terrible (here we return to the discussion we were having earlier about how taste should influence the choice of monitors as little as possible), but paradoxically they are the reference point for all recording studios because what sounds good on the NS-10 sounds good everywhere.

Then you will have to normalize the room, and that is where things will get complex because you will have to measure the RT60 reverberation time, the Sabine coefficient of the walls, and the frequency response of the room. From this, after evaluating the data, the desired reverberation time will be derived, and thus the Sabine coefficient relative to the new RT60, which will be appropriately achieved with sound-absorbing panels, bass traps and, almost certainly, Schroeder diffusers to try to curb the comb filtering problems. It is not true that quality can only be achieved in a recording studio; you just need the right precautions—certainly, in a recording studio, quality is obtained more easily and veeeery much faster.

By the way, one might think that by increasing the gain near the fundamental frequency that determines the comb filter, the issue could be resolved... In this particular case of the comb filter, by increasing the gain of its fundamental, the filter becomes even stronger; that is why the only solution instead is related to the diffusion of the frequencies that determine the filter.

Hi, I am reopening this old discussion to update it with a recent experience of mine.

In the replies, the "headphones" hypothesis suggested by the seller was practically ruled out, but I believe it is worth considering.

The possibility that headphones can replace monitors in mixing is normally denied; however, with a bit of experience and many mistakes, I realized that if you do not have a suitable environment (normalized, as Simone writes), no nearfield monitors will suffice.

My DAW is in a large L-shaped room, without doors and with an open staircase leading to the floor above; it is practically impossible to soundproof, so I had to resign myself to the idea of looking for reference headphones. So, I tracked down ALL the available charts on the web (frequency responses, harmonic distortion, and so on), comparing an infinite number of brands and models to find the most linear open-back headphone possible; I bought it and set the monitors aside. Among other things, I only trusted technical data because I didn't have the chance to listen to them beforehand; and I was right, because only then did I realize that I had never managed to do a decent mix before, neither in my house nor in those of friends equipped with the best monitors, 16-inch cones, absorbent panels, and everything else. After all, below 50 Hz you don't hear anything anyway, and if you put it in a house, a subwoofer blasts random rumbles (not to mention potential problems with neighbors, roommates, etc.). Incidentally, in the most common listening devices, the perception of sub-bass is a psychoacoustic phenomenon. The only reason I resort to my old monitors is to watch the "silent" movement of the cone, precisely because they are an indicator of low frequencies (meaning they "float," even if they don't reproduce them): so I cut at 20 Hz and don't think about it anymore.

So, at least as far as I am concerned, I had to conclude that a pair of linear reference headphones is worth much more than excellent monitors placed in the wrong environment (and they cost much less!). And that if I have to do "serious" work, I must fine-tune it in a professional environment, i.e., one designed for that purpose.

Naturally, Simone is right when he writes that quality can also be achieved at home; however, one must be able to choose the right room (I couldn't) and spend quite a lot to make it a very "clean" environment. Objectively, this is not always possible.