Want Advice/Opinions: Next Set of Monitors

[Derek Heeps]

Originally Posted by Robert Lane

My challenge to that is the majority of video consumers listen on earpods, not even low-grade headphones these days, so this creates a whole new issue.

This is a discussion/fortune telling session I've had with several other pros in the past 2 years: We put so much energy into making our final output as visually and sonically as gorgeous as possible (at least the vast majority of us do), yet the buik of the audience is going to see and hear this work on cell phones. Not even decent computers with external audio anymore.

That being said, what's the point of all the work? 6K, 422/10 or 12-bit video? Hah! There's no cell phone at any price that can actuallly display all that data and individual pixels with any accurracy whatsoever.

And being listened to from the same device? Nobody's going to be able to appreciate a solid mix if all they've got are earbuds that can barely reproduce half of the audible frequencies humans can hear, the rest is either sub-sonic or just get turned into digital background noise from all the network compression. Video too suffers from big-time compression, no matter who it comes from. There's just no practical way to distribute even just standard HD at bitrates high enough to really showcase anything close to what we're seeing on our edit screens.

So why all the fuss, then?

Times have and are changing, fast. My hunch tells me the hundreds of millions dollars spent on making our content as close to original as possible is soon just going to go away. If all the world does is watch on mobile devices, not even port over to computers with fibre-download speeds... I think this is all just going to be overkill in less than 5 years.

We'll see...

A lot of kids watch videos with sound muted and rely on subtitles , sometimes subtitles cannot be turned off , and at that point I generally turn off , because I HATE that .

[Robert Lane]

More myth dispelled...

"Speaker Cable", the concept that you have to use purpose-built wire for audio purposes. Total nonsense.

The snooty audio industry has everybody convinced that the high-priced "quality" cable is what you need to get the best signal to your speakers. It's just more glossy marketing, the truth is speaker cable is just like ANY other copper wire out there - it moves electrical current from one place to another. That's it. "Oxygen free", "polarized" and other nose-high terms make it seem you'd better get that stuff or else. But it's just a sales pitch.

Instead, go to your local hardware store and get the largest gauge wire your system can handle, 12-gauge is a good place to start, and spend a fraction of what "speaker cable" costs. I just picked up a 25-foot roll of 12-gauge 3-wire (so you don't use the third wire, so what?) for less than $30 US. Had I picked up Mogami, Monster or any other audio-specific cable, and only 18-gauge at best, would have been over $120!!! C'mon...

This stuff is wrapped with insulation, a smooth soft exterior cover which looks awesome (and professional) and yeah, my speakers are rocking with the high-amp audio come from my receiver. (Now different from the Denon I started with.)

[Robert Lane]

Along with the speaker wire I've finally settled on my new audio setup for the renewed edit suite:

A pair of DCM 26 towers, which sound fantastic but I'm going to upgrade the tweeters soon and, a Nakamichi Receiver 2. Very musical and punchy, maybe a tad better than an NAD.

Although the 'michi can be used as a preamp to the Yamaha M45 or other power-amp, it's totally not needed in this setup. I need accurate audio, not window-cracking power. haha

So the test was a success and proved quite definitively:

- You CAN get high-quality, accurate audio monitoring from hi-fi components - that have zero floor-noise or hiss compared to the near-field cousins

- You DON'T have to spend thousands of dollars on a usable setup. This rig in total with the 12-gauge wire was less than $300!! Yes, you have to do your research, shop around but clearly the equipment is readily available.

The caveats:

- High-end near-fields (starting at over $5,000/pair) have their place. They do offer built-in electronic tuning to match the listening environment and the drivers are going to be utterly top-notch without question. Even with the unavoidable small amounts of floor-noise (hiss) they're going to sound amazing.

- Because the equipment used in this test is considered "vintage" you're going to run across equipment that might need a tuneup or have failed components. So keep in mind that while you may find an amazing deal on good stuff you might have the hassle of bringing it back to spec to be usable. But hell, we're still talking a fraction of the cost of even mid-level near-fields!

- Do your research on brands, especially receivers/integrated amps on the ones that actually deliver clean, high-current output. There's a lot of equipment that has tons of features, beautiful faces but don't really provide the quality of output we need for mixing. The best brands are: Carver, Adcom, NAD, Nakamichi, Denon (some models) - anything considered "discrete" or "Class-A" amplifier will do.

Regardless how successful my renewed business becomes I'm never going back to the classic self-powered speaker setup. I'm getting far too gorgeous sound from this "cheap" rig, far cleaner and more powerful than the Focal's I've had.

Cheers and happy holidays to all!!

[Greg Miller]

Originally Posted by Robert Lane

I just picked up a 25-foot roll of 12-gauge 3-wire (so you don't use the third wire, so what?)

What, you don't ground your wooden speaker cabinets? That's just asking for more hum in the system. (J/K)

Don't forget to buy some speaker wire stands, to keep the wire up off the floor, where LF vibrations will induce stray current in the wires. (NOT kidding ... they actually sell this s**t at the high-end hi-fi shows.)