Ok so I bought my Canon XH-A1, Power Mac to edit, and have no speakers aside the one monitor ones which sound like crap. I need good affordable speakers that will reflect what the films should sound like in general. Right now with what I have I wouldn`t be able to tell if something was too quiet, too noisy, anything. They are horrible. I have Sennheiser headphones but they tens to ALWAYS sound like a movie theater, so again I feel thats a misleading way to edit the audio since it won`t sound anything like that on a tv.

Ok so I bought my Canon XH-A1, Power Mac to edit, and have no speakers aside the one monitor ones which sound like crap. I need good affordable speakers that will reflect what the films should sound like in general. Right now with what I have I wouldn`t be able to tell if something was too quiet, too noisy, anything. They are horrible. I have Sennheiser headphones but they tens to ALWAYS sound like a movie theater, so again I feel thats a misleading way to edit the audio since it won`t sound anything like that on a tv.


First thing is to decide on a realistic budget. Proper audio monitors will start in the $500 a pair range and from there the sky's the limit, almost literally. Accuracy of reproduction is the key you're looking for - you have to know what it really sounds like. Speakers designed for games or recreational music listening intentionally are designed to sound impressive and mask problems in the source sound, exactly the opposite of what you need in the editing suite. Headphones are good for checking sound for noises, etc, but they too introduce their own colourations so are less than ideal for editing and mixing.

Can`t be more than $100, I don`t need pro brand name equipment, just some that work well for editing

Can`t be more than $100, I don`t need pro brand name equipment, just some that work well for editing

I would look into getting some of the M-Audio Studio Pro 3 speakers. I believe they're priced right at $100. These will give you pretty good reference audio.

http://www.zzounds.com/item--MDOSP3 (just for an idea of price and avail.)

Can`t be more than $100, I don`t need pro brand name equipment, just some that work well for editing

"Under $100" and "work well for editing" are pretty much mutually exclusive. I'm sorry, but that's the reality you need to deal with. Sure, you'll be able to hear your tracks on a pair of cheap speaks but really being able to make editing and mixing decisions is going to be very very difficult because you won't be hearing what is really there. Editing is much more than just a matter of finding where a sound starts and stops. Of course, if all you're doing is personal hobby projects and maybe the occasional post to YouTube, you might not actually need anything more than that and it's perfectly okay if that's what you want to do, but if you aspire to more serious work you're going to have to bite the bullet sooner or later. I bought my monitors about 6 months ago after over a year of looking, listening, and saving and during that whole time, $500 for a pair was the rock bottom minimum entry level I found that had any potential at all for serious use (and trust me, $500 is NOT the "brand name pro" level of gear either - take a look at pricing for Genlec or DynAudio if you want to experience a bit of sticker shock). I strongly suggest you start thinking about what you're trying to accomplish and let that define your needs.

"Under $100" and "work well for editing" are pretty much mutually exclusive. I'm sorry, but that's the reality you need to deal with. Sure, you'll be able to hear your tracks on a pair of cheap speaks but really being able to make editing and mixing decisions is going to be very very difficult because you won't be hearing what is really there. Editing is much more than just a matter of finding where a sound starts and stops. Of course, if all you're doing is personal hobby projects and maybe the occasional post to YouTube, you might not actually need anything more than that and it's perfectly okay if that's what you want to do, but if you aspire to more serious work you're going to have to bite the bullet sooner or later. I bought my monitors about 6 months ago after over a year of looking, listening, and saving and during that whole time, $500 for a pair was the rock bottom minimum entry level I found that had any potential at all for serious use (and trust me, $500 is NOT the "brand name pro" level of gear either - take a look at pricing for Genlec or DynAudio if you want to experience a bit of sticker shock). I strongly suggest you start thinking about what you're trying to accomplish and let that define your needs.

I think in comparison to the built in speakers on his monitor, he can afford to spend $100 and feel alright about the audio he's getting.

I think in comparison to the built in speakers on his monitor, he can afford to spend $100 and feel alright about the audio he's getting.


Almost certainly true - the question is, is it good enough to do the job required? It'll certainly play his sounds, but what then? Will it do it better
enough that he can actually hear enough that it'll make any difference in the work he turns out? While it's certainly true that buying expensive is no guarantee of quality - I've seen simple RCA cables offered that cost over 10 grand for a 3 foot pair, for crying out loud! Incredibly stupid, almost beyond belief! - there are very good reasons that the gear used by working pros doesn't come from the Walmart audio department,

I was thinking a better set of used monitors might make sense. If not abused, speakers will last a good long time. Look 'em over for cosmetics and that will probably tell you about how the owner treated them. Give 'em a listen at quiet and loud levels and see how they sound.

Dunno what you can get for $100, but it might be worth looking into.

I have a set of M-Audio Studiophile LX-4 (two speaks and a sub) that I think went for $250. They are decent speakers--certainly not great. But they are 'monitors' in the sense that they don't color the sound like a comparable priced computer speakers probably would. They work for me. The el-cheapo m-audios listed above might just work out for him.

Nathan, I use a pair of Edirol MA-15D
(http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/381548-REG/Edirol_Roland_MA_15D_MA_15D_Desktop_Monitors.html)
They're less than $200.
My main client (Swiss Public TV) never complained, so far...

Cheap speakers are usually not going to give you anything approaching accurate sound. (Actually, most speakers don't approach accurate sound. I know, thats a pretty bold statement, but backed up by my knowledge of marketing hype, speaker design, and room acoustics.) One can get rare bargains in the speaker world and one of them happens to be the Omage AV-21. They are smallish speakers and produce pretty good sound considering their size. They cost $100 (plus shipping) a pair.

http://www.midsouthcable.com/OmageAV-Select.htm
or in Canada
http://www.master-vox.com , click on audio, find the Omage AV-21 in the list

I have purchased 8 pair in total, so I guess you could say I like them. I also tested them:
http://www.atsi.ca/omage/

Ignore the information about modified and stock. The latest iteration of these has been redesigned to the specs of the modified curves. The "A" and "C" speakers are different samples.

OK, so you have $100 speakers that match your prrice and sound requirement, but these are un-powered and would require an amp if you don't have one. I have never heard of or seen speakers that come close to being acceptable for less than this.

Any of the powered speakers worth having are going to be $200 plus IMHO, and even then I would much rather get the Omages and a cheap receiver or amp to work with before going the powered speaker route. I would consider this the bare minimum.

I think in comparison to the built in speakers on his monitor, he can afford to spend $100 and feel alright about the audio he's getting.But that's the problem, Nick. Feeling alright about the audio is great for listening, and maybe OK for editing, but really counterproductive for mixing. When mixing, it HAS to sound bad if the mix is bad, otherwise one cannot make good mixing decisions. And that is where speakers for listening are different from speakers for monitoring.

- Martin

Spend $95 on a pair of Sennheiser HD 280 Pro headphones. There are problems with mixing on cans, but at least you'd be buying some long-term keepers. You could also get the Sony 7506s, which are great in the field, but they aren't as flat as the Senns for mixing.

Then take the other $5 to a garage sale and look for some PC speakers with a subwoofer. And turn the subwoofer down a bit lower than where you think it should be.

That way you've only burned $5 on temporary gear, rather than the whole 100 bucks.

I must say that I agree with Jon. Instead of spending 100$ on cheap speakers I would go for the Headphone route. The sound in headphones will not be as good as decent speakers, are colored, and will cause some fatigue if you spend long days with them.

But, you will probably need some headphones anyway to get good sound on the camera. So this way you can do both for just 100$ and even continue using them when upgrading to serious monitors.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/49510-REG/Sony_MDR_7506_MDR_7506_Headphone.html


Add a pair of softies and be able to work even longer hours.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/368310-REG/Garfield_SGARHS1_Headphone_Softie_Earpad.html

Just ordered 2 set of these in addition to our already widely used HD 25's.

Another FYI -- the Sony V6 is the same headphone as the 7506 at $30 less... The main difference is the gold connector on the 7506.

For US$100 you could pick up a pair of Roland MA-8 (http://www.rolandus.com/products/productdetails.aspx?ObjectId=294) or Edirol MA-7A (http://www.roland.com/products/en/MA-7A/specs.html) stereo micro monitors.

I got by with US$100 speakers until I could step up to the Mackie HR824MK2 series (http://www.mackie.com/products/hrmk2/index.html). It's not a bad way to go if you're on a budget and need something right now. And anyway, if you really care about your audio, you'll be testing it on all kinds of crappy speakers to make sure it plays decently on anything your customer/audience might throw at it. It's a low budget method, but then that's what you do if you're looking at US$100 monitors.

Not a big fan of headphones they'll fake you out when you least expect it. Move your audio into a regular consumer environment and all of a sudden all that beautiful nuanced sound you heard in the earphones goes out the window. For me, I prefer the low end monitors, and testing on different kinds of equipment.

I was going to recommend Monsoon Flat Panel computer speakers. I mastered 3 CDs on these to great result. The speakers cost me $170 and were absolutely great for what I needed. However, Monsoon speakers are no more. Here is an interesting little article on them:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monsoon_speakers

Now I have 8" Rokit speakers. They make a 5-inch model that has been very popular for computer edit stations on a budget. Here's a review on the 8s and 5s:
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/aug04/articles/krkrokit.htm

Here they are for sale, but the 5s are $150 each.

Event speakers have a couple of good low cost models, but not at $100.

I believe for a powered decent low cost reference monitor that's worth buying, $300 is about the bottom limit for a pair.

The speakers above for $100 that need an amp would be the best way to go if you have an amp around to power them.

It's possible to get used speakers fairly cheap if you are in an area with a lot of budding musicians.

I agree that if you don't have headphones, that's a better investment than cheap speakers with a hyped sound. The headphones will have a use for years.

However, as pointed out, the headphones are not ideal for mixing sound, but they are better than cheap speakers that will give you a totally false impression of the actual sound.

As pointed out above, there are different ways to go about referencing your sound. When I need music for something that will be on the internet, even if I already have the music, I go to the music site and listen to the sample on my computer speakers to get an idea how it will sound to other people. Some music that sounds great on speakers sounds terrible over the computer speakers.

Now that I think about it, maybe if you are doing video for iPods, headphones are the perfect way to work on the audio since most everybody will be listening with headphones.

Yeah, don't get headphones alone. Get some cheap speakers too.

Use studio-quality headphones for EQ'ing. Use the speakers for mixing subtle sounds to the right level. And use the speakers for setting the L/R balance. And make sure the result sounds good on both outputs.

Headphones can make subtle details very apparent. They will be lost in the mix in a typical environment. And headphones don't convey phase information properly. Always check the L/R balance with speakers, unless the target listener will be using cans as well.

I fully agree with Michael and Jon. Subtile mixes sound really different on headphones.

We mostly use Sennheiser headphones during initial editing (not to disturb the others in the same room) and Behringer b2031 speakers on final soundsweetening.

Heh yea, I`ve already stated I have Sennheiser headphones, I use them in the field, but don`t want to use them to mix.

I will likely end up getting some M-series monitors, my friend works at Guitar Center so I can get a good deal on them. Thanks for pointing me the way of them.

I think getting the best speakers you can afford is the way to go, and just spend time cross referencing them to 'learn' what they hype or lack, then mix accordingly, and cross reference again. And make sure the listening environment is treated.
After all, most engineers check their mixes in their car stereos. It ain't the arrows, it's the archer...