Studio Monitor Choices

[László]

Beautiful room Laszlo! I would have regained respect from my wife and dogs if mine were that clean. Your mixes sounded really good.

I’m honored that you like the mixes!

On the clean thing I am so OCD that anything out of place or that needs cleaning distracts me, and I can’t get creative. I’m not saying this is a good thing! I freely admit it’s a bit crazy.

Once my wife came into the room as I was straightening up after a session; it was pretty late. She looked around and finally said, “It’s a lot of work being you!”

 

[Someoldqueenorother]

On paper the JC-40 was KILLER. In reality the hiss was so annoying. The clean tone with the chorus and reverb was amazing. Probably not the same as a good vintage JC-120 but still really good.

I wish they just some damn thought and effort into it. Make a real fully analog Jazz Chorus that fixes the amp issues. It shouldn't be that expensive right? Just a good tank reverb, a CE-1 circuit, etc.

Lazy execution. For me, I won't go down that pathway now as using the Amalgam JC captures with Tonex is more than good enough through monitors.

 

[Someoldqueenorother]

That's a shame . I was considering buying a JC-40. I love a good Jazz Chorus amp. I played through many older JC-120s and have a late '80s JC-77. I really like the older analog ones, those always delivered the goods.

Never tried a JC-40 before yet. Is the noise and hiss there on all settings or just when you use the onboard or outboard digital effects? Also if either of you have played a JC-22, is the noise and hiss there on the JC-22 as well?

The JC-40 really was a disappointment. Now I'm playing with an HXFX going into Tonex SE and using left and right JC-120 captures from Amalgam. In the future I'm going to drop a Fractal VP4 into the equation with a pair of Tonex Ones.

 

[Jarick]

Lazy execution. For me, I won't go down that pathway now as using the Amalgam JC captures with Tonex is more than good enough through monitors.

I did find that most of the modelers can get a pretty good JC without much effort. I really liked the physical layout though, that would have been ideal as a plug and play amp.

 

[Someoldqueenorother]

I did find that most of the modelers can get a pretty good JC without much effort. I really liked the physical layout though, that would have been ideal as a plug and play amp.

I'm totally the other way. Even Fractal up to the Axe FX II didn't grab me. When I got the Amalgam captures and dropped them into the DAW (playing with headphones through the audio interface), it took me right back to getting my first JC-120 back in the 00's. I'd bought it on a whim because it was on Ebay for £150 delivered. It turned up wrapped in brown paper. It was a bit battered but everything powered up. The first thing I played on that was The Queen is Dead by the Smiths, chorus on, and it was glorious. I remember playing with a huge smile and went through most of the album.

Loading the Amalgam captures into Gig Performer and putting Audiority's Chief Chorus on the right hand capture brought out that same smile.

 

[PatF]

I ordered Kali IN-8, they sent me LP-8 v2. They are excellent. Meaty clear low end. Acceptable standard amount of hiss. Can't wait to get the right ones.

 

[Solarflares]

 

[JiveTurkey]

I bought my Kali LP6s back in COVID days. Excellent for the price. No complaints here.

 

[deathbyguitar]

Kali IN-5's serving me just fine.

 

[Jarick]

I've been tempted to re-open this rabbit hole but trying not to.

I got a pair of iLoud Precision 5 monitors a couple years ago to replace my Yamaha HS8's and Genelec 8020's. The Precisions are crisper sounding and have a much fuller low end than the Genelecs which sound boxy close or a bit muddy/indistinct further away. I ended up selling the Yamahas but kept the Genelecs as I didn't find a buyer.

Lately I've been really disliking the sound of the Precisions, not sounding anywhere near as clear as headphones. When using DSP room correction I hear weird phasing unless I'm in a very specific spot further away from where I sit. But if I swap them for Genelecs, the speakers sound so much smaller and I lose clarity despite having much better imaging.

Last night I dug out my monitor stands and pulled my desk further away from the wall, setting up the monitors on stands. That has moved me from about 30" away from speakers to about 40" away. This seems to help the low end bloom a bit but the biggest thing is helping to widen the sweet spot significantly. However it still does sound a bit indistinct.

I honestly love the build quality and smaller size of the Genelecs as they don't take up as much space and much more rugged with aluminum build and integrated grilles. I have a cat that will sometimes climb up/down the monitors and exposed tweeter/woofer makes me nervous. I also don't fully trust iLoud for a long-term support, so have been kicking around trading everything in towards a pair of Genelec 8030's or Neumann KH120's. I just don't know if that's going to necessarily be worth the extra expense though.

 

[DrewJD82]

I had to chuckle a bit watching Beato’s interview with Kevin Shirley; dude’s got a love affair with KrK’s. Has a beautiful set of Genelec’s in his studio he uses for entertainment listening but mixes everything on some little KrK’s.

From my non-professional/still haven’t nailed one of my own mixes yet experience, I have a big ole hunch that the most important part about monitors is learning them and the room they’re in, more so than what else is out there that might deliver something different.

While I did gain some bass information upgrading my HS5’s to HS8’s, I also added about 6 months of learning time that basically reset everything I had already learned on the previous pair, where I was getting more or less than same quality mixes due to using the same speakers/room for so long.

 

[MirrorProfiles]

Room treatment is absolutely the way to go before jumping between monitors.

I’d say stick with Kali until the room is in a good place. Neumann KH120’s are solid too but cost way more.

I wouldn’t really bother with anything else until you get to the Neumann KH310 level. They punch well above their weight vs what they cost and are probably the first step up above a Kali.

Genelec make great speakers but IMO there’s quite a big jump from their budget stuff to their better ones. And for the money, Neumann are just way better - you have to spend way more with Genelec for something comparable.