JBL LSR4328P or Mackie 824+KRK ERGO?

[bryanbassett]

Yeah I know tune my room.....I have ..but still have issues at 100-400hz.
It's an L shaped converted garage that I mix in....plus I do a lot of recording in old houses...band spaces that are cool to record in but not great to monitor in.

Using an ADAT 24 trk digital with a Panasonic DA7..transfer to PT...sometimes my MAC with PT 7.4 HD2 + Control 24......sometimes a macbook pro with LE ..

Anyway trying to decide on which way to go ...shoot the room I'm in with the JBLs (which I'm deciding to buy or not) or use the KRK ERGO (haven't bought yet) and drag my Mackie monitors along and shoot as I go.

I have the IK Multimedia ARC system and it's cool but for the whole master buss plugin scenario....turn on...turn off..yadayada

Also have Yamaha MSP 5s and Yamaha NS 10s to compliment clients who have the same.

Ya I know 4th and 22 get a room together you trust or punt

Seriously , I'm trying to get together a monitoring setup that can move and I can rely on and also mix on.

I shouldn't post while drinking good merlot ...but it' s the only time i have :)

you don't no how long it took me to fix my typos :)

Thanks for your posts ...
BB

[albee1952]

Having owned the Mackies, I would go with the JBL's if I had it to do over again.

[bryanbassett]

Thanks Albee1952
The JBLs do look great....a couple hundred extra bucks ...but all the eq contouring built in without the second unit. Any EGO supporters?
bb

[emf1138]

Definitely JBLs.. From what I've heard in sample mixes of the past, the KRKs and Mackies DO NOT compare.

[bryanbassett]

Thanks emf1138
It's looking like the way to go .

[BradLyons]

Bryan,

Hey man, what's up?? You know who to contact on this stuff As to monitoring, there are many options out there as you know.....some sound better than others but as we know, it's not about how they sound but how they translate to a playback system. There are some monitors that sound great, but can't give an accurate mix worth a lick. And there are others about accuracy, but they get in the way of just making a comfortable mix. In a perfect world, all monitors would work in all spaces. In fact, all rooms would be perfect. I built my new studio several months back and while the acoustics are excellent, it's still not a perfect room---but enough where I'm able to get good mixes and take various sets of monitors home from the warehouse and see how they really perform. I recently switched from a particular set of monitors to JBL LSR6328's and they are absolutely AMAZING, however the LSR4328's are nothing to slouch about either. In fact, we have them in Studio B configured in a 5.1 surround system.

As to the room tuning, does it work? YES, it does. Now let me say this.... it is NOT a crutch for a bad room nor for treating your room, but for those cases where the room and acoustics are less than ideal, it really does assist you and correct issues within the space. The concept is really a simple one that has been around for years, to EQ the space in the room. However you don't have to insert a piece of hardware in your chain, insert a plugin, or do anything yourself as it just does it all. The setup is simple, the monitors will give you an accurate mix, and it takes just a few minutes to set it up and get running.

[mixer]

about a year or so ago I heard them at a naras in studio event at the hit facory miami. got to say i and others thought they did some very funny stuff to the midrange. that being said. if you need to have correction able speakers there isn't much more out there in that price range. personally i would do some acoustic treatment and get a set of dynaudios.

[BradLyons]

Originally Posted by mixer

about a year or so ago I heard them at a naras in studio event at the hit facory miami. got to say i and others thought they did some very funny stuff to the midrange. that being said. if you need to have correction able speakers there isn't much more out there in that price range. personally i would do some acoustic treatment and get a set of dynaudios.

Room Treatment is always a good idea HOWEVER--room treatment only goes so far. Basically the use of foam absorption and whatever you use for diffusion is a help, but you still have to take into account the design of the room itself and how it's constructed. If we're talking a typical home studio that's using a bedroom, you might be talking a 12'x11' room or so, but a single layer of 1/2" or 3/8" drywall and standard insulation behind the drywall. The issue is that sound WILL penetrate through that and then bounce back giving you issues in low frequency causing massive standing waves and phase cancellation in the bass response. In my home studio, I built the walls with (2) layers of drywall, but in between the studs I used 2" Auralex Mineral Fiber, not to mention there was a 3" airgap and then the existing wall. By use of angles in the space and the materials used, the acoustics are EXCELLENT! But if this were my old studio, cough cough the upstairs bedrooms, bass was a BIG problem no matter how much I dealt with acoustic treatment within the space. Sure, I was able to help it, but the construction of the room can not be treated fully. THAT IS WHAT THE ROOM MODE CORRECTION DOES in these things.....and why for some, it's best to have this capability as opposed to higher-end monitors.

[bryanbassett]

Hey Brad how's it going?

Mixer: I love the dynaudios..used them in Millbrook studio in Upper state NY...Such great low end and smooth top.

I have my room pretty well there from a treatment standpoint and have done many projects out of it so far. But to be specific I have some standing waves / room modes at 150hz and again in the 400hz area.....two rather important areas . I have to test my mixes (as should be done anyway) a lot of places to fine tune this area.

I `like the ARC program and it verified my problem areas and for the most part corrected them. The drawbacks are the level issues from having it across the master buss, having to turn off the plugin to bounce your mix or use headphones...not a big deal but it does mess with your ears....and the amount of time involved to make it mobile. ie Shooting new rooms and spaces.

In the old days at all the various studios I worked at, it was always treatment , placement and in place EQ I'm sure that is still the way for designed spaces.

The spk + built in correction seems a great idea in general, I just haven't tried the JBLs

and I just ran accross The ERGO the other day and it would allow correction on the collection of monitors I already own....

so decisions..decisions
thanks to all for the posts