[Milo B.]

For a small 10-ft by 10-ft room, does anyone have any suggestions for what size and type of studio monitors might work best?

I'm setting up a small home-recording station in what will probably be a pretty live room. Maybe later I'll add some treatments, but for now, I'd just like to get started with something decent for the studio monitors. Thanks!

 

[adamk]

How much do you want to spend?

 

[JCBigler]

You need to add treatment from the very beginning. The best sounding monitors in the world won't help a room that sounds bad.

Also, rooms that have square dimensions are about the worst possible dimensions you can get. They produce standing waves and echo that will color your recording and mixing. Ideally, you want a room that is longer than it is wide, and in which the height is not the same as the length or width.

And you'll need to define a budget. You can grab a pair of speakers for $200, or you can spend $5,000 each on them.

 

[Pete Thomas]

probably be a pretty live room. Maybe later I'll add some treatments,

Live and monitoring room don't go well together. Ok, we aren't talking pro studio, however you want your (mixing) room to be not extremely live and not extremely dry.

So you are in an ideal position starting live and add some very basic damping - even if it's just a duvet some upholstered chairs, a rug or a bookcase. Think of just a comfortable typical living room where most people may be listening. (Although headphones obviously skew that idea a bit)

Big issues such as huge bass problems are tricky in a room so small, as bass traps take up the most space. I get over this using speakers that can be tuned to the room, in my case JBL LSR4328P, but you can now get room correction software you can use to tune any monitoring situation when there are room issues.

See:

Room Correction Software

No control room is acoustically perfect, but the right correction system can help to deliver more accurate monitoring.

www.soundonsound.com

Oh, and after any final mix I go and double check in the car as well as typical ear buds.

 

[HeavyWeather77]

First and foremost, listen to JC and Pete, they're spot-on in terms of priorities.

I assume you're not talking about a $3k pair of monitors. So in a price range normal mortals can live with, I'd recommend Yamaha HS5, HS7, or HS8. My studio room is a bit larger than yours and my HS5s are plenty loud for it, but their low range doesn't extend as far down as I'd like, so I often check my mixes on headphones to hear the low-end more clearly. But they're pretty flat, honest, and clear for the price, and plenty loud. If you spring for the HS7 or 8, the low-end will extend further.

Friends of mine swear by the JBL equivalents, LSR 305 or 308, but I've never used them. Seems like they're great for the price.

If jump up a price bracket, the Neumann KH120s are excellent.

 

[Milo B.]

Thank you all, this is the kind of advice I was hoping for. My budget is about $500, which seems like it will work, given the recommendations. I'll give the room furnishings and potential wall treatments some thought in advance of buying anything. It sounds like I may want to reconsider the room - maybe record elsewhere in the house, though it'd be nice to have one room for recording the horns and then working on electronics. Thanks again!

 

[adamk]

Recording and mixing in the same room is tough, two different acoustic setups.

 

[minous]

Recording and mixing in the same room is tough, two different acoustic setups.

Yet, people do it all the time if for no other reason than necessity. Most rooms in homes are never going to be ideal for recording or mixing anyway as that's not what they are designed for. So we have to make the best of what we have.

I'm in a similar circumstance in that my room is about the same size as the OP's. I made home-made treatment with mineral wool insulation and it made a huge difference in the room, even for when I'm just on a conference call for work (which is a lot in this WFH world these days). I have the JBL monitors, btw, and they work quite well especially for the price.

Have fun with it...that's what it's all about.

 

[Pete Thomas]

Also note that a Dryish room for recording is better than a live one if the ambience is not good. The mic will pic up the ambience and you are stuck with it, as opposed to a dry sound that you can add ambience to in the mix

 

[Milo B.]

After checking out the recommended speakers and Pete's article above on room-correction software, I can see now how naive I was to ask about studio monitors, given how unfamiliar I am with room acoustics and recording/mixing.

I have to move certain furniture and other items to the room, so will wait until that's done to see how the room sounds and what, if anything, can be done to treat it. I said it was square, but it's not perfectly square (more like 9 feet by 10 feet); it has a little "alcove" for the door to open, which adds a little more irregularity; and it has a sloping ceiling that I think rises from 7 feet to 9 feet. I'm not sure what this all adds up to for the sound, but will see after I add the furniture.

I see that Sweetwater offers a room consult through Auralex. If anyone has experience with the service, I'd love to know how it went.

Thanks again for the advice - really helpful.

 

[Pete Thomas]

Pete's article above on room-correction software,

Not actually my article (although I have written for SOS).

Anyone can do a DIY room test for frequency consistency if your DAW can play a sine wave. What you do is play notes at the exactsame velocity from bottom to top (or just do a gliss or sweep) and record the outpot on a decent (omni) mic place at your sitting position. (Without any output from the track that is recording or it will feed back)

The resulting audio file when you look at it should be all at the same leve in an ideal world. It won't be - but it will show you exactly how different frequencies may stick out.

It will be different for different parts of the room (unless it was designed by a very expensive audio specialist architect) - however you can probably live with this.

 

[HeavyWeather77]

Regarding room treatment for recording vs. mixing: it is, of course, essential for both, and yes, you need different kinds of treatment for ideal situations of either. However, most people don't have commercial studio facilities of their very own, and are therefor relegated to using a single room at home for all their music creation needs. This is perfectly fine, and while it's tough to get good results with a terrible-sounding room, you can have a room that's a compromise for recording vs. mixing and get very good results.

As Pete said, a drier room is better for recording, and for most of us this should probably be the priority. It certainly is for me, anyway, since I make a large portion of my living with remote recording sessions, tracking saxophones, flute, clarinet, and keyboards. So that means absorption: bookshelves, furniture, carpeting/rugs, and acoustic panels hung on the walls help with that. I don't like to deaden the room completely since that tends to suck out all the high frequencies and leaves a rather dull sound, but I like to have enough absorption and diffusion so that whatever room sound is picked up is pleasant and at least somewhat intentional.

A room like mine isn't as ideal as possible for mixing, but there are plenty of workarounds for that. First of all, just knowing that it isn't ideal is important, so I make sure to check mixes on other sources: headphones, car, even laptop speakers. If I can get a mix sounding good in all of those, I'm reasonably sure it will translate well to most listeners' devices.

Second, mix at low volume levels! The best mixing engineers in the world do this. They might have incredibly fancy systems at their disposal, but they might use 5% of its volume capability most of the time. Mixing at low volume levels is good practice anyway, but it's especially important in a room that isn't tuned specifically for mixing. You can get a lot of good work done this way.

 

[Pete Thomas]

Second, mix at low volume levels! The best mixing engineers in the world do this.

This is easier said than done. What's the best way to make your sound better? Turn it up louder!

But if it has to be loud to sound good, in reality it is not a good mix.

Those huge monitors in studios are great for when the A&R person or executive producer drops by, otherwise nearfilds quiet is good. Don't use typical hifi speakers instead of studio mon itors as they are desigtned to flatter the sound, which stops you working to get the best sound.

 

[Woody Reed]

Damn. Everyone's trying to scare the guy. All he asked for was recommendations on some monitors. He did say recording "station". Not "studio". If there is a guitar center nearby that's open during the pandemic, they usually have a decent selection of speakers at your price point. Bring in some of your favorite recordings and have a listen. There is no reason what so ever you can't have an enjoyable listening experience in an untreated room. Even at price points 20 and 30 times yours, there is going to be user preferences involved, so you might as well have a listen first. As far as recording, as always at the end of the day, it comes down to performance. Every single time.

 

[Pete Thomas]

Everyone's trying to scare the guy.

I can see why you say that, but I don't think so. It seems to me he (do we know if it's he or not?) they are intelligent and open to learning beyond the intiial question. Otherwise I would not have gone into the specifics I do (and I think mothers have) when I think someone is worthy of a more detailed answer.

Plus what we say here is (I hope) not only useful for the OP but also for whoever else reads these threads.

 

[Milo B.]

No need to worry about scaring me, though it speaks to the quality of this board that there would be this concern.

I'm glad to get all the advice. I got bummed for a minute when I realized the room had some issues being nearly square. Now, though, I'm mainly curious to work with it and am glad to have everyone's perspective before rushing off to buy studio monitors.

Also, I have no illusions about creating a top-notch recording/mixing room. I'll take "good enough" on this front and then aim to stay focused on the horns for now. Thanks again for the great comments!

 

[Woody Reed]

I'm glad to get all the advice.

Fair enough. Just keep in mind, if you aren't ready to drop $100K on things all at once, ya gotta start somewhere and evaluate your needs along the way. My "craft room" has gear I've been accumulating for more than 3 decades. Mostly 1 piece at a time based on the need at the time. A lot of the time renting or borrowing gear to check it out first. I gotta say that getting a great set of monitors was the best early on investments I made. I had been using NS10s (which if you're looking for monitors that suck, and if you can make it sound great on them, then you are a real hero kind of guy, they are it!), then I worked in a studio that had some Genelec 1032s. My world was forever changed. I still have them, but they are being used in my keyboard room. I upgraded to Genelec 8260s a few years ago, complete with room correction. Man, they are sweet.... to my ears. There are a lot of really nice monitors in the $500 price range. Including Genelec.

All that said, I found out I really like the sound of Genelec. They are for sure not for everyone. If I had not heard them in another studio, where over the years I've heard dozens and dozens of monitors, I may have bought a very expensive set of monitors that really weren't for me. The point being, you really should listen first. And blowing your budget on ones you really like might be worth it, IMO. I'll also add I've used those monitors in all kinds of rooms I've had. 10X12 bedroom that doubled as a nursery/studio, huge open furniture finished 3 car garage, a garage with packing boxes everywhere, and a few other situations. Not one of those spaces was properly treated. I don't think it's essential to start out your quest.

I wrote, recorded the sax, and mixed on the 1032s for this one in the "packing boxes" garage about 15 years ago.

 

[saxoclese]

I bought a pair of Edifier S1000db speakers this year and have been very pleased with the sound. The price was around $350 on Amazon.

 

[Milo B.]

I wrote, recorded the sax, and mixed on the 1032s for this one in the "packing boxes" garage about 15 years ago.

Wow, you sound fantastic! I never would have pinpointed the location of that recording as being a packing-box garage.

Good point about "starting somewhere" and "needing to listen." It looks like I should run over to Guitar Center before they file for bankruptcy . . . .

 

[Milo B.]

I bought a pair of Edifier S1000db speakers this year and have been very pleased with the sound. The price was around $350 on Amazon.

Thanks, those look interesting and get good reviews. I use something similar for playing with backing tracks (when not wanting to record) - AudioEngine HD6. However, my understanding is that these types of speakers are designed to flatter the sound, rather providing an "accurate" sound like studio monitors.

As an aside, while I like my AudioEngine speakers for sound quality, the bluetooth connection has always been a little glitchy when I switch among different apps and streaming services. I think it's a known issue with Apple products, but maybe they've fixed it by now.