monitors for beginners

hoehlentroll

Member
Mar 15, 2007
1,812
0
36
Mannheim, Germany
I'm starting to do some recording for my band and I have still a lot to learn. I just bought the Alesis IO|26 and I'm looking for some decent monitors. My budget is quite low (about 270 Euro or less). I've looked at some of them already:

KRK RP-8 249,- Euro
ESI NEAR05 185,- Euro
ALESIS M1 ACTIVE 520 193,- Euro
M-AUDIO BX5A 249,- Euro
TASCAM VL-A5 269,- Euro

Which one should I get? Would you recommend some "beginner level monitors" and buy some "real" ones in a couple of years? Or would you say don't even bother buying monitors under 500 Euros? Remember that I still have a lot to learn and almost no experience, recording-wise ;)
Do I need some subwoofers, also? Or is it also possibel do some good mixing without them?
 
buying low-priced monitors is fine, you should buy a pair that's still gonna be used once you've got you decent ones.
the Yamaha hs50 would be a good choice since you can still use them to check your mixes on when you'll be working with genelec or whatever.
 
Black Neon Bob uses ESI Near05s, i also bought a pair on his recommendation. My thinking was if Bobs mixes are this good, then maybe they will work ok for me too.
They are very nice sounding :).
 
I'm starting to do some recording for my band and I have still a lot to learn. I just bought the Alesis IO|26 and I'm looking for some decent monitors. My budget is quite low (about 270 Euro or less). I've looked at some of them already:

KRK RP-8 249,- Euro
ESI NEAR05 185,- Euro
ALESIS M1 ACTIVE 520 193,- Euro
M-AUDIO BX5A 249,- Euro
TASCAM VL-A5 269,- Euro

Which one should I get? Would you recommend some "beginner level monitors" and buy some "real" ones in a couple of years? Or would you say don't even bother buying monitors under 500 Euros? Remember that I still have a lot to learn and almost no experience, recording-wise ;)
Do I need some subwoofers, also? Or is it also possibel do some good mixing without them?

Don't know if you noticed, but the RP-8's are usually ~250e a piece, so a pair would run to a total of about 500e. I own a pair of Event ALP5's (around 300e/pair) and they're great for the price. You could also check the Yamaha HS50M's, they're about the same price.
 
oh yes, you're absolutely right. the krk rp-5 are about 300e/pair.
thanks for the respones so far. so what I get out of the replies is: 1. you CAN get quite good monitors for 200-300e and 2. there are SEVERAL good monitors for that budget and the decision which one is to buy is quite subjective?

so either: Yamaha hs50, ESI Near05, Event ALP5's, ALESIS M1 ACTIVE 520, M-AUDIO BX5A, TASCAM VL-A5.
Is it a option to buy them used?