Need help choosing my monitors and headphones

[drope934]

Hello guys, first post there but I'm like a ghost here, reading a lot!

I'm actually doing a sh*ty job to earn some $$$ and I'll invest it in some studio monitors and a headphones.

I'll have a max budget to buy a pair of Yamaha's HS80M and a BEYERDYNAMIC DT-880 PRO.

1. I can't listen to loud music at home and my room is small, are the Yamaha's too loud for me? Is it better to buy some KRK's 6'?

2. Do I need a power amp for the Beyerdynamic? If so, can you tell me one that does the job for a small amount of money.

3. I was first thinking to buy the AKG K-271 MKII Studio, because it's closed and the cable is replaceable, is it better to put some more money for the beyerdybamic?

Thank you all by advance

 

[dale_a_smith]

Dude.

Do you have an interface? If so, which one, If not, how do you intend to get the audio out from your PC?

Regarding you situation. Small room, with no acoustic treatment is going to be a nightmare for monitors. If you have a search around the net you will find plenty of info on this. Even a small amount of treatment will help you get a usable room, but if you plan on putting any monitors in your room without this, your going to be wasting your hard earned cash.

Regarding the volume level. you need to run your monitors at a reasonable level to get a good idea of whats going on in the mix. 80 - 85db is supposed to be the optimum level for general mixing. This is pretty loud. If volume level is an issue, then thats 2 things you need to address before buying any monitors.

Regarding headphones. This really does seem like it would be a very good option for you, given the above 2 issues. The cans you have selected are the exact same ones that I use. they're great. Whether or not you need a headphone amp or not depends on what interface you have. I run mine straight from my Focusrite Saffire Pro 40, and I have plenty of level out of them.
People will say you can't mix on headphones alone. This isn't true. But like any reference point, you need to spend time with them to get used to how music sounds. If you listen to music all day on a HiFi or car stereo or radio, and only put your headphones on for mixing, you'll really struggle. I always listen to music on headphones, so mixing that way came naturally.

hope that gives you some help.

best regards

 

[drope934]

I'm actually using my Line6 KB37, it got a headphone jack with its individual volume, but I don't know if they can drive them hard enough.

For the room, well I did some improvement. A few time ago I couldn't even play guitar on a 8' speaker amp, everything just vibrated as hell, a lot of echo. But in this room, there nothing to absorb the reverberation behind me (in front of the monitors).


So, maybe it's better for me to buy the headphones that are great, and some smaller monitors like the yamaha's 5' or the KRK.

Yamaha's HS80M are on of my dreams, alway wanted to have a pair of them

 

[dale_a_smith]

I'm sure the line 6 will drive the phones well enought for now. you can upgrade as money allows.

If you are going for monitors, I would go for smaller drivers. KRK VXT4 would be awsome, but that may be out of your budget. You will need acoustic panels on reflection points. walls and ceiling.

I'd definately look at the HS80M's as a future purchase. You may find that in your room, they sound poor, and you can't mix on them. That would be a real waste of money.

But again. No monitor in the world will beat a decent pair of headphones if the room is untreated..

 

[drope934]

Yep, I think I'll go for some cheaper monitor, they will be better than my Creative's one (100$ PC monitor...) and take the headphone and principally mixe with it. If I buy some monitors, even if the room treatment is poor, I could improve it later. I'm like that, I prefer buy good things even if they will not sound as great as they should because of other components and then try to upgrade piece by piece.

 

[C-Martin]

Definitely stay away from 8" if you get monitors in a small room with no treatment. The HS50's might be a better choice for you and your room but dale pretty much steered you in the right direction. For headphones check for some used Sennheiser HD600's or if you want closed back i really like the ATH-M50's