G3ronimo
Hot & Sexeh

Joined: 27 Dec 2005
Location: The Netherlands, Wezep
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Posted: Wed Jul 12 2006 18:36 Purchasing Studiomonitors |
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Okey here it goes,
A few days a go one of my speakers died out, suddenley I realized that I had to buy new ones.
Browsing on the web brought me to Behringer TRUTH B2031A.
http://www.platinum-records.com/BEHRINGER-TRUTH-B2031A-Studio-Monitor-Speakers-prod7111.htm
Those things look sweet and quite afordable for a poor student like me
Now the thing is, I read that active monitors can give you noise/humming when no music playing,
One thing to reduce it are balanced cables, balanced inputs/outputs, there again is the point how can I see if my soundcard has balanced outputs?
are there any other things to reduce this?
IF you own a pair of Studio monitors, then how can be the humming/noise be reduced as much as possible?
What is your setup? e.g soundcard, cables used, etc.
Gimme facts, Tips, Tutorials... ANYTHING that could help me
if you own a pair of Behringer2031a's, what do you like about em? what do you dislike about them? the power off function looks like it comes in handy damned good[/img] |
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Sunbuster
Registered User
Joined: 05 May 2003
Location: Finland
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Posted: Wed Jul 12 2006 22:43
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this topic might help you on your quest
Now about the humming: Unless you seriously mess up your connections, the humming will probably be barely audible even when no music is playing. Some quick tips for reducing it if needed:
- use balanced connections
- make sure all your interconnected equipment takes power from the same phase. The easiest way to do this is to take the power to all of your equipment from the same wall outlet.
- try to run audio cables as far away from any AC-powercables. If you must run them close to each other, try running the audio cables at 90 degree angles over the power cables (kind of like a snake).
The manual of your soundcard probably is a good place to check if you have balanced outputs. Usually these come into play at the semi-pro level, so you probably won't find any balanced outputs on a budget card. |
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Blaster
Registered User
Joined: 04 May 2003
Location: Netherlands/Germany
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Posted: Thu Jul 13 2006 11:50
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I have a pair of them with unbalanced connections (soundcard doesn't have balanced outputs).
How much noise they make totally depends on the number and distance of powercables you have lying around the audio cables.
Right now the pc power supply is making more noise than the monitors, so it's not audible at all.
Qualitywise they're much better than the pc speakers I had before. Though I can't compare with other monitors.
I'm quite happy with them  |
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Inge
Man-At-Arms

Joined: 04 May 2003
Location: Nieuw Lekkerland @ Holland
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Posted: Thu Jul 13 2006 12:01
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As Sunbuster already said: this thread is quite valuable. I wanted to buy exactly the same Behringer speakers as you did, but nevertheless found a pair that better suited my aim (the KRK Rokit 5). |
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G3ronimo
Hot & Sexeh

Joined: 27 Dec 2005
Location: The Netherlands, Wezep
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Posted: Thu Jul 13 2006 12:25
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Blaster wrote: |
I have a pair of them with unbalanced connections (soundcard doesn't have balanced outputs).
How much noise they make totally depends on the number and distance of powercables you have lying around the audio cables.
Right now the pc power supply is making more noise than the monitors, so it's not audible at all.
Qualitywise they're much better than the pc speakers I had before. Though I can't compare with other monitors.
I'm quite happy with them
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and... how is their sound like? not TOTALLY flat like you dont hear ANY base at all? because those 8,3/4" woofers must make quite a nice base
for the other threads posted, yeah I read em before and I find them quite usefull
so balanced outputs... hmm... well franky said that my card didnt have balanced outputs, so I'll be buying a new soundcard then to... any tips on soundcards fellows??
I saw this nice audiophile 2496
and audiophile 192 looks mighty sweet ^^ |
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Inge
Man-At-Arms

Joined: 04 May 2003
Location: Nieuw Lekkerland @ Holland
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Posted: Thu Jul 13 2006 13:17
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G3ronimo wrote: |
and... how is their sound like? not TOTALLY flat like you dont hear ANY base at all? because those 8,3/4" woofers must make quite a nice base
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You're missing the point of what flat means. Flat means that if an audio source provides a sound X, the speakers generate sound X. The speakers don't alter the characteristics of X (by adding or removing frequencies), but try to give a neutral representation. If X contains loads of bass, then the speakers will provide loads of bass. From what I heard at Feedback, the Behringer are definitely not flat, whereas the Rokit 5 did get far. Furthermore, the sound transparancy of the Rokits seems to be better. Behringer might sound better, but that's mainly because it alters the sound. Furthermore, they're *extraordinary* big and heavy.
G3ronimo wrote: |
so balanced outputs... hmm... well franky said that my card didnt have balanced outputs, so I'll be buying a new soundcard then to... any tips on soundcards fellows??
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I'm not sure here, but also try to use balanced cables. They help to keep the source from your mixer to your speakers as unaltered as possible by using a third signal to check the integrity. Independent of what your source delivers, balanced cables give an advantage over unbalanced cables.
Have you already thought about what mixer to use? |
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G3ronimo
Hot & Sexeh

Joined: 27 Dec 2005
Location: The Netherlands, Wezep
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Posted: Thu Jul 13 2006 14:50
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Mixer 0_o I need a mixer?
I thought about just hooking the shizle up to my soundcard and thats it  |
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Sunbuster
Registered User
Joined: 05 May 2003
Location: Finland
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Posted: Thu Jul 13 2006 17:33
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You could do it that way, but then unless you have volume knobs on both speakers you'll need to play around with the software mixer (either soundcard's or windows mixer) everytime you want to change volume. This is in fact what I'm doing right now, but that's just because I haven't lifted my lazy ass and gone to the store to buy a hardware mixer yet. A hardware mixer inbetween would be a neater solution, but it's not absolutely necessary. You could also go for an external soundcard that has a built in volume knob, like the Digidesign M-box 2 (not saying you should take that one, just saying it has a volume knob for the monitors) |
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G3ronimo
Hot & Sexeh

Joined: 27 Dec 2005
Location: The Netherlands, Wezep
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Posted: Thu Jul 13 2006 17:53
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hmm then I know a cheaper solution mixer+soundcard ^^
495$ is a bit out of my price range
well i dont have a volume knob now either so I will do fine ^^
so... anyone else got tips, comments etc.?? |
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snarkle
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Joined: 10 Nov 2004
Location: Melbourne, Australia.
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Posted: Fri Jul 14 2006 01:37 monitors |
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From the small amount of research I've done, it may appear that the very bottom of the range monitors might not be worth getting if they're the only ones you're using. I think if you spend a bit more, then you could get something decent enough. For example, the Samson Rubicon 5a & 6a got a good review on Sound on Sound http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jul05/articles/samsonrudicon.htm
and in Australia they're only selling for $550. In Canadian dollars, it would work out less.
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xiphiuz
Beta-Tester

Joined: 08 May 2003
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Posted: Fri Jul 14 2006 08:48
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no behringer monitors! |
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TOffe
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Location: nomad
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G3ronimo
Hot & Sexeh

Joined: 27 Dec 2005
Location: The Netherlands, Wezep
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Posted: Fri Jul 14 2006 14:23 Re: monitors |
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snarkle wrote: |
From the small amount of research I've done, it may appear that the very bottom of the range monitors might not be worth getting if they're the only ones you're using. I think if you spend a bit more, then you could get something decent enough. For example, the Samson Rubicon 5a & 6a got a good review on Sound on Sound http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jul05/articles/samsonrudicon.htm
and in Australia they're only selling for $550. In Canadian dollars, it would work out less.
Snarkle
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hmmm I looked at those to... but I read some pretty bad reviews about em
IRT Tofe
heey those look nice man  |
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xiphiuz
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Joined: 08 May 2003
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Posted: Fri Jul 14 2006 23:07
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krk rp5 or 6 are the best deal imho
you can buy them cheap as well!
if you have more bucks: go for mackie hr824
or 2nd hand market: check for some philips MFB's... old but good |
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D Vibe
Registered User

Joined: 04 May 2003
Location: Sweden
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Posted: Sat Jul 15 2006 00:20
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I have a pair of Behringer Truth B2031A .. I think they works very fine and have well balanced and detailed sound.
/Daniel |
https://www.dvibe.se |
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