Who says studio monitors are "cold and analytical"?


Who says studio monitors are "cold and analytical"?  Does that mean audiophile speakers are warm/colored and distorted?   If Studio Monitors main goal is low distortion, does that mean low distortion is not something audiophiles want?  They want what, high distortion?  "Pretty" sounding distortion?  Or find pretty sounding speakers that make bad recordings sound really good?  What is the point of searching out good recordings then?  They won't sound as intended on a highly colored distorted speaker!   

Ag insider logo xs@2xlonemountain

All this stuff you write above is completely wrong- I work in the industry and none of it is true. 18 inch woofers and 10 inch midranges with massive horn tweeters-what a dumb thing to say. NO ONE uses anything like that to track or mix anymore and hasn’t for 20+ years= probably since the last Poison record.

Monitors are NOT in huge rooms, they are small control rooms about the size of a living room or listening room at home. The only big rooms left are used for tracking a film score. This kind of dumb stuff you write lets everyone know you are using a magazine article from 1975 as if it were true today.

NO, he's finished the bottle and is on to the hard stuff.

 

 

 

 

There are obviously many kinds of speakers out there that could be called studio monitors. There are nearfield midfield and main monitors. The far field monitors do use massive horns and 18 inch drivers. Look at any picture of a studio and you will see them soffit mounted. The smaller nearfield ones are used by musicians for producing or composing music. They are also used for mixing. Often they are active and thesedays its class D. Sound quality is not the priority. Nearfields also need to be tuned differently than for hifi since the listening distance and environment are different. All of this is generally true but there will be exceptions. 

The main priority of a speaker designer that is designing a studio monitor is to achieve a flat response. Whether this is achieved in practice or not that is the priority. On the other hand, a hifi speaker is designed purely for listening pleasure. 

That is why you are unlikely to enjoy using a studio monitor for pleasure. 

I have already listed a number of studio monitors which advertize how flat their response is. 

All the innovations in improving sound quality come from the hifi sector. The studio market has nothing to offer. Look at the cabinet work of hifi versus studio monitors. Studio monitors are just plain old wooden boxes. In the hifi world we have companies like Magico that push the envelope of the state of the art.

You have been warned. 

Coming up on two decades of designing, managing the development of, and marketing professional speakers for a variety or end markets including studio. Thank you @lonemountain ​​​​@fair for bringing some sense of reality to this dumpster fire.

  • Present market is "studio" speakers are flat on axis and controlled dispersion and low distortion. Two reasons for that. One is we can do a pretty good job on those metrics at almost any cost now. Two is it allows a reference. Less guessing about the source of a sound when you are working.
  • Home speakers can have intentional non flat response. Call it a house sound. Some are poor off axis by today's standards.
  • "Studio" speakers can sound amazing in a home. Like all speakers the room is the variable.
  • Many pro sound people don't talk about distortion, frequency response, etc. because for whatever training they may have they are still pretty illiterate about audio. 
  • Audio is more illiterate and wild west than movies and TV where the concept of a reference is ingrained. That ingrained reference forces education.
  • Software to simulate cheaper speakers, different environments, etc. is starting to be used. For that to work you need to start with a low distortion reference.

SERENITY NOW!  SERENITY NOW!  I'll sidestep the toxic vortex of the Castanza clan.  But thank you for the glimpse into a dysphoric existence.  I already feel better about myself, flawed as my life may be.

We all appreciate the positive constructive insights most contribute to this open forum.  I've gleaned knowledge about several subjects.  For that, thank you.