Comparison Table
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Speakers vs. monitors
Remember that you need studio monitors, not stereo speakers while shopping for studio monitors. Studio monitors have a flat frequency response, so what you hear is exactly what your mix will sound like. Speakers, on the other hand, are designed such that anything you hear is pleasant to the ear. Instead of flat frequency response, they frequently feature enhanced bass and/or treble. As a result, speakers will offer you a false impression of how your mix will sound. Stay away from stereo speakers and opt for studio monitors instead.
Room size
Keep in mind that you'll need to purchase studio monitors dependent on the size of your room. In terms of size, there are two different sorts of monitors:
- Near-field monitors are ideal for listening from a close distance, as their name suggests. They are usually built to be 4-5 feet away from where you sit at your studio desk.
- Far-field monitors are those that are set up to allow you to listen from a distance away from your studio chair. They are usually installed on high platforms or incorporated into the rear wall of the music studio. They're huge and usually very costly, so you won't be able to get them for less than $200 a pair. The primary purpose of far-field monitors is to assess the mix's low end. You won't need far-field monitors if you're on a budget or your studio isn't well-equipped with acoustic panels and bass traps.
Monitors that are active vs. passive
An amplifier is required for studio monitors to produce sound.
Monitors with a built-in amplifier are known as active monitors. The amplifier in active monitors is especially suited to the monitors' power requirements, which saves a lot of time and effort in finding the proper amplifier.
Monitors that require an external amplifier are known as passive monitors. You can purchase an external amplifier, but this will increase your costs, and finding the perfect amplifier for your monitors may take some time. Unless you are a seasoned expert with a larger budget, I would not recommend passive monitors.
Tweeters and woofers
A tweeter is a speaker that can handle all frequencies above 2 kHz and up to 20 kHz. A woofer is a speaker that handles lower frequencies, such as those between 40 and 5 kHz. The bigger your woofer is, the better it can handle lower frequencies. The ports, on the other hand, will have an impact on how the woofer handles low frequencies. Ports are holes in the monitor (typically on the sides or back) that allow sound to exit through a location other than the tweeter and woofer. If you get a set of monitors with smaller woofers, the ports will make a considerable difference in how they sound and how well the woofers handle bass. A subwoofer is just a woofer that can withstand frequencies even lower than a regular woofer, often below 30 Hz.
You can considerably improve the sound quality of your studio monitors if you keep the aforementioned aspects in mind when shopping for studio monitors.
Best of luck!