No, studio monitor speakers don’t attach to your computer’s monitor. If you’re new to the studio/audio-recording world you may be unsure what studio monitor speakers are for. This article will teach you about studio monitors, how they’re different from regular computer speakers, and provide a suggestion for some affordable, decent quality ones.
What is a studio monitor speaker?
Studio monitor speakers are different from your average computer speakers. If you’ve even thought about getting into audio/music recording I’m sure you’ve heard of equalization or “EQ”. Typically, computer speakers are built to take the audio signal being put into them and equalize the sound, typically emphasizing certain sound frequency ranges to get a “good” sound. While for the average computer user, this sounds alright to to them, it can be a nightmare when you’re trying to work with sound. The problem arises when you’re trying to finalize everything and are ready to release your work. With your speakers “auto-equalizing” your sound what you hear isn’t exactly what your audio sounds like. You may find that on someone else’s speakers it sounds awful. This is most likely because you adjusted everything to sound good on your system, but with your speakers modifying the sound themselves, your ears are really deceived.
That’s where studio monitors come in. Studio monitor speakers, as a class, are designed to offer the sound completely flat. Because of this, what you hear is actually what is, and sounds as close to what the sound actually sounded like when it was recorded. You can then modify the sound in your program of choice and rest assured that what you hear is what everyone else will hear (assuming their own EQ settings don’t screw it up).
Because they’re designed for you to monitor audio you’re working with in order to get it perfect, you can expect a wide frequency range and the ability to handle very high quality audio signals.
A recommendation
I’ve been using a pretty cheap but high quality (for my purposes) set of Behringer MS40 studio monitors. Behringer is a pretty well-known company in the audio industry as they produce all sorts of products, including MIDI sequencers, microphones, and studio monitors. We’ll focus on the latter for right now, but it is possible to combine their various products into an affordable, more than decent quality home studio.
You can find them pretty cheaply online. Unlike most studio monitors, they are actually sold in a set and include a built-in amplifier–meaning you don’t necessarily plug them into a big amplifier stack. You should check Google for prices. Typically they range between $100-200, which is dirt cheap for the quality these speakers can give you if setup right.
Let me be clear: these aren’t the absolute best sounding studio monitor speakers you can buy, but they are most definitely one of the best sounding studio monitor speakers you can buy for under $200.
Setup is pretty easy. These are active speakers, meaning they must be powered by the provided power supply. It accepts two types of input: analog and digital, two at the the time. This means it can mix together sound from either two analog inputs, or one analog and one digital. For you being a beginner you’ll probably be using the analog RCA inputs (the red and white cables you plug things into your TV with, most likely) or the 1/8″ (3.5 mm) input, which is similar to what you’re used to with normal speaker signal wire and things like consumer earphones. You’ll need to purchase a cable for whichever one you choose.
A note about connecting straight from your computer or iPod: you’re probably going to notice some extra fuzz or hum in your sound. Generally these devices do not output as high of quality audio as these speakers are capable of producing. Because of this, you’re probably going to want to connect them from an external device. I’m using a small, affordable mixer which I’ll post about sometime soon. However, if you’ve no need for such a setup but still want high quality sound you might look into USB-powered external sound processors. These devices connect to your computer via USB and are essentially an extra, dedicated sound card.
There are a number of ways you can go here. If you’d like to further build your studio using professional, industry-standard Pro Tools software/equipment you have reached a crossroads. In order to use Pro Tools you need some form of Digidesign (the company who makes Pro Tools) interface–which just happens to do exactly what we need here. I am using an M-box 2 Pro, which allows me to use Pro Tools on my workstation, but also serves as this needed dedicated, external sound card. Unfortunately this carries a large pricetag. If you’re not ready to go the Pro Tools route (yet) you might consider the PreSonus Audiobox USB, which Paul Stamatiou mentions on his studio monitor speakers article. Either of these options also includes MIDI capability, which will come in handy in your home studio, no doubt. I’ll post more about using MIDI in the future.
Overview
There you have it. Studio monitor speakers are just one piece to the home studio puzzle but they’re a pretty big piece. Not only do they help you refine your sound while you’re recording your work, but they make almost anything else sound great. They’re a great place to start on a home studio or even just to enrich your everyday audio experience.
Feedback
This is the first in my series of home studio articles. Any kind of feedback would be greatly appreciated.
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Great post Zach! The integrated amp controls are pretty neat – what does each dial do? I can’t read it from that pic. My rokit’s just have dials for things like volume and gain but it looks like yours have bass and treble dials.
As for the PreSonus, that’s been sitting in my closet for a few months. I sacrificed a bit of quality for the ability to adjust volume from my OS X keyboard. Having to reach over and adjust volume on the PreSonus knob everytime was getting quite annoying!
Yeah I know, when I use Pro Tools I plug in the M-box and it completely hijacks any audio coming out of Pro Tools (but not the entire OS sound) and it’s really annoying to adjust the knobs on the box verses using the volume keys on the Mac’s keyboard.
Yes they have Bass and Treble knobs and the other two are volume controls for both inputs. You can plug two different inputs into the monitors and it will mix them together. You can adjust their volumes independently. This is convenient because one of them is my Mac audio and one is straight out of my mixer.
Haha for a while I ghetto used both inputs on the rokits to have my computer and ipod plugged in at the same time (one with RCA and the other with XLR) but it didnt really support that or have any mixing ability. Anyways, welcome to the land of studio monitors!
I’m at home home (as opposed to home) without them now and i only have the laptop speakers.. ugh!
Well I’m going into Music Production Technology so this is just the beginning in sound equipment for me.
Good studio Monitors can make the difference sometime. Thanks for the article