Re: [ARSCLIST] Pristine Audio (?!)

[Scott Phillips <scottp@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I have the 824's as well as Genelec and KRK speakers. Heck, even a set
of NS-10's. I think I like the KRK's better than the 824's, but then I
like chocolate ice cream. To me, the KRK's don't flatter anything, which
is the way I want it. That said, I could work with any of these speakers
(as well as a number of others, to be sure) once I had a little time
with them to adjust. None of them are particularly cheap, but you want
to hear what is there, not speakers that stroke you. 

As Tom and others have said, a decent listening environment is just as
important. Some great recording were made over the years with terrible
gear and lousy rooms.... by people that know what it had to sound like
in the room to make it sound right in the real world. It isn't a common
talent these days I fear. 

Sometimes headphones can help zero in on a noise or distortion that the
speakers have revealed, but personally I'd never use them for a primary
listening resource. Just an opinion though.

-----Original Message-----
From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
[mailto:ARSCLIST@xxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Aaron Levinson
Sent: Thursday, December 06, 2007 6:18 PM
To: ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Pristine Audio (?!)

I own the 824's as well and give them high marks. They are not quite in
the league with the larger Dynaudio system but they are truly well made
and accurate monitors and I think for the money are a very good deal.

AA

Tom Fine wrote:
> Hi Ward:
>
> This is sort of like asking what flavor ice cream does everyone 
> prefer. However, I'd say a minimum would be something along the lines 
> of a Mackie 824 or similar small-ish (but not tiny) powered monitor.
> Some might prefer a subwoofer in that system but I think the 824 is of

> enough size to move enough air in a close-in monitoring situation that

> you can get a reasonable to excellent idea of what's there, soundwise.
> There are numerous similar speakers of that type, some reviewed as 
> better some as worse. I would argue pretty strongly against using 
> headphones as your sole monitoring device, but some might disagree.
> Also, with speakers, no need to damage your hearing but you gotta move

> enough air to hear what's there. That's why, among other things, Mike 
> Casey's report suggests a quiet, isolated area with minimal background

> noise and enough isolation to avoid disturbing others in the area.
>
> In the world of console-less computer-centric recording, a decent 
> monitor controller is very useful as well. You can spend from a few 
> hundred to thousands on this. I have a Mackie Big Knob and consider it

> quite good as long as one takes the time to read the manual and 
> understand the gain structure and hence not overdrive any of its 
> stages. Presonus makes a similar but slightly more expensive device 
> that I believe also included D-A and perhaps A-D converters. You can 
> go up in price as much as you want from there.
>
> Mike's report also talks about the benefits of a clean, direct signal 
> path. This can be greatly aided with a well-designed patchbay. I'm a 
> fan of old-school brass TRS 1/4" telephone-style stuff, with as much 
> normal-ing as possible for the commonly used (ie "default") signal 
> paths, but that's only because I had a few excellent units on hand and

> thus didn't need to invest in newer technology. There are many options

> today. What I would not recommend is pro-sumer stuff that uses 
> unbalanced "guitar cable" 1/4" connectors as these are notorious for 
> getting noisy and intermittent. For unbalanced stuff, I have an old 
> Fostex RCA patchbay and it has never failed me. If you do a digital 
> patchbay, make sure to understand impedence and termination issues if 
> they exist.
>
> -- Tom Fine
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ward Duffield" <wardd@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: <ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Thursday, December 06, 2007 5:54 PM
> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Pristine Audio (?!)
>
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List 
>> [mailto:ARSCLIST@xxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Tom Fine
>> Sent: Thursday, December 06, 2007 6:09 AM
>> To: ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Pristine Audio (?!)
>>
>>
>> There's also a whole separate issue of not even knowing WHAT to use 
>> to hear things properly.  Notice in Mike Casey's report that a few 
>> pages are spent talking about "proper listening environment."
>>
>> Is there any consensus on cost-effective, accurate speakers?
>>
>