OK, Now What?
Well, certain aspects of picking new monitors are, as I said before, very personal and can only be determined after some careful listening at another local studio or music retailer.
For instance, while monitors need to be transparent, if you mix Hip Hop you may still have different monitor preferences than an engineer who mixes predominantly Classical music.
Similarly, only you can know if there was something irksome about your last monitoring environment.
However, while certain aspects of picking monitors are very personal, other aspects are less so. For instance, active or passive?
Personally, I tend to prefer passive loudspeakers, as they remove the potentially noisy amplifier electronics from the monitor enclosure.
On the other hand, using passive loudspeakers does mean that I’m saddled with buying both speakers and an amplifier, which can often be too complex a setup for a first time buyer.
Your decision of active vs. passive could, on the other hand, be decided for you by the manufacturer should you pick an active or passive only monitor.
Can I Pick A Pair Already?
Absolutely! I’ve compiled for you a list of just some of my favorites, ranging in price from the ridiculously affordable to the amazingly expensive.
What do they all have in common? Every single option offers pristine audio quality and accuracy that is sure to provide you a transparent and critical window through which you can asses your mix.
So, what are you waiting for? Get picking! (Take Kyle’s Gallery Tour of a wide range of recent near-field studio monitors.)
One Final Thought
Also be sure to talk with friends and colleagues, listen to as many different monitors as possible, and in the end remember that if the prospective monitors are showcasing flaws in your mix, that’s OK.
After all, isn’t that what you’re buying them to do?
Kyle P. Snyder is an audio engineer with innumerable credits in the public and private sector, and he also recently created the Technologist blog here on ProSoundWeb.