Deciding What Kind of Monitors to Get for Your Home Recording Studio

The selection of studio monitor speakers is an important decision when you are considering producing a recording in a home recording studio. One thing to take into consideration when selecting studio monitors is that they will not provide the rich sound you have come to expect from your stereo system speakers. Keep in mind that the purpose of studio monitors is to record the sound you are producing as precisely or true to the original sound as possible. This sound reproduction is often referred to as “uncolored sound” or "flat frequency response.” But, the fact is, you will mostly likely will want monitors that will produce a recording that is genuine and that is true to the real sound as possible.

Another thing to consider when mixing music is that your monitors or speakers should have the capacity to produce a sound that others will enjoy listening to, whether it is played a home stereo system, a car radio, or some other type of system.

Differences in Monitors

If you are interested in mixing music, understanding the differences in studio monitor speakers will help you in choosing the type of monitor that best suits your needs and will give you the sound production you want.

Monitor Position and Placement

Besides choosing the right monitors, there are many other considerations you should make with your monitors so that they perform at their optimum. Among these considerations are: 1) the placement of the monitors; 2) preventing vibrations created by stands and spikes; and 3) the relative position of the speaker and the listener.

To help you in your monitor selection process, the following are a few considerations that that are mentioned below, with a brief description of their capabilities.

Near-Field Studio Monitors

One of the most common types of studio monitors for home use is near-field or close-field monitors. These monitors are purposely designed for near-field listening (3 to 5 feet), and make recording possible your acoustics were not designed or engineered by specialists. A near-field monitor is most often used to avoid sound from bouncing off other surfaces or objects in the room where you will be recording. By using one of these monitors you usually can get a more clear sound.

Mid-field and Far-field Monitors

The mid-field and far-field monitors are generally used for studio recordings, not home recordings. The reason for this is because they are not only large and expensive, but they requires a area that has specially designed acoustics.

Active vs. Passive Monitors

The difference between active and passive monitors is simple, there is a built in power amplifier inside the case of the active monitor, and the passive monitor does not have this amplifier. Active monitors take up less space than a passive monitor because they don’t require an additional amplifier. Because the amp and speaker are matched, there is no need to be concerned about an external amplifier and speaker frequencies not matching up. One thing to keep in mind is that all active monitors all run on AC power.