Video Post Monitors. What to Buy?

[Mannie Bothans]

Originally Posted by Mannie Bothans

Right now I do not know if my editing room will be 4120 cubic ft. or 1725 cubic ft., so may I tap the collective wisdom here to ask for recommendations for each? (Whichever space I settle on, the room will be designed by John Brandt.)

What audio monitors would you recommend for a 4120 cubic foot editing room?

What audio monitors would you recommend for a 1725 cubic foot editing room?

My budget is $3,000.00. It is a tiny space, but I will be editing footage for not only TV but also some features that will see actual theater screenings.

For example...

Different people have told me to look into the Blue Sky Exo2, KRK RP8 G2, Adams A7X, and Genelec 8260A, but none of them had any idea if the size of my editing space.

What speaker options do I have in the $3000 price range for each if my room options?

If there aren't true professional monitors available in this price range for either or both editing spaces, how much would I need to plan to invest?

What audio monitors are particularly well-suited for editing dialogue and other film demands?

[pethenis]

I don't have the brain right now to calculate feet into meters, but you say it's small and you say you're going to edit footage... As in video-editing?

If you're editing video and want to have a good picture of what the audio quality is, just get any decent brand monitor, it really doesn't matter much, determine if the audio is usable and pass it off to the mixer when the edit is done. I think I would get a set of PSI 17-2's, very accurate, loud enough etc.

If you're thinking of mixing as well, re-think...

Originally Posted by Mannie Bothans

For example...

Different people have told me to look into the Blue Sky Exo2, KRK RP8 G2, Adams A7X, and Genelec 8260A, but none of them had any idea if the size of my editing space.

What speaker options do I have in the $3000 price range for each if my room options?

If there aren't true professional monitors available in this price range for either or both editing spaces, how much would I need to plan to invest?

What audio monitors are particularly well-suited for editing dialogue and other film demands?

[Mannie Bothans]

I see what you're saying.

I'll also throw in some additional background info...

The room will either be in the neighborhood of 7.625ft high x 18.67ft long x 12.75ft wide (which, translated means 2.3241m low ceilings x 5.69m long x 3.9m wide) or it will be more in the ballpark of 7.625ft high x 30.63ft long x 18.5ft wide (which, translated means 2.3241m low ceilings x 9.34m long x 5.64m wide). So it will either be configured to be 51.57 cubic meters of space, or 122.43 cubic meters of space (if I did my math properly).

I will be "mixing" wedding videography, local TV commercials, hobby films for local festival submissions, 48 hour film project contests, etc.). By small, I mean I will not have a horn-based large cinema setup, but I will be doing enough in-house "mixing" to require the best I can get in the $3-5,000.00 range here in the U.S. I will never be putting together my own music-- but for many projects I will be adjusting music, foley, dialogue-- all in-house.

[Bill@AudioVision]

The geometry of your smaller room is closer the 'ideal' HxWxL ratio for room design. That being said, any good quality speaker system should be able to work. Don't forget proper room treatment. Visit the 'Studio Construction' sub-forum for more info.

[pethenis]

My room, where I edit, colorcorrect and mix tv and the occasional cinema release is about in the middle of your two possible rooms. I use a Dynaudio Air 15 5.1 setup, which is hooked up digital and is extremely flexible.

I have calibrated the whole setup and switch from stereo tv calibration to 5.1 tv (with and without bassmanagement), to theatrical calibration ( x-curve, modified x-curve) with press of à button.

I use the analog inputs of the system when I'm editing video ( feeding them the audio from à 52" plasma which gets it's signal from à Blackmagic HD Extreme). This way I avoid the audio and video being out of sync when editing in FCP And Avid MC.

Check them out, or look into Blue Sky System One, also very complete featurewise and translate well.

[Mannie Bothans]

Compared to the Dynaudio Air 15 5.1 the Blue Sky System One looks like it could be a bit underpowered for the larger of the two options. I am having trouble finding prices for a full Dynaudio Air 15 5.1 system-- does that mean it is way out of my price range?

I am such a newb, but I would love to learn more about how it is possible to switch from stereo tv calibration to 5.1 tv (with and without bassmanagement), to theatrical calibration ( x-curve, modified x-curve) with press of a button.

To give you an idea of the general level of the equipment I will be using to start out with... the editing room will be designed by JH Brandt - Recording Studio Design/Consulting and I will be cutting with Premiere Pro CS6, some of my outside dialogue will be recorded with my Rode NTG3, I will have a dead ADR booth separate from the editing room, and my computer is an ADK with Intel - 6 Core i7 overclocked to 4.5GHz with HT 12meg cache, liquid cooler, 32gig DDR3, GeForce GTX 670, 1 240GB SSD, two Western Digital - 2TB Raid 0 drives, an external N3200PRO 3 Bay NAS RAID 5, BMD Intensity Shuttle, Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 Interface, etc.

[pethenis]

The Dynaudio Airs are obviously more powerfull and sophisticated than the bluesky's, but 5000 US might be close to a BS 5.1 set. Not to a 5.1 Dynaudio Air set. There's plenty of power in the BS set, try and position the speakers in your rooms on paper according to the EBU standard. THE smaller room is more suitable for that.

[pethenis]

About the calibration of my Airs; THE aystem comes with it's own software, allowing you to store levels, speaker EQ, time alignment and bass management settings to presets, which can be recalled on the Air systems remote. Since I run the whole set digital, that means I don't need an external monitor controller as well. Check out the manual

[Mannie Bothans]

Thanks. Do you know how that Blue Sky system handle the mids?

(I just got a price quote from one dealer and the complete 5.1 Air 15 system with sub would run more like $12,377.37 in US dollars.)

[pethenis]

I mixed two features on a BS System One 5.1 set and can honestly say they translate very well to theater. Check out the many positive user comments from filmmixers on the post production forum.

The mids are slightly more pronounced than other brands, but I don't feel thats a bad thing. The best thing is the integration with the sub, it's better than it is on my Dynaudio's. When using it as a dedicated LFE as you do in a theatermix, it's a really nice theatrical "boom" for lack of better words. When you mix in stereo, the sub has a seamless crossoverpoint, so you really have a full range system. The remote handles presets, bass management, speakersolo's etc. It's a really good set.

Originally Posted by Mannie Bothans

Thanks. Do you know how that Blue Sky system handle the mids?

(I just got a price quote from one dealer and the complete 5.1 Air 15 system with sub would run more like $12,377.37 in US dollars.)

[Mannie Bothans]

Wow.

If I wanted to start off with just stereo, instead of 5.1, what would you recommend?

What about Genelec 8250A or 1032A? Or Adams a7x?

[pethenis]

Originally Posted by Mannie Bothans

Wow.

If I wanted to start off with just stereo, instead of 5.1, what would you recommend?

What about Genelec 8250A or 1032A? Or Adams a7x?

I think you can't go wrong with any of the above. Most people say the 8250A's are an improvement on the 1032A's, the latter being too flattering making your mixes sounding good too fast. The Adams highend is something you have to get used to because of the ribbon tweeter.

Just pick the monitor you think is sounding the best. They are all accurate enough, the secret in good sounding mixes is knowing your monitors. Do a mix on them, hear it back during broadcast and think, ouch, next time I need to back off on the highend. Do another, that's better, but why is my mix sounding weaker than the program before it, do another etc.

I would recommend having a "lowest common denominator" set as well. A few yaers back I bought a set of active avantones. After getting used to how they sound, it was the best investment I ever made trying to improve my tv mixes. I have a tendency to mix VO a bit too forward. That's also a question of taste, but when asked, I can now exactly find the critical point, something that's a lot harder on full range speakers.

By the way, I'm not trying to "educate" you, I have no idea how experienced you are and these are all just my opinions.