Benefits of High End Nearfield Monitors?

[Ric4001]

I'm going to upgrade from my Mackie 824s to something higher end, like Adam P22As. But I'm wondering this: if something like the Adams are more "revealing" in the midrange and top end, or in any range, isn't that going to make me hear things when mixing that won't show-up when the mix is played on a normal or hifi speaker? For example, the Adams ribbon tweeters supposedly move 4 times as much air as conventional dome tweeters, so isn't that going to overemphasize the high end when mixing, and consequently make for dull sounding mixes when they are played back on "normal" everyday speakers? Or if the clarity afforded by high end nearfields causes me to hear more of an instrument than a conventional speaker would reveal, isn't that going to ultimately mess-up the mix?

[Bierce85]

What you may want to consider is going somewhere like Radio Shack and picking up some small bookshelf speakers and hooking them up to a cheap amp to go along with your adams. This would give you a good reference to how the mix will sound on most consumer systems (I've tried this with computer speakers and find them useless). As for the higher detail speakers... I don't know about you, but I like to mix stuff so that it will sound good on good systems. Not everyone listens to ipods all the time. A good mix is a good mix. It will sound at least decent anywhere.

[u b k]

Originally Posted by Ric4001

For example, the Adams ribbon tweeters supposedly move 4 times as much air as conventional dome tweeters, so isn't that going to overemphasize the high end when mixing, and consequently make for dull sounding mixes when they are played back on "normal" everyday speakers?

no, because you learn your monitors and adjust accordingly. when you learn how things are supposed to sound on the adams, you will push your mixes in that direction accordingly. then, when you listen to your mixes on regular systems, the essential qualities remain: relative instrument balance, basic eq curve, vibe, energy.

what the better monitors afford you is increased detail, better resolution. imagine having glasses that give your 20/20 eyes the equivalent of 20/10 vision, and you then paint a landscape painting with those glasses on. the extra detail allows you to create a picture that more closely resembles reality, because you can see further into it. when you then remove those glasses, the painting still looks badass; likewise, when you take your mix out into the world, it'll hold up no matter what system you listen to it on.

better monitors not only give you more info, they also make it easier to tell what's wrong in a mix and, better still, how to fix it. when i mixed on lsr28p's, i'd frequently know something(s) was amiss, but i had no idea what it was. when i'd switch on the ns10's, i'd immediately hear what it was. the top shelf monitors of today have the ability to do this without the need for switching to other refs; they give it all, and everything they give you is trustworthy.


gregoire
del
ubk
.