Studio monitor
Encyclopedia
Studio monitors, also called reference monitors, are loudspeaker
s specifically designed for audio production applications such as recording studio
s, filmmaking
, television studio
s and radio studios where accurate audio reproduction is crucial.
Among audio engineers, the term monitor usually implies that the speaker is designed to produce relatively flat (linear) phase
and frequency response
s. In other words, it exhibits minimal emphasis or de-emphasis of particular frequencies and the loudspeaker gives an accurate reproduction of the tonal qualities of the source audio ("uncolored" or "transparent" are synonyms), and there will be no relative phase shift of particular frequencies meaning no distortion in sound stage perspective for stereo recordings.
Beyond stereo sound stage requirements, a linear phase response helps impulse response
remain true to source without encountering "smearing". An unqualified reference to a monitor often refers to a near-field (compact or close-field) design. This is a speaker small enough to sit on a stand or desk in proximity to the listener (called a "bookshelf speaker" in hi-fi parlance), so that most of the sound that the listener hears is coming directly from the speaker, rather than reflecting off of walls and ceilings (and thus picking up coloration and reverberation from the room).
As well, studio monitors are made in a more physically robust manner than home hi-fi loudspeakers; whereas home hi-fi loudspeakers only have to reproduce compressed commercial recordings, studio monitors have to cope with the high volumes and sudden sound bursts that may happen in the studio when playing back unmastered
mixes.
and mastering
tasks. This enables the engineer to mix a track that will sound pleasing on the widest range of playback systems (i.e. high-end audio
, low quality radios in clock radios and "boom boxes", in club PA systems, in a car stereo or a home stereo).
Accurate sound reproduction will also mean that the engineer is less likely to miss any undesirable tonal qualities of the recording, and so can compensate for them. On the other hand, some engineers prefer to work with monitors that are known to be flawed in ways that are representative of the systems end-users are likely to be listening with. In fact, most professional audio
production studios have several sets of monitors spanning the range of playback systems in the market. This may include a sampling of large speakers as may be used in movie theatres, hi-fi style speakers, car speakers, portable music systems, PC speakers and consumer-grade headphones.
Amplification: Studio monitors may be "active" (including one or more internal power amplifier(s)), or passive (these require an external power amplifier
). Active models are usually bi-amplified
, which means that the input sound signal is divided into two parts by an active crossover, for low and high frequency components, both parts are amplified, and then the low-frequency part is routed to a woofer
and the high-frequency part is routed to a tweeter
or horn
. Bi-amplification is done so that a cleaner overall sound reproduction can be obtained, since signals are easier to process before power amplification.
Consumer loudspeakers may or may not have these various design goals.
As a result, early monitors tended to be basic loudspeaker cabinets. The state-of-the-art loudspeakers of the era were massive horn-loaded systems which were mostly used in cinemas. High-end loudspeaker design grew out of the demands of the motion picture industry and most of the early loudspeaker pioneers worked in Los Angeles where they attempted to solve the problems of cinema sound. Designing monitors for recording studios wasn’t a major priority.
who had previously supplied the drivers for the Shearer Horn in 1936, a speaker that had rapidly become the industry standard in motion-picture sound. He’d also designed the smaller Iconic and this was widely employed at the time as a motion-picture studio monitor.
The 604 was a relatively compact coaxial
design and within a few years it became the industry standard in the United States, a position it maintained in its various incarnations (the 604 went through eleven model-changes) over the next 25 years. It was common in US studios throughout the 1950s and 60s and remained in continuous production until 1998. In the UK, Tannoy introduced its own coaxial design, the Dual Concentric, and this assumed the same reference role in Europe as the Altec 604 held in the US.
Monitor usage in the industry was highly conservative, with almost monopolistic reliance on industry “standards”, in spite of the sonic failings of these aging designs. The Altec 604 had a notoriously ragged frequency response
but almost all U.S studios continued to use it because virtually every producer and engineer knew its sound intimately and were practiced at listening through its sonic limitations.
Recording through unfamiliar monitors, no matter how technically advanced, was hazardous because engineers not used to their sonic signature could make poor production decisions and it was financially unviable to give production staff expensive studio time to familiarize themselves with new monitors. As a result, pretty well every U.S studio had a set of 604’s and every European studio a Tannoy Dual Concentric or two.
However, in 1959, at the height of its industry dominance, Altec made the mistake of replacing the 604 with the 605A Duplex, a design widely regarded as inferior to its predecessor. There was a backlash from some record companies and studios and this allowed Altec’s competitor, JBL (a company originally started by 604 designer James B. Lansing), to make inroads into the pro monitor market.
Capitol Records
replaced their Altecs with JBL D50 Monitors and a few years later their UK affiliate, EMI
, also made the move to JBL’s. Although Altec re-introduced the 604 as the "E" version Super Duplex in response to the criticism, they now had a major industry rival to contend with. Over the next decade most of the developments in studio monitor design originated from JBL.
As recording became less and less “live” and multi-tracking
and overdubbing
became the norm, the studio monitor became far more crucial to the recording process. When there was no original performance outside what existed on the tape, the monitor became the touchstone of all engineering and production decisions. As a result, accuracy and transparency became paramount and the conservatism evident in the retention of the 604 as the standard for over twenty years began to give way to fresh technological development. Despite this, the 604 continued to be widely used - mainly because many engineers and producers were so familiar with their sonic signature that they were reluctant to change.
The 4310 was small enough to be placed on the recording console and listened to from much closer distances than the traditional large wall-(or “soffit”) mounted main monitors. As a result, studio-acoustic problems were minimized. Smaller studios found the 4310 ideal and that monitor and its successor, the 4311, became studio fixtures throughout the 1970s. Ironically, the 4310 had been designed to replicate the sonic idiosyncrasies of the Altec 604 but in a smaller package to cater for the technical needs of the time.
The 4311 was so popular with professionals that JBL introduced a domestic version for the burgeoning home-audio market. This speaker, the JBL L-100, (or "Century") was a massive success and became the biggest-selling hi-fi speaker ever within a few years. By 1975, JBL overtook Altec as the monitor of choice for most studios. The major studios continued to use huge designs mounted on the wall which were able to produce prodigious SPL’s and amounts of bass.
This trend reached its zenith with The Who
’s use of a dozen JBL 4350 monitors, each capable of 125 dB and containing two fifteen-inch woofers and a twelve-inch mid-bass driver. Most studios, however, also used more modest monitoring devices to check how recordings would sound through car speakers and cheap home systems. A favourite “grot-box” monitor employed in this way was the Auratone 5C, a crude single-driver device that gave a reasonable facsimile of typical lo-fi sound.
However, a backlash against the Behemoth Monitor was soon to take place. With the advent of Punk
, New Wave
, Indie
, and Lo-Fi, a reaction to high-tech recording and large corporate-style studios set in and do-it-yourself recording methods became the vogue. Smaller, less expensive, recording studios needed smaller, less expensive monitors and the Yamaha NS-10, a design introduced in 1978 ironically for the home audio market, became the monitor of choice for many studios in the 1980s.
While its sound-quality has often been derided, even by those who monitor through it, the NS-10 continues in use to this day and many more successful recordings have been produced with its aid over the past twenty five years than with any other monitor.
In the 2000s, there was a trend to focus on "translation". Engineers tended to choose monitors less for their accuracy than for their ability to “translate” – to make recordings sound good on a variety of playback systems, from primitive car radios to esoteric audiophile systems. As the mix engineer Chris Lord-Alge
has noted:
(Brian Knave, “Good References”, emusician, June 1, 2001; http://emusician.com/speakers/emusic_good_references/).
But it is undecided just what aids translation. Some argue that accuracy is still the best guarantee. Others feel that monitors should mimic home and car speakers. Still more believe that monitors need to be relentlessly unflattering, so that they must work hard to make recordings sound good.
, Klein and Hummel, Quested, PMC, and M & K sell almost exclusively to the professional monitor market, while most of the consumer audio manufacturers confine themselves to supplying speakers for the home. Even companies that straddle both worlds, like Tannoy
, ADAM
, Focal/JM Labs, surrounTec, Dynaudio
, and JBL
, tend to clearly differentiate their monitor and hi-fi lines.
Generally, studio monitors are physically robust, to cope with the high volumes and physical knocks that may happen in the studio, and studio monitors are used for listening at shorter distances (e.g., near field) than hi-fi speakers, though nothing precludes them from being used in a home-sized environment. Studio monitors are increasingly self-amplified (active), although not exclusively so, while hi-fi speakers usually require external amplification.
Many inexpensive hi-fi models are designed to make a pleasing sound by deliberately manipulating the frequency response curve of the audio signal they receive. No speaker, monitor or hi-fi, regardless of the design principle, has a completely flat frequency response; all speakers color the sound to some degree. Monitor speakers are assumed to be as free as possible from coloration.
Loudspeaker
A loudspeaker is an electroacoustic transducer that produces sound in response to an electrical audio signal input. Non-electrical loudspeakers were developed as accessories to telephone systems, but electronic amplification by vacuum tube made loudspeakers more generally useful...
s specifically designed for audio production applications such as recording studio
Recording studio
A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...
s, filmmaking
Filmmaking
Filmmaking is the process of making a film, from an initial story, idea, or commission, through scriptwriting, casting, shooting, directing, editing, and screening the finished product before an audience that may result in a theatrical release or television program...
, television studio
Television studio
A television studio is an installation in which a video productions take place, either for the recording of live television to video tape, or for the acquisition of raw footage for post-production. The design of a studio is similar to, and derived from, movie studios, with a few amendments for the...
s and radio studios where accurate audio reproduction is crucial.
Among audio engineers, the term monitor usually implies that the speaker is designed to produce relatively flat (linear) phase
Phase response
In signal processing and electrical engineering, phase response is the relationship between the phase of a sinusoidal input and the output signal passing through any device that accepts input and produces an output signal, such as an amplifier or a filter....
and frequency response
Frequency response
Frequency response is the quantitative measure of the output spectrum of a system or device in response to a stimulus, and is used to characterize the dynamics of the system. It is a measure of magnitude and phase of the output as a function of frequency, in comparison to the input...
s. In other words, it exhibits minimal emphasis or de-emphasis of particular frequencies and the loudspeaker gives an accurate reproduction of the tonal qualities of the source audio ("uncolored" or "transparent" are synonyms), and there will be no relative phase shift of particular frequencies meaning no distortion in sound stage perspective for stereo recordings.
Beyond stereo sound stage requirements, a linear phase response helps impulse response
Impulse response
In signal processing, the impulse response, or impulse response function , of a dynamic system is its output when presented with a brief input signal, called an impulse. More generally, an impulse response refers to the reaction of any dynamic system in response to some external change...
remain true to source without encountering "smearing". An unqualified reference to a monitor often refers to a near-field (compact or close-field) design. This is a speaker small enough to sit on a stand or desk in proximity to the listener (called a "bookshelf speaker" in hi-fi parlance), so that most of the sound that the listener hears is coming directly from the speaker, rather than reflecting off of walls and ceilings (and thus picking up coloration and reverberation from the room).
As well, studio monitors are made in a more physically robust manner than home hi-fi loudspeakers; whereas home hi-fi loudspeakers only have to reproduce compressed commercial recordings, studio monitors have to cope with the high volumes and sudden sound bursts that may happen in the studio when playing back unmastered
Audio mastering
Mastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...
mixes.
Uses
Many audio engineers use monitor speakers for audio mixingAudio mixing (recorded music)
In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
and mastering
Audio mastering
Mastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...
tasks. This enables the engineer to mix a track that will sound pleasing on the widest range of playback systems (i.e. high-end audio
High-end audio
High-end audio is a term used to describe a class of consumer home audio equipment marketed to audio enthusiasts on the basis of high price or quality, and esoteric or novel sound reproduction technologies. High-end audio can refer simply to the price, to the build quality of the components, or to...
, low quality radios in clock radios and "boom boxes", in club PA systems, in a car stereo or a home stereo).
Accurate sound reproduction will also mean that the engineer is less likely to miss any undesirable tonal qualities of the recording, and so can compensate for them. On the other hand, some engineers prefer to work with monitors that are known to be flawed in ways that are representative of the systems end-users are likely to be listening with. In fact, most professional audio
Professional audio
Professional audio, also 'pro audio', refers to both an activity and a type of audio equipment. Typically it encompasses the production or reproduction of sound for an audience, by individuals who do such work as an occupation like live event support, using sound reinforcement systems designed for...
production studios have several sets of monitors spanning the range of playback systems in the market. This may include a sampling of large speakers as may be used in movie theatres, hi-fi style speakers, car speakers, portable music systems, PC speakers and consumer-grade headphones.
Amplification: Studio monitors may be "active" (including one or more internal power amplifier(s)), or passive (these require an external power amplifier
Audio amplifier
An audio amplifier is an electronic amplifier that amplifies low-power audio signals to a level suitable for driving loudspeakers and is the final stage in a typical audio playback chain.The preceding stages in such a chain are low power audio amplifiers which perform tasks like pre-amplification,...
). Active models are usually bi-amplified
Bi-amping
Bi-amping is the practice of using two audio amplifier channels to power a loudspeaker with multiple drivers.-Description:Bi-amping is the act of using a single loud-speaker system, that is one channel of a speaker pair, with one channel handling only low frequency information and the other channel...
, which means that the input sound signal is divided into two parts by an active crossover, for low and high frequency components, both parts are amplified, and then the low-frequency part is routed to a woofer
Woofer
Woofer is the term commonly used for a loudspeaker driver designed to produce low frequency sounds, typically from around 40 hertz up to about a kilohertz or higher. The name is from the onomatopoeic English word for a dog's bark, "woof"...
and the high-frequency part is routed to a tweeter
Tweeter
A tweeter is a loudspeaker designed to produce high audio frequencies, typically from around 2,000 Hz to 20,000 Hz . Some tweeters can manage response up to 65 kHz...
or horn
Horn speaker
A horn loudspeaker is a complete loudspeaker or loudspeaker element which uses a horn to increase the overall efficiency of the driving element, typically a diaphragm driven by an electromagnet. The horn itself is a passive component and does not amplify the sound from the driving element as such,...
. Bi-amplification is done so that a cleaner overall sound reproduction can be obtained, since signals are easier to process before power amplification.
Consumer loudspeakers may or may not have these various design goals.
1920s and 1930s
In the early years of the recording industry in the 1920s and 1930s, studio monitors were used primarily to check for noise interference and obvious technical problems rather than for making artistic evaluations of the performance and recording. Musicians were recorded live and the producer judged the performance on this basis, relying on simple tried-and-true microphone techniques to ensure that it had been adequately captured; playback through monitors was used simply to check that no obvious technical flaws had spoiled the original recording.As a result, early monitors tended to be basic loudspeaker cabinets. The state-of-the-art loudspeakers of the era were massive horn-loaded systems which were mostly used in cinemas. High-end loudspeaker design grew out of the demands of the motion picture industry and most of the early loudspeaker pioneers worked in Los Angeles where they attempted to solve the problems of cinema sound. Designing monitors for recording studios wasn’t a major priority.
1940s and 1950s
The first high-quality loudspeaker developed expressly as a studio monitor was the Altec 604 Duplex in 1944. This innovative driver has historically been regarded as growing out of the work of James Bullough LansingJames Bullough Lansing
- Early years :He was born in 14 January 1902, in Greenridge, Nilwood Township, Macoupin County, Illinois to parents Henry Martini of St. Louis, Missouri and Grace Erbs Martini of Central City, Illinois. His father was a coal mining engineer which meant the family moved around quite a bit in James'...
who had previously supplied the drivers for the Shearer Horn in 1936, a speaker that had rapidly become the industry standard in motion-picture sound. He’d also designed the smaller Iconic and this was widely employed at the time as a motion-picture studio monitor.
The 604 was a relatively compact coaxial
Coaxial
In geometry, coaxial means that two or more forms share a common axis; it is the three-dimensional linear analogue of concentric.Coaxial cable, as a common example, has a wire conductor in the centre a circumferential outer conductor and an insulating medium called the dielectric separating...
design and within a few years it became the industry standard in the United States, a position it maintained in its various incarnations (the 604 went through eleven model-changes) over the next 25 years. It was common in US studios throughout the 1950s and 60s and remained in continuous production until 1998. In the UK, Tannoy introduced its own coaxial design, the Dual Concentric, and this assumed the same reference role in Europe as the Altec 604 held in the US.
Monitor usage in the industry was highly conservative, with almost monopolistic reliance on industry “standards”, in spite of the sonic failings of these aging designs. The Altec 604 had a notoriously ragged frequency response
Frequency response
Frequency response is the quantitative measure of the output spectrum of a system or device in response to a stimulus, and is used to characterize the dynamics of the system. It is a measure of magnitude and phase of the output as a function of frequency, in comparison to the input...
but almost all U.S studios continued to use it because virtually every producer and engineer knew its sound intimately and were practiced at listening through its sonic limitations.
Recording through unfamiliar monitors, no matter how technically advanced, was hazardous because engineers not used to their sonic signature could make poor production decisions and it was financially unviable to give production staff expensive studio time to familiarize themselves with new monitors. As a result, pretty well every U.S studio had a set of 604’s and every European studio a Tannoy Dual Concentric or two.
However, in 1959, at the height of its industry dominance, Altec made the mistake of replacing the 604 with the 605A Duplex, a design widely regarded as inferior to its predecessor. There was a backlash from some record companies and studios and this allowed Altec’s competitor, JBL (a company originally started by 604 designer James B. Lansing), to make inroads into the pro monitor market.
Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
replaced their Altecs with JBL D50 Monitors and a few years later their UK affiliate, EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
, also made the move to JBL’s. Although Altec re-introduced the 604 as the "E" version Super Duplex in response to the criticism, they now had a major industry rival to contend with. Over the next decade most of the developments in studio monitor design originated from JBL.
As recording became less and less “live” and multi-tracking
Multitrack recording
Multitrack recording is a method of sound recording that allows for the separate recording of multiple sound sources to create a cohesive whole...
and overdubbing
Overdubbing
Overdubbing is a technique used by recording studios to add a supplementary recorded sound to a previously recorded performance....
became the norm, the studio monitor became far more crucial to the recording process. When there was no original performance outside what existed on the tape, the monitor became the touchstone of all engineering and production decisions. As a result, accuracy and transparency became paramount and the conservatism evident in the retention of the 604 as the standard for over twenty years began to give way to fresh technological development. Despite this, the 604 continued to be widely used - mainly because many engineers and producers were so familiar with their sonic signature that they were reluctant to change.
1960s and 1970s
In the late 1960s JBL introduced two monitors which helped secure them preeminence in the industry. The 4320 was a direct competitor to the Altec 604 but was a more accurate and powerful speaker and it quickly made inroads against the industry standard. However, it was the more compact 4310 that revolutionized monitoring by introducing the idea of close or “nearfield” monitoring. (The sound field very close to a sound source is called the "near-field". By "very close" is meant in the predominantly direct, rather than reflected, soundfield. A near-field speaker is a compact studio monitor designed for listening at close distances (3’-5’), so, in theory, the effects of poor room acoustics are greatly reduced.)The 4310 was small enough to be placed on the recording console and listened to from much closer distances than the traditional large wall-(or “soffit”) mounted main monitors. As a result, studio-acoustic problems were minimized. Smaller studios found the 4310 ideal and that monitor and its successor, the 4311, became studio fixtures throughout the 1970s. Ironically, the 4310 had been designed to replicate the sonic idiosyncrasies of the Altec 604 but in a smaller package to cater for the technical needs of the time.
The 4311 was so popular with professionals that JBL introduced a domestic version for the burgeoning home-audio market. This speaker, the JBL L-100, (or "Century") was a massive success and became the biggest-selling hi-fi speaker ever within a few years. By 1975, JBL overtook Altec as the monitor of choice for most studios. The major studios continued to use huge designs mounted on the wall which were able to produce prodigious SPL’s and amounts of bass.
This trend reached its zenith with The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
’s use of a dozen JBL 4350 monitors, each capable of 125 dB and containing two fifteen-inch woofers and a twelve-inch mid-bass driver. Most studios, however, also used more modest monitoring devices to check how recordings would sound through car speakers and cheap home systems. A favourite “grot-box” monitor employed in this way was the Auratone 5C, a crude single-driver device that gave a reasonable facsimile of typical lo-fi sound.
However, a backlash against the Behemoth Monitor was soon to take place. With the advent of Punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
, New Wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
, Indie
Indie (music)
In music, independent music, often shortened to indie music or "indie" is a term used to describe independence from major commercial record labels or their subsidiaries, and an autonomous, Do-It-Yourself approach to recording and publishing....
, and Lo-Fi, a reaction to high-tech recording and large corporate-style studios set in and do-it-yourself recording methods became the vogue. Smaller, less expensive, recording studios needed smaller, less expensive monitors and the Yamaha NS-10, a design introduced in 1978 ironically for the home audio market, became the monitor of choice for many studios in the 1980s.
While its sound-quality has often been derided, even by those who monitor through it, the NS-10 continues in use to this day and many more successful recordings have been produced with its aid over the past twenty five years than with any other monitor.
1980s-1990s
By the mid-1980s the near-field monitor had become pre-eminent. The larger studios still had large main-monitors mounted in (or on) the wall but they were now mere supplements to the small monitors sitting on the meter-bridge and were viewed as prestige items mainly there to “impress the clients” and occasionally check for low-bass anomalies. Favourite large monitors of the time were the Westlake and UREI 813, the latter design originally based on the almost ageless Altec 604 with a proprietary horn and a passive crossover network including delay circuitry to align the acoustic centers of the low- and high-frequency components. Fostex "Laboratory Series" monitors were used in a few high-end studios, but with increasing costs of manufacture, they became rare. The once dominant JBL fell into disfavour as its designs were identified with 1970s excess. The new studio landscape was bare and stripped-down and the large three or four-way monitors were hardly in keeping with this philosophy.2000s
The main post-NS-10 trend has been the almost universal acceptance of powered monitors where the speaker enclosure contains the driving amplifiers. Passive monitors require outboard power amplifiers to drive them as well as speaker wire to connect them. Powered monitors, by contrast, are comparatively more convenient and streamlined single units, which in addition, marketeers claim a number of technical advantages. The interface between speaker and amplifier can be optimized, possibly offering greater control and precision, and advances in amplifier design have reduced the size and weight of the electronics significantly. The result has been that passive monitors have become far less common than powered monitors in project and home studios.In the 2000s, there was a trend to focus on "translation". Engineers tended to choose monitors less for their accuracy than for their ability to “translate” – to make recordings sound good on a variety of playback systems, from primitive car radios to esoteric audiophile systems. As the mix engineer Chris Lord-Alge
Chris Lord-Alge
Chris Lord-Alge is a mixer who has worked on various albums. He is the brother of Tom Lord-Alge, another audio engineer. Chris Lord-Alge is known for his extreme use of dynamic range compression in both hardware and software plug-in versions....
has noted:
- Ninety-five percent of people listen to music in their car or on a cheap home stereo; 5 percent may have better systems; and maybe 1 percent have a $20,000 stereo. So if it doesn’t sound good on something small, what’s the point? You can mix in front of these huge, beautiful, pristine, $10,000 powered monitors all you want. But no one else has these monitors, so you’re more likely to end up with a translation problem.”
(Brian Knave, “Good References”, emusician, June 1, 2001; http://emusician.com/speakers/emusic_good_references/).
But it is undecided just what aids translation. Some argue that accuracy is still the best guarantee. Others feel that monitors should mimic home and car speakers. Still more believe that monitors need to be relentlessly unflattering, so that they must work hard to make recordings sound good.
Monitor vs Hi-Fi speakers
While no rigid distinction exists between consumer speakers and studio monitors, manufacturers more and more accent the difference in their marketing material. Whereas in the 1970s the JBL 4311’s domestic equivalent, the L-100, was used in a large number of homes, and the Yamaha NS-10 also served both domestically and professionally during the 1980s, there are no present-day equivalents. Professional companies such as GenelecGenelec
Genelec, founded in 1978 by Ilpo Martikainen and based in Iisalmi, Finland, is a manufacturer of active loudspeaker systems especially for professional studio recording, mixing and mastering applications as well as in broadcast and movie production...
, Klein and Hummel, Quested, PMC, and M & K sell almost exclusively to the professional monitor market, while most of the consumer audio manufacturers confine themselves to supplying speakers for the home. Even companies that straddle both worlds, like Tannoy
Tannoy
Tannoy Ltd is a Scottish-based manufacturer of loudspeakers and public-address systems. The company was founded in London, England as Tulsemere Manufacturing Company in 1926, but has been based in Coatbridge, Scotland, since the 1970s...
, ADAM
ADAM Audio
ADAM Audio is a loudspeaker manufacturing company, based in Berlin, Germany. The company offers home loudspeakers and studio monitors. The latter range from nearfield to big main monitors. Both ranges may be supplemented with ADAM subwoofers...
, Focal/JM Labs, surrounTec, Dynaudio
Dynaudio
Dynaudio is a Danish loudspeaker maker, founded in 1977. Originally Dynaudio built speakers using their own crossover but relying on OEM drivers, but later they started to make their own drivers...
, and JBL
JBL
JBL is an American audio electronics company currently owned by Harman International. It was founded in 1946 by James Bullough Lansing. Their primary products are loudspeakers and associated electronics. There are two independent divisions within the company — JBL Consumer and JBL Professional...
, tend to clearly differentiate their monitor and hi-fi lines.
Generally, studio monitors are physically robust, to cope with the high volumes and physical knocks that may happen in the studio, and studio monitors are used for listening at shorter distances (e.g., near field) than hi-fi speakers, though nothing precludes them from being used in a home-sized environment. Studio monitors are increasingly self-amplified (active), although not exclusively so, while hi-fi speakers usually require external amplification.
Many inexpensive hi-fi models are designed to make a pleasing sound by deliberately manipulating the frequency response curve of the audio signal they receive. No speaker, monitor or hi-fi, regardless of the design principle, has a completely flat frequency response; all speakers color the sound to some degree. Monitor speakers are assumed to be as free as possible from coloration.
See also
- LoudspeakerLoudspeakerA loudspeaker is an electroacoustic transducer that produces sound in response to an electrical audio signal input. Non-electrical loudspeakers were developed as accessories to telephone systems, but electronic amplification by vacuum tube made loudspeakers more generally useful...
- Loudspeaker acousticsLoudspeaker acousticsLoudspeaker acoustics is a subfield of acoustical engineering concerned with the reproduction of sound and the parameters involved in doing so in actual equipment....
- List of loudspeaker manufacturers
- Digital room correctionDigital room correctionDigital room correction is a process in the field of acoustics where digital filters designed to ameliorate unfavorable effects of a room's acoustics are applied to the input of a sound reproduction system...
- Room acousticsRoom acousticsRoom acoustics describes how sound behaves in an enclosed space.The way that sound behaves in a room can be broken up into roughly four different frequency zones:...
External links
- Lansing Heritage This website contains comprehensive material on Altec and JBL and a history of these two companies' seminal contributions to studio monitor design.
- John M. EargleJohn M. EargleJohn Morgan Eargle was an Oscar and Grammy-winning audio engineer and a musician...
: "Requirements for Studio Monitoring", 1977: Gives a good overview of state of the art monitor design at the time of publication. - Tannoy's Greatest Hits. Covers the various editions of the Tannoy Dual Concentric.
- Bob Katz: "Level Practices (Part 2)": Discusses methods and benefits of standardized monitoring levels in film and music production.
- Phil Ward: "Monitors versus Hi-Fi Speakers For Project Studio Monitoring Pt 1": Comparison of two pro monitors and two home-audio speakers by measurement which concludes that differences between the samples were small.
- Phil Ward: "Monitors versus Hi-Fi Speakers For Project Studio Monitoring Pt 2": Comparison of two pro monitors and two home-audio speakers by measurement which concludes that differences between the samples were small.
- J. Gordon Holt: "The Search for the Ultimate Loudspeaker, Part 1: Audiophile vs. Pro Speakers & Westlake Lc8.1 ans Lc8.1SW", The Absolute Sound, 132 (Oct. 2001) Characterizes large sonic differences between professional monitors and audiophile speakers to the detriment of the latter.
- Colin Miller: "The Benefits of an Active Speaker Lifestyle", Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity Dec. 2002. Argues the technical and sonic benefits of active speakers.