Greetz,

I have a very small studio for recording my own music. At this time I have a computer with sequencing software, a roland keyboard, guitar preamp, and a small mixer. I'm currently running this through a Kenwood Receiver with some bookshelf JBL 2-way speakers.

I've been reading Electronic Musician a lot lately, in a an effort to prepare to lay down and mix some new tracks, and they seem to imply all the time how necessary it is to have studio monitors for accurate listen when mixing down.

So, these are my questions:

1) Are studio monitors a necessity for producing accurate and radio ready mixes?

2) If studio monitors are a necessity, would running passive monitors through my Kenwood reciever be okay, or do I need to spring for a pro-audio power amp as well?

Thanx in advance for the advice!!!

-sc

Regarding you questions

1) Are studio monitors a necessity for producing accurate and radio ready mixes?

2) If studio monitors are a necessity, would running passive monitors through my Kenwood receiver be okay, or do I need to spring for a pro-audio power amp as well?

The answer is YES Studio Monitors are necessary if you want to achieve the best, but you also require a Hi-Fi speakers set-up to enable you to check the balance of what the average person is going to hear when listening to your final work.

Active Studio Monitors will have had there Amplifiers tailored to take into account limitations within the Monitor Speaker design, so ideally you need to buy them with the correct Amplifiers already built in. An external Amplifier try's to reproduce accurately the signal that it is fed with and a good amplifier will still do a decent job driving a pair of monitors, but as I have stated above, if you are looking to achieve the best buy the Active Monitors.....With care they will last you a life time and would be money well spent. You will also get more enjoyment playing your keyboard through them.

I worked for a UK Speaker manufacturer who made Speaker for the BBC.

Graham UK

You need monitor speakers to get an even mix. What sounds good mixed through your home stereo speakers may sound awful thru any other speakers...too much/little bass, reverb, treble, chorus, vocals, etc.

You will also blow your amp using it for recording. It is not meant to take the spikes that will occur.

Near Field refs are a must have allowing for a better persception of the mix. Its possible to get great sounding mixes with headphones if you narrow the stero field.

I've had a studio in my home for 25 years, and I prefer to use a stereo reciever to monitor with. I use a set of Yorkville studio monitors along with a normal, average consumer speaker for referance. There is no reason to have a separate poweramp to monitor with unless you are playing so loud that you are in "damage" range of the speakers. The amp will be just fine in moderate situations.
Home studios are not usually visited by large, loud bands anyway, are they? Room size would prohibit any real comfort for a band situation. Most home setups are geared for the solo engineer/performer or smaller acts, right?
The answers to your questions are not absolute, but the "real world" issue is this:
1) Studio monitors all sound different anyway, so you have to get a good "referance" before you do ANY mixing. BUy a CD of something you know very well, and audition the speakers you use with that CD. It's give you a starting point for the correct response.
2) An amp, is an amp, is an amp. Your sereo reciever should handle the moderate listening levels of a one room studio just fine. The only critereia should be your ears. Listen closely - if it sounds good, it IS good. Don't get fooled by the hype of "flat" sound. It doesn't exist in nature, only in a vacume, and we don't live, or listen in vacumes !

Greetings Spaceboy.
As Graham put it, Yes...if you wish to achieve the best possible sound, but absolutely necessary...?? No.
I do most of my mixing on-board and monitor via (2) Klipsch KG-2's. These are a home stereo speaker, not studio monitors, but the sound is clean enough that monitoring and editting are no problem. I use headphones for scrubbing, but not for final mix-downs.
What am I using for a Power Amp??
A very old, and very reliable, 45w (x2)
Onyko. I also have a 30w Pioneer as a back-up.
You don't really need to break the bank, setting up your home system.
Good Luck Cowboy.

Well, I was one of the unfortunate ones that blew my top of the line Marantz stereo amp...I have a lot of friends that did the same. You might get lucky. These amps are meant for music that has already been compressed...volume isn't the issue...thus, the sudden spikes. The Marantz speakers have a control on each with "flat" that makes them very good for mixing but still, they color the tone and the mix never sounds like it should thru other speakers. I found a 1 year old Alesis RA 100 and a pair of Monitor Ones for $200 when I was first setting up my home studio (not the best setup but I was a newbie at the time and the price was right). Too bad it cost me a helluva lot more for the Marantz. But you are right, you don't have to break the bank, especially when places like AmericanMusicalSupply and others offer extended payments.