Home DJ studio monitors

[Texx]

Anyone have a home set up for DJ mixing? Over the past couple of weeks I've been playing around (have no previous DJ experience) and finding it a struggle to keep the EQ levels in check. I'm certain my downfall is trying to mix through a pair of MS-10i hi-fi speakers, they're far too coloured do give a true image of what's going on. Things don't sound too bad until it's played back on something else such as in the car or via headphones.

I've been looking at a getting a pair of Yamaha HS80M's, read some good reviews but just wondered if anyone here might have some other suggestions? Not looking for something that sounds awesome, I want speakers that will blatantly point out anything that sounds shit.


For anyone that's interested a good example of where I'm falling down can be heard here:

http://www.mixcloud.com/Phylix/neurofunk-dnb-micro-mix/

 

[bongskag]

I always made sure the levels were right in the headphones before dropping it in.. It dont sound too bad! 3:50 is a good mix all on time etc. but the levels are slightly out. does your mixer have level lights on there . thats a good indicator if there roughly the same, but there never that accurate as it cant take into account all the bass aswell ! keep going mate good selection

gotta love a bit of DNB !

 

[Rev]

I have an old set of bookshelf AR16's these are sometimes used in studios because of there true and extended treble but were used to check the treble mainly. I have added with some big speakers that get all the bass and some really clean well channel separated small book shelf KEF speakers that cover the mids well as well as some bass and treble. By playing them together they each give quality sound but I get extended base and treble without having a super expensive system. Of course a clean amp helps.

Really a good set of headphones is a good suggestion to check the extended frequencies but make sure you get a good one there can be a lot of variation just like speakers.

Those Yamahas do look good for there purpose but I found a bookshelf alone benefitted from a bigger speaker to hear all the bass.

I use a particular cd I know really well that has a complex acoustic and vocal mix and a nice range of drum skins I could hear in the drum skin sound which equipment could pick up the frequency changes and warmth in the drum skins different sizes in sequence . Drum sound and Bic rung early album that is full of jitter and sibilence I find tests the systems limits plus a bit of brass as some sounded beautiful until you played brass instruments then they failed as sound became obviously colored.

 

[Texx]

I always made sure the levels were right in the headphones before dropping it in.. It dont sound too bad! 3:50 is a good mix all on time etc. but the levels are slightly out. does your mixer have level lights on there . thats a good indicator if there roughly the same, but there never that accurate as it cant take into account all the bass aswell ! keep going mate good selection

gotta love a bit of DNB !

Thanks mate! Had a 19 track playlist for that mix but stopped after 7 because I'd picked up on a few issues, after playing it back it turned out there was a lot more amiss than I original thought.


A decent set of headphones are on the list, using some shit Sony things at the minute and they do leave a lot to be desired, which isn't helping much either. Probably will be looking to spend around £60-£70 if you've got any suggestions?

The mixer has LED VU's but I don't feel they are as accurate as they could be.

Really a good set of headphones is a good suggestion to check the extended frequencies but make sure you get a good one there can be a lot of variation just like speakers.

Those Yamahas do look good for there purpose but I found a bookshelf alone benefitted from a bigger speaker to hear all the bass.

A headphone upgrade is next on the list for sure, though I'm reluctant to spend too much as they're never likely to leave the house. If I wanted them more for professional use then I'd certainly look at spending more.

The biggest problem I have with the Mordaunt Shorts is they are quite bass heavy, which is surprising for such a small speaker. More often than not I have the bass pulled back on the amp to help clean them up a bit. The problem with doing that is that I lose a lot of midrange and with it the 'slap' of the snare drum, which has it's own knock on affect when trying to mix DnB.

My thinking is to invest in a pair of active monitors for putting the mix down and use the MS's to listen back through.

 

[Texx]

Have read a few interesting reviews for the Pioneer HDJ500 Pro DJ headphones, seem fairly reasonable at £79 given their spec?

 

[Rev]

Its interesting to compare the more expensive sennheisers HD25-1II on the same link maybe listen to them both. The spec are very different more power to drive the slightly heavier pioneer. Its hard when the spec is partial and doesnt include the thd etc.
the pioneer frequency range is curious I guess it comes down also to which headphone
gives the sound that suits the music style you want to mix .

I don't fully understand the pioneer 28khz vs sennheiser 22khz unless you are below the age of 12 you hearing is up to about 17khz. Very High frequencies can interact with bass harmonics to give richer bass sound but I would have thought most mixes and car systems were not yet set up for reproducing sound much above 20khz. I may be a bit behind the times on this with 24 bit frequencies though. My thought would be if music has a lot of bass it may add bass sound in the head phones you wont hear in the speaker mix?

Re your existing speakers with bass the placement of your speakers is important bass can boom and interfere with other sounds as it gets reflections from too close to corner walls or a concrete floor or hard surfaces thats why speaker stands are used but I guess some bookshelf speakers use this effect to accentate the bass. You may need to check to polarlty of the speaker wires I have heard the bass change with that too as can speaker wire thickness.Software jitter control and burner /burn speed and cd player laser also make a difference.

You can't go past good monitors you get to know there sound then you can just listen to the mix.