Most studios have at least one set of nearfield monitors, typically these are going to be a set of small monitors because they could have been an affordable option… who know, everybody has their reasons for owning at least one set of small studio monitors. I’m particularly partial to a decent set of small monitors… for all their merits though they do typically have a small number of general drawbacks.
In this article I share 3 pros and cons to take into consideration if you are considering buying a set of small studio monitors, with drivers 5 inches or less, for tracking and mixing applications.
Pros:
1. Small Studio Monitors Are Typically More Affordable
For those on a budget, small studio monitors are often cheaper to buy compared to monitors with driver sizes 6 inches or greater:
Our Top Pick Of 5 Great Sounding Nearfield Studio Monitors You Can Buy For Under $500 For A Pair
There is a huge range of studio monitors on the market, some are eye-wateringly expensive but don’t let those "top shelf" models make you feel as though you could be getting a cut-price afterthought in the lower-end of the studio monitor price range. Luckily there is a lot more choice in the budget end of the studio monitor with many top monitor brands competing for market share. If you are currently considering a set of low-cost studio monitors then take your time to find the right set of monitors for your needs and studio:
2. Small Studio Monitors Perform Better In Small Studio Spaces
There is little point using large studio monitors if your studio space is small, or worse still, square-shaped studio. Large drivers in bulky monitors typically produce more low-end than smaller monitors, which sounds good in practice but you’ll struggle to hear that extra low to mid range energy from monitors with larger drivers because your small studio may suffer from room modes which either cancel out chunks of the frequency response produced by your monitors, or boost them making the room sound boomy at some frequencies. Cancellations boosting happen because of how the monitors and room properties interact with one and other. Smaller studio monitors (with 5” drivers or less) in small studios are always going to be a pretty good starting point for getting a neutral response as possible because they are going to put low frequency sound into a room that cannot handle it.
3. Help To Keep A Cap On Your Monitoring Levels
It is so easy for us to slowly nudge the volume of our monitors up during long mix sessions. It’s not great for us to mix at loud volumes for a couple of basic reasons:
Long periods of exposure to loud monitors fatigues our ears quickly
Lowend from loud monitors can start to interact with the room more which colours the frequency response.
For me, small studio monitors somehow keep me from cranking them up too loud whereas when I’m working on large monitors my discipline to keep the output set to a sensible level tends to go out the window.
Cons:
1. Narrow Listening Sweet Spot
The sweet spot between a set of monitors is the space you deem to be your optimal listening and mix position. If you have a small studio that you work in alone in which has a small array of gear that you need to reach at any given time in your workflow then a small sweet spot may not be a problem for you. However, if you typically have clients come in to your studio who work with you side by side then a small sweet spot may become a problem. If two or more people are involved in mixing a project you typically want a wide sweet spot so that all parties can experience the closest possible response from the monitors. What you don’t want is your collaborators to hear a mix which has too much bass outside of the sweet spot while you, who is sitting in the perfect listening position, hear the mix as intended. Much of getting the listening position set up correctly is down to adopting good practices when it comes to studio monitor placement, and acoustic treatment but in my experience, small drivers in small studio monitors don’t always provide the largest sweet spot.
2. Low-End Loss
The sub lows are often a struggle for small studio monitors to reproduce clearly. Many small monitors may state in their advertising info that they reach down to 20Hz but in the real world those promises never really deliver. Typically it can be as high as 80Hz before their frequency flattens out. It’s not all bad news though, most domestic playback systems don't reproduce that subrange very well either and as we have covered too much low end in small room can cause more problems than it solves. To check if your sub ranges are translating well on consumer playback systems you may need to do a fair amount of mix checking on systems outside of your studio. Most small studio monitors with a 5" drivers will start to reproduce something from 40Hz upwards which again, depending on the shape and size of your studio, could be all the low-end energy you need to mix with… unless you typically mix EDM… you may need to couple a subwoofer to your monitors for a little extra low-end reach, but that’s a taste thing.
3. Rear Ported
Early reflections bouncing back to you from the wall behind the studio monitors can colour the overall sound you’ll be experiencing from your listening position making the low-end sound flabby or pronounced. This can be combated with stuffing the ports with socks (but be aware this will mess with the low end response of your speakers), attaching acoustic treatment to the walls behind the monitors or moving the monitors away from the wall altogether. Sometimes a blend of all three will help you get better results from your monitoring if you find that the rear ports are causing you problems.