In this article, we highlight a selection of popular studio monitors you can buy today from low-cost solutions suitable for home studios through to high-end loudspeakers suitable for top-of-the-range pro facilities. Alongside our most recent reviews, we also feature a selection of monitoring accessories, designed to help you improve the performance of your monitoring environment. As an added bonus, we also cover a number of topics aimed at helping you to better understand studio monitors.
A decent set of monitors is an essential requirement in any recording studio. After all, it is the aural window into what we do. Without them we are working blind, so we need tools to tell us the truth. Without a decent set of monitors placed in a room with reasonable acoustics, we would be lost.
As a result, we demand a lot from monitors, especially when response and durability are concerned. Over time microphones, preamps, computers and especially plug-ins come and go, but for many, a set of solid-sounding studio monitors that we trust can stay in service for at least a decade, often longer. These are long-term purchases, which make it doubly important for us to know what our options are when considering a new set of monitors for our studio.
This article isn’t meant to be an exhaustive list of every product on the market. Rather the article curates the reviews, and articles that we already have on the site that cover this very important topic.
Monitors Suited For Small Home Recording Studios On Tight Budgets
Choosing a set of studio monitors on a budget for a home recording studio can be a minefield, after all, the choice is vast in this price range, which means determining which is best can be challenging. Our first piece of advice is to establish a modest budget and stick to it while you consider your options.
For those new to audio production, expensive sets of $2,000+ near field active monitors may well be out of your price range. Don’t worry as there are plenty of great-sounding studio monitors to choose from for a lot less. Here is a selection of studio monitors for less than $500 per pair that we have reviewed. Check them out to find out what we think of these low-cost studio monitors.
Guide Price Range: Up to $500 for a pair
We put ADAM Audio’s new low cost T Series Studio Monitors to test to find out if they are any good. Are the T7V and T5V monitors a cheap shot to enter the budget home studio market or are these the studio monitor bargain of the century?
The original iLouds were a huge hit. The new Precision range are a big step up. How are these ‘grown up’ iLouds? Julian tests them to find out…
The Kali LP6 monitors have been heralded as something of a new standard about exactly what we should expect in terms of performance and price when it comes to studio monitoring. Julian spends some time with them to consider exactly what you can expect for not a great deal of money when it comes to monitors.
PreSonus have announced an update the the popular, and remarkably good value Eris line of nearfield monitors. We were very impressed with the old design so this update will hopefully take and already good sounding and very good value speaker and make it even better. Find pout what has changed.
How much do you have to spend to get a pair of monitors which are good enough to use to make reliable mixing decisions? Considering how important monitoring is to every decision you make when mixing and that monitors are one of those categories of equipment where the people who can will spend tens of thousands on “professional monitoring”. Is it sensible to mix on monitors which cost this little?
We don't do star rated reviews on Pro Tools Expert but if we did the IK Multimedia iLoud Micro Monitors would get 10 out of 10, two thumbs up and a lolly pop for being good. IK Multimedia sometimes gets a bad rap for their hardware products being too consumer or not "pro" enough, that may be true in some areas of their product range but don't paint the iLoud Micro Monitors with the same brush.
To help you even more with advice on choosing monitors for under $500 then check out our article Our Top Pick Of 5 Great Sounding Nearfield Active Studio Monitors You Can Buy Today For Less Than $500 For The Pair
Affordable Studio Monitors For Medium Sized Studios For $500 to $3,000
You may have outgrown your first set of low-cost monitors, or you may have a larger budget to invest. Whatever your reasons for considering studio monitors in this price range, you will quickly discover that yet again you are not short on choice.
Unlike low-cost monitors, the products below, these options vary quite a lot in features and performance. Below you can check out our recent reviews in this price range. In our reviews, you will find that we provide detailed descriptions with real-world listening evaluations to help you understand the distinctions between some of the most popular studio monitors on the market today.
Guide Price Range: Between $500 - $3,000 for a pair
In this, on test article, we try the Kali Audio IN8, an ultra-affordable, dual-concentric, 3-way monitor. A combination which is so unusual it may be unique. However, while it may not have any direct competition, is it any good? We find out.
The Kali LP6 monitors have been heralded as something of a new standard about exactly what we should expect in terms of performance and price when it comes to studio monitoring. Julian spends some time with them to consider exactly what you can expect for not a great deal of money when it comes to monitors.
The Neumann KH 80 DSP sounds bigger than it is, and it offers DSP speaker correction even if you don’t have a measurement mic.
Most of us working in home studios use 2-way nearfield monitoring. 3-way monitors in smaller home studio environments are often impractical for three reasons. First, is cost, second is the physical size of the monitors and third is the size of the room. Eve Audio have a unique solution to 3 way monitoring with their SC305 model, that addresses all these obstacles.
Why do we want great studio monitors? That is not an obvious question to answer. On one hand, we want some degree of gratification as we are working on our music. In other words, we want it to sound good. But we also want to make sure we are mixing our music properly so that it will sound great wherever it is listened to. I am going to suggest a third facet. The better our studio monitors are, the more we take them for granted. And that is a good thing! The main thing I want from my monitors is to not think about them. I mean like ever.
The Result6 studio monitor is the result of many years of research and development and has culminated in the first product from PMC that sits in a surprisingly affordable price range. Simple in design yet not lacking high tech innovation, the Result6 features a 6.5" woofer powered by a 100W amp, and a 27mm, soft-dome tweeter powered by a 65W amp. Surrounding the twetter are D-Fins which widen the listening sweet spot and reduce any negative edge effects from the sides of the cabinet.
Back in April 2016, I was invited to visit the Dynaudio factory in Denmark. This was to coincide with the announcement of their new range of professional studio monitors the LYD series. Later in September 2016 I finally received the opportunity to review the then, full range of LYD speaker in my home studio. Now in 2017, I am able to review the latest speaker in the LYD range the LYD48.
Recently I have become aware that my beloved Rogers LS3/5a monitors, that I have had since 1977, are not as good as I thought they were. It may be their age or the design limits of the speakers, but it has become clear to me that they were not as neutral as I thought they were.
To help you even more with advice on choosing monitors for between $500 and $3,000 then check out our article Our Pick Of Monitors in the £500 To £1000 Price Range - Here Are Eight You Might Consider
High-End Studio Monitors For Demanding Professional Audio Engineers Starting from $3,000 Per Pair
If you are the sort of audio engineer who demands a lot from your monitors then you can consider a pair from the next selection starting from $3,000, with one or two options exceeding $10,000 for a pair.
Price Range: $3,000+ for a pair
In this round up we look at the choices available if you want to move up into the world of 3 way monitors. They cost more but not as much as you might think and we think they are well worth considering. Here’s our pick of what’s out there.
I have a few challenges facing me when writing about the Dynaudio Core 47s. I’m going to struggle avoiding saying words like “open”, “powerful” or “transparent” because that is where I keep going when trying to communicate anything meaningful about these fantastic compact three way monitors.
Post-Production Expert Alan Sallabank reveals which piece of studio gear he would never sell, and which he wishes he hadn’t.
At the beginning of each year, we stick our heads above the parapet and make 5 predictions about what we anticipate happening in the worlds of recording, pro audio and post-production in a given year. In this article, we share our industry predictions for 2020.
I always enjoy spending time with proper engineers, not sound engineers (though I like them too) but real engineers who design and build stuff, because so much of their work is about simplifying problems and through clear thinking, solving those problems. This is especially evident in my recent chat with Klaus Heinz of HEDD about why he designed the new Tower Mains to be big powerful sealed boxes.
Having enjoyed the HEDD Type 05 two way monitors Julian tries the bigger Type 20 3 way monitors and their accompanying Lineariser plug-in. See what he made of them in this, his latest on test article.
Julian tries the 3 way, infinite baffle KH 310 monitors and finds they tick all the right boxes. Find out more about why he liked them so much in our latest on test article.
I was intrigued to hear the Kii Threes I’d heard so much about, and the opportunity presented itself on a recent visit to Russ' studio. Are they all they as good as people say?
Any Monitor Speaker Can Sound Good In An An-echoic Chamber, But How Good Are Genelec’s “The Ones” 8331 and 8341 SAM monitors in a challenging environment? Has Genelec re-written the rule book for rear ported monitors? Check out my review to find out…
Unity Audio are a small British company that have made a successful transition from high-end audio gear distribution into high-end monitor manufacturer. They currently make a range of 4 near to medium field monitors with accompanying subs and accessories and they were kind enough to send me a pair of their Super Rocks to review.
Cards on the table time - I've long been a fan of Genelec - I like the sound their monitors make, and personally feel that they translate well. However I am very aware that they're not to everyone's tastes, and I've experienced quite a few installations where they've been forced into speaker locations and acoustic environments that don't help them sound their best.
My first encounter with Amphion speakers was in Basevalley studios in Holland, I was very impressed with the sound quality, but while I was working in Holland I only got a chance to produce using these monitors so I was intrigued to see how well they performed in a mix scenario.
One of the more recent developments in speaker design is the use of digital signal processing to help improve the sound even further. You might want to read our article on this topic DSP In Studio Monitors - Do You Need DSP To Get A Great Sound? We Look At What Some Of The Top Brands Are Doing
Studio Monitors Accessories
So far we have considered the studio monitor speakers but buying a new set of studio monitors isn't the whole story. You may want to consider accessorises like isolation, stands and speaker correction technologies to help improve your studio monitoring even more.
Although this selection of studio monitor accessories are not mandatory, they are popular and have their place in many studios. Some could be a future consideration when budget permits…
No monitors are perfectly flat, and no room is acoustically perfect. You “learn” to work in your environment and that’s that. You learn to compensate through trial and error and experience until your mixes sound good. Period. Well, not so much. You’ll have to read through to the end of my review of the Sonarworks Reference 4 software to see how my prejudices have been modified through the experience of using this system.
In this review Mike Thornton, Editor of Pro Tools Expert, takes a look at a new entrant in the room correction arena the Dirac Live solution which is available as software and as a 1U hardware unit embedded in a miniDSP unit. Mike explains how the Dirac Live system works, how he installed and used the miniDSP DDRC-88A to use on his 5.1 monitoring system and of course what he thought of it.
In a poll, we asked “Do you use speaker isolation? If so which type do you use?” and in this article, we analyse the results and also ask 2 experts do put the case for and against speaker isolation to see if speaker Isolation is Fact or Bullshit.
Focusrite have announced the RedNet R1, a monitor controller which can control a range of different monitor output setups, ranging from mono through to 7.1.4 surround, including Dolby Atmos. We have the details.
Having the right monitor stands is as important as having the right monitors but it’s much easier to understand your options when buying monitors than it is buying the stands which will position them in the right place relative to your ears. If you need to know what’s out there this list will get you started.
Off-the-shelf monitor isolation products do indeed look the part but how can we know for sure that these types of tools work and if they do, how great are the benefits to our monitoring? Are they glorified gadgets or are they essential for our monitor performance?
Monitor stands are very simple devices that provide a wide range studio monitoring benefits. By and large, the biggest benefit of placing monitors on stands is that this setup improves studio monitor performance thus the overall sound quality that monitors can produce in studios.
continuing the theme of studio monitor accessories, monitor controller functionality often are included in a DAW interface or control surface, but the features in these situations may not be comprehensive enough and in these cases, you may want to consider a dedicated monitor controller. if so check out our article 7 Features Every Monitor Controller Should Have - How Does Yours Compare?
In this article, we share our current studio monitor controller solutions with the reasons behind our choices. Most users control their monitors with the built-in facilities in their audio interfaces, however, some of us use dedicated units. Read on to find out what we use to control our studio monitors.
Do You Need A Subwoofer? If You Do, EVE Audio Has Four Different Models For You To Choose From
Lessons In Studio Monitors
To conclude this roundup , you may want to check out several of our articles which dig deeper into a number of important studio monitor topics…
It’s an unavoidable truth that monitoring through loudspeakers gets complicated. Here is our advice on how to get the best from your monitors, starting with where they are positioned in the room.
At least three members of the Production Expert team are fans of AMT tweeters, often referred to as ribbon tweeters. They work in a very different way to conventional tweeters as perform differently too. Have you heard any? If not maybe you should…
The AMT ribbon tweeters used by HEDD sound great but how do they work? Though these drivers do share some important elements with ribbon mics they aren’t just a ribbon mic working in reverse. See how they work and why they have important advantages over conventional pistonic tweeters.
When quality studio monitors are concerned I don't believe it really matters how much they cost, If a set of studio monitors are not positioned correctly in your studio you will most likely get a cheap and nasty sound from them that you won't be able to live with or trust when mixing. If you have not put any care and attention into setting up your monitors you will struggle to mix a track to translate properly on playback systems outside the studio.
In this short 1 minute video we show you how to quickly fix a pushed in studio monitor tweeter dome. It seems young children cannot resist the urge to push in monitor tweeters, why they do this? We haven't a clue.
As long as the pushed in tweeter isn't punctured or damaged in any other way this tip will help you pull out pushed in tweeters returning them back to their normal shape in seconds.
We rely heavily on studio monitors to make critical tracking and mix decisions, so it is important we use monitors that we can trust. We also punish monitors day in day out in, so we need to be able to trust their reliability, but we also need to be able to know in our hearts that we have invested in a set of monitors that provide a good return on investment.
We hope this roundup has helped you if you are looking for a new studio monitoring setup. This article isn’t meant to be an exhaustive list of every product on the market. Rather the article curates the reviews, and articles that we already have on the site that cover this very important topic.