Well, I took the plunge and in doing so gave up some serious dough for, surprise, surprise, - a new pair of nearfields. Not just any nearfields mind you, these puppies are at the front of the pack for sonic greatness without having to fork over several more thousand i.e. - the next step up - and beyond the reach of most musicians except for the extremely wealthy ones like Al Giordano, etc. - the ones that elite major recording studios have.

Which ones you ask? Are you sitting down? I got the new Mackie HR824 MK2 studio reference monitors. These monitors are superb, period! I'm hearing things in songs and in mixes that I've never heard before! Hopefully it will translate into better recorded mixes and songs with my keyboard(s) and sound module. If it doesn't it won't be the Mackie's fault that's for sure. Yes siree, I'm glad I took a shot on these monitors because they absolutely didn't disappoint. They have a very flat frequency response where the Bass is awesome and the Mid and Highs are simply fabulous! I ended up getting the Mackies after reading many positive reviews and then demoing them myself at a local GC. GC had many different brands of nearfields setup for auditioning but the Mackies were the ones that won me over, mainly for their superior bass but also for the exquisite highs and mids as well. The Mackies were setup side by side with KRK, ADAM, Genelec, Event, Yamaha, and Dynaudio and a few others. And it just so happened that the Mackie HR824 MK2's were on sale.

All I want to say is I'm glad I took the plunge. These are truly "professional" monitors and it was money well spent in my opinion. It brings my sound to a new level; or rather, to a new 'pinnacle' if you will.

The Mackies are very revealing in telling you whether a song was mixed well or not. It brings out all the intricate sonic details of a song and if there are flaws in the recording (in the Mix) the Mackies let you know. I like my Yammie MSP5's to this day but they simply can't hold a candle to my new Mackies. They are in a different class of course i.e. the Mackies are 8 inch monitors with an 8.75" driver whereas the MSP5's have roughly 5 inch drivers. But the Mackies are in a different league as well.

>> Sorry for being long winded but I feel like a proud new papa and I just had to share the good tidings with my fellow zoners.

Best,
Mike

[This message has been edited by keybplayer (edited 05-12-2008).]

If you think the Mackie's are allowing you to hear things you've never heard before in a mix, listen to a pair of high end Mastering monitors and you'll be shocked by what you can hear that you can't hear on the Mackie's. Great monitors allow you to hear subtle details in sound and things like reverb tails and delay regenerations are present that lower priced monitors just can't reproduce. Monitors are the most often overlooked part of the audio chain and one of the pieces of equipment most people won't spend lots of money on. Tell someone you spent $5,000.00 on a set of studio monitors and they'll think you're crazy. Tell them you spent that same amount on a nice guitar or workstation and that won't seem as absurd to them.

No matter what type of music you produce a great set of studio monitors is beneficial to you.

Good Luck Mike with your new monitors.......can I EGG you on (as Diki would say ) that maybe some day we'll hear some great MIXED tunes using them for your songs? If Not that's ok also.
Use them well in your projects & Enjoy.

[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 05-13-2008).]

Congratulations Mike on your new monitors. Sure is nice to get the toys. I really like my Mackie 450V2 powered speakers and feel the same about the detail I hear with these things live.

Good monitors are a revelation for some people...they do make a big difference.

Trick is to get a set that doesn't "color" the sound.

I use powered Yamaha MS60S monitors, and I also use a pair of unpowered B&W DM110 with a Radio Shack STA100 power amp.

These units are perfect for my needs.

Congrats on your new speakers.

Ian

I've had my HR824's (Mki's) for several years now... and while I know that there ARE higher priced and more revealing monitors out there, the bang for your buck is outstanding, their ability to not induce ear fatigue is wonderful, and every mix I've done on these has translated without hitch to MUCH higher end systems (studio has a VERY high end set of B&W's), so accuracy doesn't worry me.

You made a good choice, at this price point, IMO... Congratulations.

I appreciate everyone's responses and feedback. I've thought about getting the Mackie SM450v2 for a while now for live use and may eventually get them. By the time I decide though Mackie will probably have a successor to the SM450v2's available in stores. Which may be a good thing in my case because that will bring the price of the SM450v2 down some and I could save a buck. I don't mind spending money on something of high quality if it fits the bill for my playing needs but I also consider myself somewhat frugal and try to save where I can. Thrifty I guess you could call it. As opposed to Spendthrift. You know, like Fran.. lol Just kidding Fran!

Ensnareyou, I know what you're talking about. A set of monitors costing under $3,000 (a pair) is not what the recording engineers of America consider as truly professional from what I've heard. That said, some companies are able to produce outstanding quality speakers at a price point below that threshold and still give a person professional results. If they know what they're doing of course. Not that I do, you understand. lol.. Hopefully I will learn as I go and not mess things up too badly with my recordings.. ha ha. Time will tell but like I said it won't be the Mackie's fault. They will take some time to adjust to as well since I've used the MSP5's exclusively for a few years now for my monitoring purposes and they have a different sound needless to say.

Also Ensnareyou, I see from your profile that you are a recording engineer yourself. Are you working in the field currently or retired? Did you or do you work with any well known artists? Just curious..

Thanks again everyone. Yeah, they're definitely keepers alright.

Best,
Mike

[This message has been edited by keybplayer (edited 05-14-2008).]

Nice choice. Only knock I've heard on the 824's is that they're somewhat 'bass-heavy'. For that reason, lots of semi-pro's and not-so-wealthy pro's (home and project studios) opt for the 624's, which they claim is more accurate (and cheaper).

Monitors are such strange beasts. There is the old "if they sound good on these (auratones, ns10's), they'll sound good on anything" school. There's also the Hip-hop producers who love the extended bass of the 824's. There are those that LIKE color and those that like absolute transparency (adams, etc.). I think most people (with good ears) can learn to get a decent mix out of whatever they get used to (in the thousand dollar range). I suppose ear fatigue is a factor if you're doing a long session but I've never experienced it myself.

Although I've got a Alesis RA-100 hooked up to a pair of Tannoy's on the computer, I use a pair of Roland digitals on my DPS24 and I've gotten pretty used to those after 5 ot 6 years. As a general rule, I think powered monitors are going to give you superior performance than unpowered (amp/speaker compatibility). I tend to go for what reproduces my KB's best in the studio; not the best criteria, probably. Anyhoo, good luck. BTW, are there any advertised advantages or improvements with the new model 824's?

chas

Accuracy of nearfields has a lot to do with the room they are in. What might be bass heavy in one room might be different in another, Another issue is placement... free standing, by a wall, in a corner, wherever.

Get the Mackies away from walls, and they tighten up a lot in the bass, plus they have a degree of tone control on the boxes. Yes, I've heard people set them up very bassy, for hip hop production (and at least you don't need a sub, with all IT'S problems at moderate levels), but they can be dialed in quite well... Like I said, no translation problems to our B&W's, so far

The main thing about them is they are hooked to my computer, my keyboards, everything I listen to. Whatever small amount of color they may have, I get used to listening to everything through them, so I am very aware of what a well mixed and mastered sound SHOULD sound like on these speakers.

You CAN pay a lot more, but these, IMO are at the bottom end of a diminishing returns scenario. You have to pay a LOT more money for anything discernibly better, but they sound, at least to my ears, a LOT better than anything else any cheaper, and better than most at the same price range, IMO. They were a HUGE improvement over my Event 20/20bas's, which I used prior to these.

But make sure you pay VERY careful attention to placement... rearrange your room if you have to! You put ANY nearfield in the wrong place, no matter what the cost, and you create all kinds of problems.

Mike,
I use a set of 824's ( mk1) for 7 yesrs now.
I really love them. Never had a single issue with them and they sound superb.

I think I paid $ 600. each for them at Sweetwater and it was a great investment.

Lee