I'm planning a studio, but also want to play live gigs and have a decent PA. So will my mixes be a kick in the nuts if I try to use a PA system for monitoring?

For studio monitors I'm thinking a pair of Yamaha HS80M's. For the PA, a Yamaha EMX512SC powered mixer and JBL JRX115 pair, mainly because of brand recognition for both, and the price isn't sky high. I'll probably be using a Focusrite Liquid Saffire 56 DAW interface (just the one I have my eye on, if there are better suggestions please let me know).

The JBL's are 38hz-16khz, and the HS80M's are 42hz-20khz. Is there an easy way to get tweeters for the PA to reach up to 20khz without spending more than $200 or $300?
I'm planning on spending time and money to treat the room acoustically.

I do have an old Peavey 300W 4-ohm 5-channel mixer, and I could get a pair of Kustom 2x15 4-ohm cabs to make a PA, albeit a rather low quality, bass-heavy PA. Those plus the pair of HS80M's would bring the cost to the same as just the JBL/Yamaha package ($1200), minus a few mics and cables. So is it better to split between the HS80M's and the Kustom PA, or modify the JBL package with some tweeters?

Thanks

PA package:
http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/Yamaha-EMX512SC-JBL-JRX115-PA-Package?sku=630207#new
HS80M:
http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/pro...?sku=601418#new

I don't think you realize exactly how big these speakers are.

There is no way in hell you'd get either of those to work as studio monitors. They're designed for one thing, and one thing only, and that is maximum SPL output. As in, they only sound good REALLY REALLY LOUD!!!

So what's wrong with monitoring at high volume?

I might just go with Rockits and a sub, then go balls out on acoustics, get some cheap tube mics, start movin up from there.

Thanks for the quick reply

If you want cheap monitors, expect cheap sound. Why be in a hurry and buy cheap stuff, only to replace it later with something worthwhile? Slow down, buy smart, buy once, save money, own quality.

Going balls out on the room acoustics (I assume that's what you meant by "acoustics") is a great place to start.

When I started out, it was almost impossible to afford the cost of an individual book on acoustics, written by and for engineers.

Then Alton F Everest and Phil Newell wrote affordable books aimed at the rest of us, most probably available on Amazon.

Then Ethan Winer got into the act, and most everything you need to know about room acoustics is available on his personal site, ethanwiner.com, or his company site, realtraps.com.

Speaking of acoustic treatments, I'm basically thinking about what's worth it when I won't be owning a microphone and preamp combo that's over $1500 any time in the next six to eight months.

Seems like you must have read those books, or at least some of them. I picked up the Acoustic Design for the Home Studio by Mitch Gallagher, it's a good overview. He indicates that most on-the-cheap methods are effective for the most part, but tedious. Are there any acoustic items, like bass traps or diffusors, that you would recommend I definitely buy from a manufacturer like RealTraps, and what sort of other acoustic treatments are fine to construct on my own?

The thing about acoustic treatments is, if you do it right once, you'll never have to do it again, and it will help you develop your monitoring chain all the way through your experience.

If you go to ethans site and read his descriptions and look at his plans, it is easy to construct your own.

Problems is that it is work, and they take up space.

For my studio I used Ethans plans and hired 2 union stagehand carpenters, borrowed a scene shop while the theater was in production (so the shop was unused at that time, and we worked one night..) built all the boxes for the traps and cut the faces, and built all the trays for the absorbers. (I chose to build the absorbers into wooden trays to provide a nice way to screw them into place. Wrapped the 703 with unbleached muslin at 88 cents a yard from Walmart, glued them into the trays that I had built and painted the same color as the wall.) Took the boxes back to the studio, sealed all the seams, stuffed them with 703, put a barrier to prevent the 703 from sagging into the face, calked and air-stapled the faces into place, and put them up. My total cost was around $1500 for a boatload of traps and absorbers.

One caution.... everyone wants to use foam. Yeah, but foam performance degrades significantly in a sharp downward curve from 250 cycles downward. Small rooms like home studios have frequency problems in the areas of... you guessed it... 250 cycles downward.

You don't have to spend a lot of money to get a decent sound, but you can also cheap out, make moves and spend money without thinking, and screw yourself baddly.

First watch out for the deal of the day, second watch out for the product du jure... have you noticed that todays GOTTA HAVE IT product is sitting on the used equipment shelf 10 months from now? I have made it a point to buy proven products, I seldom am in a hurry to buy (if it is great today, it will be just as great tomorrow), and I never believe manufacturers promises.

A 'room kit' from Real Traps is probably around $2300 +/-. I bought one a few years ago for my apartment writing room. It was sure nice to just unpack the boxes and hang the suckers up. Of course, I didn't get near the number of traps that I built for less money, but this was an issue of convenience and speed. Very nice, and I have it in my attic music room now, and it will follow me to the new house we're buying this summer.

Point being that if you read Ethans writings he will point you to the low cost or free gear to determine the problems in your room, and you can explore solutions to fit your needs, rather than just punt and hope you got it right.

If I was recommending a low budget system today, it would probably be based around Magix Samplitude (the entry level version for about $80, which has an upgrade path all the way to their flagship Sequoia which is around $3k ), one of the RME cards...likely the Multiface which is decently expandable. I'm not up on cheap full range monitors but when I was, nothing touched the Mackie HR 824 in their price class, and nothing cheaper was worth buying. There are just too many great mic pres in all price classes over $800, but I would not buy any mic pre for less than that.... simple low budget consoles offer similar sonic performance plus all the benefits of the routing and more channels. Cheaper pres are mostly a marketing issue, not a sonic one. I really stress good mics and waiting to buy them one at a time and getting them used can really be a benefit. But if you cannot wait, Studio Projects offers a number of affordable options and the company seems to stand behind what they build. Personally I prefer stepped attenuation for monitor control, to allow for consistent and repeatable settings. I built my own using Forssell op amps, and it ended up costing close to a grand. The fantastic Cranesong Avocet can often be found used for under $2k. You could build a cheaper one using parts from Gold Point or DACT, and only be into a couple of hundred dollars, maybe less.

My writing room has 2 channels of John Hardy, a 2 channel Great River NV, 2 channels from an old DataMix console (Electric Ladylands original consoles were DataMix), and 2 channels of Midas XL4 with the eqs. Nothing in the megadollar pricerange, but all quite respectable. There are so many choices though, and I could start listing them and it would just get stupid. A little Mackie console is likely a better deal all the way around.

Educate yourself on the basics of the fletcher munson curve, and you'll know why, mixes at high volume sound like ass at low volume, however mixes done at low volume will sound great at high volume.

These are NOT studio monitors, and never will be. Use them only for their intended purpose. I highly recommend one of your first investments is an SPL meter. Keep it on and in front of you at all times when in the control room. Monitor levels should average around 80dbA.

In addition, high volume monitoring creates ear fatigue, drastically shortening your ability to hear accurately.

Bottom line, keep the CR volume down, and always protect your hearing. You got one set of ears, and if damaged, you don't get them back.