As a college student.. This is rough

[Madster]

Hey guys, so I'll start with some background info. I used to post a bit on the forums, and I still lurk around just havent been active. Over the last few years i've really gotten into music production and producing all types of music, primarily EDM. 

 

Well, i've gotten to the point where I am discouraged because of the speakers that I have. $30 logitech speakers are not cutting it for me anymore. I have continued to make music, but I am not posting anything right now. I am sitting on a little over 15 tracks that I would like to work on with flat, and correct sounding speakers so I can get the sound quality im looking for. 

 

So I'm looking at Zzounds, and doing their 4 month financing on some Yamaha Hs8's, along with maybe a focusrite 2i2 interface. Runs a pretty penny, will have to finance all of it for over a year. The nice thing is, I can finance each speaker, and the interface one by one, until I have all the gear I need. Will just take some time, which I guess is okay since I'm starting to play some shows in Milwaukee, and chicago area here starting this month.

 

This post is useless, I just needed to vent about it I guess. Trying to decide if this is the right thing to do for the equipment I need, or if there is a better way. 

 

Sorry for wasting your time, would love to hear your input on my choice of speakers/interface.

 

Glad to be back on LTT.

 

- Madster

[DXMember]

you do realize that your consumers will probly be sitting on $3.50 Defender speakers, and all the effort you put in will go to waste?

[Madster]

Just now, DXMember said:

you do realize that your consumers will probly be sitting on $3.50 Defender speakers, and all the effort you put in will go to waste?

Is it really a waste though, if I'm playing shows that are not shit speakers, and legit sound systems. If my tracks dont sound correct it will for sure sound like shit on a big system. 

[DXMember]

2 minutes ago, Madster said:

Is it really a waste though, if I'm playing shows that are not shit speakers, and legit sound systems. If my tracks dont sound correct it will for sure sound like shit on a big system. 

if that's the case...

Go for it! The world is  your pearl!

[GTechGeorge]

I'm not really much of an audiophile so I can't say a lot about a difference between some $350 speakers and my $100 Mackie CR3's, but personally mine sound really good with nice bass and get super loud. For live shows or something, you may be interested in the CR4's which have a 1" larger subwoofer and aren't too much more. If looks are a priority they sell some black and white/silver ones on Amazon for same price. They also sell different series speakers but I can't really speak for those.

[LooneyJuice]

This is probably a very unqualified opinion, but couldn't you also make do with a decent pair of open-back headphones? Sure, fancy speaker setups are generally the preferred way, but a pair of headphones suitable for use as studio monitors imo offer good portability and reduce issues with poorly prepared spaces.

[Madster]

10 minutes ago, StrikerX1360 said:

I'm not really much of an audiophile so I can't say a lot about a difference between some $350 speakers and my $100 Mackie CR3's, but personally mine sound really good with nice bass and get super loud. For live shows or something, you may be interested in the CR4's which have a 1" larger subwoofer and aren't too much more. If looks are a priority they sell some black and white/silver ones on Amazon for same price. They also sell different series speakers but I can't really speak for those.

Speakers at the shows will already be provided, I show up and play music. 

 

What I'm looking at doing is getting not something bass heavy, or focusing on the highs, but a flat sounding speaker. This helps me with mixing and mastering my own music at home, and in result, a better sounding track when played live. The types of speakers im looking at are called "monitors" basically just speakers for music production, and similar fields. 

 

Two very different types of speakers. If I were just jamming to music, and playing small shows for fun then hell yeah the CR4's would be lit.

 

Although CR4's are considered monitors, quality wise, they wont match with the sound quality of two Hs8's

[Madster]

Just now, LooneyJuice said:

This is probably a very unqualified opinion, but couldn't you also make do with a decent pair of open-back headphones? Sure, fancy speaker setups are generally the preferred way, but a pair of headphones suitable for use as studio monitors imo offers good portability and reduces issues with poorly prepared spaces.

yes, you're not wrong. But this still leaves me with nothing for reference. I can produce on speakers all day, and then use my headphones to reference.

 

I should have noted that I will be investing in some nice production quality headphones to help reference from monitors to headphones. I would rather start with the monitors than the headphones, since I have a decent pair right now that are somewhat working. 

[themctipers]

if you want i can help you out or something like this:

 

send me a WIP track or something, ill listen on my speakers (i am assuming its better than what most people have, 2x Onkyo D-66 + Generic powered subwoofer) and tell you what to fix if there's a mastering problem

[LooneyJuice]

10 minutes ago, Madster said:

yes, you're not wrong. But this still leaves me with nothing for reference. I can produce on speakers all day, and then use my headphones to reference.

 

I should have noted that I will be investing in some nice production quality headphones to help reference from monitors to headphones. I would rather start with the monitors than the headphones, since I have a decent pair right now that are somewhat working. 

Well I haven't done much legit music production, mostly Foley and general audio for varying levels of film production(trust me, nothing fancy) with a couple of tracks here and there. I won't claim to be a master of lots of the nuances regarding music production, but you're obviously on a pretty strict budget. In that sort of situation, with a good ear, and shallow pockets, do you really need to make the distinction? If anything, you could maybe adjust your workflow until things ease up. Maybe produce on headphones and rent some studio time or gear every now and then?

[Madster]

Just now, themctipers said:

if you want i can help you out or something like this:

 

send me a WIP track or something, ill listen on my speakers (i am assuming its better than what most people have, 2x Onkyo D-66 + Generic powered subwoofer) and tell you what to fix if there's a mastering problem

I would love to do this, I'll shoot you a message in the next day or so with a track that im working on.

 

I just feel like after roughly two years, my tracks could be a lot better than where they stand. 

[themctipers]

Just now, Madster said:

I would love to do this, I'll shoot you a message in the next day or so with a track that im working on.

 

I just feel like after roughly two years, my tracks could be a lot better than where they stand. 

alright then

 

the first step is to not make 5-7 minute tracks that are repetative. one or two drops is fine, make the filler stuff original or different sounding but still not that close or the same. 3-4 minutes is a good length.

[Madster]

1 minute ago, LooneyJuice said:

Well I haven't done much legit music production, mostly Foley and general audio for varying levels of film production with a couple of tracks here and there. I won't claim to be a master of lots of the nuances regarding music production, but you're obviously on a pretty strict budget. In that sort of situation, with a good ear, and shallow pockets, do you really need to make the distinction? If anything, you could maybe adjust your workflow until things ease up, maybe producing on headphones and renting some studio time or gear every now and then?

I agree, and I've thought about this a lot over the last 6+ months. I guess it came down to: Do I want to fiddle around, working around my issues now, spend the money I have on studio time/headphones, or go all out, and get the system thats going to last me the next 5+ years of production. I'm planning on majoring in music production with a minor in music business, so it seemed to make sense to me to just go ahead and pull the trigger on the monitors. Thoughts? I honestly have no idea I could be breaking the bank doing it, but it could pan out in the long run. 

[Madster]

2 minutes ago, themctipers said:

alright then

 

the first step is to not make 5-7 minute tracks that are repetative. one or two drops is fine, make the filler stuff original or different sounding but still not that close or the same. 3-4 minutes is a good length.

Yeah, music theory is already well taught haha. I've only ever had one track that has gone past 5 minutes, and thats when I was messing around with synthesizers feeling like deadmau5, making the next big hit haha, ended up being like a 7 or 8 minute track, very similar to deadmau5's tracks but didn't do anything with it. Was just experimenting.  

[Joshua Larsen-Bradford]

Hey not that you were asking for help but, can i recommend getting some second hand guitar amps from your local area. I'm a musician too and using amp speakers is great, both for the volume and the calibration ability as they all have bass, mid, treble control and stuff. just go on ebay, pick up a 2 dollar spiltter cable and whatever size audio jack adaptor you need and bam. 

A lot of musicians will just sell there old amps and provided they aren't a massive metalhead they're usually really good quality and versatile. Good luck and let me know what you think.

[LooneyJuice]

12 minutes ago, Madster said:

I agree, and I've thought about this a lot over the last 6+ months. I guess it came down to: Do I want to fiddle around, working around my issues now, spend the money I have on studio time/headphones, or go all out, and get the system thats going to last me the next 5+ years of production. I'm planning on majoring in music production with a minor in music business, so it seemed to make sense to me to just go ahead and pull the trigger on the monitors. Thoughts? I honestly have no idea I could be breaking the bank doing it, but it could pan out in the long run. 

Well if it's any consolation, here's my thinking on this. When it comes to professions like this (photography, music production, graphic design), it's mostly the personal input that matters, what you bring to the table. I.e. when it comes to photography, you'll always see aspiring photographers try to squeeze their pockets dry to get the next 5 grand camera or set of lenses. And then someone comes up with their grandpa's old FED and a set of knockoff Russian lenses and wipes the floor with everyone.

 

The thing is, no piece of gear is ever going to be enough. You'll always want the next best thing and you'll always have a justification for the next piece of gear. What you really want right now for piece of mind is a nice flat source of audio, the way I see it. So, what I'd do, is take the biggest chunk of money I can afford on a good (albeit not overpriced) pair of open-backs with a nice flat frequency response (the world knows there's plenty of data for that) and rely on my ear. That way I don't have to live from paycheck to paycheck and invest in something that may cost me mobility. There's always someone with a pair of speakers or a studio somewhere. But if you'd going to be doing gigs, if I'm not mistaken, you'll need a bit of a reserve to move around. Hell, I mean, most initial jobs are working for work that'll eventually get you paid. 

 

TL;DR, this is simply an opinion, and I do not wish to hamper your progress, but your ear is by far your biggest asset. You can amass better setups until you're deafer than Beethoven, but if you just wanna produce, you can just nab a good pair of headphones and get started. Anything else, especially if you can't afford it, I see as problems you're making for yourself.

 

 

EDIT: Some idioms