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Flareless · 12-29-2011, 06:26 PM

I'm very new to desktop recording (or recording in general for that matter) and I'm in a similar boat. I need monitors. Actually I need two sets; one for jamming live and one for mixing down the tracks.

I'm a drummer and I'm just farting around with some buddies once and a while or producing some tracks on my own and I'm making a small studio at home. In the jam space I need something a little larger that can be used to pump vocals through as well as keyboards as well as mics. In the production area I need something smaller but still wicked awesome clear.

I think I'll end up with something from Mackie. Here's why; Like you I'm using a stereo receiver as my power amp and interface to my speakers. A receiver is not the optimal device for mixing as your getting coloration (for lack of a better word) to the sound between your DAW and your speakers. Powered speakers, especially good quality ones, give a more true reproduction of the sound coming from your board. Another nice fact is that they are self contained units. Less hassle and space if that matters.

A friend has a set of Mackie active studio monitors up on tripods in his studio and I have to say they totally rock. They're not cheap, at around $1000 CDN for a set of 10" studio monitors and another $500 - $600 for reference monitors.

Like Marked23 says, you're going to need an audio interface. I reviewed a pile of them before finally settling on a Mackie 1220i 12 channel mixer. I have a Mac so Firewire works for me nicely. Many mixers also have USB 2.0 interface options.

Having an external mixer gives you a nice bit of separation between computer and audio. You can even run the mixer, speakers and your instruments completely outside of your computer environment. This can come in extremely handy, particularly if your computer is acting flakey. Instruments or sound sources plug into it then routed to your computer for processing in REAPER. You can even get a cheap analog mixer and route its sends back to your PCs audio device (but I'd replace the sound card with a good external source as was suggested).

I hope some of this info is helpful.

12-29-2011, 06:26 PM	#3
Flareless Human being with feelings Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 81	I'm very new to desktop recording (or recording in general for that matter) and I'm in a similar boat. I need monitors. Actually I need two sets; one for jamming live and one for mixing down the tracks. I'm a drummer and I'm just farting around with some buddies once and a while or producing some tracks on my own and I'm making a small studio at home. In the jam space I need something a little larger that can be used to pump vocals through as well as keyboards as well as mics. In the production area I need something smaller but still wicked awesome clear. I think I'll end up with something from Mackie. Here's why; Like you I'm using a stereo receiver as my power amp and interface to my speakers. A receiver is not the optimal device for mixing as your getting coloration (for lack of a better word) to the sound between your DAW and your speakers. Powered speakers, especially good quality ones, give a more true reproduction of the sound coming from your board. Another nice fact is that they are self contained units. Less hassle and space if that matters. A friend has a set of Mackie active studio monitors up on tripods in his studio and I have to say they totally rock. They're not cheap, at around $1000 CDN for a set of 10" studio monitors and another $500 - $600 for reference monitors. Like Marked23 says, you're going to need an audio interface. I reviewed a pile of them before finally settling on a Mackie 1220i 12 channel mixer. I have a Mac so Firewire works for me nicely. Many mixers also have USB 2.0 interface options. Having an external mixer gives you a nice bit of separation between computer and audio. You can even run the mixer, speakers and your instruments completely outside of your computer environment. This can come in extremely handy, particularly if your computer is acting flakey. Instruments or sound sources plug into it then routed to your computer for processing in REAPER. You can even get a cheap analog mixer and route its sends back to your PCs audio device (but I'd replace the sound card with a good external source as was suggested). I hope some of this info is helpful.