Best Monitor Speakers for Keyboards

[ChrisNabil]

Before you shell out cash and buy additional kit you may find that simply repositioning the L & R speakers off the isolation racks and place them level with your head when you are playing the keyboard makes a difference, also where they are positioned relative to the wall behind them will make a considerable difference.

At the rear of your speakers you should find the switches that I was referring to, try adjusting them both where they are and when you have the speakers at head height.

Btw, the Yamaha Manual for your speakers states that the L & R pair should be positioned at least 1.5m from a wall or room corner.

Thank you Biggles,

I am going to get some speaker stands and raise them off the floor. I actually have my keyboard(s) set up in my office at the mo. I live in Phoenix and the best room of the house (sunroom) does not have air conditioning at the moment. It is still 100 + here so to hot in there!. "Unfortunately the keyboard set up i have right not is not worthy of putting in the main living room" (actual words from my wife lol) but that is understandable... its not like owning a piano or organ so at the moment i am a bit restricted space wise I have already bought the equalizer ect... so in conjunction with your great tips and the assistance from Gary i think i will have a much better set up!!.

You are all great on here... sometimes forums can be a bit hit or miss but already you guys have helped me so much so thank you!

Once i get my set up and running i will post a photo!

 

[happyrat1]

Chris >>> A word of warning about running keyboards, amps, computers, etc in temps above 80 F.

Heat is the sworn enemy of electronics.

If you can't run the keyboard or the computer in an air conditioned room I'd advise not running them during daylight hours but instead waiting for the evening and opening the windows.

Manufacturers take great pains to try and dissipate heat from electronic equipment but generally you'll see that the operating environment in the specs should not exceed 84 F.

Even if you take extra precautions like running an extra fan, excess heat WILL destroy your equipment eventually.

Here's wishing you luck

Gary

 

[ChrisNabil]

Chris >>> A word of warning about running keyboards, amps, computers, etc in temps above 80 F.

Heat is the sworn enemy of electronics.

If you can't run the keyboard or the computer in an air conditioned room I'd advise not running them during daylight hours but instead waiting for the evening and opening the windows.

Manufacturers take great pains to try and dissipate heat from electronic equipment but generally you'll see that the operating environment in the specs should not exceed 84 F.

Even if you take extra precautions like running an extra fan, excess heat WILL destroy your equipment eventually.

Here's wishing you luck

Gary

Yes!!, Thank you Gary!... there is no way i would even attempt to run my keyboards ect in a room that was not air conditioned. After all said and done i have invested just a little under $10,000 in my set up so i intend to be very careful!.

 

[happyrat1]

Good to know you're aware of it.

A comfortable ambient temperature for people and electronics is generally in the room temperature range of 68 F to 76 F.

Stay in that range and your equipment will hopefully keep humming along for decades.

Gary

 

[cpcohen1945]

What Biggles says:

Position the speakers so the tweeters point to your ears, not your legs.

If that fails, EQ is the next step.

. charles

 

[Biggles]

I am part of a group who puts on movie shows to all who ask, often to groups of up to 120 people.

We feed the output from a media player into our AV amp and from the Amp we then feed the audio to a large pair of Mission speakers dimensions are c800x300x300

Where we place these speakers makes a tremendous difference to the sound quality.

At floor level the bass is great, mid range is dull and muted, top end is like a filter has been applied.

Place a pair of tables either side of the projection screen and place the speakers on the tables then the sound is bright and clear throughout the range.

Sorry I did not mention this at the start.

 

[ChrisNabil]

I am part of a group who puts on movie shows to all who ask, often to groups of up to 120 people.

We feed the output from a media player into our AV amp and from the Amp we then feed the audio to a large pair of Mission speakers dimensions are c800x300x300

Where we place these speakers makes a tremendous difference to the sound quality.

At floor level the bass is great, mid range is dull and muted, top end is like a filter has been applied.

Place a pair of tables either side of the projection screen and place the speakers on the tables then the sound is bright and clear throughout the range.

Sorry I did not mention this at the start.

Not at all!, thank you for the info!. I was looking around foe some nice wooden speaker stands but some were unjustifiably expensive so i went to Goodwill and got a pair of bedside tables for $15!.

 

[cpcohen1945]

I was looking around foe some nice wooden speaker stands but some were unjustifiably expensive so i went to Goodwill and got a pair of bedside tables for $15!.​

Good idea, and way cheaper than new speakers!

. Charles

 

[ChrisNabil]

Now that i have my speakers raised up a bit more and i have an equalizer on the way i feel much happier with my set-up. Just a question, i have seen many talk about Genelec monitors and although expensive i have heard they are amazing. The trouble is whenever i look for info on monitors i only find info on how they sound when mixing music in a studio but very little info on how they sound rigged up to keyboards. The ones i have seen would cost about $1750 for a pair and thats used.

As i have said before i come from a background of playing the organ and the sound on a good organ seems to surround you more. Even though the sound out of my monitors is very good and i am sure even better once my EQ arrives i still dont feel that its as good as a top of the line organ.

Do any of you have experience using hi end monitors?

Many thanks guys!

 

[happyrat1]

What the hell are ya looking for now Chris? A pair of these???

Unless you just won the lottery I don't see the point.

Even the best speakers ever made still have distortion numbers in the low 1-2% range.

Speakers have always been the weakest link in the audio chain since day one.

Your Yamaha nearfield monitors and sub are the first choice of many recording studios and throwing gobs of money at it for VERY marginal degrees of improvement are simply a waste

This is my honest opinion.

Gary

 

[ChrisNabil]

What the hell are ya looking for now Chris? A pair of these???

Unless you just won the lottery I don't see the point.

Even the best speakers ever made still have distortion numbers in the low 1-2% range.

Speakers have always been the weakest link in the audio chain since day one.

Your Yamaha nearfield monitors and sub are the first choice of many recording studios and throwing gobs of money at it for VERY marginal degrees of improvement are simply a waste

This is my honest opinion.

Gary

Hahaha . I thank you for your honest reply Gary!. It not loudness but quality i am seeking. Dont get me wrong, i am very happy with what i got. I heard a while back that the Yamaha monitors i have were classed as "amateurish" and not really for professional use... i just wondered if that was the case.

Many thanks Gary!

 

[happyrat1]

No problem Chris.

Once your Equalizer arrives and you've tailored the sound to your liking I seriously doubt that you'll really need anything more robust for a home studio.

At least not unless you want serious hearing damage.

Your neighbours will thank you as well for not rattling their windows.

The church and theater organs you described are designed to fill huge halls of noisy people and often are amped additionally thru PA systems. They also tend to use effects like overdrive and Leslie rotary modulations to achieve that "crunchy" sound. Your Montage and Genos are probably capable of those effects as well but they are not default settings.

You will have to dig thru the manual to learn how to use insert FX and global FX to achieve the timbres you seek.

You can also add effects pedals like the ventilator pedal to achieve these effects as well.

All of these factors combined can give you the sound you are missing but it will take some work and swapping speakers is not the answer.

And if you have your heart set on a realistic Hammond sound you may want to invest instead in a dedicated organ module and use the Montage and Genos as controllers instead.

At least that's my take if you want the music to "feel" in your gut the way you remembered.

Gary

 

[ChrisNabil]

No problem Chris.

Once your Equalizer arrives and you've tailored the sound to your liking I seriously doubt that you'll really need anything more robust for a home studio.

At least not unless you want serious hearing damage.

Your neighbours will thank you as well for not rattling their windows.

The church and theater organs you described are designed to fill huge halls of noisy people and often are amped additionally thru PA systems. They also tend to use effects like overdrive and Leslie rotary modulations to achieve that "crunchy" sound. Your Montage and Genos are probably capable of those effects as well but they are not default settings.

You will have to dig thru the manual to learn how to use insert FX and global FX to achieve the timbres you seek.

You can also add effects pedals like the ventilator pedal to achieve these effects as well.

All of these factors combined can give you the sound you are missing but it will take some work and swapping speakers is not the answer.

And if you have your heart set on a realistic Hammond sound you may want to invest instead in a dedicated organ module and use the Montage and Genos as controllers instead.

At least that's my take if you want the music to "feel" in your gut the way you remembered.

Gary

Great knowledge Gary thank you for your tips. I think honestly its going to take me a few months to just get used to these two keyboards. There is so much to learn!

All the best pal!

 

[Biggles]

All the reviews of your HS7 speakers alone that I have seen give them 4.5/5 out of 5, then add in your Sub and you have a great system.

Spending a shed load of cash upgrading does not, nor will not give a linear improvement in sound quality, it is more like a law of diminishing returns.

One of my favourite artists to go and see plays a Hammond on many of his songs (he also plays keys backing Eric Clapton) where he plays the Hammond the sound is fantastic, far better than the pseudo Hammond effects that I have heard on mainstream keyboards so yes if you want this sound go with Gary’s suggestion. I can achieve drawbar and Leslie effects on my PA700 and whilst good it is lacking in the room filling ambience that a module can achieve. I tend to hunt for this feature when I have a noodle around in my many local music stores.

 

[ChrisNabil]

All the reviews of your HS7 speakers alone that I have seen give them 4.5/5 out of 5, then add in your Sub and you have a great system.

Spending a shed load of cash upgrading does not, nor will not give a linear improvement in sound quality, it is more like a law of diminishing returns.

One of my favourite artists to go and see plays a Hammond on many of his songs (he also plays keys backing Eric Clapton) where he plays the Hammond the sound is fantastic, far better than the pseudo Hammond effects that I have heard on mainstream keyboards so yes if you want this sound go with Gary’s suggestion. I can achieve drawbar and Leslie effects on my PA700 and whilst good it is lacking in the room filling ambience that a module can achieve. I tend to hunt for this feature when I have a noodle around in my many local music stores.

Thank you for your reply Biggles. I am so glad that i signed up to this forum as i am sure i would of spent lots more money for no need. That module that you and Gary has spoke of seems like something i might buy in the future. Are there different types on modules or is there just one?. Thank you guys i really do appreciate the time you have taken to try and steer me in the right direction!

 

[happyrat1]

There are a few Hammond Clonewheel Modules around.

The one I have is the Ferrofish B4000+. I like it but it has a few personality quirks that take some getting used to.

There's also one that Delaware Dave swears by but for the life of me I can't remember the name.

He's one of the biggest Hammond freaks on the forum so hopefully he'll chime in with his suggestions.

There are others out there both from big name manufacturers like Roland as well as others from boutique synth makers who only make the one product.

Gary

 

[ChrisNabil]

There are a few Hammond Clonewheel Modules around.

The one I have is the Ferrofish B4000+. I like it but it has a few personality quirks that take some getting used to.

There's also one that Delaware Dave swears by but for the life of me I can't remember the name.

He's one of the biggest Hammond freaks on the forum so hopefully he'll chime in with his suggestions.

There are others out there both from big name manufacturers like Roland as well as others from boutique synth makers who only make the one product.

Gary

Interesting stuff Gary, thank you. Seems like with a bit of knowledge you can pretty much make your keyboard(s) sound like anything you want!. In the ideal world i would like the ability to have both a Hammond and Theater organ thing going on.

 

[happyrat1]

Like I said, before you drop a bundle on a marginal improvement in acoustics you might want to add a Dave Smith Prophet 12 Rack Module to your setup that would make Rick Wakeman soil himself with envy

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod...h_instruments_dsi_1300_prophet_12_module.html

To paraphrase the Fabulous, Furry Freak Brothers, "Money will get you thru times of no dope better than dope will get you thru times of no money..."

Gary

 

[ChrisNabil]

Like I said, before you drop a bundle on a marginal improvement in acoustics you might want to add a Dave Smith Prophet 12 Rack Module to your setup that would make Rick Wakeman soil himself with envy

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod...h_instruments_dsi_1300_prophet_12_module.html

To paraphrase the Fabulous, Furry Freak Brothers, "Money will get you thru times of no dope better than dope will get you thru times of no money..."

Gary

Hahaha .... I think that is a true statement.

 

[ChrisNabil]

Like I said, before you drop a bundle on a marginal improvement in acoustics you might want to add a Dave Smith Prophet 12 Rack Module to your setup that would make Rick Wakeman soil himself with envy

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod...h_instruments_dsi_1300_prophet_12_module.html

To paraphrase the Fabulous, Furry Freak Brothers, "Money will get you thru times of no dope better than dope will get you thru times of no money..."

Gary

Quick question Gary if you don't mind. When i get my EQ which looks like tomorrow, how do i set it up... i have the cables and its pretty obvious that i need to connect two of them into the back of the EQ but where do i put the other two?. The subwoofer already has four cables coming out the back (both monitors and two others running into the Montage.). Many thanks!