hey guys

i'm looking into gettting a pair off mackie HR624's because i'm not happy with my behringer truths. i just thought i'd ask for some user opinions

matt

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My Bands ArdorNocti and Moiraamoth

Hi,

I've got a pair and can say they are excellent - worth the money. As with all speakers though, you need to get used to hearing material you know well on them so that you can trust your mix decisions. Very well controlled bottom end thanks to their design. I haven't auditioned Behringer Truth monitors but you get what you pay for most of the time. I think you'd be making a worthwhile upgrade if you are not getting good results with the Truths.

Andy.

cheers griggsy

i haven't heard the mackies yet i keep meaning to get upto DV in bristol for a demo.

the truths a good but the tweeter amp blow up on one unit so i had to have it send all the way to germany to have it fixed and it hasn't been the same since. theres this really annoying / painful poping and clipping when i alter the volume on my motu 828, and it also seams to run alot hoter than the other so i can't be dealing with them.

and as i'm upgrading to a G5 dp soon i'd rather have a monitoring setup that doesn't cause my ears vast amounts of pain

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My Bands ArdorNocti and Moiraamoth

I agonised for ages over paying the price for a pair of 624s or going for cheaper actives from Behringer or Alesis or whomever. Having had them for the best part of a year now I can honestly say that I have never once regretted biting the bullet and buying the Mackies. Quality lives on long after price is forgotten!!

On a possibly more useful note, they are (imnsho) a great blend of essential honesty and pleasent smoothness. I don't mind a pair of monitors showing me that my mixes (or even commercial recordings) are crap, but I don't want them to tire me out or to irritate me in doing it.

I got mine from Anderton's in Guildford for a very good price btw.



A.

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Andi, www.thedustbowl.net Mixing, Mastering, Audio Editing at The Dustbowl Audio

I have switched from Behringer Truths to Mackies 624, and I'm very pleased. Truths are *ok*, but only for some less demanding tasks. You can, for example, record a vocal monitoring thru Truths, but for any mixing it's pretty much hit or miss (sorry, but that's my opinion). They have a bit tiring high end (which is AFAIK improved in the newer models/series), and a bit 'unrealistic' middle range, something like hi fi speakers (very little like hi fi, but never the less, it's there).
Mackies... are good. If you could stretch your budget to 824, that would be *much* better. Don't get me wrong, 624 are very good, precise, tho lower end doesn't go as far as it could/should (47 Hz on the paper, in reality at about 52 - 55 Hz). They are very loud, you can drive them pretty hard without any artefacts/distorsion, and they are suitable for almost all kinds of music (I DIDN'T do classical music on them, but almost everything else I did). I had to add 2 dB of high end at the rear control panel, as my mixes were 'hissing' a bit on other systems, it could be something else as well (my ears, the room, etc), but I resolved it easily this way. I really like passive radiator construction, that's one of the main reasons why i bought them in the first place (apart from the sound).
Be easy with the low end, after all, they are small monitors. That's why I told you to get 824 if you can. I will get 824 as well (one day ), untill then I can say that 624s will do the job just fine.

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if it's here when we get back, it's ours

Honest answer, as someone who uses both the 624's and 824's on a daily basis, I would definately reccomend the 824's. Though they are perhaps a bit loud (and big) for the smaller room but IMHO they are much better than the 624's (they some how seem far more detailed)

I like the Makcie monitors, but really only for certain stuff. I find them great for mixing guitars and anything on the heavier side of things, they are very flat.I also imagine they would be great in AV situations. I do actually find them a little tiering to use in comparison to other monitors. But very acurate.

I'm not sure what type of materiel you work on, but before shedding out your cash I would give some consideration to Genelecs, Dynaudios and PMC's. But thats only my opinion.

cheers guys

i played a nord lead 3 throught some HR824's in DV in bristol they did sound very nice. but i recon they'll be far to big and loud for my small studio set up.

i make all kinds of music but mainly i work on my own kinda glitch electronica metal kinda autechre meets machine head. but it varys quite abit.

does anyone have experience making simular mixes over the 624's?

matt

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My Bands ArdorNocti and Moiraamoth

FWIW, I worked on music similar to Pitch Shifter and Fear Factory. They're quite ok for that stuff, as I said they can be pushed hard (all tho that's not necessary, mixing goes very well at low level), but don't expect *too* much - a great part of that sound lays in mastering (and in other things as well, like miking technique, recording, mixing, etc...), and for that you need professional mastering studio. However, you can make very, very good mixes on 624s.

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if it's here when we get back, it's ours

for the money they are an excellant speaker. So much so that even though I have just purchased the Genelec 8050A's (stunning) I wont be selling my HR624's in a hurry. They'll still be very useful to me.

Blenn.

OT: How do you proffessional monitor types rate the Alesis M1 actives? (mkii)

They're actually a very good speaker. Especially for £250. At that price they're faultless! The HR624, IMHO, are better but you cant go too wrong with those Alesis for that money.

Blenn

i figured the monitors would be the most important part of my setup so i went straight for the 624's which were actually over my budget. i have never regretted it they're an awesome monitor, i was suprised how much they revealed in songs i had been listening to for years. i used the small genelec's for a bit too which were probably equally as good but with much less bottom end.

what do people mean when they say that monitors are fatiguing or tireing?

It usually means after long periods of time your ears become tired. This is usually caused by the monitors having a very forward midrange sound that just exhausts the ears after a while. Also some titanium tweeters as opposed to the soft domed tweeters tend to do this. But not all.

Blenn

thanks Blenn, what are the symtoms of tired ears? i mean, do they flop down like a rabbits? go red? turn inside out? fall off? do you go deaf?

cheers for all your help guys

well i will defiantly get the 624's with my G5.

i mainly work in logic with drum sample and DI guitar through my boss GT-6 for my stuff, so i don't really have much option with milking with the drums or guitar cabs, but i can get a reasonable sound from my sample kit (although i could do with a beefier snare sound any tips would be much appreciated, the drum sounds came from drum styles vol. 4 on the cover of Future music december 2003). and i prefer the naked sound and midi control of the GT-6.

anyway... cheers for the help, matt

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My Bands ArdorNocti and Moiraamoth

just to add my £0.02 worth,

I haev a pair of the 824s and they are well worth the money. I use them in a fairly small room but that will not always be the case. They are mature technology so it is not as though you will haev to up grade them any minute soon.

Therefore, if you can stretch to the 824s you will not regret it. They will last you for years and years to come.

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"Never put a recording studio in your home, it is a black hole into which you can pour unlimited amounts of money" Pete Waterman.

Adding my 4p's worth, 824s - you don't have to drive them loud to get the bass extension. I have not used 624s personally, but (and this is probably unflattering) I have heard comments like "only worthwhile if you buy the sub as well".

There are way better drum kits than samples that came off the front of a magazine. Assuming you are using Logic EXS24, the bundled factory sounds aren't bad at all! But otherwise, check out some (paid-for) sample CDs - the choice is endless!

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Dynamite with a laser beam...

hey steve

i use the EXS24 but i can never get a satisfactory sound out of the stereo drums kit i think it might be the reverb tail on the samples. i play / program my own kind of glicht metal so i'm after some hard and dry samples i've managed to get a nice kick sound from the future music CD samples and the cymbals, hi-hat, china and toms are usable. but the ride and snare have allot to be desired.

if you have any ideas for what sample CD's i should look for. i'm looking for something more thrash / black metal... ala metallica, slayer, machine head, megadeth, fear factory, dimmu borgir, cradle of filth. as aposed the the currant nu-metal trends.

i'm currently looking into layering drum sounds. like the snare layered with a gated static noise or something similar.

any advice would be much appreciated matt

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My Bands ArdorNocti and Moiraamoth