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Mini speaker in the studio

KehaDNb

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As my room is only 2x2 metres long i will not invest in any room treatment, and consider to buy mini speakers to just check the mix, like i would in a car. So im searching for mini studio speakers which measure flat, and have some good specs. Would u guys mind to suggest some good options?

Thanks in advance.
 

test1223

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I would choose speakers which will shine with a very short listening distance of about 0.5m. A coax would be the best choice here. With this the amount of direct sound is high which will help a lot and with the coax all reflections will provide a more similar tonality.

Depending on the budget JBL 104, IK Multimedia i loud micro monitor or mtm, KS Digital C4, Genelec 8331 or ME Geithain MO1 are all good choices. You also need some room correction software since the reflections will play an important role.

If you need deep bass you have to add and integrate a subwoofer. Be aware that the placement is critical in the very near field since you will detect the location of the subwoofer placement by the vibration on your body in the very near field.
 

AnalogSteph

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As my room is only 2x2 metres long i will not invest in any room treatment
Please explain the logic behind this. I get that you wouldn't want to have half the room taken up with room treatment, but a small and basically square room like this is going to be a nightmare for room modes. I would get as many corner wedges as you can reasonably accommodate, as well as a smattering of the thickest wedge foam you can find (8 cm here). If you can sandwich that with 10 cm foam panels, all the better.

I've had the JBL 104s before, and they're proof that a coax can have some pretty lousy dispersion indeed (aside from the response being anything but dead flat out of the box). Conversely, I've been quite happy with the more conventional EVE SC203s post-EQ, despite their nominally more problematic construction on paper. (For many, the iLouds with their conventional tweeter, lower crossover and better bass response are likely to be the more attractive proposition, though they do have some hiss and do not include digital inputs.)
So definitely do not discount conventional designs either just as long as they're sensible enough for lower distances, i.e. not too much W/T spacing and lowish-frequency, high-order crossover alongside dispersion on the wider side. KRK RP5 G4s should be a decent bet, and even the Presonus Eris E5 if you can get past their apparently poor RF shielding. Neumann KH80, too.
 

test1223

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@AnalogSteph you are right that there are also other solutions. Very small speaker like the EVE SC203s might als be okay but will also bring compromises which aren't great for monitor purpose.

IMO a typically none coaxial speakers like KRK RP5 G4s in a near field setup with a listening distance of about 0.5m doesn't work and in such a small room with a lot of reflections you have to choose such a distance to get as much direct sound as you can.

The vertical angle will be significantly altered by the slightest move of your head or body. If you use a none coax monitor which isn't very small, the movement changes the tonality in the very important frequencies of 2- 3kHz since the typical cross over frequency is there. In addition the balance between the tweeter and bass with a standard two way design will also be altered since the distance difference will change a lot in the very near field with movements.

Some very small none coax studio monitors might also work therefore I recommend the IK multimedia speaker. It has the benefits of providing good tonality and much deeper bass for its size. But these monitors have to be developed exactly for such a very small listening distance. The vertical directivity problem of the crossover frequency are here typically moved to higher frequencies like 3,5kHz which is better but the issue isn't gone.

The JBL 104 has some directivity problems in the higher frequencies. Which isn't great but IMO a much better compromise than the issues in the very important midrange of typical none coax speakers. It was also developed for very short listening distances and IMO you can hear that if you compare them to other monitors.

Since the room doesn't allow high quality play back such cheaper speaker might be the good enough solution.

Speaker hiss is definitely an issue which will exclude some speakers if you can't tolerate it. The 104 isn't great in this regard if higher levels are required. Speaker hiss is a game of luck with some cheaper monitors like the i loud since there are some perfectly quiet ones and some with a hiss within the same speaker models which is due to tolerances in the electronic components.
 
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