Using large studio monitors as a primary listening system

[weasels]

Must be gone now! Can't find the HR824 on their site. Are you talking about the MR? Haven't heard that one, but the HR has a passive radiator behind the amp, the XR has a port, and I think the MR does too.

Yes, the MR - I think it's a step down from the HR but fits the budget nicely.

It is ported - has good reviews from all the pro audio sites I could find though there are some reports of faulty electronics.

-3db at 38hz, so should satisfy my kid's hip hop needs

 

[AnalogSteph]

Something in the 8" class should have a decent amount of oomph.

I'd look at a Focusrite Scarlett Solo or 2i2 to drive them. If those are stretching the budget too much, a Behringer UMC202HD/204HD should be acceptable, too, though input gain may have to be turned up from minimum. For an even lower budget, an existing onboard output + a Behringer HD400 + misc. cabling (something unbalanced to TS in, TRS out to XLR) should be OK as well.

 

[weasels]

Something in the 8" class should have a decent amount of oomph.

I'd look at a Focusrite Scarlett Solo or 2i2 to drive them. If those are stretching the budget too much, a Behringer UMC202HD/204HD should be acceptable, too, though input gain may have to be turned up froim minimum. For an even lower budget, an existing onboard output + a Behringer HD400 + misc. cabling (something unbalanced to TS in, TRS out to XLR) should be OK as well.

I like the idea of the Focusrites. It looks like the 2i2 have a separate volume knob for the headphone out? That would be pretty handy if so.

 

[ZolaIII]

Would suggest a pair of Yamaha HS 8 & SMSL M300 MKII.

 

[weasels]

I like the SMSL idea maybe even more than the focusrites. A little more expensive but a lot more feature rich.

 

[AnalogSteph]

No headphone output though, that's a pure DAC.

If headphone use is a priority, either be prepared to be adding one of the usual §99 world-beaters (JDS Labs Atom etc.) to the Focusrites as an "afterburner" or go with a MOTU M2. The Gen3 Scarletts' headphone out should do fine as a source for an external headphone amp (though UR22C or SSL 2 would perform substantially better, beaten again by the M2) but really is pretty lame when it comes to driving headphones directly. (See the Julian Krause video where he compared headphone outs on a number of audio interfaces.) M2 + an external amp "afterburner" would be pretty killer, I'd think finding anything better that'll provide both some balanced outputs and do a great job driving headphones at this price point would be quite hard.

 

[weasels]

Update - I went with the Mackie MR824s and the focusrite 2i2. I was set to go with the SMSL but got a focusrite used on the cheap.

I did a quick in store listen to make a short list and brought 3 pairs of monitors home to live with for a week - the MR824, JBL308, and JBL306.

I also listened to the Adam T8V (too bright), KRK Rokkit 8 (great bass, but didn't like vocals through them), and Yamaha HS8 (also too bright for me). The Kali LP-8 had an audible hiss from a couple of feet away, so I passed on them. They didn't have the more expensive Mackie HR series.

Setup was a snap with the focusrites just using the line-in and line-out. Never messed with anything on the 2i2 except the monitor volume.

Short story - we kept the MR824s.

Overall the JBL 306p had, in my opinion, the best sound. Bass is very respectable and it had the most natural sounding vocals to my ear. There is some hiss but outside of a nearfield situation it was unnoticeable in my home office.

The Mackie MR824 was almost as good sounding as the 306p, with substantially deeper bass extension. I think it's ugly as heck but my kid doesn't care.

The 308p didn't seem to be a smooth in the bass as the Mackie, and seemed to be audibly quieter from the upper midrange through the treble. Honestly, I don't think the 308p and 306p sound all that much alike. The Mackie and 306p sounded more similar.

 

[restorer-john]

Get him a pair of these. Proper "large" JBL studio monitors: