about speakers in pp

[fredjeang]

Hi,

This is about the sound part in post production.

Do not know if that part is important but I rarely heard about that aspect.

I wonder if there are speakers (monitors) you could recommend (good price-quality) for editing the sound in NLE. I guess those speakers have to be neutrals and capable of render a wide spectral.
I'm searching for speakers that you can rely on when we have to make choices on editing so there is no further surprise(s).  

A usefull on-line store link for sound in Europe: http://www.thomann.de/gb/index.html

[Sareesh Sudhakaran]

The Yamaha 3 and 5 series are fantastic.

[fredjeang]

Are you refering to the legendaries NS ?

[Sareesh Sudhakaran]

Here's a link: http://usa.yamaha.com/products/music-production/speakers/msp_studio_series/msp5_studio/?mode=model

The model is MSP5 (or the cheaper 3). It's an updated one from the NS that's been around for a while. They're cheap and very good if you have your room acoustics done correctly. For a 10x10 feet room, these should be great. If you don't have a studio environment, I also recommend Sennhessier headphones to go with your monitor. Hope this helps.

[fredjeang]

It is helpfull.
Thank you all for your answers.

Cheers.

[MarkoRepse]

I did quite a bit of research when I was purchasing (not specifically for video work, but it shouldn't matter) before deciding on the Dynaudio BM6A mkII monitors. I find them excellent. Don't forget to get a good DAC as well!

[EPd]

Hi,

This is about the sound part in post production.

Do not know if that part is important but I rarely heard about that aspect.

I wonder if there are speakers (monitors) you could recommend (good price-quality) for editing the sound in NLE. I guess those speakers have to be neutrals and capable of render a wide spectral.
I'm searching for speakers that you can rely on when we have to make choices on editing so there is no further surprise(s).  

A usefull on-line store link for sound in Europe: http://www.thomann.de/gb/index.html

The industry standard for NLE editing would be a set of Genelec 8020BPM's, but they are expensive and overly sturdy for fixed use. (http://www.thomann.de/gb/genelec_8020bpm_anthrazit.htm) You should buy them if used in an editing truck or when frequently taken on the road otherwise. The KRK Rokits are quite good (http://www.thomann.de/gb/krk_rp5_g2_rokit.htm), but more geared towards music mixing. Video editing usually sees a lot of speech cutting and rather brittle sound effects. My own monitors of choice are a pair of ADAM A3x speakers (http://www.thomann.de/gb/adam_a3x.htm) with an ADAM Sub7 subwoofer (http://www.thomann.de/gb/adam_sub_7_pro.htm). Very good sound quality, especially for the price, and great for making a perfect video soundmix.

You will need a good sound interface too. It is important to know what you will need now and in the near future. Do you need sound inputs too? How many channels are you going to need? Do you plan to make surround mixes? The best and most stable sound interfaces come from RME. They can be synced with wordclock, but also retrofitted with time code (this is video, remember?). They have rock solid drivers (unlike most of the competition) and low latency (sync is key!). Their sound quality is excellent in their price class. I am using Fireface 800 (http://www.thomann.de/gb/rme_fireface_800.htm). Fireface 400 is another great option with fewer channels. If all you need is a stereo output and you want the highest possible sound quality you may consider a top DAC, like Violectric's DAC V800 (http://www.thomann.de/gb/violectric_dac_v800_2kanal_d_a_wandler.htm) or a Benchmark DAC1 (http://www.thomann.de/gb/benchmark_dac1_high_end_black.htm). For very critical playback I use the V800, which is a dream of a DAC.

[fredjeang]

Thanks very much for all those usefull infos.
I'll also see a sound engineer at the end of this month and talk to him. I'll report if there is anything that has not been mentionned here.

Cheers.

[EPd]

Thanks very much for all those usefull infos.
I'll also see a sound engineer at the end of this month and talk to him. I'll report if there is anything that has not been mentionned here.

Cheers.

Your sound engineer is probably going to tell you how important room acoustics are and the importance of speaker placement relatively to your listening position. The good thing about small monitor speakers (like the A3x) is that they are intended for short listening distances, thus minimizing room reflections relative to the direct output. It is essential that you sit in an exact triangle where the distance between the speakers is exactly the same as between each speaker and your respective left or right ear. Additionally, the lower part of the tweeter dome should be exactly at ear's heigth.

Personally I always use headphones next to my monitor speakers for really finicky editing decisions. Ideally you would like to avoid the smallest noises surrounding your effects, or the wrong traces of breath when cutting dialogue. A good headphone is a bit like pixel-peeping, but it will influence the end result tremendously because your mix will be so much cleaner at an almost subconscious level. When I need to check the quality of complex sound tracks I pull out my SPL Phonitor headphone amplifier, which has the ability to switch phase, mono-left, mono-right, and set different virtual speaker widths. It is a beast of a machine, so I do not want it on my desk all the time. For daily editing use I employ a Lake People G100, which is a fantastic headphone amplifier (from the same people that make the Violectric DAC V800), although without the tricks of the Phonitor.

My editing room is well treated with absorbers and diffusers in order to get an even and well controlled reflective behaviour. When talking to the engineer make sure that he knows the specific needs of film editors, contrary to those of music editors, or he may give you some well-meant but bad advice.