The balance of the NS10Ms also resulted in many a discussion about the exact brand of tissue paper that should be draped over the tweeter in order to dull the balance a little. So despite becoming the industry-standard nearfield monitor, the NS10 has always provoked derogatory mutterings about its sound and tonal balance.
What's more, the niche it opened up was soon crowded by countless competitors. We now live in different times. The huge studios, if not quite heading the way of the dinosaurs there'll always be a role for recording spaces the size of tennis courts, and mixers that could do with a Burger King at the halfway point , have long been under threat from small-scale recording spaces and control rooms. And being very much smaller than of old, the typical control room now has little space for vast main monitors.
These days, the nearfield has had a promotion. More often than not, it's now out on its own, the top dog. The frequency-response measurement of each of our guinea-pig speakers shows scant evidence of subtle tailoring to suit different roles. The curves are primarily dominated by the particular strengths and weaknesses of the drivers used, the size and proportions of their front panels and the low-frequency roll-off shapes chosen.
I say primarily dominated because, particularly in the design of the hi-fi speakers, there does tend to be a certain amount of balance-tweaking, engineered to help ensure that a speaker reviews well and sounds competitive in the retail environment. But there's certainly no obvious split here between 'hi-fi' and 'pro' in terms of frequency response. Figures 1 to 4, which appear over the course of the next couple of pages, illustrate the on-axis and degree off-axis frequency response of each of the four speakers.
Figures 1b to 4b additionally show a 'waterfall' plot indicating how each speaker's response decays with time. The waterfall is a 3D representation of the speakers' response to a wide-bandwidth signal that stops instantaneously. The Y-axis is level in dB, the X-axis is frequency from Hz to 20kHz, and time runs from back to front on the Z-axis measurement constraints limit the length of time window available as frequency falls. The waterfall plots therefore illustrate how good the speakers are at switching off, and the Z-axis plot for a notional 'perfect speaker' would be empty.
Any signals within the plot occurring after zero time represent the decay of mechanical or acoustic resonances. This is output that the speaker adds to the intended signal, colouring the sound and effectively degrading the signal-to-noise ratio. The curves were generated through a combination of direct acoustic measurement and, below Hz, prediction and synthesis from the measured electroacoustic parameters see the box on measuring low frequencies at the end of this article for more on this subject.
Each curve reveals some interesting characteristics of the speaker in question. The response is characterised by an early but gentle bass roll-off and well controlled, wide dispersion — the tweeter is only 6dB or so down at 20kHz.
This will be audible, particularly as emphasis on sibilance and cymbals, and is in a critical region as far as balance perception is concerned. It will also tend to give the speaker an explicit, detailed kind of sound; I wonder if it may be an intentional part of the 'voicing' of a hi-fi product. Figure 1b: The DM waterfall plot. There's very little to note which suggests that, apart from the enclosure panel resonance effects that all these speakers will display, the DM will make little contribution of its own to the sound.
For a hi-fi speaker, the DM is a fine nearfield monitor — at least in terms of its frequency response. So what is that sets them apart from their home audio counterparts?
Studio monitors often look deceptively similar to home cinema and hi-fi speakers. If we could sum it up in the simplest layman terms, hi-fi speakers are meant to sound good with any sound and in any space, while studio monitors are meant to sound bad for want of a better word.
In the case of studio monitors, most are active. You can tell this by the mains connections that they have on the back. Passive speakers tend to accept power via their audio input connections. These will usually come straight from a central amplifier; the same principle applies to guitar heads and cabinets. Heck, we used just a minute ago.
So what does it mean? By close, we mean, a few feet away, giving you a clear, immediate sound. Studio Monitors Monitors are used by audio engineers and musicians for recording, producing, mixing, and mastering music.
PA Speakers PA speakers are used for large venue events like concerts or ceremonies. Recent Posts. October September August July June May April March February January December November How do you know a speaker is active or passive? Active speakers offer some advantages. Usually, they contain not only one power amplifier but several.
The woofer, the tweeter and if available the mid-range speaker each get their own power amplifiers, which results in a punchier, more accurate dynamic response. Having dedicated power amplifiers for each speaker also makes it easier to build top quality crossovers. Not only because the crossover can be placed before the power amps, but also because active circuitry can be used to obtain steeper filter slopes.
This reduces overlap between the woofer, mid-range speaker, and tweeter, which results in a clearer, more detailed sound image. Home stereo speakers are usually passive. There are only two speaker terminals on the rear to connect them to a power amplifier. When music professionals listen to music, they do it with a different mindset than music consumers.
Enthusiasts simply want to enjoy the music they love as best as they can.
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