Well, I've got Mackies HR824 and I LOVE THEM. They are to me very professional, and that's also what a firend said who has a professional studio at home with three pair of monitors but no mackies. He really was blown away!

I LOVE THEM

i Have Yamaha MSP 5 Studio Monitors

I had Mackie HR626's and now have Dynaudio BM5A's. Both are very good monitors. The Mackies had better bass response and don't need a sub. You can manage without a sub with the BM5A's too but I have considered adding a sub. Mackies have a sharper sound compared to dynaudios. It's a matter of taste which one you like. I like both very much. Btw, the sound of the 626's is more accurate than 824's because the bass is faster and the mid frequencies are not "missing". The bass however goes about as deep in both models. And the 626 is not just a center channel. It's one of the best monitors I have heard in stereo applications.

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Dr.O - they look like a center channel speaker of a studio surround rig, but they aint - they next up from the 624.

F5D - As for mid frequencies being missing with 824 - that sounds like you have real problems with bass modes in your room / room to small for them / they are in the corners or too close ot the walls (they aint as a immune to walls as claimed I think).

IMHO 824 are *by far* the best monitors for under 1000UKP.

I personally have Event TR8XLs - IMHO best you can get under 500UKP :)

Have you listened to HR626's? I'm not talking about HR624. I am talking about the biggest and most expensive model of the HR series. The 824 has more Watts but the 626 is still the biggest of all. It's not just a 5.1 center channel. I know many studios which use them as their main monitors and not HR824. I also know many people who have switched from 824 to 626 and also say that they are better. And the 2x 6 inch woofers really give faster bass and better mid range for vocals. The 824 goes slightly lower but is also slower than the 626 but the bass response of both is really amazing. People always ask the question, where the sub is. HR624's bass response is not comparable.

Both are still great monitors. It's up to ones taste which one is better. For me it's the 626 if I have to choose Mackie.

yes, you're right F5D. I confused the HR626 with the HR624...
No, I haven't listened to the HR626 which would have been senseless as well since I couldn't afford them ;-) I could compare the HR624 with some Genelecs and Yamahas and some others I don't remember, and the HR624 impressed me. Then at home, I saw a pair of used HR824s at ebay and bought them for not much...

Hmm, I'm very happy with my HR824, and I listen everything and all the time with them...

I am also considering if I'll sell my BM5A's and buy HR824's because I don't want to buy a subwoofer and somehow I miss the sound of the Mackie HR626's. The BM5A's have a nice sound but sometimes I still miss the bass response of the Mackie's. And the Mackies usually tell better if there's something wrong in the mix. IMO with Dynaudio's, you have to listen more carefully because the sound is so nice. I would go for the 626's again but currently I cannot get as good deal for them as I got earlier so the 824's seem to be the best choice.

Hello Lukas. I think as previously mentioned you need to be a bit more specific on what sort of music you want to produce and your budget. If you are going for the electronic/dance production side of things then perhaps I can offer you an opinion.

A hell of a lot people make the same simple mistake on being drawn into spending lots of hard earned cash on the latest synths and outboard kit - but then neglect seriously researching and spending money on quality A/D D/A. Start as you mean to go on Lukas - get the best soundcard you can even if you have to save hard for a couple of months.

It may not be perfectly obvious to you now, it may take a year or two for the penny to drop and your ears to have become critically improved to know that you want more "definition and detail" - greater "stereo width" or much "smoother deeper bass." These are all areas in my experience that suffer when using slightly inferior soundcards. You do get what you pay for buddy - let us know what you can afford in this department then perhaps we can offer you advice based on hands on experience. (But think Apogee, Metric Halo, RME and MOTU)

Monitors are a slightly different kettle of fish. Again it depends on what you can afford - but this is an area in which I feel you can achieve fantastic results without breaking the bank too much. I have not heard the Mackie Hr626's but they do appear to be targeting the home cinema/surround sound market and are about $1300 a pair. I will leave it to you to decide whether this is a good or bad thing.

Having listened to a few pairs of speakers in my time - my preference for a small project studio would be a pair of Dynaudio BM5a's (not to be confused with BM5's as these are the passive version). They really do sound fantastic, great sweet spot, fantastic detail and are about $1000 a pair brand new. Well worth the money IMHO.

Headphones (can of worms here!) - I just purchased a pair of Beyerdynamic DT700 Pro's. I listened to a number of different pairs down at Turnkey in London as they have a great listening post. I swayed for the DT700 Pro's for their ideal sound quality and comfort. Again comfort should not be neglected if you intend to use your headphones for a couple of hours - the Sennheiser's I tried sounded nice but inflicted pain!!

Once you have a list of a few soundcards, monitors and headphones - get yourself down your local pro-audio store and demo the lot!!

Take your time and enjoy...

Hi MonkeyMan,
I'm a bit surprised of how you focus on the converters. In my opinion, the differences are very subtle. I can't imagine someone can tell the difference of M-Audio and RME converters in a home studio environment, but I lack in experiences here...

I'm thinking of buying a Motu 828mk2, what do you think of it?

Yours dr. orange and now I gotta plug out the fu*kin internet cable and start doin my acieeed track aaaaaaaa