difference between PA speakers and Reference Monitors?

[re-animator]

thinking about starting a meager home studio. I've been reading about studio monitors, how they're supposed to be unforgiving and clear sounding. I understand how this is different from most home speaker applications (which are generally supposed to make your music sound "better"), but I'm wondering if you could use a PA speaker cabinet as a studio monitor (powered by my standard PA which is loud and clean). I'll probably be doing most of the tracking with headphones, but obviously you gotta hear the sound through speakers sometimes.

I understand PAs are not made for near-field listening, but I wonder if they are usable in this context. So would PA + speakers work for monitoring?

[bigredguy]

both are great.
Most "larger" studios use both.

For tracking, and mixing, use the monitors as a tool to see how things actually sound.
Then check tracks occasionally and check mixes with the PA speakers. and other reference sources...radios, MP3, car

monitors are essential.

[testing1two]

As with most home studios, the right answer lies in your personal definition of 'good enough.' Yes, PA speakers can be used for just about anything but the end results will not satisfy most.

From a technical standpoint, PA speakers will be problematic because they are designed to project sound at a much wider dispersion and a much greater distance compared to nearfield monitors. The end result being poor stereo imaging, excessive bass buildup which will lead to phasing issues.

The bottom line: PA speakers will not give you an accurate representation of what you've recorded but they do represent one of several different sources you should check your mixes with.

[re-animator]

I see what you're saying. a mix of headphones and PA might be alright in the interim, but i guess i'll need to check out some monitors eventually.

[realityczech]

The short answer is that PA speakers are voiced for live music and studio monitors (both room and near-field) are voiced for reproduction ie: cd's ect...

No one drives around with PA speakers in their cars and most people dont use stereos for live music

[loudboy]

both are great.
Most "larger" studios use both.

You're kidding, right?

[Jazzydave]

I've never seen any PA speakers in any of the larger studios I've recorded in but that doesn't mean they don't.

I think (from what I've been told) that the studio monitors have a flatter eq response which in turn gives you a better balance when recording/mixing. They have a wide range but are neither bass nor treble heavy. I have a small set of M-Audios for my iMac to build up tracks and they work great. They're also nice for watching movies on - haha.

IMHO, whatever sounds best to a non-musician listening is what to go for. My wife LOVES music but doesn't play anything. So, if I ask her how something sounds she's more prone to be honest with me and not tear apart my playing vs. telling me what's too loud or doesn't seem to fit. We sometimes get mixed up in our own music and its hard to tell what's going on with the mix. I have a tendency to turn the guitar up...bc I see myself as a guitar player that sings and not a singer that plays guitar!

[eBay]

Ah, the beauty of an accurate speaker. Ideally, you want to not be able to tell the difference between the playback of an instrument and the instrument itself. I've never actually been in a studio that had these and I've worked in the one Prince did his first album in as well a couple of others in LA that were pretty good. Frankly, very few people have ever even heard a speaker that does this and even less were musicians. Cost is the prohibitive factor. Count on spending 20K+ for a system that approaches this ideal.

[Tone_Terrific]

I understand PAs are not made for near-field listening, but I wonder if they are usable in this context. So would PA + speakers work for monitoring?

Plopping a pair of PA cabs on the mixing desk is a bit much.
Find a pair of decent hi-fi spkrs and use them as nearfields. Try some used stuff. Leave them installed at your mixing station and leave the PA bins in the garage.

[kludge]

You may see large speakers with 15" woofers and horns in a pro studio.

That does NOT make them PA speakers.

High quality studio horns are very flat and accurate. Good PA speakers are non-flat, and deliberately so! They're made for intelligibility and volume, not accuracy.