That's one of the nice features of the BX5's Grazie - they also form part of a 5.1 set, so if/when I decide to go for surround, I only have to buy the remaining speakers.

Peter, are you sure you're not talking about the LX4s having the 5.1 surround add-on speakers?
I've decided to cut back on other upgrades to try to get the LX4 5.1 kit with a Delta 410 sound card.
They're recommended for monitoring on a budget.
Considering that audio is a huge part of video, I think that's the place to put my money.

Mario

I don't know about LX4s - I'm just passing on what the guy at the local music shop told me about the BX5s.

There seems to be a fair amount of flexibility between various systems - I intend finding out more about "what goes with what".

UK price MAudio BX5 : £329 . . .. ppphhooaarrhhh ... bit rich for me . . sweet sound indeed!

Grazie

That sounds like the old max recommended price - MAudio have reduced quite a few prices recently - mine cost A$640, which is about 250 pounds.

I'm not into the 5.1 thing at all yet but reading though the Wendy Carlos web site that some somewhere on this forum pointed us to I realised just having a good sound card and speakers is only a small part of the problem. You really need to design your work environment to allow for correct speaker placement. I've seen a few 5.1 setups and I don't recall seeing one that came close to correct speaker placement. From what she's saying getting the things in the right place is probably more critical than what kind of speakers you have.

C'mon, Peter...everyone knows that you don't need good speaks! Just tear the driver out of your old a.m. radio, duct-tape it to an empty kleenex box, and you're good to go. Don't forget to punch out ports in the Kleenex box for bass expansion.
Seriously, I had an editor show me his "budget" system made almost exactly this way. 2 speaks made of heavy cardboard with a masonite insert, held together with duct tape because screws wouldn't hold and he didn't have time to glue em'. They sounded horrible. But because he's a total DIY guy, and a spend thrift, he never considered that other solutions were much better and real world. When he heard our Mackie 626 system, his response was, "Well yeah, of course it's better, it's 18K worth of better."
Yeah, well....even a 200.00 speak kit would have been better than what he had.
You spend big $$$ on cams, big $$$ on computers, big $$$ on external monitors, but only a few bucks on speakers from which you listen to your production, when audio is 70% of the viewing experience?
Peter, glad you stepped up. You'll be surprised at what a huge difference this makes in your attentiveness not only to the audio, but the video in your productions as well.

. . .thanks SPOT! Put me in me place . . . "Yer wanna play with then big boys!"

. . He had Gaffer TAPE! Pure luxury! He was lucky . .time was when we used to put together circuit boards with spit!

Grazie

> I now realise that my hi-fi speakers made things sound "sweeter" than they actually were, so I can thoroughly recommend getting some better speakers if you're serious about audio.

In fact, many cheapo so called "studio ref" speakers sound "harder" than the reality. This is often a marketing trick to make them sound "more detailed", crisp and clearer altough they use low resolution 10$ tweeters.

And keep also i mind that end users do not have studio ref speakers...

That's the reason why you will often see 3 different sounding monitor in a studio (sound take, mix, mastering and "reality check" duties have different requirements).

Keep your eye on ebay. I'm eventually going to upgrade my speaker setup to the BX5s. I picked up one on ebay a month or so ago for $60 shipped. It was a single speaker, but it was brand new in the box. Someone else had picked up 6 for a 5.1 setup and had an extra sitting around. I've been broke as of late, but I always keep my eye on ebay for these. They've gotten down to about $240 pair with free shipping from one merchant on ebay.

Now Grazie, I can send you some Maple syrup... eating that HeLpS a LOT if you still have to use the older method ! ; D

This too, is true. We use an old Craig ghetto blaster/boom box with line inputs to monitor finished product. Auratones are another 'low end' check system. But, you still want to have the best detail you can have in the authoring stage, then check/compare those mixes on other systems. I don't know that any of the "big boy" systems are harsher than reality, NS10's are a little harsh, and some of the older monitor systems aren't, but working with the Blue Sky, Hothouse, Mackies, Genelecs all side by side....they sound pretty similar. Each just has a personality that makes it unique. We're touring with the Blue Sky and M-Audio systems on this tour.

MyST

- I investigated the question you raised today, and the guy in the music shop was a bit stumped - he had blithely told me I could easily upgrade to 5.1 using the same speakers.

It turns out that he had got somewhat confused with the LX4 set, BUT after ringing the Australian distibutors he did work out a way I could do it, by getting two more BX5s, a Woofer and one other speaker. That would cost a lost more than the LX4 set, but would be a "beefier" Surround system.

Thanks for raising this - the old adage applies - beware of things said by salespersons!!

As it happens, I'm not really interested in Surround at present - it was the shop guy who raised the subject....

Anyway, I'm happy with my pair of BX5s,

OK, so here's another question that might stump some.

If you want to mix both surround projects sometimes, and stereo mixes other times, and you only have money to get either the LX4s(5.1 kit) or a pair of monitors, which do you get?
A half decent pair of monitors and an el cheapo 5.1 kit?
I'd think trying to mix a stereo mix with just the two satellites from the LX4s isn't going to cut it, is it?
Is it possible to mix in stereo yet monitor through 2.1?

Maybe I'm the only one stumped... hope so.

Mario