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I am thinking of buying a pair of studio monitors to hopefully improve the sound of my Casio PX310. The Casio sounds good now but I have read that monitors will make it sound better. Is this true? Bascially, is it worth spending $300.00.

I am looking at the new Mackie MR5s but I haven't found any reviews on them yet, has anyone heard them or have recommendations.

Thanks,
Mark

Studio monitors are excellent for providing keyboard players with good sound if you position them properly and know what to expect from the sound of a flat monitor.

I haven't heard the new Mackies, although I like JBL better than Mackie for monitors in general. The best small monitor in my opinion right now is the Adam A7, but it's a much higher price point.

The real issue to me with the MR5 is the woofer size. My personal rule of thumb is "nothing under 6" and I would be very careful to assess the overall sound of a speaker with such a small woofer.

You might look into a good computer speaker system. Something like the Logitech Z-2300 is half (or less?) of what your looking at for the monitor$, and would make a serious improvement in the audio output.

I wrote a reply last October to some one asking a similar question (below in italics)and have used the monitors for a while now w/ a new keyboard. Their performance is excellent.

Don't know if the rebate offer is still valid however.


My aging Alesis DG8 has an outstanding on-board speaker system (100watts/channel, bi-amped). In anticipation of my replacing the keyboard (it's memory chip sometimes experiences bouts of Alzheimer's) I purchased the Alesis M1 520 active monitors (75watts each bi-amped) & tested them against the on-boards.
I've found them to be excellent in reproducing the piano's sounds. There are adjustments for "acoustic space", hi, low filtering or enhancement on the back to get things "just right" for your environment.
Check out their specs using an Internet search (I got mine for $199 for the pair incl. shipping and Alesis is offering a $25 rebate) The M1 620's have 100watts per ch. with bigger woofer & tweeter, bigger price & bigger rebate.

I'm not working on commission for anybody; just reporting my experiences with these speakers.

I am glad this thread has come up. I have just bought a Yamaha CLP230 and I have been reading how studio monitors will improve the sound quality. However I have been put off by the price and size of decent monitors. So I have been thinking about using computer speaker system but wasn't sure about the quality.

So apart from the Logitech Z-2300, are there any other computer speaker systems (2.1) that I should look at?

Thanks

There was a thread on hi-fi vs monitor speakers that was pretty interesting. I'm not sure there was a definite answer to the question, but here it is:

http://www.pianoworld.com/ubb/ubb/ultimatebb.php?/topic/6/4037.html#000000

Rich

The Casio PX-310 has a weak speaker system, with a good piano tone, and studio monitors would make a big improvment of the sound in my opinion.

I have the CLP-230 and the sound of the built in speakers are excellent. I've tried it with studio monitors (Alesis) but the gain in a small room is minor. The basregisters of the organsounds is more powerfull though. I've also used the Logitech Z-2300 and in my opinion the onboard speakers are much better. They have clean and pristine sound and the logitechs with woofer are more muddy.

I am looking to buy the GEM PR-X to expand the number of voices of my CLP-230. Cost about the same or less as good studio monitors, but is more fun...


Best regards,

/Richard

DragonPianoPlayer- thanks for the link. I thought I had read that one before but I guess I didn't.

playliszt- I will do some more research on the Alesis monitors.

torakusu- I have read other threads about the Logitech system. They are worth checking out. It's just hard to imagine how the smaller speakers can produce a big sound. I have read good things about them though. Guess I need to hear them in person to be a believer as others are.

packa- like you, I am concerned about the smaller woofer size which seems to be prevelant in my price range. The Logitech has an 8" sub humh...

Thanks for the replys.

Thanks Richard for your info about CLP230 and Z-2300! I guess I will save up and get studio monitors later on.

cheers
Kenny

Hi ya'll....I'm new to this board, and happy to be here. I'll just take a second and to address this and not jock any brands....consider this -
1- all freqs in the audible spectrum are critical. People are quick to forget about the importance of a strong, tight mid.
2- larger drivers are typically less efficient and therefore require more power to achieve the same spl that a smaller driver will with less power.
3- you can always buy a powered sub at a later date.
Keeping these facts in mind, it would make sense to me to buy the highest quality system in your price range, the one w/the best amp specs and fidelity, rather than the one w/the most power or largest woofer. Shoot for fidelity, you can always add bottom end later;
I don't want to waste time on my creds, but in this department they are deep....if only I could play like I mix; )

The intended purpose/use of studio monitors is for mixing of multi-track recordings and mastering of the stereo product. They are disigned specifically to add no coloring to the sound that would influence the technicians judgement during the production of the music.

Hi-fi speakers would serve your purpose better and probably cheaper than studio monitors which are designed for special purpose use.

This is incorrect in my opinion, based on my experience as a sound tech.
The Piano is a very demanding sound source to reproduce faithfully. Hi-Fi speakers are in most cases, not up to the task and are colouring the sound too much or are lacking the ability to handle the dynamics involved.
An ordinary CD is processed with limited dynamics and is very easy on the speakers compared to a digital piano.


Best regards,

/Richard

While I agree that CDs are "limited"(to put it mildly)I have to disagree that studio monitors are able to handle any more dynamic range than comparably priced home stereo speakers....my Tannoy monitors and Paradigm "hi fi" speakers behave very much alike in the area of dynamic range. The main difference is the slight "sweetening" of the Paradigms in the form of small dips in the mid bass and upper mids, and a little extra juice in the lower and upper octaves. For average listening levels, either box will suffice no questions asked....if you really want to rock out I suggest a minimum of 8 L-Acoustic V-DOSC per side w/a minimum of 4 L-Acoustic SB218 per side as well. This system should give you all of the dynamic range that you need, and it's economical

It seems that one could use either Hi-Speakers or Monitors, just hook them up and compare for myself. I have speakers (Pioneer 3-way with 10" sub, 4" midrange and 1.5" tweeter, 100 watt per channel Sony Receiver) that are probably more low- to middle-fi than hi-fi but the sound still isn’t quite what I think it should be.

As it is, the onboard speakers in the PX310 are small and they sound small and the hi-speakers are loud but the sound still seems to be 'caged' in. I am not really concerned with being loud; I just want a good clean piano sound.

I am having a hard time thinking of a way to describe this but with either of my speakers the sound does not penetrate, is not crisp, they sound slightly muddy, boxed in, they are not vibrant. Could this be related to the PX310 samples?

I hate to spend $300.00 on a set of monitors only to have the same type of sound. I have tried the local music shops for a live demonstration/comparison but none of the stores carry studio monitors (plenty of PA speakers though).

Thanks for all the replies

Any Guitar Center should allow you to bring your keyboard into the store to test drive the monitors, it shouldn't be a big deal....it's the only way to find out for sure;
ps - they should also match any online price that you may find for any product that they carry...good luck, Tim

please can anyone tell why you would buy active speakers or studio monitors?

is this for loudness or for quality of sound?

actually better pianos are loud enough, 20w a channel is Ok. however i can hear much better sound via headphones, so will active monitors improve this on par with headphones or not?

good monitors are not cheap, so unless this is an issue of sound quality i would not consider them.

As an owner/user of a PX 310, I would have to say that it does have a lot to do with the privia samples. Mine doesn't compare in crispness to my Yamaha p-100. But with a good measuer of EQ it brightens up to an acceptable sound. I bought mine for portability. (use it for gigs)

I listened to the Mackie MR5s at Guitar Center yesterday against the KRK RP6 and surprising to my ears, the MR5s sounded more natural and not as bright in the midrange as the RP6. Lower registers of piano came thru fine on the MR5. The MR5 could possibly work ok with a DP. Also the MR5 did not seem to be as directional as the RP6.

Thanks for all the advice. It appears that Studio Monitors are worth it.