I wanted to keep these monitors for myself I've got seven studio monitors for your music studio
here today. I've got the top sellers budget picks and the ones used by famous artists and producers. I've conducted blind tests I've tested with and without acoustic treatment listen to a variety
of genres and even mix my own song with them. So , which one of them is right for you? let's find out!
I chose these monitors based on reasonable price reputation and of course size. These are all
5 inch monitors meaning they have 5 inch woofers the most popular size for home producers. They are
all powered, so no need for a separate AMP. Audio out from your audio interface or computer goes
into these monitors and you're done. All these monitors have their unique benefits but if
you're just looking for the most neutral and flat ones I'll cover that too. This is not a sponsored
video but if you use any of the links in the video description to buy one of these monitors
it does help out this channel, thank you! Shout out to zZounds.com for providing some gear for this
comparison video I couldn't find some speakers because of Covid-19 but sounds have them- nice people
too. If you're new around here consider subscribing I've got tons of videos to help your studio needs.
All right, let's get started! Let's start with the most popular studio monitors in this roundup the
JBL 305P Mark II these are best sellers on Amazon and Sweetwater. The JBL's are my favorite in the mid
price range. If your budget is under $300 get these. The bass was not as detailed as the KRK's but still
good. Still one of the best in the roundup. The highs were decent but reminded me of consumer
speakers at times. Mids were very level, very nice for mixing. The detail of sound was pretty good
but not up to the level of the atom speakers in this comparison. So, are these honest? Meaning,
will they translate well to other listening environments like your car? Yes. Not only that,
they give you a comfortable sound never fatiguing your ear unlike some other monitors in this video.
That said a purely comfortable sound may not be the ideal sound for mixing. More on that later. The
JBL's like other speakers have very convenient connections in the back with quarter inch and
XLR inputs and they give you some basic EQ customizability. Now in blind tests the JBL scored
really high but they didn't do as well as the next monitors in this roundup. By the way I tested these
on ISO acoustic stands which are amazing! They made a huge difference I highly recommend them.
The ISO 155's are the perfect size for five inch monitors. If you can, put your monitors on floor
stands, but, with or without floor stands get the ISO acoustics. If you produce hip hop or EDM you'll
like these monitors. These are the KRK Rocket 5 G4. I wanted to keep these monitors for myself!
They are used by many Hip-Hop, EDM and pop artists like Skrillex, Steve Aoki and Charlie Puth. The bass
from the KRK's was clear, deep and punchy. Best in the roundup! When other monitors had loud bass,
these added the punchiness and detail the highs were excellent as well no complaints at all. The
detail of the individual sounds was good, better than the Presonus, but not as spacious as the
Yamaha's. I don't believe these are as honest as the Yamaha and Adam speakers in this list.
But they handled soft and loud volumes really well and I'll say it again, these are the monitors
I wanted to keep for myself after testing all of them! The KRK's only give you XLR inputs in the back
but, they sport a cool screen to adjust EQ. It makes these feel premium but simple knobs are
more convenient. It was a bit cumbersome to flip through menus. These KRK's scored top marks in blind
tests and I bet it's because of that punchy bass. Next up, we have another top seller on Amazon. It's
the Presonus Eris E5 XT. These are the XT versions of the E5 monitors which improve high frequency
response and creates a wider sweet spot. When I mixed with these, I found the lows are not as
detailed as the KRK's. In fact, a little muddy. High frequencies were not as clear either. My high hats
sometimes got lost in the mix. Mids were excellent and sound much more even across frequencies better
than the KRK's. These sound very balanced. But the detail of sound can't compare to the competition
here. Especially the Yamaha's I've mixed with smaller Presonus monitors before and I was
very very happy with the results. So I do believe these will give you great mixes. The Presonus
monitors give you great acoustic tuning controls and lots of choices for inputs in the back. And
they are reasonably priced at $300 for a pair. These are not the best of the best, but an excellent
value considering the price. Hey I installed some acoustic treatment on the wall- minimal stuff, but
it did make a noticeable difference when testing. The acoustic treatment I used is by FS Labs, they
sent me these panels - very affordable stuff and it worked to reduce reflections it made a difference.
What more could you want? Link in the description. So what if your budget is $200 or less? Well, you may
want to look at the Mackie and Monoprice speakers. Let's take a look at the Mackie's first. I tested
the CR5 XBT, which have Bluetooth but Mackie also makes these monitors without Bluetooth,
for just $200 for the pair. That's a budget price and I was expecting a budget sound from them.
But I was wrong! These are marketed as multimedia monitors instead of studio monitors and looking at
the back that becomes apparent, You don't get XLR inputs and only one speaker is powered and sends
the audio to the passive speaker. But whatever, who cares? They sound great! The lows were nice,
detail is pretty good, they really surprised me and good detail in the hi-hats too. The mids
blended with the lows at times, which wasn't great, my vocals in the mix didn't wow me
the Adam speakers in this roundup were totally on point for vocals. But those are twice the price of
the Mackie's. So would I recommend these Mackie's for mixing? Well, they're fine but from time to
time they did sound like consumer speakers. But for the price, I would highly recommend
these. They're not on par with the best on this list, but they held their own nonetheless. So what
about the Monoprice speakers? These are definitely the least expensive in this list $159 for the pair
and they've got every type of connector you could want. But what about the sound well these could be
decent for mixing because they are relatively flat. But what you start to lose at this lower
price is detail. Bass was boomy instead of punchy and clear. I lost my hi-hats in several mixes and
things kind of just sat in one place. These are not bad monitors, but when you compare them side
by side with the competition here, it's easy to hear the difference that more money makes. If you
need something cheap, these will do fine. But I'd recommend you save up for the others in this list
if you're serious about music production. By the way, if you're just getting started make sure you
check out my videos comparing the best keyboards and audio interfaces out there, great for home
producers. Watch one right here! Alright next up the Yamaha HS5's have the best sound space among all
the monitors here. It created a 3D space of sound. It's clear to see why Artists like Finneas and 21
Pilots use them. These are among the most expensive in this roundup at $400 for the pair, same as the
Adam's. But you should prepare for the mids. They were the most pronounced among all these speakers
almost distracting, especially if you have a room that is not acoustically treated. Those
mids are going to reflect and may start to annoy you. The bass is excellent on these the HS5's are
all about clarity. The highs were never harsh but were sometimes overshadowed by those mids.
These really remind me of the Yamaha NS10's, those classic legendary studio monitors. I
own the NS10's myself and the HS5's are actually more pleasant because of the better lows and
highs. These are probably the flattest monitors among all of these. M ake sure you treat your room
and these will serve you well. By the way, what if you want more? Upgrading any of these to the
larger version should improve detail clarity and size which will give you more range better lows
would be so nice. All right last we've got the Adam Audio T5V monitors. These have a smaller footprint
size wise, but they're taller than the others in this comparison. Adam speakers have ribbon tweeters
that are immediately recognizable. Ribbon tweeters are supposed to be more comfortable for listening
for long sessions, less fatiguing on the ears. These monitors didn't score very high in blind tests
but we don't always need pleasant speakers for mixing well. The lows are not as pronounced as the
KRK's but still very clear. The sub-low frequencies in Hip-Hop music I listened to were kind of
lost too. But the mids were very detailed with beautiful separation, I can hear the bass mids
and highs clearly and pick out sounds very nicely. The clarity in vocals was so good! I could hear
the details and sounds like F's and D's. It was just incredible! And compared to the Yamaha's, the
mids were never harsh. It'll be easier to balance your mix with these. If you pair these with a sub,
or if you don't need that dramatic low end, these are highly highly recommended. So what
monitors do I use? I have the barefoot footprint 01's. They are bigger, louder and the bass is awesome!
They are a pleasure to use, but I used the 4.5 Presonus monitors for years and grew my YouTube
channel with them. Once you learn how to get the best results from your monitors, you'll do well
with any one of the speakers I compared today. If you're interested in buying any one of these I'll
add links to the video description. You can't go wrong with any one of these studio monitors. Buy
what you can afford for now and save up for what you really want in the future! And get the ISO
acoustic stands, they are totally worth the money. Don't forget to hit the LIKE button and SUBSCRIBE!
Keep Making The Music You Love (#MTMYL) and I'll see you guys again soon. Hey! watch one of these videos next :)