Choosing Reference Monitors for Film and Video Editing

To edit your sound for video and film projects, you’ll need some speakers to play back that sound. You could just use whatever speakers for headphones or earbuds you happen to have kicking around, but its really difficult to get a consistent sound with these.

So what do you do when you’re ready to take your sound to the next level? You may want to look at reference monitors. These are speakers which are specially designed to play back your recorded sound as accurately as possible. This will help you find and fix any problems with your sound.

In this episode, we have a look at 5 different reference monitors (below) and talk through which of them might suit you best, especially if like me, you’re editing in a small spare bedroom at your home.

Room EQ Wizard: http://www.roomeqwizard.com

How to use Room EQ Wizard (Courtesy of GIK Acoustics): https://youtu.be/e4uSR3cUUSY

Also, special thanks go out to B&H Photo/Video for lending us the monitors for evaluation: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/browse/Professional-Audio/ci/12154/N/4294550705/BI/19904/KBID/12941/DFF/d10-v1-t8-x1-y2

If you’d like to improve your sound recording skills for film, please have a look at our Sound Recording for Video course over at http://school.learnlightandsound.com

Visit us at http://learnlightandsound.com for more updates on how to improve your lighting and sound for video. Also be sure to subscribe to get new weekly episodes!

Gear mentioned in or used to record this episode:

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The monitors I ended up with and have used over the last 3 years are the Focal Solo 6Bes. These have inverted tweeters made from Beryllium and have incredibly balanced and articulate sound. I have no regrets with this purchase.

B&H, Sweetwater - https://geni.us/v9ji1

And here is the matching subwoofer from Focal:

B&H, Sweetwater - https://geni.us/Esfe3t

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Focal CMS 40 Monitor (4” woofer - this was my pick for sound editing in small rooms)

B&H Photo: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/687629-REG/Focal_Professional_FOPRO_CMS40_CMS_40_4_Active.html/BI/19904/KBID/12941/kw/FOCMS40/DFF/d10-v2-t1-xFOCMS40

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Focal Alpha 80 Monitor (8” woofer - this was the most exciting monitor and would work great in larger rooms

B&H Photo: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1039079-REG/focal_fopro_a80_alpha_80_2_way_active_monitor.html/BI/19904/KBID/12941/kw/FOALPHA80/DFF/d10-v2-t1-xFOALPHA80

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KRK Rokit Powered 8 Monitor (I’ve had a set of these for 6 years and they’ve served me well. They’re quite good in rooms with bass traps)

B&H Photo: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1000522-REG/krk_rp8g3_na_8_studio.html/BI/19904/KBID/12941/kw/KRRP8G3NA/DFF/d10-v2-t1-xKRRP8G3NA

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JBL LSR308 (8” woofers. They’re quite good in rooms with bass traps, but do have rear facing ports - best for larger rooms)

B&H Photo: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/998215-REG/jbl_lsr308_sr308_8_2_way_powered.html/BI/19904/KBID/12941/kw/JBLSR308/DFF/d10-v2-t1-xJBLSR308

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Yamaha HS8 (Very popular monitors in the music production world. 8” woofers. They’re quite good in rooms with bass traps, but do have rear facing ports - best for larger rooms)

B&H Photo: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/964752-REG/yamaha_hs8_8_2_way_bi_amplified.html/BI/19904/KBID/12941/kw/YAHS8/DFF/d10-v2-t1-xYAHS8

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Beyerdynamic DT880 Pro Reference Headphones (open back)

Amazon: https://geni.us/Yfle9

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Focusrite Saffire Pro 24 Audio Interface

Amazon: https://geni.us/o3R9vnV

B&H Photo: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/654237-REG/Focusrite_SAFFIRE_PRO_24_Saffire_PRO_24.html/BI/19904/KBID/12941/kw/FOSP24/DFF/d10-v2-t1-xFOSP24

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Mogami Gold Cables (1/4” TRS to XLR balanced)

Amazon: https://geni.us/SkRCuV

B&H Photo: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/318873-REG/Mogami_GOLD_TRSXLRM_10_Gold_1_4_TRS_Male.html/BI/19904/KBID/12941/kw/MOTRSXM10/DFF/d10-v2-t1-xMOTRSXM10

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Copyright 2016 by Curtis Judd

Ethics statement: Some of the links above are Amazon.com, B&H Photo, or other affiliate links.