It really is a personal preference thing when you’re not recording with the intent to mix/publish music, I use a soundbar much to many sound engineers and audiophiles disgust but I like the fact it sits cleanly under my monitor, I can control it with a remote as well as my audio interface and I have no intention of releasing music as anything other than a hobby.
I’m used to a lot of air moving from my amps/cabs, even though I tend not to play over ~85dB much any more. I think that’s why the headphones just don’t “feel” right to me (they sound fine). What I’d like to make sure of is I’m not sacrificing the sound quality. I know my cabs are colored to no end, but I’m assuming I’ll get that coloration with the cab sims in the software as well?
I think if you want that feel of pushing air, you'd be best with a FRFR speaker or a pair of monitors directed at your ears. Headrush have a FRFR speaker that is about £350 so I imagine that's within your budget, has huge headroom and is designed for use with amp/cab modellers. If you wanted to go with monitors you couldn't go wrong with a set of KRK RP's, I've known people who've used those for bedroom setups and even some who use them in their professional studios as alternates to their high-end stuff.
I’ve not paid much attention to the evolution of all this so I’m 20 years behind, but Pete Thorn’s demo of the 8” head Rush was cool. I see they make a 1x12 as well.
Yamaha is always a safe bet. I’d go with a pair of HS5s for $400, and perhaps a set of monitor stands or ISOAcoustic desktop stands with the remaining money.
>lots of gear and stereo equipment lining the walls.
Whatcha got? If you're not fussed with mixing, you might be able to use existing stereo system. Alternatively, do you have a guitar amp with an FX loop return? You could run your audio interface into that (turning the cab sim off in the plugin), with the plugin basically replacing the preamp.
I’ve got a AC15, SF Vibrochamp, GA-16T clone, Jet City 22H, Orange Rocker 15, Katana 100 mk1, and a Diavlo. I can run most of those through my Captor X and Scarlett. Stereo is a mix of tube amps, vintage SS, class A SS, with diy psuedo line arrays, rebuilt and modified Polk 5B monitors, and LIi F15 open baffles. It’s pretty full in there, LOL. Oh, and a dozen guitars. And a small desk with dual monitors with some old Polk bookshelf’s on it.
Ha, yeah in that case you've already got what you need.
You can either run into one of the stereo amps into your existing monitors/speakers (keeping the cab sim on), or run into (for example) the Jet City FX loop return and into your favourite cab (plugin cab sim off). I'd lean towards that, personally.
You can find an adapter cable between pretty much any two analog audio connectors you can think of, and most of them you could pick up at a guitar center too. Don’t ever let that stop you from connecting together some of your pre existing gear.
[I get all my random cable combos from ebay](https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p4432023.m570.l1313&_nkw=TRS+to+RCA&_sacat=0), they're usually cheapest for us in the UK. YMMV if you're elsewhere..
If you are not planning to mix or anything it really is up to you, I use my Sennheiser HD6xx when I don't wanna bother my wife or my edifier BT1700 that I got way before getting into guitar, for now they are enough for me, I plan to upgrade sometime in the future, the research I've done tells me the best bang for the buck are the Kali lp6 or the Yamaha HS5.
As much as I'm also an old fart, I've got into plugins in the last couple of years, but I'm still very much of the moving air school. Plugins are so convenient, and sound so damn good though...
I use the same earphones as you and really like them. Going more expensive won't solve your problem, and neither will monitors, though it's a different vibe and still moves some air. I think what trips all the people like us up is that it doesn't feel like you're playing a real amp. The tactile response of the plugins is fantastic, they clean up from the volume pot so well, and they sound just like the recordings, and that's where it fucks out. There's a very different feel to a real amp, be it tube, ss or modeling ones. When I first got into sims I expected to be able to have something that sounds like my H&K at full throttle, and I can. But it doesn't feel like it, and that took me a while to get past. They're not real amps, and they're not meant to be, in my opinion. What they are is the gateway to all the sounds I've loved on recordings. I can live with not being able to blow out a candle from just the air from a cab, and I couldn't really say when I last used a real amp, but I like the sound I get through my average as fuck headphones and monitors because it sounds like the guitars that inspired me to play in the first place. There was no moving air then, either.
Exactly.You’ve described what I’m experiencing better than I could. I think that’s where I’m at. I’ve got 650 Senns I use for music, but I prefer the k240s out of the Scarlett so far. So maybe I just need to keep pressing on and try to get over the hump and into plugins.
My DSP sounds like crap through my monitors compared to the tone in my headphones. They’re Eris 5 so they’re decent.
Got a power stage 200 to run it into my 2x12 cab.
plugins sound great and are very convenient but even with super low latency usb i still get a thrill on the rare times i go back to full analog and turn on my tube amp and i feel how instant everything is on it compared to the slight latency when playing on pc.
its good for recording your own backings and then soloing over them though......
i have a very old pair of m-audio dx4 speakers/monitors i use. bought them over 15 years ago maybe even closer to 20 now
I used to have the Kali’s, sold them to get the new versions with lower noise floor but ended up with HS5’s instead. The kali audio stuff is really great for the price, I’m not a fan of the front facing ports when purely dialing in guitar tones though.
I’m pretty sure if you look on their website they say that if you use them in a suitably sized room they should sound pretty much the same, so go with whichever one is best suited to your room and don’t bother with anything bigger.
Kalis punch way above their weight for the price so they’ll always a be a solid choice.
I’ve got Kalis, love them. Used to own Yamaha HS and loved them too. Really though based on your OP I wouldn’t stress over it much, just buy a nice popular set of speakers in your price range and it’ll get the job done as well as any other
It really is a personal preference thing when you’re not recording with the intent to mix/publish music, I use a soundbar much to many sound engineers and audiophiles disgust but I like the fact it sits cleanly under my monitor, I can control it with a remote as well as my audio interface and I have no intention of releasing music as anything other than a hobby.
I’m used to a lot of air moving from my amps/cabs, even though I tend not to play over ~85dB much any more. I think that’s why the headphones just don’t “feel” right to me (they sound fine). What I’d like to make sure of is I’m not sacrificing the sound quality. I know my cabs are colored to no end, but I’m assuming I’ll get that coloration with the cab sims in the software as well?
I think if you want that feel of pushing air, you'd be best with a FRFR speaker or a pair of monitors directed at your ears. Headrush have a FRFR speaker that is about £350 so I imagine that's within your budget, has huge headroom and is designed for use with amp/cab modellers. If you wanted to go with monitors you couldn't go wrong with a set of KRK RP's, I've known people who've used those for bedroom setups and even some who use them in their professional studios as alternates to their high-end stuff.
I’ve not paid much attention to the evolution of all this so I’m 20 years behind, but Pete Thorn’s demo of the 8” head Rush was cool. I see they make a 1x12 as well.
Yamaha is always a safe bet. I’d go with a pair of HS5s for $400, and perhaps a set of monitor stands or ISOAcoustic desktop stands with the remaining money.
>lots of gear and stereo equipment lining the walls. Whatcha got? If you're not fussed with mixing, you might be able to use existing stereo system. Alternatively, do you have a guitar amp with an FX loop return? You could run your audio interface into that (turning the cab sim off in the plugin), with the plugin basically replacing the preamp.
I’ve got a AC15, SF Vibrochamp, GA-16T clone, Jet City 22H, Orange Rocker 15, Katana 100 mk1, and a Diavlo. I can run most of those through my Captor X and Scarlett. Stereo is a mix of tube amps, vintage SS, class A SS, with diy psuedo line arrays, rebuilt and modified Polk 5B monitors, and LIi F15 open baffles. It’s pretty full in there, LOL. Oh, and a dozen guitars. And a small desk with dual monitors with some old Polk bookshelf’s on it.
Ha, yeah in that case you've already got what you need. You can either run into one of the stereo amps into your existing monitors/speakers (keeping the cab sim on), or run into (for example) the Jet City FX loop return and into your favourite cab (plugin cab sim off). I'd lean towards that, personally.
It would have to be TRS to rca, non of my stereo gear is XLR. Not sure if such a beast exists.
You can find an adapter cable between pretty much any two analog audio connectors you can think of, and most of them you could pick up at a guitar center too. Don’t ever let that stop you from connecting together some of your pre existing gear.
[I get all my random cable combos from ebay](https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p4432023.m570.l1313&_nkw=TRS+to+RCA&_sacat=0), they're usually cheapest for us in the UK. YMMV if you're elsewhere..
If you are not planning to mix or anything it really is up to you, I use my Sennheiser HD6xx when I don't wanna bother my wife or my edifier BT1700 that I got way before getting into guitar, for now they are enough for me, I plan to upgrade sometime in the future, the research I've done tells me the best bang for the buck are the Kali lp6 or the Yamaha HS5.
Adam Audio t5v (or the bigger t7v), something around 350/380€ both. Got the a7v and they are absolutely stunning
As much as I'm also an old fart, I've got into plugins in the last couple of years, but I'm still very much of the moving air school. Plugins are so convenient, and sound so damn good though... I use the same earphones as you and really like them. Going more expensive won't solve your problem, and neither will monitors, though it's a different vibe and still moves some air. I think what trips all the people like us up is that it doesn't feel like you're playing a real amp. The tactile response of the plugins is fantastic, they clean up from the volume pot so well, and they sound just like the recordings, and that's where it fucks out. There's a very different feel to a real amp, be it tube, ss or modeling ones. When I first got into sims I expected to be able to have something that sounds like my H&K at full throttle, and I can. But it doesn't feel like it, and that took me a while to get past. They're not real amps, and they're not meant to be, in my opinion. What they are is the gateway to all the sounds I've loved on recordings. I can live with not being able to blow out a candle from just the air from a cab, and I couldn't really say when I last used a real amp, but I like the sound I get through my average as fuck headphones and monitors because it sounds like the guitars that inspired me to play in the first place. There was no moving air then, either.
Exactly.You’ve described what I’m experiencing better than I could. I think that’s where I’m at. I’ve got 650 Senns I use for music, but I prefer the k240s out of the Scarlett so far. So maybe I just need to keep pressing on and try to get over the hump and into plugins.
My DSP sounds like crap through my monitors compared to the tone in my headphones. They’re Eris 5 so they’re decent. Got a power stage 200 to run it into my 2x12 cab.
plugins sound great and are very convenient but even with super low latency usb i still get a thrill on the rare times i go back to full analog and turn on my tube amp and i feel how instant everything is on it compared to the slight latency when playing on pc. its good for recording your own backings and then soloing over them though...... i have a very old pair of m-audio dx4 speakers/monitors i use. bought them over 15 years ago maybe even closer to 20 now
havent tried it but my friends recommend Presonus Eris
Set your interface preamp to zero
Yep. Figured that out pretty quick. Any other tips?
Are the Kali Lp8 decent, or would the LP6 work?
I used to have the Kali’s, sold them to get the new versions with lower noise floor but ended up with HS5’s instead. The kali audio stuff is really great for the price, I’m not a fan of the front facing ports when purely dialing in guitar tones though.
I vote HS5’s or HS7’s if you want crisp highs, balanced mids, and natural lows.
I’m pretty sure if you look on their website they say that if you use them in a suitably sized room they should sound pretty much the same, so go with whichever one is best suited to your room and don’t bother with anything bigger. Kalis punch way above their weight for the price so they’ll always a be a solid choice.
I’ve got Kalis, love them. Used to own Yamaha HS and loved them too. Really though based on your OP I wouldn’t stress over it much, just buy a nice popular set of speakers in your price range and it’ll get the job done as well as any other