Studio Monitors Vs. Computer Speakers

[Chan_2]

I am going to buy new speakers for my computer and I can't decide whether to buy monitors or computer speakers. Through some research, the speakers that I am considering are Mackie CR3 and Creative T40s. I understand that the Mackie's are objectively better speakers, but in casual listening, I might prefer to listen with some coloration and less "brutal honesty" on badly made mixes. I would be doing light mixing on these speakers, however that would not be their primary use. Would equalizing the Mackie's make them sound more like "regular computer speakers" (speakers which don't have the brutal honesty of monitors)? If so, I would probably get them, as they would be the best of both worlds. If not, what should I do?

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[anonymousdude]

I'd go with the Mackie's personally. One because I don't like how the T40's sounded. Two because monitors have or at least supposed to have a flat frequency response. This usually means that music can sometimes sound boring, but not bad as opposed to something colored that can make certain genres sound bad. Also monitors aren't necessarily "brutally honest". They are designed for a flat frequency response, so that if you do a mix though them, the end result will sound good for other speakers as well. Imagine mixing with a speaker or headphone that is bass enhanced in the first place. If you were not aware of that fact, then your mix would likely be very bass light on other peoples equipment. That's what monitors are trying to avoid.

 

[Chan_2]

I'd go with the Mackie's personally. One because I don't like how the T40's sounded. Two because monitors have or at least supposed to have a flat frequency response. This usually means that music can sometimes sound boring, but not bad as opposed to something colored that can make certain genres sound bad. Also monitors aren't necessarily "brutally honest". They are designed for a flat frequency response, so that if you do a mix though them, the end result will sound good for other speakers as well. Imagine mixing with a speaker or headphone that is bass enhanced in the first place. If you were not aware of that fact, then your mix would likely be very bass light on other peoples equipment. That's what monitors are trying to avoid.

your answer makes sense, but I don't want music to sound boring either. Would EQing prevent that?

 

[anonymousdude]

EQing could prevent this, but it depends on how good your EQ is and how responsive your speakers are to the EQ. You'll want something that's better than the standard windows EQ. There are plug ins and systemwide EQs that are very good, so it just depends on what you need.