Active Monitors for the PC? How?

[perfektrtw]

Well right now I have a pretty nice sound system.

Panasonic XR50 receiver, and Onix Ref 1s with UFW-10 sub. Emu 1212m soundcard.

However, I was thinking about switching it up with some studio monitors. My room is small 11x10 or so I believe.. and my Ref1s are just sitting on my computer desk about 2-3 inches away from the wall, and only like 3 feet away from my ears. I think a near field monitor would probably do a lot better in this environment.. but I dunno for certain.

My question is.. how do I get this to work? How do I hook up active speakers? Can I hook them up to my XR50, or would I need to buy something else? How would I adjust volume, and could I still use my sub? I really don't know crap about this stuff except for the extreme basics on how to hook plain speakers up

Right now I am looking at Genelecs, but I am still researching them.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Mister X]

Active monitors usually have a amplifier in them so you won't need the XR50 at all.
(that is what active means, passive means non amplified)

 

[perfektrtw]

Active monitors usually have a amplifier in them so you won't need the XR50 at all.
(that is what active means, passive means non amplified)

Yeah I know... so that means I would hook them up directly to the soundcard? How would I control volume? I sure don't trust the software volume control that comes with my soundcard software, and having to adjust each speaker manually wont be too cool either...

And what if I want to play xbox or something else using the speakers as well?

 

[Mister X]

All of that good stuff depends on the product.
For instance:
The Alesis ProLinear 820DSP uses either the built in LCD or software to control each speaker.
Other monitors like the Genelecs you mentioned either have no volume control whatsoever (they are controlled with a preamp that is integrated into the mixing console) or they have very rudimentary controls.

 

[perfektrtw]

So then hooking them up to a receiver is a bad idea for sound quality, or it just doesn't work?

If I remember right, theres only a few highly regarded manufacturers, and I dont recall Alesis being one of them. It seems most everyone agrees Genelec is one of the best, so I would like to stick with them if possible.

How would something like this work for controlling volume? http://www.nhthifi.com/products/pvc.html

 

[GodsMadClown]

...
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

http://emusician.com/speakers/emusic_sound_judgment/

SOUND JUDGMENT

By Larry the O

Feb 1, 2003 12:00 PM

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Over the years, EM has done several comparison reviews of lower-end, “affordable” studio reference monitors, covering both powered and unpowered models. Now that powered monitors have gained such prominence in the market, we felt it was time to give a listen to some popular higher-end models — not the most expensive available, but those that represent a significant step up from the least expensive, or what I call “the low end of the high end.” We designated this the midpriced range.

To make sure we compared apples to apples, we decided to look only at two-way powered systems with woofers between six and seven inches in diameter. (For comprehensive information about studio reference monitors, see “Good References” in the June 2001 issue.) That narrowed the field, but still left us with more than two dozen models. Next we had to determine what constituted midpriced. Naturally, that also meant determining where the low end and the high end are. After careful consideration, we concluded that, generally speaking, low end refers most aptly to powered monitors costing $1,000 or less, and high end to powered monitors costing $2,500 or more (MSRP).
...

http://emusician.com/mag/emusic_sound_choices/

COVER STORY: Sound Choices

By Rusty Cutchin

Mar 1, 2005 12:00 PM

Now that powered monitors have taken over pro and project studio airspace, a speaker seems to be available for every room and budget. The studio owner who is shopping for a pair will find it easier to name the audio manufacturers that don't offer a powered monitor than to list all the ones that do.

In an effort to cut through the clutter, we rounded up a group of similarly equipped and priced models and gave them a listen. First, of course, we had to choose which models to compare. With the proliferation of low-priced active monitors geared to the home-studio owner, we needed to set some boundaries. The first part was easy: we wanted to examine a set from the large group of monitors priced under $1,000 per pair, but we didn't want to include speakers that are sold as desktop or personal monitors.
...

http://emusician.com/speakers/emusic_good_references/

GOOD REFERENCES
Brian Knave
To ensure your recordings are the best possible, you need highly accurate reference monitors—or do you? Some producers swear by speakers with well-known faults, while others use only the most pristine monitors. We resolve the conflicting viewpoints, discuss the vagaries of studio-monitor design, explain the most common specifications, and walk you through the process of choosing close-field monitors....