Piano pieces. Mastering. What studio monitors to use?

[Konskoo]

I want to record piano pieces. I will use VST piano, MIDI keyboard controller, studio monitors, audio Interface.

Next I will make mastering of piano pieces.

After mastering I will upload piano pieces to different music sites - this will be the only way to distribute these recordings. There will no be physical media - CD, DVD - in distribution.

What studio monitors to use?

[John Vere]

HUGE topic because it's called "Subjective opinions".. Nobody will agree on the correct chioce because everyone is different. 

The most important question would be on what $$$ budget. Monitors can be very expensive when you get into professional quality.  

In the Home Studio category things are very affordable these days.

Personally if I need new monitors I would be buying the Yamaha H8 because it is reported to be a close match to my irreplaceable Yamaha NSM10's. Not because they are the best or cheapest but because I could use them like I always have. 

https://usa.yamaha.com/products/proaudio/speakers/hs_series/index.html

I'm a person who has used the same monitor for almost 25 years so I have "learned" these monitors and all my mixes are very very close when played back on other systems. The most important feature of any monitor is accuracy. As close to uncoloured as possible. A lot of new home studio monitors are very bass heavy. That sounds great for listening but your mix will be way off. Your going for an classical sound so you don't need "loud" and bass heavy like you would for rock and roll. 

I just recorded a real Grand Piano in the clients home. It turned out great because I keep things simple, it was a good piano and a nice wooden room ( unfinished post and beam) . But listening to the recordings makes me realize how far from perfect the VST's I use are ( Addictive Keys,  True Piano's) I hope you can find a top quality VST if it even exists. 

Edited November 25, 2020 by John Vere

[Konskoo]

@John Vere

John, thank you. I took into attention.

On 11/26/2020 at 2:31 AM, John Vere said:

I just recorded a real Grand Piano in the clients home.

Nice

On 11/26/2020 at 2:31 AM, John Vere said:

It turned out great because I keep things simple, it was a good piano and a nice wooden room ( unfinished post and beam)

Nice I understand you.

On 11/26/2020 at 2:31 AM, John Vere said:

But listening to the recordings makes me realize how far from perfect the VST's I use are ( Addictive Keys,  True Piano's)

Understand you.

On 11/26/2020 at 2:31 AM, John Vere said:

I hope you can find a top quality VST if it even exists.

Understand you. Thank you, John.

Edited December 1, 2020 by Konskoo

[Glenn Stanton]

On 11/25/2020 at 6:31 PM, John Vere said:

Personally if I need new monitors I would be buying the Yamaha H8 because it is reported to be a close match to my irreplaceable Yamaha NSM10's. Not because they are the best or cheapest but because I could use them like I always have. 

Avantone has a couple of NS-10-like units - a passive and newer active - both got decent reviews.

http://www.avantonepro.com/cla-10a.php

http://www.avantonepro.com/cla-10.php

https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/avantone-cla-10a

i have Avantone MixCube (active version) which is very useful for true mono mixing

[Michael Vogel]

14 hours ago, Konskoo said:

@John Vere

John, thank you. I took into attention.

Nice

Nice I understand you.

Understand you.

Understand you. Thank you, John.

Incorrectly quoted.

Edited December 2, 2020 by Michael Vogel

[Michael Vogel]

On 11/26/2020 at 7:38 AM, Konskoo said:

I want to record piano pieces. I will use VST piano, MIDI keyboard controller, studio monitors, audio Interface.

Next I will make mastering of piano pieces.

After mastering I will upload piano pieces to different music sites - this will be the only way to distribute these recordings. There will no be physical media - CD, DVD - in distribution.

What studio monitors to use?

Don’t forget that your monitoring environment (the recording/playback room) is at least as important as the monitors you’re using. To get the best value for money spent on monitor speakers consider at least some modest acoustic room treatment.

[lapasoa]

I think is embarassing when someone ask for a guitar respect to a different guitar or a software respect to another or a monitor respect something elsse.

The whole without explaining his musical tastes, his musical expierence and what type of devices he uses for recording and hearing his own music.

[abacab]

On 12/2/2020 at 11:05 AM, lapasoa said:

I think is embarassing when someone ask for a guitar respect to a different guitar or a software respect to another or a monitor respect something elsse.

The whole without explaining his musical tastes, his musical expierence and what type of devices he uses for recording and hearing his own music.

Before passing judgement on the OP's motivations, you might want to check out their other posts for context. The OP appears to be a non-fluent English language user with a translator. Realize that CbB is now global, and most likely will attract users from all nations ... ?

TLDR; the OP is interested in classical music and piano, and wishes to build a computer to record and master piano pieces with a VSTi piano using Cakewalk. No apparent experience with either building computers or recording with them.

[CJ Jacobson]

On 11/25/2020 at 3:38 PM, Konskoo said:

I want to record piano pieces. I will use VST piano, MIDI keyboard controller, studio monitors, audio Interface.

Next I will make mastering of piano pieces.

After mastering I will upload piano pieces to different music sites - this will be the only way to distribute these recordings. There will no be physical media - CD, DVD - in distribution.

What studio monitors to use?

Even the best studio monitors will not do you any good if your studio is not tuned. In a un-tuned studio, you will not be able to hear the true sounds and you cannot make the mix and master sound the way you want it to sound and have it played back at its best on every sound system without hearing the true sounds you are mixing and mastering.

The room plays a huge role in the sounds you hear.

For mixing, i suggest 2 ways from either of these 2: JBL or Focal and for mastering, I suggest 3 ways form the same manufacturer

 

 

[Alan Tubbs]

Most importantly, how much money is available?  I love Barefoot speakers and I’m sure they would work, tho 10,000 USD might be too much.  At the lower end of the market I’d go with Yamaha, although every superior speaker they make seems to get cancelled because of manufacturing problems.  The Beryllium speakers in my NS 500 became too dangerous to make as did the paper cones in the ns 10.  I’ve had the ns 500s since 1975 and still use them at home.  By nice hardware that lasts.

[Konskoo]

@Glenn Stanton, @Michael Vogel, @CJ Jacobson, @Alan Tubbs

Glenn, Michael, CJ Jacobson, Alan, thank you. I took into attention.

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On 12/5/2020 at 4:26 AM, abacab said:

The OP appears to be a non-fluent English language user with a translator.

abacab, thank you. :)

Yes, English is my second language. I speak English, read English, write English. I like English. Sounds, phonetics. Sometimes I look into dictionary. All my messages I check using Google Translate. Most of messages of other people on forum I check using Google Translate too. To understand all in exact.

On 12/5/2020 at 4:26 AM, abacab said:

the OP is interested in classical music and piano, and wishes to build a computer to record and master piano pieces with a VSTi piano using Cakewalk. No apparent experience with either building computers or recording with them.

abacab, thank you. :) Yes. :)

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On 12/2/2020 at 7:05 PM, lapasoa said:

The whole without explaining his musical tastes

Most of all I like piano music of 19th century. The Romantic era. Romanticism. Franz Schubert, Frédéric Chopin, Robert Schumann, Franz Liszt and many other nice people. Also I like chamber music of 19th century. This authors wrote it. And chamber music of 19th century of other authors. Also I like symphonic music of 19th century. This authors wrote it. And symphonic music of 19th century of other authors. Also I like opera of 19th century and beginning of 20th century. Also I like all classical music. :) Before 19th century, after 19th century. Also I like all music. :)