5 Monitor Speakers for Accurate Music Mixing

Monitor speakers are used in many professional and home recording studios for playback during mixing. The goal is to provide accurate sound reproduction without coloring like many other home theater speakers will cause. There are many different monitor speakers available, but this article will only cover active speakers.




Active monitor speakers have a built-in amplifier, so there’s no need for any equipment. Simply plug in the line output from your audio interface to the back of each speaker, hook them up to power, and you’re good to go.

Alesis M1 Active 320

If you’re looking for a cheap, small, and portable set of monitor speakers, check out the Alesis M1 Active 320. These speakers connect to your computer by USB, so there’s no need to carry around an audio interface with them. They also allow for recording instruments such as a keyboard directly. However, the portability of these speakers will influence the accuracy of these speakers, since small speakers can’t reproduce low frequencies very well.

Mackie CR3 Creative Reference Multimedia Monitors

Another small, portable speaker option is the Mackie CR3 Creative Reference Multimedia Monitors. These speakers have a nicer look to them, and they’ll work with audio interfaces instead of directly through USB. Like the Alesis speakers, these also have a 3” speaker that has a bottom frequency response of 80 Hz. They also feature convenient controls such as the front panel power and volume knob.

Behringer MS20 Monitor Speakers

The Behringer MS20 Monitor Speakers will provide a little more power with a slightly bigger 3.625” speaker. These speakers allow for both digital and analog inputs, and have volume, eq, headphone, and power controls on the front of the speaker. They also have a frequency ragne of 65-25,000 Hz, so they’ll be pretty decent for low frequency mixing even if you choose not to use a subwoofer.

KRK Rokit 5 Powered Studio Monitor

The KRK Rokit 5 Powered Studio Monitorsstrike a great balance for many people doing home recording. They’re more expensive, but each speaker provides 50 watts of power and is capable of reach 45 Hz. They’ll be very accurate for mixing, but aren’t portable. The KRK speakers also have controls for high and low frequency level, volume, and power, but all these controls are on the back of the speaker, which can be a small problem depending on the layout of your studio.

Yamaha HS5 Powered Studio Monitor

If you’re looking for a set of studio monitors that can be used in professional applications, the Yamaha HS5 Powered Studio Monitor is one to consider. These monitors are quite a bit more expensive, but they’re high quality monitors. They have a 5” speaker that is able to get down to 54 Hz, but subwoofers should be used with monitor speakers for low frequency mixing. At 70 watts, these speakers are more than powerful enough larger studios.

4 Starter Packs to Learn Bass

The bass guitar is a crucial, but often underestimated, instrument in many genres or music. It provides the rhythmic floor of a song, and can be extremely reward to learn and play in a band. If you’ve ever considered learning bass guitar, there are a few low price packages available that provide basically everything you need to get started, without the hassle of purchasing all your equipment separately.

Silvertone LB11 Bass Guitar and Amp Package

If you’re on a tight budget to purchase a bass guitar, you should consider the Silvertone LB11 Bass Guitar and Amp Package.This package features the Silvertone Revolver bass which has a split P pickup, as well as volume and tone controls. The bass has a bolt on neck with a rosewood fingerboard, and the body is a double cutaway that comes in black, sunburst, or cobalt blue.

The Silvertone package also includes the BAXs bass amp, which is a 10-watt bass amp with a 4 band equalizer (high mid, low mid, low, high) to dial in your tone. There is also a headphone output for practicing quietly, but you’ll want a decent set of headphones to be able to use with properly due to all the low frequencies. There is no gain control on this amp, but this isn’t typical of bass amps.

There are also a few accessories included with this starter pack. There is a strap, picks, and instrument cable, which is commonly included in most packages. Many bass players choose not to play with picks, and we would recommend learning proper technique without them right away, especially if you already know how to play a 6 string guitar. It also includes a tuner, but it’s not a clip on so it requires the bass to be plugged in with the instrument cable. This package also comes with an instructional DVD that includes lessons to help the basic of playing bass.

Dean Starter Bass Pack with Edge 09 Bass

The Dean Edge 09 Bass and Amp pack is another good option for someone looking to learn bass. The Dean Edge 09 bass has a soapbar pickup with a volume and tone control. The body is made of basswood, which is a decent tonewood. One advantage of a basswood body is its light weight, so they’re easy to play comfortably for extended periods of time. This bass comes in either metallic red or black, and features a bolt on maple neck with a 22 fret rosewood fingerboard. The neck joint is asymmetrical, which allows for better access to the higher frets, though not a lot of bass players typically play in this area.

The Dean bass package comes with a 10-watt amp with controls for eq, volume and presence. There is also a headphone output. There are also picks, an instrument cable, gig bag, tuner and strap included as well.

Ibanez IJXB150B Jumpstart Bass Package

One of the better bass starter packs is the Ibanez IJXB150B Jumpstart Bass Package. The bass in this package is an Ibanez GS190, which has a P-bass style and Jazz bass style pickup. The individual pickups are controlled by separate volume knobs and there is a tone control for the output. This bass features a bolt on neck with a 22 fret rosewood fretboard.

This package comes with a 10-watt practice amp, but it doesn’t have as many eq controls as some of the other options. There is also an included tuner, accessory bad, gig bag, instrument cable and strap. One advantage of this package is it includes a set of headphones to plug into the amp, as well as a stand to keep the bass on when you’re not playing. There’s basically everything you could need to get started in this package, aside from picks which not all bass players like to use anyways.

Squier Affinity Series Jazz Bass Pack with Fender Rumble 15W Bass Combo Amp

One of the best quality bass starter packs is the Squier J Bass Guitar Pack. The Affinity Jazz bass has a alder body with a maple neck and rosewood fingerboard. This package is available in either black or brown sunburst for the finish on the bass. There are two single coil Jazz bass pickups with a separate volume control for each of them, allowing for a lot of different tone combinations.

The affinity jazz bass package comes with the Fender Rumble 15 bass amp. This amp has a volume control and three band eq. There is also an auxiliary input to play along with music and a headphone output for quiet practicing.

There are a few accessories included. With this package you’ll get a gig bag, strap, tuner, and instrument cable to get started.


Learning bass can be a fun and rewarding experience. By purchasing a bass starter pack, you can learn to play bass without having to worry about choosing all the individual equipment separately.

4 Recording Packages to Get Started with Home Recording

If you’re looking to start recording audio, there’s some essential equipment you’ll need. For most purposes, you’ll need an audio interface, microphone, and headphones to get started. This list can easily grow with more complex recording projects, but this is just the basics. There are a few packages available that have all the equipment you’ll need, so we’ve covered some of the best options available.

Behringer Podcastudio

The most basic recording package available is the Behringer Podcastudio. This package includes a dynamic microphone with stand, mixer, headphones, and audio 2 channel audio interface as well as the required cables to set it up. The microphone is plugged into the mixer, which is connected to the computer via a simple 2 in 2 out USB audio interface. The mixer features one XLR input as well as a few ¼” inputs. There is also the option for phantom power for condenser microphones.

There are a few pieces of software included with this setup, however they are free and can easily be downloaded.

Though this setup is advertised for podcasters, it can also be used by musicians who are recording simple tracks. This setup can be used to record direct guitar and bass, vocals, keyboard, or electronic drums with a line output.

Focusrite Scarlett Studio Pack

The Focusrite Scarlett Studio Pack Studio pack provides a few more options than the Behringer Podcastudio, but costs more. This package includes the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2, which has two XLR/instrument inputs. This allows for up to two microphones to be recorded at once, so it is capable of stereo recording. The interface also has a separate headphone output and line outputs for monitor speakers.

This package includes the Focusrite Scarlett CM25 large diaphragm condenser microphone that can be used on a variety of different instruments. There is also a pop filter for recording vocals that will prevent plosives from being picked up by the microphone. The package comes with a boom microphone stand. These work great for any recording in the studio, especially when working with vocals or drums. An XLR cable is included for connecting the microphone to the audio interface.

To monitor your recordings, there is the Focusrite HP60 closed-back headphones. Since the headphones are closed-back, they’ll work great for recording alongside the condenser microphone since they won’t leak much sound.

Cubase LE 6 is included, which is a free version of Cubase. This program has a few limitations compared to the full version, but most will find it sufficient for their home recording projects.

Steinberg UR22 MKII Recording Pack

Another package similar to the Focusrite is the Steinberg UR22 MKII Recording Pack. This audio interface has similar features, such as 2 inputs and preamp, separate headphone and monitor outputs and instrument inputs. This interface has the advantage over the Focusrite 2i2 since it also has MIDI input/output, allowing for recording of electronic instruments such as keyboard and electronic drums.

The Steinberg recording pack comes with the ST-H01 studio monitor headphones as well as the ST-M01 studio condenser microphone and XLR cable. Unlike the Focusrite package, there is no included microphone stand or pop filter.

Recording software is also included with this package, such as Cubase AI and Wavelab LE for use with a computer, and Cubasis LE for recording with an iPad. The iPad recording capabilities are great, since they make this package very portable and allow you to easily record on location.

Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 Pack

The Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 Pack18i20 pack is the best package available for anyone looking to expand their recording studio in the future. Though significantly more expensive, this package includes the Focusrite 18i20, which is a great audio interface with many inputs and preamps. This audio interface can be used for recording anything from a single guitar track, so a full band all at once.

This package also comes with a Rockville RCM02 pro studio condenser microphone as well as a shock mount and XLR cable to connect it to the mixer. This condenser microphone would be great for anything from vocal recording to acoustic guitar. There is no included microphone stand, so that will need to be purchased separately. The package does include an isolation shield, which goes around the microphone and prevents it from picking up reflections, allowing it to sound as if it were recorded in a vocal booth.

The Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 includes Pro Tools First Focusrite Creative Pack and Ableton Live Lite for recording music, so there’s no need to purchase a DAW or look for free solutions before you can get started.

The one disadvantage of this package that’s worth mentioning is there are no included headphones or monitor speakers, so they will need to be purchased separately. If you want to find out more about choosing headphones for the home studio, click here.