Suitable for use with Digital Piano? - 01/18/02 11:04 PM
I have a digital piano in my room (Technics SX-P50 for those interested) that sounds great through my headphones (Sennheiser HD580) but absolutly horrendous through my 4 year old dinky Yamaha computer speakers (the digital piano has no speakers of its own). My current computer speakers can play MP3's fine, but when I connect them to my digital piano, they start buzzing and distorting so I hypothsize that I simply can't turn the computer speakers up loud enough to the level I would expect from a real piano.
Unfrotunately, listening through headphones gets tiring after an hour and I often play more than that so i started looking around for good speakers.
After some research, I discovered that many musicians use monitors, and more specifically for people in my situation in a small room (10x10), near-field monitors. I was considering getting some near-field powered monitors but my friend suggested getting an integrated amp/monitor instead and this way, I could easily add a CD player in the future.
My questions are:
1) What distinguishes a monitor from a bookshelf speaker? Are they the same thing? Isn't the goal of all speakers to acheive as flat a response as possible?
2) When a monitor is described as "near-field", it means that its meant to be near the listener. Does this mean that near-field monitors sound better up close than a bookshelf speaker? Do they sound worse from far away?
3) Is a bookshelf speaker powerful enough (say the M22) to simulate how a piano would sound in my room? The samples on my digital piano are actually from a Steinway grand and are very good and while I'm not expecting miracles, I expect to be able to get a satisfying sound with the right speakers (the outputs from the piano have a soundtage so that lower notes come from the left, and higher notes from the right).
4) Given the size of my room, should I consider towers?
I'd appreciate any help!
Unfrotunately, listening through headphones gets tiring after an hour and I often play more than that so i started looking around for good speakers.
After some research, I discovered that many musicians use monitors, and more specifically for people in my situation in a small room (10x10), near-field monitors. I was considering getting some near-field powered monitors but my friend suggested getting an integrated amp/monitor instead and this way, I could easily add a CD player in the future.
My questions are:
1) What distinguishes a monitor from a bookshelf speaker? Are they the same thing? Isn't the goal of all speakers to acheive as flat a response as possible?
2) When a monitor is described as "near-field", it means that its meant to be near the listener. Does this mean that near-field monitors sound better up close than a bookshelf speaker? Do they sound worse from far away?
3) Is a bookshelf speaker powerful enough (say the M22) to simulate how a piano would sound in my room? The samples on my digital piano are actually from a Steinway grand and are very good and while I'm not expecting miracles, I expect to be able to get a satisfying sound with the right speakers (the outputs from the piano have a soundtage so that lower notes come from the left, and higher notes from the right).
4) Given the size of my room, should I consider towers?
I'd appreciate any help!