I am looking to obtain a good set of speakers to use for play-along with BIAB. I have a Dell XPS laptop and the built in speakers are not sufficient for what I want to do.
I am a jazz double bassist and would like to play along with speakers blue-toothed to my computer. I am looking to mostly practice playing melodies and soloing along with backing tracks of chord changes.
Given the instrument I play standing up, plugging in or microphoning through headphones may be a bit more difficult, but I'm open to suggestions. What is a good audio configuration with BIAB for a stand-up double bassist?
Registered: 12/10/03
Posts: 8839
Loc: Oklahoma, USA
Cesmith,
Older laptops were notorious for having very poor soundcards and the recommendation was to upgrade your soundcard for improved system sound. This has been greatly improved in recent years.
I have Barry MS-40s that I highly recommend. They are near-field monitors so take a bit of getting used to. They are fully capable of peeling paint or wallpaper so they should handle your bass adequately.
Registered: 07/12/00
Posts: 21713
Loc: Hudson Valley & Lake George NY
Welcome to the forum.
We need to know your budget.
Any size restrictions?
You probably know, there are powered and unpowered speakers. We generally call the powered ones monitors.
I highly recommend getting a modest audio interface such as a Focusrite 2i2 that connects to your laptop via USB. It bypasses the laptop audio (although Don is right, they are getting better) and it bypasses those horrid little headphone mini-jacks on laptops.
Since you play bass, can we assume the low end response is not as important for you?
What genre do you favor? The answer for classical might be different than for heavy metal or disco.
And, what's your budget!
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BIAB 2021 Win Audiophile & 2020 Mac UltraPak. Software: Studio One 5 Pro, Adobe Audition CC, Notion 6; Win 10 64 Pro. Hardware: custom i7 16 Gb; Roland Integra-7, Presonus Studio 192, Presonus Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam sub & monitors
Size: It'd be nice to have the speakers on a desk or table if possible. If the speakers would need to go on the floor, I would want them able to be tucked away somewhat when not in use.
Low-end response: While I do play bass, and intend to use the speakers for play-along, it might also benefit me to use the speakers for listening and transcribing as well. So, it would be good to have a decent low-end response. For play-along, I would mostly be doing jazz standards (piano/guitar + drum BIAB backing track). For listening and transcribing, I also like a lot of 60s/70s Soul + R&B in addition to jazz.
Interface & Budget: I hadn't thought of getting an interface at this time, but it may be worthwhile for recording purposes as well. Would it be possible to acquire the interface and speakers for around $400-500? If you have possibilities in mind that are a bit outside this range, please do suggest them as well.
With the laptop, I would recommend that you buy several things.
1. A USB external interface running ASIO.
2. A pair of powered, studio reference monitors.
Depending on what you buy, you're looking at a budget of around $500 for these items. They will, however, allow you to do so much more with your music and recording.
Connect the interface to the laptop and plug the speakers into the interface and you're ready to go
Registered: 12/03/18
Posts: 118
Loc: Flagstaff, AZ
Originally Posted By: Guitarhacker
With the laptop, I would recommend that you buy several things.
1. A USB external interface running ASIO.
2. A pair of powered, studio reference monitors.
Depending on what you buy, you're looking at a budget of around $500 for these items. They will, however, allow you to do so much more with your music and recording.
Connect the interface to the laptop and plug the speakers into the interface and you're ready to go
Great advice. While it's possible to spend TONS of money on an audio interface and powered monitors, you might want to consider a quality, entry-level bundle. Here's a terrific one for $310.
Registered: 06/05/12
Posts: 12699
Loc: Melbourne, Australia
Pioneer S-DJ50X powered (Active) monitors should be about US$300 (pair). I did a fair amount of research and a lot of listening to various products before settling on these.
_________________________ BIAB & RB2021(Audiophile), SonarPlatinum, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M StudioMonitors, Pioneer Active Monitors, AKG K271 Studio H'phones
One thing to consider is the speaker's frequency range.
I have a friend who got the aforementioned Presonus kit, but has yet to get the computer to hook it all up to, so I look forward to hearing it but can't comment yet. I did note these speakers only go down to 80Hz ..
The ones mentioned by VideoTrack and Don go down to 50Hz, which is a little better but still not quite what I personally need for monitors.
In my research you need a little bigger woofer to get down farther in the lower range. However these take up more room, so there is always a tradeoff.
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Make your sound your own!
Registered: 12/03/18
Posts: 118
Loc: Flagstaff, AZ
That's part of the reason I mentioned the PreSonus bundle. I've got excellent 8" monitors, but even those won't fully cover a double bass. The OP can always upgrade the monitors in the future, using the same audio interface. The bundle will still be a significant upgrade in audio over his built-in speakers.
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ThinkPad i9 32 GB RAM 7 TB SSD; Win10 Pro; PreSonus Studio 1810c; BiaB 2021 Ultra Studio One 5; Pro Notion 6; Melodyne 5 Studio; Acoustica Premium 7; Guitar Pro 7 M-Audio Keystation 61 MK3 & BX8 D2; Beyerdynamic DT 880 Pro & 770 Pro
Registered: 12/06/11
Posts: 1855
Loc: Lake Keowee, South Carolina
This is an interesting discussion and got me thinking. As Rharv suggested, speakers with a bigger woofer would be helpful, but wouldn't a sub accomplish the same thing?
I ask because I find myself in the same situation wondering about my KRK 8's.
Registered: 12/03/18
Posts: 118
Loc: Flagstaff, AZ
A sub can be helpful, but good ones (for mixing) are pricey. A VST like Fundamental Bass from W.A. Productions is useful when mixing low freq material.
Registered: 07/12/00
Posts: 21713
Loc: Hudson Valley & Lake George NY
Jeff, I have KRK 8s in my larger room for play-along. They work fine and bring good volume if needed. I would not use them to mix. The OP asked for speakers to play along with, and I think they are great for that.
_________________________
BIAB 2021 Win Audiophile & 2020 Mac UltraPak. Software: Studio One 5 Pro, Adobe Audition CC, Notion 6; Win 10 64 Pro. Hardware: custom i7 16 Gb; Roland Integra-7, Presonus Studio 192, Presonus Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam sub & monitors
Registered: 12/06/11
Posts: 1855
Loc: Lake Keowee, South Carolina
I just have two KRK 8" speakers, no sub. I've always wondered what the KRK sub would do for my system. Since my current 8's speakers themselves apparently go down to 36HZ (+/- 3db), the sub 10" sub apparently goes down a bit further to about 30hz.
Didn't seem to offer much bang for the buck. Their 12 incher apparently goes down to 26Hz but far outside my budget.
Registered: 08/20/11
Posts: 7147
Loc: Winston-Salem, NC USA
A "2+1" computer speaker system (2 treble speakers plus 1 sub woofer speaker)likely will match your need and budget. This +++ Logictech Z407 Computer Speakers +++ system is Bluetooth, micro USB and 3.5 mm capable, comes with a wireless rotary controller, 40 watts RMS of power and is $80 US at BestBuy. A 20 watt RMS system is $40.
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