What I do to properly train my ears, I do listening exercises. I’ll play a song through my monitors at a medium to low volume and with my ears deconstruct the song. I’ve been doing this for over 20 years and it helps my mixes tremendously. Now when I say deconstruct, I focus on the little details in a song that the normal listener won't hear. That's the reason why I play the song and a lower volume. Also to protect my ears. For me, I can do this practice on any set of speakers. Hopefully this helps someone out there. 😎🥃

Yamaha HS7's love them best investment I ever made love how natural they sound.

I mix with headphones. That way I know what I am getting no matter where I am working.

I’ve owned the Yamaha HS8 for 11 years now and they’re serving me great ever since here in Nigeria...

One thing I've learnt to value over everything is confidence in the monitoring solution you have, once you understand what you're hearing your mixes will reflect that.

I went with Adam a7x because they're detailed AF. The stereo image is great so panning and finding "where" things are in the mix is important. I'm not going overboard on gear but monitors are the single most important thing in a studio to me.

I got the Kali Audio IN-8s which is the step up from the LPs and I swear by em! They get me a damn good mix on the music I work on with a very mildly treated room.

So true my brother !

The speaker is very important combined with the right listening environment

Some cheaper monitors arent very good at all. And the super cheaper ones are even worst. But usually most medium priced and up monitors are decent to really good speakers! As long as you have decent speakers its more about learning the characteristics of your monitors and room. No matter what monitors you have you have to learn your speakers and room.

I have the Presonus sceptre S8 with krk 10. I Luv those S8 they are loud. you can hear everthing!!!

Rokit5 G4 is what I have and they sound great IMO.

I’ve had the Focal Alpha 80 speakers for about 5 years now and get amazing results. Last year I added a 10 inch JBL sub and some additional room treatments. That’s it. Bolo, thanks for making this video! It’s all about the ear, not the gear.

yamaha HS5's love investment and Bolo your absolutely right about speakers sir. excellent advice

The main reason to go with more expensive monitors is to get higher spl levels easier with less distortion. In some cases that also gives better imaging, but your totally correct, fix the room first.

Old school Yamaha HS80!! They work, sound great in my half way treated room. Treatment digs in the pockets deep too. I have all diffusers and no absorption panels.

I have barefoots and I still use my hs5’s all the time with them. I can’t let them go,🥺 they were my first...

Thanks again Man..... My 20/20's have served (and continue to) me well. Finally got them positioned right and now I'm careful when I dust the room (don't want to move em') LOL.

Back in the day I didn't know the legend that he was at the time but I emailed Bob Clearmountain asking about tips on a budget. He told me to get some crappy tiny computer speakers and I thought this man is crazy. Then when I went to university a professor told me NS10s are just crappy paper cone bookshelf speakers and suddenly I understood. I went and bought an old pc speaker and an old cassette tape boombox with the aux to cassette accessory. It's harder to mix but I when it's perfect it sounds good on the phone AND in the car

I am using a very lowly pair of Klipsch Pro Media 2.1 speakers and have been, for over 10 years. I know these speakers, inside and out and know EXACTLY how everything sounds on them and therefore, what I expect MY stuff to sound like, on them. Exactly as stated, it is better to know how YOUR speakers sound, in YOUR setup and chances are, you will do just fine with them.

Mannn! Bolo knows!!! Yall better listen...

I've owned a pair of first gen KRK RP5s since 2007 or so, so 14 years. They're still running strong, they sound great. To the point in this video, I trained my ears to hear things properly. I've never had a treated room, but hope to within the next couple of years (can't now because of limited space at the moment). But I learned how to compensate for that in what I hear out of the monitors.

I made my own diy speakers. And it works great for me.

I think people get so wrapped up on specs, brands and cost that they forget that it's more important to know your gear and room.

JBL LSR2328P 8” YAMAHA HS50 5” JBL 4410a 10” (that I haven’t used yet) It doesn’t matter what you mix on. You just reference the mixes you like CONTINUOUSLY on whatever you have until your ears are trained. I feel like you’re never too good that you don’t have to reference great mixes on your system.

bruh your intros are priceless!!! much respect

I had Rokit 5, M audio Bx8, the Yamaha 8s. My best mixes came out of a yamaha in a room with walls made out of moving blankets in my basement

thumbs up just from the intro! Who cares who give a thumbs down!

After spending 5 years in it, I had really "learned" my living room, ok? Then one day, the studio gods smiled on me, and my stepson moved out to be closer to his job... I GET A ROOM WITH A DOOR!! Ok... guees what? I acoustic treated that thing, and am about to buy some Adam monitors (maybe the 5s, prob the 7s but its just a bedroom... we'll see in July), but I still gotta "learn" that room with my ears. Grear vid Bolo!!

Can 't agree more i sold my beloved neumanns cause moving country, and im restarting with yamaha hs7 and dont miss the expensive ones at all as my new room is better i never use the expensive ones to full potential as my previous room was L shaped and had tons of reverb

You said everything when you said the room was not treated right. If the room is not balanced, the mix will be terrible. People need to quit chasing the room. Love to hear you preaching the truth Bolo.

Hercules Monitor 5 $200 "open box" pair off ebay. Front bass ports, volume & power buttons. Quality MDF enclosure. Sound great.

I have the Focal Alpha 80 as well and I'm really happy with them. Everything sounds clear, sub bass is there, they don't tire my ears easily.

It's all about balance! I agree, you have to keep some life in the room in order to inspire some new new

This man speaks the truth!

Kali Audio LN-8 perfect for me. Used Edirol MA-20D speakers from the early 2000's. If you can pick those up for a song now.

I'm using desktop JBL studio monitors, they're great

I have the Alesis M1 Active MKIII's. $200 for the pair. I had the MKI's of that line and they sounded incredible as do these. Unbelievable how great these sound. I just listen to a reference of what I want to achieve and start on my mix.

bro speaking the truth!! your ear is the most important I use the Behringer -B2031A 8in ..love them

I paid $150 for some Rubicons, ive trained my ears to them. they sound good in my studio, but on a pa system or in the ride they sound awesome !!!

still rockin my alesis m1 active mkii's and im terrified of upgrading because i know them so well. ive used them in 3 different studios. Everytime ive moved them i learned more.

Lately I've been thinking to get myself a pair of Kali Audio LP-8 or LP-6. Since I've started producing I've been doing everything in headphones (ATH-M50x).

I went the long hard way with speakers. I started with a pair of KRK Rokit 8's and found that they colored the mids and bass. I moved up to Focal Alpha 80's and while everything was better my mid-range was still lacking.. having that stereo imaged mid was not a help for my ears and my mixes always had mid-range issues with them. I moved up to focal treo 6's and I have more balanced mixes now, but my room kills me in the bass and sub range frequencies. I have spent alot of money and time chasing perfection... my room stinks... it's fully treated and I worked with an acoustician to clean it up, but some things can't be fixed. I am still learning the treo 6's. I don't regret the investment I really needed 3 way monitoring and taking time out to have a pro review my room and buy the correct panels that are designed to correct specific room issues was the best thing I did. If I had to do it all over... I would start with having my room reviewed first. The size of the speakers don't matter it's the room that you put them in and how it's treated.

I have a pair of alesis elevate5 first gen and im a studio apartment with no treatment and ive been using them for the last 4 years and all i had to do was change one tweeter and the sound is just right.

Kali LP6. New to the market and awesome for the price.

A pair of M-Audio BX-8s right next to a pair of Yamaha MSP3s. The BX-8s reveal the high-end and low-end whereas the MSP3s reveal the midrange. What the BX8s lack, the MSP3s makeup for and vice-versa. Therefore, I switch between the two pairs while mixing. No, my room isn't treated, but it is a really small space and the last mix I made with this monitor setup translated really well. I've been debating in the back of mind whether to upgrade the BX-8s to a pair of Yamaha HS-8s someday.

All facts!!! 💯💯💯💯💯 It's not the gear it's the ear 👂 Dope Video

Mines are alpha 65, very happy with.

I got those Kali 8’s. I don’t know what the heck I’m doing yet. That’s why I am here listening to my Guy BOLO. Listen to him people, free game!

I was rocking 2010 KRK Rokits and now have upgraded to the Adam Audio T8V they are an experience

Am using the Earthquake sound 6 inch speakers with ribbon tweeters and they are amazing , am a new Producer/Artiste and Songwriter

I have the same Tapco S8 studio monitors for 15 years, but it’s only during this last year that I started really using them for music production. I also have the SW10 sub to match it. Maybe I could have gotten higher-grade, higher-quality, but these still work and they sound just fine. The place where I’m at isn’t conducive to treatment, so can’t quite go that far. But I do use my headphones a lot, do gain staging and the typical mixing practices including EQing and leveling, and also have several other sources to listen back, take notes, clean up, bounce and try again, lather-rinse-repeat. You’re on point in that in the end, it’s the ears. Thanks for the reminder.

Hook for that beat... Hate taking time/ wasting time/ waiting to take the time So I'm taking mine/ I make my time/ making cents or I'll blow my mind... /// My mind/// my mind//// bolo OOOOOOOOO - OF AS SOME METALLIC LEAD WITH BOLO..... 🔥🔥🔥

Good stuff. I’m probably going to go with Adam A7x as my main speakers and I have a pair of Focal Shape 40’s for my Alt speakers

Hey Bolo I always thump up your videos even though you really dont care!

In untreated rooms it’s best to mix in headphones first then listen back in monitors

Yes bro that’s totally true. I mix with a pair of presonus around 300 dolls in my home studio. Great video BL….

I got a pair of jvc sk600II from my grandfather, one of them has the cone broken but still works, and all the mixes I have in my channel were done on those, and a pair of one odio prodj 50 headphones

So true what you say in this video!

I'm using the kali 8's ...i think those are good for a home studio. Thanks Bro.

I completely agree. I wish some of these younger cats would listen to me when I tell em that. But they still go do that high priced stuff...which isn't wrong, but they overextend themselves by putting it on credit.

I recently went from NS8 to Focal Solo6 and my sonic world expanded. Listening to my left drummer and my right drummer playing together sounds so buttery. Two bands~Two speakers=Mayhem.

I love my Adam A7x's. They translate perfect for me. However you're absolutely right about knowing your environment and treating your room. Great video as always my brother.

KRK Rokit 4's for the moment paired with a Kicker Comp 8" sub in a surround box. It sounds good enough but sooner or later I would like to upgrade. I was thinking about going up in size to some KRK 8's or two KRK 6's with a 10" sub. The Yamaha 8's caught my attention to.

I love my presonus eris 3.5s

Bolo is right my monitors sound so bad when I'm not at home in a treated environment have to get back asap

Room acoustics is so important because mixing without it really defeats the purpose of owning studio monitors in an untreated room in the first place. Some of the biggest thing neglected by thousands of people I've seen. I'm heavily invested into some of GIK Acoustics room treat. You can probably see that in my aviator profile pic of my Argosy desk. Proper speaker placement, listening position is also very important. Your desk should be placed 38% or a 3rd of your room symmetrical of equal distance from the side walls.

I’m going for a cheap one as I don’t even mix. Just using it for pc games and typical pc use

Got the Presonus Sceptre8's with Temblor T10 sub... Room is treated and I'm good.

Sooo.. being new to producing (a long time DJ though.. since mid 90's), HOW does one train one's ears? BTW, love your attitude and straight up, no-BS, BUT cordial and supportive approach. You are the epitome of keeping it real!

P.s just picked up a Yamaha soundbar .... No 6's or 8's but it picked up that beat!

You said nothing but the truth!!!

I am rocking the yamaha h5 still need to learn them use to have some m-audio 3in

KRK Rokit 8 gen 3 with the KRK 10” sub, and the Primacustics London 10 room kit…..gives me a very good beatmaking and mixing environment

I'm still rocking my Event 8’s from 2004. Still banging 😎🥃

I have the Adam T7v & i love them honestly its a perfect balance for me eventually i would want the a77x but that would be later down in the road

I've been rocking my 8" JBL Monitor speakers, but I will admit that I want to try those Adam Audio A7x's....lol

I use the Adam TV8's 🔥🔥🔥🔥

I love this your ears are the most important part and I rock the kali audio lp 8s love them and my alesis mk2 6.5 haven't treated my room but I understand it.

Use what you got!

As Long as you Bo 💯

I love my Kali Audio speakers, a great investment 2 or 3 years later

Great commentary on this subject. I have the alesis elevate, a nice flat sound no extra manufacturer eq boost/cuts. Decent price and great for production and mixing.

Just recently got some Adam T7V's, and WAW, These blew my Yam HS7's away. The Adam ribbon tweeter is amazing. These are now in the Shedio where i almost live, Oh Yeah. Thanks Again BOLO. Awesome As Always... RICH MIXX

Your Intro Bro lol !!

I’m not gone lie..Kali Audios are my new favorites man..they sound amazing and the 6.5 Inches sounds more like the 8 inches

Thank you for your content

I don't have studio monitors. I don't want to spend money on the room treatment because I'm renting. At the same time I use not the most expensive. I tried Sennheiser headphones but I could not hear the low and the highs on them. So I use Sony MDR $69 version. When my money from production goes up then I will invest more until then I'm making some decent stuff. And I will send it to a mixing engineer once the artist is done with the track. I have invested in gear over about $10,000 over time.

As I Say... It's Not The Car, It's the Driver!

I am a hobbyist, I have the Presonus Eris e5 I bought used. I enjoy your point of views on creating music.

Have my HS8 catching busy but real talk gear don’t mean shit man it’s all about knowing how to to mix and master your song

DJ Khaled got a small set up to not small as in small but not as big as you think it would be

Using a pair of near field monitors from IK the iLoud Micro’s .

Do a video on acoustic panels positioning in a room

I got the KRK 8s G3 I just need to treat my bedroom. And find that sound. Other than that they sound great 👍. I also use FL 20 daw.

Brilliant content as always .I’ve an old set of Tannoys, still like them. As you said Bolo,it’s all about the ear!

Bolooooo!👌🏾

Just spent 1k on acoustic room treatment and I'm rocking the kali lp-8 now after switching from m-audio bx8a after 10yrs of music production

Im a rock guy...I guess...lol.. but I love your content!! Your real! honest and humble! You've reinforced much of my thoughts and theories! Im only using Presonus 3.5 cos I have a small room and work fantastic for what I'm doing!! PEACE.

Hey man when are you going to give us a tour of your studio it looks like you have a pretty nice set up in the background