jpeg wrote:spending a grand on speakers to make beats in ur room is foolish and if ur working on major releases likely they will take the stems to a pro studio and mix it so no need for u to shell out for speakers.
Spending a grand is foolish, but investing in a good set of smaller monitors is certainly not.
I don't believe many of the major labels would even look twice unless your mixes were of a reasonable standard first and foremost. So relying on that it becomes a chicken and egg situation. Mastering, I would say is something that you can leave, but basic mixdowns are something you should learn how to do and work on yourself. Afterall it's your music. The mixdown can be just as creative as the original process.
As for people saying you can use any old cheap speaker, perhaps yes. But there's some flawed logic. Some of you are saying, don't spend money on a high quality monitor because you're putting it into an untreated room.
So tell me where's the logic in putting a cheaper quality speaker in an untreated room? At least with a dedicated monitor even if the low end is a bit off, which is usually the biggest issue, he will still gain some clarity elsewhere. Particularly if he chooses a monitor that is suitable for the size of his room and pays heed to a few basic principles of referencing using other sources as has been mentioned. And also reads a couple of articles on monitor placement.
I mean obviously if he puts something with an 8" driver in a tiny room it's asking for trouble, but a lot of very well known companies now offer much smaller options specifically for that reason.