I actually preferred the sound of the Yamahas and the Rokits. However, for 203 euros I now have a solution with very respectable sound that requires no additional external audio interface, no drivers and minimal cabling. There is also a handy 1/4" headphone jack on the right speaker with an easy to grasp volume/power control knob for silent play. To top it off (both literally and figuratively) there is an ipod docking station on top of the right speaker eliminating one more bit of USB cabling clutter from my den. If I don't want to power up the PC and/or play piano but want a bit of music, I can just turn the ipod on. I am also planning to connect them to our home SONOS system as an extra zone.

At the moment Jamey Aebersold is backing me from the ipod while I do a bit of improvisation in between typing this post and reading the newspaper online. Finally technology is catching up with the needs of those with ADHD!

So far, I am very pleased with this "bang for buck" solution.
Oh and: Thank goodness for PianoTeq !

Works well for me as piano monitors, since - as you pointed out - the headphone jack is right there on the right monitor.

If I understand correctly, I could just hook them up to the PC with the USB Cable. They even have a volume control and headphone jack on the front of one of the speakers. It is not clear to me if sound would be produced from the onboard interface of my computer or that inside the monitor.

The price seems to be right on these, especially if I wouldn't have to buy a separate audio interface.

I've got the M-Audio Fast Track Pro, and also an M-Audio Audiophile 2496 internal PCI card. I like them both, but on my system the stereo perspective seems somewhat better with the A2496, and also latency is a bit less.

The FTPro has several advantages though- the headphone output, the mic preamps, and it will work with any USB computer, so it's laptop friendly too.

http://www.emes.de/pageseng/emesframe

and click Black TV HR

I am going to do some more digging before making a final decision.

Just a little heads up - I think I've seen some posts in the M-Audio forums regarding some problem with the mic pre-amps in the Pro, so you might want to check that out if you think you may ever need them. Irrelevant for Pianoteq though.

Note also that the Pro is USB 1.0. It should be fine I guess, but I just didn't feel totally comfortable about that and that's one reason I chose the Ultra.

Greg.

They are decent, but probably not the best in this size range, but when I went looking they were more affordable than others.  I also listened to a pair of Rolands in the same size, and thought they sounded much better, but the price tag dissuaded me.

One source to research is Sound on Sound (a British music magazine that has articles on line):

http://www.soundonsound.com/search?page...esults=yes

I believe you'll find the Yamahas on page 4.

The review is ten years old (same style as mine) and isn't all that flattering, but it all comes down to one's budget.  Mine was more limited at the time, and today I'd probably spend a bit more.

One feature in their favour (for me) is that their output is very similar to my Sennheiser HD340 phones, so I can use them interchangeably.

Glenn

PS edit:  I have no experience with M-Audio gear, but know of several on another forum that use it extensively and like it.  Seems to be rock solid.

Second edit:

Just remembered another manufacturer that usually gets good reviews (as I recall) - Rokits:

http://mixonline.com/mag/audio_krk_rokit_rp/

Third edit:  Another source of reveiws (the KRK Rokits seem to rank well):

http://www.proaudioreview.com/article/16724

Now am ready to upgrade the sound and am considering the following:

M Audio Fasttrack Pro audio interface
Yamaha MSP5 Monitors

Questions:

1. Does this sound like an ok setup? Anyone have experience with or comments on this configuration?

2. Would I also be able to later hookup a three pedal device rather than using my damper pedal through the SP200 thereby having two different MIDI port inputs to Pianoteq?