Anyone using these? I have a pretty small home studio space and am thinking about picking these up based on all of the glowing reviews. If nothing else, I’m hoping they can function as a stop gap until I can afford to upgrade and then function as a set of second monitors.
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I have not used those personally but I read the reviews and they are using dsp to ensure that the drivers are kept under optimal conditions for a fairly flat response, my Equator D5s work like this and they are very good, so I’d say you probably won’t be disappointed with either as long as your expectations wrt to low bass are realistic - in a small room they are probably going to be ideal.
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If you do get these, let us know how you like em. I work 100% on headphones at my secondary rig, but have been thinking I could switch to using these at low monitoring levels, as long as they’d be ”good enough to work with” 
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Will do man. I’m going to wait until the NAMM show just to make sure they aren’t coming out with a mkii or something, but will most certainly be picking these up.
I about blew out my ears from a long session with headphones so I need to get a pair of monitors to protect my ears. Also, the more I read about mixing in small, untreated rooms I’m realizing that it would be overkill for me to get big monitors and a subwoofer. I’m hoping I can get away with using these and a decent pair of cans to double check sub-bass at 50hz and below.
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Yeah, you should wait until the end of NAMM at least, who knows what could be coming out, could be mk II, could be something even better from competitors etc…
As for using headphones and avoiding ear fatique, my tip - get high impedance headphones! I have one 600 ohm pair which I use from time to time, almost nothing I have that can drive the 600 ohm ’phones to be so loud as to introduce any kind of hearing damage 
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Wow I don’t think so… you must have in mind something. From my experience 0Hz to 150Hz is the range of Fixed acoustic room with a Sub Monitor in the home studio. (it’s the range of sub bass and then kick fundamental sit around 80 to 120Hz…) it’s the most difficult area 
You will probably have a better result with a good headphone (I have a HD650 new and a old ultrasone PRO900) with sonar works headphone reference plugin. That’s the only solution I find for nomadism music where people rent a place and can’t have a dedicated room when on the road for music a lot, friends place etc…
Keep in mind in any circumstances your track will be mastered in a pro environments so the audio engineer is the guarantor of the final version of your tracks.
With couple of techniques, like spectrum and good skills of EQ you should make something ok to nice for the sound engineer
Investing money must have in mind all of those aspects.
But a better version of computer speakers like IK Multimedia iLoud Micro Monitor is fine.
Maybe with an Avantone MixCubes mono (Single) … after so you can double check your mix in mono and in the Mid-Range.
With all of that you can make great things regarding Mid and Hi range
Low-end with headphones and spectrum. there’s no other way here opposed to a acoustically treated room and sub woofer + more expensive monitors.
http://noaudiophile.com/IK_Multimedia_iLoudMM/
https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/ik-multimedia-iloud-micro
Tell us when you have it
But : I’m hearing balanced bass response to the 50Hz range - this performance is completely unreasonable for a speaker this size.
To me it’s a bit of an overstatement… hearing things not tell you can work in that area.
Therefore I missread the first part of what you said : I’m hoping I can get away with using these and a decent pair of cans to double check sub-bass at 50hz and below.
With a decent pair of cans I think you can as I said. Anyway there is no cans even open one who can permit yourself good Pan adjusting, working on the stereo globally and reverb adjustments etc…
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This is a pretty nice comparison:
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Also I buy a lot of products with review in mind and I don’t ending always to be agree or keep the products… even after reading so much reviews. So the transparency of reviewers are not always nice. Especially in a certain price area… You get what you get for the price.
If using Bluetooth there is a constant whine whilst in use. Also some whine while it searches for Bluetooth on startup. Sent a video to IK who responded it was normal. I kept it anyhow as decided I wouldn’t be using BT with it.
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My room is W 2m x L 2.80m x H 2.27m - so pretty small! When looking for monitors I looked at these (all 5” driver, mid priced, good reviews) JBL LSR305, Presonus Eris E5, Equator D5 (which I ended up buying) I reckon I would have considered the ilouds too. A lot of these newer DSP tuned, front ported, small driver designs I suspect are going to sound quite similar.
Good advice to consider an unported design like the Auratones too, I used them for a long time in my old place along with a pair of HS80s, they are actually very nice for composition and sound design sessions as they are extremely easy on the ear, their old reputation for sounding bad is not at all correct, they just do not flatter what isn’t there in the first place.
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Thanks for the info. I don’t plan on using Bluetooth either.
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I’m trying to wrap my head around what’s exactly being tested there. Recording the output of the 2 models into an unspecified mic/recorder, in a room with certain acoustics, streamed over youtube and played back on people’s home studio monitors, hifi’'s, headphones, smartphones,…? I think it’s either me or the people doing this missing the point. Please help me out.
On the broader topic: test before buying any monitors and headphones. Compare with what you know. Speakers and cans can be so wildly differing and what works for someone is so subjective. I never base a choice on reviews alone. The more money you’re about to spend (also subjective) the more testing you should do.
Also, recently while browsing the Gearslutz forum, I had the thought that when people post strong opinions on this or that speaker or whatever piece of equipment, it 'd be useful if they also posted their music with it as a reference for what their opinion is actually worth. We might be taking people’s advice who turn out to be completely clueless or unskilled about actual music production.
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I’ve been reading a lot about these monitors and specifically comparisons with the Genelec 8010As. Pretty much everything I have read has said that the Genelec’s are great but have no low end. If nothing else, the video seemed to show that lack of low end.
Here’s another comparison with the Genelec 6010s, but more of a straight up review.
I have these and was blown away at the sound quality, it’s not what you expect from their size and design. Only gripe is they are very unstable and top heavy, very easy to knock over. To make things worse the cable that connects them is over the top thick and heavy and just moving that slightly will pull them down. It begins to grate on you after a while. That aside, great sound and perfect for small domestic rooms.
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I’m wondering if someone try that ?
I think I will invest in looking for someone who experience it and tell me what he think about it. Sounds like to me as a very good alternative to the Subwoofer for nomadism or rent place people …
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Yeah. GS is a dangerous place to go to for gear reviews. A combination of Grammy award-winning audiophiles and opinioned people who just buy gear and flip it almost immediately. You never know who you are taking advice from.
Thankfully I’ve been doing this long enough that I sort of know what I’m after, and I try to take info that I read on the internet in aggregate (and of course test in person when that is an option).
These particular monitors are cheap enough and have enough good reviews from a variety of sources that I think they will be fine for my purposes as long as the build quality is sufficient. If nothing else they should be able to tide me over until I get enough saved up for a higher-end monitor setup and I’ll probably have a better idea of what I really want/need at that point.
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Great price on these c/o amazon prime day. I already have a pair. Great pair of speakers for those with limited space.
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