Nearfields for audiophile listening?

Discussion in 'Speakers' started by sashafuckinggrey, Feb 27, 2016.

  1. Luckbad

    Luckbad Traded in a unicorn for a Corolla

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    3,408
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Holly Springs, NC
    @murray So far they're pretty solid. I got the XR624. Nice sweet spot and enough switches in back to compensate for some top and bottom issues.

    I'm not sure if they're broken in yet. Probably not. I have IsoAcoustics stands so I haven't tried them with their included foam pads, but they seem fairly dense.

    They are resolving enough that Google Music sounds notably worse than TIDAL. They also clearly expose the semi-brittle sound of my Steinberg UR28M interface.

    If you switch on the Auto-On function, they turn off if you listen at nighttime levels. A bit annoying. Buy you can flip the switch off.
     
  2. Luckbad

    Luckbad Traded in a unicorn for a Corolla

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    3,408
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Holly Springs, NC
    Maybe. I'm doing a meandering exploration of the monitor market presently.

    The Mackie XR624 and HR624mk2 both use metal tweeters and they sound pretty darn good, but are a bit sharper in character than soft dome. The HEDD use AMT tweeters and they sound outstanding, but the sweet spot is pretty tight on them.

    KRK Rokit 5 G4 (kevlar) aren't really harsh, but I thought they sounded pretty boxy and wasn't too excited about them. Yamaha HS7 (silk dome?) sound okay, but felt pretty wonky with a lot of music with a mid emphasis.

    The two speakers I've been most impressed with so far are the Dynaudio BM6A (silk dome) and iLoud Micro (slik dome... and impressed with for the size). Edit: The HEDD Type 07 are awesome as well if I'm willing to stick to the sweet spot.

    I'm considering the iLoud MTM. They're almost definitely overpriced, but if the tiny ones sound as good as they do, maybe the bigger ones are adequate for most listening. The main reason I probably won't pick those up even to check out (other than the price) is that the DSP likely adds enough delay to bother me when playing guitar through them.
     
  3. Psalmanazar

    Psalmanazar Most improved member; A+

    Pyrate Slaytanic Cliff Clavin
    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    5,345
    Trophy Points:
    113
    New Kali IN 8 supposedly hisses super loudly. More Chinesium.

    AMT has much higher distortion than soft dome. It and metal drivers are much more colored to me but AMT like A7X can sound good. Metal drivers are always fatiguing and never sound right to me.

    The Yahama HS7 was honky and veiled at the same time. The HS5 is just small, boxy and honky but not veiled. The HS8 actually sounds good but you can hear the limitations of the shitty woofer and the always active limiter. All are good tools.

    The Rokit 5 G4 is a good tool. I like it more than the JBL 305. Better crossover, less v shaped, no hornflare. The bigger JBL LSR 30x and the bigger rokit G4’s are awful. The KRK V series are very good (the v6 and v8 kill the Neumanns and Genelec 80x0 imo) but can HISS!

    The Dynaudio Bm6A original is just a much better speaker than the other stuff you’ve heard. Heavy, bitumen lined mdf cabs, no wave guide, decent crossover, discrete hexfet class ab amps, very good drivers. It’s just limited by size and the upper mid dip due to the old school, 2. Something hz sounding crossover. You might like the BM15A even better but it’s more mid scooped. The later Dyn Bms and the Lyds were mediocre. The new Dyn Cores might be cool with the 500 watts of class d per woofer but they might just be more overpriced dsp, detail killing bullshit for corporate and broadcast markets rather than the less profitable music production market.

    Honestly monitors just peak and you get brands with killer drivers and plate-amps (no wimped out class D or gain clones) that beat anything in the hifi market like ATC and Quested. ATC makes the least distorted and compressed drivers in the world. Their “SL” woofers and domes weigh more than entire other speakers. Everything from the SCM 50 and up sounds amazingly realistic from the punchy upper bass up. The rest of the bass lacks weight. Quested are darker and richer with more normal bass but still amazingly detailed and will destroy modern pop and modern rock. Volt drivers and morel tweeters on them have more normal bass but the tweeters are dull. Everything else just sounded cheaped out to me. Try these if you get the chance.

    I want to hear Geithain but they’re not distributed at all in the USA.
     
    Last edited: Nov 20, 2019
  4. Armaegis

    Armaegis Friend

    Pyrate BWC
    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    7,461
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Winnipeg
    More money than the XR's, but a used set of the older HR628 or 824 are nice. I prefer their sound over many of the newer models of similar size (I haven't heard all of them, I can't keep track of MR, XR, etc...)
     
  5. wombat

    wombat New

    Joined:
    Jun 22, 2017
    Likes Received:
    47
    Trophy Points:
    13
    Location:
    Australia
    FWIW, I just added Isoacoustics ISO-Pucks between speaker stands (from Hifi-Racks) and monitors (Quested V2108). I placed 4 of them under each speaker, replacing some Sorbothane discs. I like the result, slightly better defined bass. Also certainly a less messy solution given the look of these Sorbothane discs after a few years. Not cheap but worthwhile IMHO.

    Also, I decided to stay with my Quested v2108 instead of moving to (or adding) ATC SCM 50 ASL or PSI Audio A-23M. I just like them and don't really miss anything. Better spend funds on music.
     
  6. Luckbad

    Luckbad Traded in a unicorn for a Corolla

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    3,408
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Holly Springs, NC
    Okay, a couple of days on and probably 8 total hours of listening to the Mackie XR624.

    They're better than the Kali LP-6, JBL LSR305/306, Presonus Eris series, and a few other offerings for sure. At $500 for a pair right now, they're a very good deal.

    My complaints:
    - They're a bit wonky in the upper frequencies. It's not really measurable. I measured with a measurement mic and they're fairly linear in the upper mids and treble, but I get a little fatigue with them (note that I'm particularly sensitive to treble).
    - They sound good at medium volumes. A good chunk of my listening is at low volumes, and they're not particularly engaging at lower volumes.
    - Intangible: I don't find myself making excuses to listen to them. That's the X factor that I'm looking for and found with Dynaudio BM6As and HEDD Type 07s.

    These would be very good for mixing. They're good at revealing differences between sources and the quality of your material. I mentioned that I could distinctly tell a difference between compressed content on Google Music and TIDAL, and that holds for sure.

    The mids aren't as luscious as I'm looking for either. I don't really want emphasized mids, but I'm a big fan of Sennheiser HD650s and I listen to a lot of guitar music. These are flat in that region and don't do anything wrong, but the timbre isn't particularly satisfying to me.

    I went back on the hunt for some Dynaudio monitors. I found a pair of Dynaudio BM12A monitors for a good price and bit. The tweeters are in perfect shape and haven't been pressed in or crinkled. The 8" woofer should provide reasonably good bass performance and I know I like the house sound. I'll still likely use a subwoofer with them for electronic music (and I'm on the lookout for SVS Black Friday sales for a better sub), but most of my listening doesn't require extension beyond the upper 30Hz region that they extend to.
     
  7. ergopower

    ergopower Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Mar 21, 2018
    Likes Received:
    815
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    South Central PA
    Have you heard a KRK Classic 5? Cheap and has a single-ended input.
     
  8. Psalmanazar

    Psalmanazar Most improved member; A+

    Pyrate Slaytanic Cliff Clavin
    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    5,345
    Trophy Points:
    113
    It’s a rebranded rockit 5 g3. It sucks. Use balanced.
     
  9. b0dhi

    b0dhi New

    Joined:
    Nov 20, 2019
    Likes Received:
    32
    Trophy Points:
    13
    Location:
    Sydney
    Anyone familiar with The Rock mk 2? One of the woofers on mine has developed a bass buzz. Not sure if I should replace it or if there's a better sealed monitor somewhere out there that has eluded me.
     
  10. Luckbad

    Luckbad Traded in a unicorn for a Corolla

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    3,408
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Holly Springs, NC
    Dynaudio BM12As arrived today. They're flipping great. They kinda fell through the cracks between the BM6A and BM15A, so you can find them for less than either one if you get lucky.

    They don't have the sexy mosfet amplification of the BM6A, but that doesn't stop them from sounding outstanding. They exhibit less hiss than I was worried about (can't hear it from 1m away).

    https://www.dynaudio.com/professional-audio-discontinued/bm-series/bm12a

    These have all of the qualities I was looking for. Good bass reproduction from an 8" woofer (I still want a sub for heavy electronic music, but I'm weird), quiet operation, non-fatiguing treble from the soft domes, ample sweet spot so I can move around a bit in my chair, plenty of musicality without sacrificing detail, sound good even at lower volume.

    IMG_20191125_130707.jpg
     
  11. Psalmanazar

    Psalmanazar Most improved member; A+

    Pyrate Slaytanic Cliff Clavin
    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    5,345
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Killer! Are they as scooped out in the mid as the BM15a? That thing sounds huge, what a JBL 8" should be but fails horrifically at, but has major drawbacks.
     
  12. Luckbad

    Luckbad Traded in a unicorn for a Corolla

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    3,408
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Holly Springs, NC
    Nope. They're a touch mid-scooped, but only by about 1dB in my room and I switched the treble down on the back, which took care of it. I listen a fair amount of acoustic guitar music and these do it quite well.
     
  13. murphythecat

    murphythecat GRU-powered uniformed trumpkin

    Pyrate Banned
    Joined:
    Apr 4, 2016
    Likes Received:
    1,201
    Trophy Points:
    93
    when i was researching the BM15, it was clear that the passives were much better then the bm15a. the passiver version being less fatiguing and harsh then the active.
    kinda thinking of buying a passive bm15 pair to compare with my seas a26. both being 10 inch based 2 way should be interesting
     
  14. Psalmanazar

    Psalmanazar Most improved member; A+

    Pyrate Slaytanic Cliff Clavin
    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    5,345
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Did you actually hear them? Harsh is the last thing I would call the BM6A and BM15A tweeter. Both have presence dips.
     
    Last edited: Nov 25, 2019
  15. Luckbad

    Luckbad Traded in a unicorn for a Corolla

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    3,408
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Holly Springs, NC
    I hooked the Mackie XR624 pair up again after only using the Dynaudio BM12As for a few days. They're really quite good. Break-in seems to have helped them a fair bit. At $500 a pair they're really great. I'm going to keep the XR624 in addition to the Dynaudio BM12As for the time being.

    Maybe I'll grab some stands and use them as TV speakers? I don't know. My TV actually has surprisingly good sound to begin with.
     
  16. murray

    murray Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 29, 2015
    Likes Received:
    478
    Trophy Points:
    63
    Location:
    N.Z.
    Thanks, that’s good to know.
     
  17. Luckbad

    Luckbad Traded in a unicorn for a Corolla

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    3,408
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Holly Springs, NC
    Anyone thinking about the iLoud MTM, they're $270 a piece until Cyber Monday at most of the usual suspects, including the official shop site. I'd be interested enough to jump on them if I didn't already have two sets of monitors that are doing the job well.
     
  18. zerodeefex

    zerodeefex SBAF's Imelda Marcos

    Staff Member Pyrate BWC
    Joined:
    Sep 25, 2015
    Likes Received:
    14,051
    Trophy Points:
    113

    They were $199 yesterday on sale (I forget where) and $150 last year on Rakuten. I'd wait for 199 at least
     
  19. Metro

    Metro Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Dec 27, 2016
    Likes Received:
    1,590
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    San Francisco
    That's for the iLoud Micro Monitors, not the iLoud MTM.

    The Micro Monitors are on sale everywhere for $199/pair. The MTM is on sale for $540/pair or $270/each.
     
    Last edited: Nov 30, 2019
  20. Luckbad

    Luckbad Traded in a unicorn for a Corolla

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    3,408
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Holly Springs, NC
    I've confirmed from my own experience now how important it is to:

    1) Find the correct arrangement for your speakers in your room.
    2) Do some sort of acoustic treatment, even for medium-low listening volume.

    People preach it all the time, but I had to learn the lesson myself.

    My first effort was to center my desk on the wall I've always had my desk. This left the desk basically right next to the door, which I close when listening to music above super low volume. This improved things.

    I then picked up IsoAcoustics stands. This improved things.

    I then built some acoustic panels. Initially, I was going to make some Rockwool panels, but I kept scaring myself off because I didn't want my kid to breath in any fibers. I bought some 2'x2' MDF panels from Home Depot and glued dense polyester acoustic panels on top, then 2" acoustic wedge foam on top of that. 6 of those panels are at reflection points (and 2 behind my monitors originally because it looked neat), and this improved things even more.

    I grabbed some beefy, dense bass traps as well, and this helped a bit, but my bass sweet spot was still a few feet behind my listening position. I also couldn't properly treat one corner because the door wouldn't be able to open.

    Finally, I bit the bullet and rearranged my damn room. My desk is now on the wall to the right of where it was up against my son's room. The room is effectively longer than it is wide now. Holy crap, this made the biggest difference of all. My bass sweet spot is now my listening position (not from my subwoofer, but my speakers themselves).

    Still from the meh-sounding Steinberg UR28M audio interface going to Dynaudio BM12As (I'm waiting on the new RME ADI-2 DAC with the AK4493 now. I was going to go back to the Pro FS, but that'll wait until that's upgraded to the newer chip as well).

    IMG_20191204_210632.jpg
     

Share This Page