Electro-Voice PXM-12MP report

[Nextinline77]

I'm in Europe, if my username didn't blow my cover (Sweden). As Bosch is a German company, the stock situation might be different in the US. I ordered mine from Thomann, and they were already in stock. The distributor in US might have a mix of both that they send out to dealers. Just speculation though.

Makes sense, I didn't really think of it that way.

 

[Sixstring]

So I received both of my monitors today! Everything looked fine shipping wise, plugged them in and turned everything on and went to town. The first thing I listened for was the distortion that some were reporting. I went for a clean tone hit an open E and waited for the note to die out... Nothing to report on so I guess my pair have been updated as I didn't hear anything but the note fade away to nothing.

I went through the different DSP settings and found them to be interesting. I found my self going back to Monitor 1 and adding 2DB of Treble 2bd of Bass and 4db of mid @ 1.7k. This sounded the best to my ears! so far so good!

They seem to be pretty quiet at least no more hiss than any other decent monitor I have used.

I really like the weight compared to my old set CLR/Seismic, much easer to pick up! The other thing I like is having a matched pair of monitors, makes for easer tuning of presets.

I feel these will be a good add to not only my FM rig but my PA system as well!

 

[Trazan]

Meh...Thomann sent me another one with the same issue. So I'm gonna have to send the 2nd one back and get a 3rd one through customs The message didn't get through, so they obviously just switched for another unit they had in stock without checking.

There's no need to listen to fade out of notes. Just plug a bass (or a guitar, playing low notes) straight in and play at low to medium level. It's very obvious.

 

[guitarnerdswe]

Meh...Thomann sent me another one with the same issue. So I'm gonna have to send the 2nd one back and get a 3rd one through customs The message didn't get through, so they obviously just switched for another unit they had in stock without checking.

There's no need to listen to fade out of notes. Just plug a bass (or a guitar, playing low notes) straight in and play at low to medium level. It's very obvious.

I'm sorry you've had such trouble when buying them from Thomann. I did too, but both mine are fine.

EDIT: I was wrong, mine have the issue.

 

[Sixstring]

Meh...Thomann sent me another one with the same issue. So I'm gonna have to send the 2nd one back and get a 3rd one through customs The message didn't get through, so they obviously just switched for another unit they had in stock without checking.

There's no need to listen to fade out of notes. Just plug a bass (or a guitar, playing low notes) straight in and play at low to medium level. It's very obvious.

I thought this was a gating issue? if it's not, either way I don't hear any problems with the set I received.

 

[Trazan]

I thought this was a gating issue? if it's not, either way I don't hear any problems with the set I received.

No, no gating issue. It's a very obvious distortion artifact when playing clean notes in the lower register.

 

[Sixstring]

No, no gating issue. It's a very obvious distortion artifact when playing clean notes in the lower register.

Ok, If it's an obvious distortion Im not hearing it in the set I just received. Granted this was reported 8 months ago by the OP. Im wondering if EV has serial numbers or a date of production where they started shipping units with the fix?

 

[Trazan]

Ok, If it's an obvious distortion Im not hearing it in the set I just received. Granted this was reported 8 months ago by the OP. Im wondering if EV has serial numbers or a date of production where they started shipping units with the fix?

You lucky bastard!

They are aware of the issue and have addressed it, so I'm pretty sure they must have.

 

[Greg Ferguson]

Ok, If it's an obvious distortion Im not hearing it in the set I just received. Granted this was reported 8 months ago by the OP. Im wondering if EV has serial numbers or a date of production where they started shipping units with the fix?

I talked with one of the support people.

The units with the problem were early production and were corrected. People who get one with the problem can get them fixed free. And the problem is supposed to be be pretty obvious.

I couldn’t get him to specify a serial number range and there’s nothing specifying the production date on the units that I could see.

 

[Sebastian]

As this thread seems to have become the unofficial user thread - I got one from Thomann and unfortunately it also has the issue. I tried it with guitar + Axe-Fx and directly with a bass guitar into both inputs. I don't know if I would have recognized it instantly without this thread, but if you know about it, it's very obvious.

Other than that, my first impression is very good, although I could not turn it up yet.
I'll contact Thomann tomorrow. Bummer :-/

 

[Trazan]

As this thread seems to have become the unofficial user thread - I got one from Thomann and unfortunately it also has the issue. I tried it with guitar + Axe-Fx and directly with a bass guitar into both inputs. I don't know if I would have recognized it instantly without this thread, but if you know about it, it's very obvious.

Other than that, my first impression is very good, although I could not turn it up yet.
I'll contact Thomann tomorrow. Bummer :-/

Make sure they really understand the issue, and not just exchange the returned one for a new unit without confirming that the new one is from an unaffected batch!

 

[Sixstring]

I was ripping these yesterday playing to tracks at a good gig volume and they sound really good! They are very well balanced and aren't exhibiting anything weird over all I'm very pleased with no regrets on the purchase!

 

[Sebastian]

Make sure they really understand the issue, and not just exchange the returned one for a new unit without confirming that the new one is from an unaffected batch!

I've recorded two clips with the cell phone. One with bass guitar through Axe-Fx (just In1 -> Out1), the other with the Synth block (one voice, sine wave, some freq. between 100 and 200 Hz). I think it's especially noticeable with the sine wave, as the distortion changes with the volume. It sounds like a filter opening/closing, emphasizing overtones. Given it's a sine wave, I guess overtones should be absent or very weak, so I attribute them to the distortion.
I played several notes on the bass and switched through frequencies to rule out any resonances of the speaker/cabinet.

I've attached a zip file with the two m4a files if anyone is interested.

I hope Thomann will understand the issue and can make sure they don't send me another one.

On the upside: I tried it on Tuesday in rehearsal and was very pleased, although I didn't tweak any patches and could not focus on the sound. Just plugged in and played with the band (and the candidate for the vacant drummer position).
That said, older patches I tweaked on my FBT 12ma sounded quite different, not in a good way. Patches I created from scratch at home (with near fields) translated well and sounded quite nice. So I'd like to have this monitor but without the distortion It's not noticeable in rehearsal room though, with the increased volume and everyone else playing and talking. I did not do the synth block test though.

Now contacting Thomann.

 

[Trazan]

I've recorded two clips with the cell phone. One with bass guitar through Axe-Fx (just In1 -> Out1), the other with the Synth block (one voice, sine wave, some freq. between 100 and 200 Hz). I think it's especially noticeable with the sine wave, as the distortion changes with the volume. It sounds like a filter opening/closing, emphasizing overtones. Given it's a sine wave, I guess overtones should be absent or very weak, so I attribute them to the distortion.
I played several notes on the bass and switched through frequencies to rule out any resonances of the speaker/cabinet.

I've attached a zip file with the two m4a files if anyone is interested.

I hope Thomann will understand the issue and can make sure they don't send me another one.

On the upside: I tried it on Tuesday in rehearsal and was very pleased, although I didn't tweak any patches and could not focus on the sound. Just plugged in and played with the band (and the candidate for the vacant drummer position).
That said, older patches I tweaked on my FBT 12ma sounded quite different, not in a good way. Patches I created from scratch at home (with near fields) translated well and sounded quite nice. So I'd like to have this monitor but without the distortion It's not noticeable in rehearsal room though, with the increased volume and everyone else playing and talking. I did not do the synth block test though.

Now contacting Thomann.

When/if you're sending demonstration files to Thomann, I'd only include obvious sounds Like only low notes...preferably with top end (overtones) rolled off on the bass. Or deep sine sounds.
I sent them THIS file, but their tech department thought maybe it could be resonance...(As if there can be resonance on every note )

I'm in contact with Thomann to send this second one back. I told them to contact Bosch and confirm this distortion issue, and to check that the next one they send is without it.

 

[merlin17]

That said, older patches I tweaked on my FBT 12ma sounded quite different, not in a good way.

Patches tweaked on an FBT 12ma will sound weird everywhere else.

 

[guitarnerdswe]

Patches tweaked on an FBT 12ma will sound weird everywhere else.

Yeah, it's quite a hyped speaker in the lows and highs. Using the onbord EQ can make is sound quite flat and very good. It baffles me why they did this. Probably to get that "WOW" response at low volumes.

 

[guitarnerdswe]

Well, I don't own a hat, but if somebody wants to send me one, I'll gladly eat it. Both mine from Thomann have the issue. Once I knew what to look for, it was quite apparent. It's only a low volume issue, I can't really see a real world scenario were it's noticeable). Maybe a really low key jazz gig?

Anyways, I'm going to send mine back to get them fixed.

 

[garyrogue]

Hi, greiswig and others thanks for sharing your setting ideas. When you tweak the bmt etc., on say the tripod mode and save it to say, 1. Is that tweaking just recalled with that saved 1, or will the tweak apply across all stock modes? For my age, size of home I really prefer the size and weight of these to the CLR. And for my ears they sound great and from what I can tell mine does not have problem.
Thanks Gary

 

[Nextinline77]

Unfortunately, this speaker didn't pan out for me. EV has been back ordered on parts and the turn around time to get my unit back was about 6 weeks. When I received the repaired unit back from EV they said they confirmed the distortion issue and replaced the woofer. Upon testing the new unit seems to have a slightly different issue. As opposed to a straight up distortion on the low frequencies there's now a static decay on the end of my notes. EV offered to repair the unit again but I'm not willing to wait any longer at this point for a speaker that may or may not ever be right. With the supply shortages Sweetwater doesn't have any more in stock to swap this one out so it's unfortunately been returned. It really did seem like a great design at a solid price point but it's more trouble to me than it's worth at this point. I suppose I'll look into Xitone or potentially even building my own with the F12-X200.

 

[Trazan]

As opposed to a straight up distortion on the low frequencies there's now a static decay on the end of my notes.

Hm....what does static decay sound like..? Bosch told me, two months ago, that the issue has been fixed in the current production line. I sent mine back to Thomann a month ago, but it seems I'll have to wait 4-5 more weeks for a new one. Not sure what's up...