M Audio Studio Monitors

Wigam2

Wigam2

Inspired
Just got some M Audio BX8 D3 monitors over the weekend. After 3 days I'm feeling a little underwhelmed with them. They seem a little bass heavy and a little fuzzy on distorted tones. I've tried my patches, factory patches and other user patches.

Somewhere I read that ideal placement is 1.5 meters away from the wall - which is unrealistic in a normal sized den where I'm using them.

It was between these and the Yamaha HS7's and I went with these. I'm gonna tweak some more, but just wondering if anyone has experience with them. Cheers-
 
I don’t have any experience with those monitors. I have a pair of Yamaha Hs8 that sound great. I saw they have an acoustic space switch on the back. I would check the manual to see what it does, but I’m assuming it changes the eq some so maybe that will help?
 
Let them break in a bit, I've had mine for a year now along with the BX10 sub and they sound pretty good. Lower the depth and some bass on the AX8 it may help. I have the sub on very low, and it really fill's the sound. I do cut the sub in and out with the foot switch and i like it on, sounds really full but the BX8 have plenty of bass. Like Jvstrat said, they have the acoustic space switch that i have set to flat.

I play in a office in a big warehouse where my gear is set up, and i have my monitors on stands not the desk about 11/2 foot from the walls..

Mike
 
Follow up. . . after a week with the M Audio's, I called Sweetwater and talked through the base issue. The rep noted that the M Audio's are rear ported for bass, and he recommended a front ported bass monitor as I have them in a den close to the walls. He suggested the Focal Alpha 50's, and they are much better, and a bit less muddy than the M Audio's. Really happy with the Alpha's, and they're a bit smaller which is also nice.
 
have you tried the JBL LSR305? i bought a pair 3 weeks ago for CAD $179.99 each at avshop.ca
it is a nice sounding monitor. it sounds pretty flat to me. i have not touch any of the settings in the back besides the volume. itunes, pc games, netflix, kodi, and AX8 goes to it through my Alesis Multimix 8 USB FX Mixer. i am very happy with my purchase. it was a choice between the this and the Yamaha HS5. it was the reviews online and the great price that sold me to this speakers.
 
yeah, the M-Audio speakers quite often look like proaudio but sound like hifi/multimedia to me. with the focal alpha u can't go wrong.
 
mag1k said:
have you tried the JBL LSR305? i bought a pair 3 weeks ago for CAD $179.99 each at avshop.ca
it is a nice sounding monitor. it sounds pretty flat to me. i have not touch any of the settings in the back besides the volume. itunes, pc games, netflix, kodi, and AX8 goes to it through my Alesis Multimix 8 USB FX Mixer. i am very happy with my purchase. it was a choice between the this and the Yamaha HS5. it was the reviews online and the great price that sold me to this speakers.
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I've heard good things, but they are also rear ported, so they were eliminated from the list due to my need to place them next to the wall.
 
Wigam2 said:
Somewhere I read that ideal placement is 1.5 meters away from the wall - which is unrealistic in a normal sized den where I'm using them.
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Ideal placement is very close to the wall (~5 inches), or very far from the wall (~1.2 m from the wall if bass managed, and ~3 m from wall for full range monitors that go down to ~30 Hz).

Guides from companies like Genelec and Neumann can help a lot. You don't have them, but acoustic principles are the same, so you should use it:
https://www.genelec.com/sites/defau...itors/Catalogues/monitor_setup_guide_2017.pdf
http://www.neumann-kh-line.com/klei...neumann_loudspeaker_boundary_location_v02.pdf

Wigam2 said:
he recommended a front ported bass monitor as I have them in a den close to the walls.
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How close to the walls?

Sound comes out omnidirectionally (like a sphere) at bass frequencies, front or rear ported. As long as the rear-ported monitor is placed further from the wall than the port diameter, it's fine to use rear-ported monitors close to the wall. (Placing it at port diameter width away from the wall basically lengthens the port and lowers port tuned frequency.)

General rule of thumb is twice the port diameter away. So if your rear-port is 2 inches wide, place the monitors 4 inches from the wall. Usually this is not an issue since XLR & 1/4" cable jacks stick out and all.

Focal seems to make great monitors, so the difference you hear probably isn't where the port is, but just the difference in the quality of monitors.
 
yeky83 said:
Ideal placement is very close to the wall (~5 inches), or very far from the wall (~1.2 m from the wall if bass managed, and ~3 m from wall for full range monitors that go down to ~30 Hz).

Guides from companies like Genelec and Neumann can help a lot. You don't have them, but acoustic principles are the same, so you should use it:
https://www.genelec.com/sites/default/files/media/Studio monitors/Catalogues/monitor_setup_guide_2017.pdf
http://www.neumann-kh-line.com/klei...neumann_loudspeaker_boundary_location_v02.pdf


How close to the walls?

Sound comes out omnidirectionally (like a sphere) at bass frequencies, front or rear ported. As long as the rear-ported monitor is placed further from the wall than the port diameter, it's fine to use rear-ported monitors close to the wall. (Placing it at port diameter width away from the wall basically lengthens the port and lowers port tuned frequency.)

General rule of thumb is twice the port diameter away. So if your rear-port is 2 inches wide, place the monitors 4 inches from the wall. Usually this is not an issue since XLR & 1/4" cable jacks stick out and all.

Focal seems to make great monitors, so the difference you hear probably isn't where the port is, but just the difference in the quality of monitors.
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I would say they were about 4" from the walls, with no acoustic foam behind them. There is definitely less bass with the Focal monitors - I ran Out 1 to the Focal's and Out 2 to the M Audio's and compared them. But they're 5" (and front ported) vs The M Audio's which were 8" rear ported. I also tested them in a large open room away from the wall, and the Focal monitors just sounded tighter to me. M Audio didn't sound bad, but Focal sounded better.
 
Wigam2 said:
I would say they were about 4" from the walls, with no acoustic foam behind them. There is definitely less bass with the Focal monitors - I ran Out 1 to the Focal's and Out 2 to the M Audio's and compared them. But they're 5" (and front ported) vs The M Audio's which were 8" rear ported. I also tested them in a large open room away from the wall, and the Focal monitors just sounded tighter to me. M Audio didn't sound bad, but Focal sounded better.
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Definitely less bass because the Alpha 50 is rated down to 45 Hz, while the BX8 D3 is rated down to 37 Hz. And also depends on how their response is tuned and how they're made in general. The Alphas are more expensive and smaller, so probably better quality overall. But again, it has nothing to do with where it's ported, front or back.

Great to hear they're working out for you! I hear good things about the Focal Alphas (not too much about the Shapes and CMS, seems to have some QC issues). Take a look at the placement guide I've linked in my previous post, should help you out. :)
 
There's also a switch on the back of them that is recommended to try in different positions based on how far from the wall they are. I love mine!
 
roaka1 said:
yeah, the M-Audio speakers quite often look like proaudio but sound like hifi/multimedia to me. with the focal alpha u can't go wrong.
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well not agree with you,i have the m-audio bx5 and i like them,i think mark day guitar will disagree too,he use the m-audio bx8 and he love them.
 
NightWalker said:
well not agree with you,i have the m-audio bx5 and i like them,i think mark day guitar will disagree too,he use the m-audio bx8 and he love them.
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I don’t want to sound like an ass or pretend that I know best, Mark being a respected demonstrator, but...

In my personal humble opinion, his presets mostly have so much reverb in them that it’s actually hard to hear the details of the amp and cab sound. Obviously, there’s no such thing as the exactly right amount of reverb, it’s a matter of preference, and so on, but it could also be a result of his monitors sounding too harsh.

Just saying.
 
I had a pair of M-Audio BX5 monitors that I sold recently, just didn't gel with them. Have gone back to using headphones for the time being until I can afford some nicer monitors. They weren't the worst speakers I've played through, but I was better off hooking the axe fx up to my hifi system.
 
Andy G said:
I had a pair of M-Audio BX5 monitors that I sold recently, just didn't gel with them. Have gone back to using headphones for the time being until I can afford some nicer monitors. They weren't the worst speakers I've played through, but I was better off hooking the axe fx up to my hifi system.
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lol i have a pair of BX5 10 years old and i love them,what happen with some people is that they dont know how to setup their monitors,people dont like Yamaha HS5 or HS8 and you can see them on pro music studios.
 
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