M-Audio Speakers

[Mzkguy]

Anyone out there using the M-Audio BX5 speakers? Any thoughts on these. I'm looking for a pair of powered monitors in $300 range.

[pk]

The have a bigger smile than Julia Roberts, imo. Not that they sound bad, but the bass and highs seem very hyped, which makes for a nice playback speaker, but I wouldn't want to mix with them. Again, it's just my opinion based on what I heard at GC.

For that money, or $100 more, you can get a pair of Alesis M1mk2 Actives. Hear them back to back with the M-Audio and you'll see why.

[kcrusher]

We're using some BX-5's and BX-8's on one of our systems and they are surprisingly good. Mixes translate well and they've been very easy on the ears.

I've heard the Alesis and didn't dig them at all.

Keep in mind - monitors are a very personal thing. People hear differently, so it's best to make your own judgement.

[djdrake13]

LOVE THEM its what i mix with. I have Genelec 1030A's at work, but at home i prefer the M-Audio's... shit, plus they are part of Avid now so you gotta love the monopoly they got starting.. buy protools, digidesign, and m'audio and you could personally support the lives of a few Avid workers.

Anyways, get em, i find them very easy on the ears after long sessions, they sound great! and translate good. peace out

[theistheman]

I second the hyped high and low end thing. Especially the low end. If you want speakers with a flat frequency response, these are not the ones.

In that price range, I like Events.

[provide86]

Try a pair of very similarly priced KRK Rokit 5's. I compared them with the BX5's at a store and noticed a huge gap in the BX5 midrange. The high end on the BX5's seemed to be grossly overrepresented in my opinion. I wouldn't be able to listen to them for any long period of time without the 'icepick in the ears' effect.

[Derrick]

I got a pair for my apartment and they are awsome. For those of you with very different perceptions, I would wager a bet that you didn't mess with any of the adjustments on the back. You can REALLY move the responce around to suit your enviroment. In GC, the pair I listened to were both set defferently. I flipped through several adjustments and found that I could hear everything clearly and no missing chunks of frequ. or cloudyness. I thought The KRKs sounded great too untill I noticed the cloudy lower mid range on them. When you DO go to listen to monitors... check the back adjustments to be flat and set the same on both speakers... that applies for every brand you listen to.

PS- the bass is gonna be less on the BX5 (like any other 5" loaded near-field monitor) compared to say... Makie HR824 or Event TR-8 which I also like a lot.

[@?,*???&?]

M-Audio speakers of any size are 'le Pooh-pooh'!

[antilog]

i've used bx5's. next pair of monitors i buy won't be them...

not sure what i'd get

[Gebo]

The bx5's are the first and only monitors I have. I have nothing to compare them to, but for the money I dig them. They maybe not be the most flat monitors goin. if you cant afford others, you might as well get what you can and learn how they make things sound and learn to make things sound good on them...

[antilog]

they were my first studio monitors, which were an amazing improvement over the home hifi speaker situation i was relying on. i could hear a lot more with those bx5's. but, the low end just isn't there, and I don't have a good sub.

[auralman]

wonderful array of opinions, so here's mine. I have them next to a pair of ProAcs, which even Jeff can't argue with, and I think they're extremely useful. I never thought Genelecs were that easy to work with, and REALLY didn't like the Mackies, but find the BX5s very good. Agree with Derrick here - the controls on the back are where these things shine. Out of the box, they sound like "le poo poo", but as always...
1) If you know your room
2) If you know your ears
3) If you have another set of speakers to compare them to that you know

then anything is useful. Great value, use them all the time.