The Lowdown
These are very similar to the previous model, but with the notable addition of the ARC calibration system, which is a very simple way of tuning the speakers to your room. Apart from that, it’s business as usual, with great sound quality, a compact size, and amazing flexibility thanks to the different ways that they can be positioned with the supplied accessories. Both for DJs or DJ/producers looking to move past cheap multimedia speakers, or serious buyers considering more traditional boxy monitors, in both cases these may be a better choice. We have no problem recommending these.
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Video Review
First Impressions / Setting up
As per the first model, these are slimline, thoroughly modern looking monitors speakers, that are built and sound professional, but at first glance look more like computer/multimedia speakers.
The typical DJ set-up will be two of these, which now come complete with one microphone and the cable needed to plug it in. Again, this microphone is designed so that you can tune the speakers to your space. And it’s easy without the need to use the optional laptop software, which adds more features to the new digital side of these speakers.
For basic tuning though, you plug the microphone in, position it preferably on a microphone stand so you can stay out of the picture (although I just did it with an outstretched arm), where you will be listening to the speaker, and by pressing buttons and letting the speaker emit a few tones, it gathers the information it needs. You can do this with just one measurement (for instance when travelling), or do it properly with the X-MONITOR software with four measurements to make it more accurate, but note you will have to do it for each speaker.
Of course, in any such set-up, the way you have the speakers positioned is important, and these speakers win here too, because as with the previous version, they’re provided with stands that let you position them horizontally, ie flat, or vertically, where you get much more choice of what angle you might want them at. So from a DJs point of view, having them angled quite harshly up at your listening position (if you’ve got them at the same level as your DJ gear) is a brilliant thing to be able to do.
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I suspect though that most people will at least initially be happy to bypass calibrating them and just use the buttons on the back, which cycle between boost and cut on high and low frequencies, and also give you a bass extension. Interestingly, there is a sensitivity button for hotter inputs so that you can attenuate them, and a very simple desk option if you just want to plonk them on your desk and stop them being quite so boomy.
Remember that because they are essentially individual monitors, you’ll need to run a separate cable from your DJ mixer to each of them, one for the left and one for the right. Do that, and then plug each speaker to the power using the supplied IEC cables, and you’re good to go. Turn them on, set the volume on the back of each, and it’ll be time to play.
In Use
IK Multimedia claims lots of small improvements over the older speakers here. They say that the speaker cones are made of a stiffer material, that they go slightly lower in bass, and that they go slightly louder. Unsurprisingly, they also have more processor power in them, presumably needed for the extra features offered by the DSP. The bottom line is that they’re the same great-sounding speakers they’ve always been, something obvious from first listening.
They have a really nice, smooth sound, going notably low for the size of speaker, and their flexibility with regard to directional set-up means that you can position them so they sound wonderful, exactly where your head is when you are DJing or producing, meaning you don’t need to turn them up so loud to get a really immersive sound space going. This feature will be extra appreciated by those who have to share their DJ or production space with, say, others in their household that don’t appreciate loud music all the time.
As mentioned, these speakers also work with IK Multimedia’s X-MONITOR software. We actually looked into this in a bit more detail in our iLoud Precision review last year, and this is essentially a trickle-down feature, as is the ARC auto-calibration from those speakers. Thanks to the USB socket on the back of each, you can connect each individual speaker to a laptop running the X-MONITOR software, which lets you do a number of things beyond the initial recommended set-up, the most interesting for DJ/producers probably being emulation, where you can have the speakers sound like other famous speakers.
That said, certainly from the point of view of using them for DJ practice, I don’t see this as something many DJs will bother doing very often – certainly more interesting for producers, though. Good fun to mess around with for sure, if nothing else.
Conclusion
We’ve always liked these speakers, and these ones are simply an improvement on what’s worked in the past. It’s amazing that you see these cropping up in all kinds of places – I’ll always remember seeing a pair of these in DJ Jazzy Jeff’s studio when we were making our DJ course with him there, and thinking, well, if Jeff uses them, they’ve got to be good.
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And indeed they are. They might look small, more like multimedia monitors than serious monitors, but don’t be fooled. The build quality is excellent, they’re hefty in weight, and they sound completely professional. Combine that with the ease of positioning and the new digital smarts, and you’ve got a pretty much future-proofed monitor speaker that’s both portable and great-sounding. In short, our favourite little monitor of the last few years just got even better.
