Alesis M1 Active 520 vs. M-Audio Av40

[lumstar]

So I have been looking at the M1A 520's and the Av 40's. Sound on sound has a promising review of the 520's. Anyone hear have either of these and care to comment?

I live in Canada and can get the AV 40's for $190 and the 520's for $240. As a third option I could get the KRK RP5 G2's for $320. Do you think the 520's are worth the extra $50 and do you think the KRK's are worth the extra $80?

Please give me your opinions as they are valued greatly!

 

[bigtoe]

I've used the Alesis M1 Active mk2 and really dug them for bookshelf monitor use ala the NS10. Cool mids.

Haven't tried the others.

Remember - with monitors one man's awesome is another man's wretched...it's how you work...

Mike

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

Remember - with monitors one man's awesome is another man's wretched

Exactly right.

With monitors, the question is not what to magazine editors think, what we think, or what anyone else thinks. Your opinion is the only one that matters.

You'd never ask someone else which bowling ball to pick from the bowling alley, you know you gotta try them out for yourself. Either that bowling ball is the right weight for you and fits your hand properly or it does not, and rarely is the ball you prefer the same ball that someone else in your foursome prefers.

It's no different with monitors. Listening to them is the only way to know. Get to a showroom. If you can't get to a showroom, work with the salesperson who understands that you gotta try stuff out first and that has a proper return policy, and give them some trial runs at home.

Then when all is said and done, get the KRKs

G.

 

[JuliánFernández]

With monitors, the question is not what to magazine editors think, what we think, or what anyone else thinks. Your opinion is the only one that matters.

I kind of disagree... That works if you know what to listen to.
For an unexperienced listener, that can be really confusing.
I try to trust people with experience when I´m not fully capable to judge results... And this seems to be the case for lumstar.

The concept behind your advice is correct... but is not always the case.

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

I kind of disagree... That works if you know what to listen to.

I can understand what you're saying Julian, but carry that thought through just a step or two further:

If one doesn't know what to listen to, then it really doesn't matter what they hear. And if it really doesn't matter what they hear, then it really doesn't matter which monitor they pick.

You have to give the listener enough credit to at least be able to pick which monitor sounds more "comfortable" or "right" to their ear, not only as far as what they are hearing, but whether they can actually listen to them without their ears fatiguing faster than they can get their job done. It's like picking a bowling ball or a pair of shoes, that is a *very* personal decision.

If everybody's ears were the same, there wouldn't be a hundred different models of studio monitors to choose from and a thousand different opinions as to what's good and what's bad. Like bigtoe said, "with monitors one man's awesome is another man's wretched".

On this board we have qualified successful home studio operators who love NS10s and who hate them. There are those who despise HR824s and those who wouldn't go anywhere without them. Genelec lovers and Genelec haters. Those who like flat repsonse and those who think flat response sounds hyped. And so on. And except for the few who are simply brand sluts, they all have legitimate reasons for their likes and dislikes, and their opinions and decisions are all correct from their perspective, even though to each other they all appear wrong.

There is only one way for lumstar to find out which camp(s) his own ears and tastes fall into, and that is to *ask his ears*. Because I could recommend the KRK, someone else could recommend the mAudios and a third person could recommend the Alesis, but there's absolutely zero way for him or us or anyone else to know which one will actually be the correct decision from HIM. And even if by happenstance we happen to get a majority picking one choice over the others, that still is no guarantee that will be the right choice for HIM if his ears happen to agree with the minority.

I don't see this as dodging a bullet or as withholding any information, either. I feel this is the most informed answer he could be given.

G.

 

[JuliánFernández]

I agree, Glenn...
But again... it´s really hard to try ear fatigue in a showroom... And when your auditioning your first pair of monitors, it´s hard to make a wise choice (Hifi speaker being your only previous reference)...

And about the idea that there´s thousands of speakers because of there´s thousands of differents ears, well, I don´t know... to me that´s only beacuase of marketing, and because there´s a lot of companys trying to make money...

Again, I see your point, and I think you´re right at some degree... but if you apply that concept to every buy you make, then there´s no need to use this forum... (what about xx mic? Try it and see what happens...) You know what I mean? That´s the ultime truth -your personal experience-, but borrowing experience from someone else is perfectly valid the way I see it...

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

I agree, Glenn...
But again... it´s really hard to try ear fatigue in a showroom... And when your auditioning your first pair of monitors, it´s hard to make a wise choice (Hifi speaker being your only previous reference)...

I agree. Which is why I also usually make it a point of recommending that one only deals with place with a respectable return/exchange policy, and that the buyer work with a salesperson who understands that the customer really needs to get the monitors home before they know if they made the right choice or not.

And about the idea that there´s thousands of speakers because of there´s thousands of differents ears, well, I don´t know... to me that´s only beacuase of marketing, and because there´s a lot of companys trying to make money...

I also agree with the idea that marketing is behind much of it. But the fact remains that there is no consensus agreement among the actual listeners that Brand A is the best or that Model A is the best, and there never will be. The only reason is that everybody has different ears and different tastes, whatever the reason. All the marketing in the world won't work on a monitor which nobody will buy because it sounds bad to everybody.

I believe there's an important difference between monitors and most other widgets in the signal chain; the monitor is the only device that is the actual interface between the signal and the human ear. Whatever microphone or EQ or compressor one uses along the way, the final arbiter of what one actually hears is the monitor. It's the monitor that actually creates the sound and that needs to deliver what the listener needs to hear *in order to get their job done*. It's not a question of accuracy, necessarily, ore even of an ideal stereotypical sound like with microphone selection, but rather of delivering what that listener can best translate and most comfortably work with. And like size and shape of shoes, the definition of that depends upon the listener.

Let's say that I'm wrong about this,though. I'm open; in that case what *is* the answer to lumstar's question? Which monitor should he pick and why?

G.

 

[JuliánFernández]

Glen, I think we are agree in several points...

The only aswer I can think to lumstar´s question should be something like... "I heard both, and my experience tells the yadda yadda yadda..."

In any case, the good thing about recording equipment is that everytime you buy something you´re making an investment... And after a couple of months of learning, if you´re ready, you can sell that piece of gear to buy more bass traps!, I mean, another piece of gear...

Either way it´s all good... Learning is unavoidable when you want to learn about something!

 

[lumstar]

You both make good points and thanks for taking the time to reply. Realistically, I think the 520's or the KRK's would make the better monitors, but they are starting to push my budget and the limits of what I could ask for Christmas with a straight face. I know I should probably wait until I am ready to spend more but to be honest I need the upgrade from desktop computer speakers ASAP. I'm going to try to audition these at the store and find out about the return policy and go from there. Thanks guys!