Alexparr said:
Can anyone give me a light in choosing between these models: Behringer B2031 vs. Alesis M1 Active vs. KRK RP8?
My opinions, YMMV...
*
Behringer B2031a's: These are the upgrades for the B2031, which I have not heard. The B2031a's sounded really nice, ...really, really nice. Not in a *good* way, but in more of the "wow, I wish I had a pair of these for my home stereo" kind of way. These might make for a nice set of relatively inexpensive reference/comparison monitors, but wouldn't work well for me to mix on. The pair that I heard, which were side-by-side with the Mackie 824's, sounded to me a bit weak in midrange definition, with a hyped hi and lo end. Details, mostly in the mids, which were very apparent on the Mackies either completely disappeared or turned "mushy" and lacked definition on
the B2031a's.
* Alesis M1 MkII actives: My first set of nearfields that I just graduated from. For the money, they are OK. They seem to have a built-in "disco smile" EQ that makes them sound real purdy, but made mixing really tough. Best part about them, besides the price, is that they taught me what *not* to look for in a set of nearfields.

For the price, I think they are a pretty good deal!
* KRK RP8's: I bought a pair of these about a month or so ago and have used them to mix a few tunes. I am still trying to "learn" them, but even so I have already noticed a great leap in the quality of my mixes. I now can hear midrange details which I have never heard before in my own tunes and on reference tunes which I use to learn the monitors. Case in point, I was never able to hear the tape splices during the bass break between the verse and heavy pre-solo refrain in Black Sabbath's "Hand of Doom." On my M1 MkII's, it sounded like one long stretch of bass riffage and uninterrupted tape hiss. Only since listening to this tune with the KRK's was I able to hear some rather blatant tape splices and noise from Tony Iommi's guitar as he's palm-muting his strings in preparation to launch into the refrain intro. Now, the KRK's are not the purdiest things to listen to and I have found them to be lacking in low-end reproduction, but they are leaps and bounds above
the Alesis M1 MkII's I had and to me are the best monitors in their price-point (under $500.00 US).
Hope this helps!
-mr moon