Behringer MS16 Powered Studio Desktop Monitors Review

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(More customer reviews)SUBJECTIVE REVIEW: Behringer MS16 2-Way Active Personal Monitor System
Pros:
- Accuracy, soundstage & imaging!!
- Connectivity & Front Panel Controls (Right CH Speaker):
.... INPUT 1 (1/8" TRS) Connector
.... INPUT 2 (RCA Right & Left) Connectors
.... ADJUSTABLE 1/4" TRS Microphone Input - mixable w/stereo inputs for playback and vocal monitoring applications
.... 1/8" TRS HEADPHONE Connector w/auto-mute loudspeaker function.
.... FRONT PANEL Controls (Bass, Treble & Level)
Cons:
None except deep bass - which can be resolved by adding a powered-sub like I did!!! ;-)
NOTE: All subjective comments based on:
1) SPEAKER LOCATIONS:
.... a) Free-standing near-field monitor location, 4' apart, slightly tilted-in (closes walls 10') - Music by my Polaroid 30 GB MP3 player (NO powered-sub )
.... b) Keyboard: L & R location installation, slightly tilted-in (with & without Altec Lansing FX2021 powered-sub**)
**NOTE: Adding a powered-sub relieves the Behringer MS16 4" woofer speakers of reproducing the lower frequencies thus lowering the possibility of distortion or breakup when played louder, - 85 dBc to 90 dBc Fast SPL Peaks!
2) Critical listening SPL = approx. 85 dBc to 90 dBc Fast SPL Peaks measured @ 8' to 10' away from the speakers.
.... a) Radio Shack SPL Analog Meter: Dial = 80 or 90 / Weight = C / Speed = Fast
ACCURACY:
One of the Behringer MS16 hallmarks is the accuracy in reproducing encoded musical sounds from my MP3s, ... like, a violin sounds like a violin, a trumpet sounds like a trumpet, a tenor sax sounds like a tenor sax, a Grand Piano, like the Grand Piano that Diana Krall uses in her "Live in Paris" CD (I use to own a 6' Yamaha Grand in my HT/family room), etc. What is unusual for this price range, is the MS16 ability to reveal subtleties and the resolution of the high frequency characteristics within the encoded music/instruments, . . . they are just more evident with the Behringer MS16 vs. other speakers in this price and some costing more; i.e. with close mike recording of an acoustic guitar, you can hear the artist fingers (George Benson; Earl Klugh; Russ Freeman) sliding up and down the frets; you can tell that that two violins are playing a melodic line, rather than just one violin; the air harmonics off the crash or ride cymbal sounds, just like our Tama Rock Set w/Zildjian cymbals; Diana Krall breathing during some of her songs Intro ("Live in Paris" Music CD). Here - I do chalk up the sound quality to Behringer MS16 1.5" (38mm) Diameter High-Resolution Tweeter., which is a nice size for a small personal Studio near-field Monitors.
SOUNDSTAGE:
The left to right placements of instruments & voices are excellent, providing a precise, very wide, beyond the speakers soundstage. The Behringer MS16 front to back (depth) soundstage is also excellent, as well as the dynamic's resolution (soft vs. loud) in playing back the encoded instrument sounds which helps provide excellent location placement of the instruments. Though the front to back soundstage can be a result of how close the microphones were to the instruments, no doubt, the quality of the best recordings, will be revealed by this speaker and the opposite is also true, poor recordings will be revealed as poor. The Behringer MS16 plays back all my Jazz CD Music with relative smoothness, with no surprising in-between the eyes, unnatural frequency peaks because of it's super flat & wide Pro Monitor like frequency characteristics. I also own the JBL N24 w/4" woofers (JBL NSP1 PKG) which was raved by Brent Butterworth for its super midrange playback (voices) and in direct comparison, the Behringer MS16 is equal to task providing the same balanced, natural, clear unstrained playback! (Samples: "Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim" 1967 Digital remastered DDD Music CD; Diana Krall "Love Scenes" & "The Look of Love" Music CD; Bob James "Fourplay" Music CD; David Benoit "Fuzzy Logic" Music CD [Album Of The Year - 2003 National Smooth Jazz Awards], etc.).
IMAGING:
Another characteristic that the Behringer MS16 displays is its ability to image the specific instruments across the soundstage, with a floating in front, side, quality sound presence comparable to some JBL PRO Studio Monitors, though its point source is more precise due to the smaller cabinet side. The Behringer MS16 low-diffraction front cabinet geometry feature curved cabinet edges to eliminate diffraction, which ensures precise imaging and localization. I love the Behringer MS16 ambience reproduction in my room, because it gave me the feeling that "you are there" and if the recording is from a live concert, the ambience provided the right amount of reflections to make you think your listening to the performance outdoors, or in the symphony hall. ("The Corrs - Live at the Royal Albert Hall" Music CD; Diana Krall "Live in Paris" Music CD).
BASS FREQUECY:
WITHOUT POWERED-SUB: (Bass adjusted slightly less than MAX @ the 5 o'clock position / Treble left flat)
The Behringer MS16 bass is rated down to 80 Hz, and after adjusting the Bass Control to near MAX (5 o'clock position), ... it easily matches my JBL 24s (Benchmarked down to 89 Hz -2.7 dB - Fronts location by Tom Nousaine for Sound & Vision Magazine) lowest rated frequency reproduction in my familiar jazz music (David Benoit, Bob James, Joe Sample, Diana Krall, etc.) MP3 encoded music is not as demanding as a keyboard or CD (pure digital recordings), so what I hear was more than acceptable @ 85 dBc Fast SPL Peaks! (louder than normal listening). The deep bass is lacking of course, which is expected for a 4" DIA woofer, but it wasn't MIA and actually sounded better than most free-standing speakers w/4" or 5" woofers. The upright bass (Diana Krall) and electric bass lines (Bob James "Fourplay" w/Nathan East on bass) reproduction was way above average and overall, ... it nicely filled my 20 x 30' room with well balanced, clean & smooth frequency jazz music.
WITH POWERED-SUB - YAMAHA PORTABLE GRAND KEYBOARD:
Reproducing a digital keyboard is demanding so to get that floor & air feeling bass SPL without distortion or breakup, I coupled the Behringer MS16 Speakers w/the Altec Lansing FX1021 2.1 Speaker System, or more specifically, Altec Lansing FX4021 Powered Subwoofer (w/Two 5.25" long-throw woofers in isobaric configuration). This unit is rated down to 32 Hz and takes care of the lower frequency duties. Matching the Altec Powered-sub to the MS16s took about 20 mins. using the Keyboard built-in MIDI DEMO files and by playing it personally! I'm finally happy with what I hear from my Yamaha DGX-505 88-key Portable Grand.
THE BOTTOM LINE:
If you want "budget" monitors that provides excellent imaging, revealing resolution, super flat & wide Pro Monitor like frequency characteristics, the Behringer MS16 is for you! At no time during my critical listening phase (w/85 dBc - 90 dBc Fast SPL Peaks) did I hear any distortion or breakup (with or without powered-sub) from my Behringer MS16 speakers!!!
- Although the following is an OPTION & NOT REQUIRED to ENJOY these powered speakers, you can add a powered-sub to round out the lower frequency foundation and once you balance the SPL between the powered-sub & MS16s, ... you've got a very nice killer setup for MP3, PC, Laptop, Keyboard & near-field Home Studio application @ a very reasonable price!
In my case, I'm guessing, that the Behringer & Altec powered-sub combination for my Yamaha Portable Grand Keyboard frequency response is approx. 40Hz - 18kHz ±5 dB in my 17' x 13' living room (see my attached Amazon photo's) and for the price, ... it just sounds GLORIOUS @ 85 dBc - 90 dBc Fast SPL Peaks!!!
Highly Recommended!!! (Another way to think about it is, ... you can't build a 16 Watt [2x 8 Watts] self-powered speakers like this for under $60 a pair!!!)
Background: Audiophile since 1980; retired Audio/Video dealer; retired semi-pro musician (piano, keyboard, acoustic / electric guitar, bass guitar & drums).

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M-Audio Studiophile AV30 Professional Reference Speakers Review

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(More customer reviews)I bought these speakers to listen to music and news at my desk in my apartment, and BOY do they fit the bill.
I've put them through the ringer--rock, folk, house, drum & bass, hip hop, samba, All Things Considered--and they sound remarkably good in all applications. Everything but D&B and hip hop sounds almost as good as on my other monitors (KRK 5's) that cost twice as much. The fidelity is impressive, and the response is remarkably flat. If you're used to or prefer the more U-shaped sound of non-monitors, be sure to turn on the appropriate EQ in iTunes; they'll sound tinny otherwise, but that's what a flat-response monitor will sound like compared to regular 2- or 3-way stereo speakers. It's all those mid-range sounds you're used to covering up.
They also handle a good deal of volume. With the volume knob at 50% and my MacBook volume at 75%, it's "Turn that noise down!" loud and still as clear as at lower volumes for most types of music.
The bass lines in the D&B have some drop-off on the bottom end, but that's a LOT to ask of a value-priced monitor with a 3" woofer. I listen to really nasty stuff with super-low bass--Technical Itch, Dieselboy, Bad Company, and the like--so I expected that this would be the one area with less than amazing reproduction. I was right. (Roni Size's "Brown Paper Bag" is much more within their range.) Hip hop beats can lose a some punch, too, and this is the one area where you'll notice a little distortion at higher volumes. (The kick drums in D&B are usually a little more like real kicks than in much hip hop, and these sound great even at higher volumes.)
Again, for the size (don't have a ruler--each speaker is maybe 5" wide and 6" deep) and price, they do surprisingly well. Other challenging types of music with lots of bass that just isn't as low, e.g. House, come through remarkably well.
The 4" version was very well reviewed, so I thought I'd give these a shot because they cost less and take up less room. Also, the primary difference would be in the bass response, and I live in an apartment building, so for me, having less bass was actually a good thing. They still get too loud for me to play them anything close to maxed out, and they sound great.
One more thing: I like the design. M-Audio knew this would be more for desktop listening than studio applications such as mixing (for which I got the KRK 5's). Thus, they put all the inputs and controls on one speaker, which is nice because it only requires one power cable and you don't have to split an RCA cable to run one line to each speaker. It comes with a 1/8" to RCA cable (connects your computer's audio out port to the RCA jacks in the back) AND a 1/8" to 1/8" cable (connects your iPod to the Aux In port on the front). The volume knob in front is also nice.
If you want reasonably high fidelity for a low price at your desk, and you don't need subwoofer-type bass response, I'd recommend these speakers. Highly.

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system with accurate sound. Top musicians, producers, and engineers trust M-Audio? studio speakers to create their hits - and now the compact AV 30 speakers bring this professional legacy to your home. Unlike plastic multimedia speakers, AV 30s use proven

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Monster Cable M DJ-ST-2M Monster DJ Cables 2 meter pair TRS to TRS Review

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(More customer reviews)Have had no problems, I used them with my Rokit 8s, and they produce great sound.

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Put the Monster in Your Mixes! Introducing Monster DJ Cable. You don't spin using ordinary equipment, so why settle for ordinary cable? The gear in your rig only sounds as good as the cables that connect it all. Monster Prolink DJ Cables feature high quality, ultra-durable construction to give you improved sonic performance. The ultra-flexible design enables easy routing behind turntables, and the heavy-duty reinforced terminations to provide maximum signal transfer, which means Monsterous Sound for Monsterous Mixers. Features:
Dual Webbed Design for easy hook-up of L & R
100% Foil Shielding rejects electromagnetic and radio frequency interference (EMI/RFI)
Special Copper Windings provides improved sonic clarity and tighter bass
Dual-Mode Strain Relief increases durability and resists damage
Color-Coded Rings for easy identification when you're plugging in multiple cables
24k gold contacts for maximum signal transfer

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M-Audio BX8a 8-inch BiAmplified Studio Monitor Speakers Review

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(More customer reviews)Over the years my ears have been getting better and better, moving up speaker by speaker, getting better at recording, and i am finally at the point that i think i have a very good grasp on how to record/mix and how speakers should sound.
That said, I bought these M-Audio 8" near field monitors a few days ago, after tearing my hair out looking for a (mainly) computer listening speaker for my itunes, and secondly to do some casual guitar/voice recording when i was bored or felt like writing a song. I've heard monitors from Mackie, M-Audio, plenty of Genelecs, and heard differences in too many $30,000+ loudspeakers that many people only pretend to.
These 130 watt self-powered monitors are the best sounding speakers under $1500 easy. The stereo imaging when used for nearfield listening is simply incredible, and the sheer audio resolution of these speakers will put a big smile on your face. Most people get lost in finding the speaker that is ultimately "technically" perfect at re-creating a sound wave. These speakers don't necessarily do that but they do sound incredible. Much like Bose's idea about what makes a good speaker. If it sounds good, it's a good speaker.
I'd be careful when using these as actual studio monitors in a critical mixing environment. Mainly because bass is a bit heavy. Don't get me wrong, during playback it will make most songs sound like a million bucks (even some encoded at 128kbps) but take into account that if you mix to make your bass sound even, then your recording will lack bass. Best to listen to other monitors or otherwise get a baseline of how the speakers perform compared to how the flat recording sounds.


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Monster Cable M DJ-RA-4M Monster DJ Cables 4 meter pair Angled RCA to RCA Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a solid stereo DJ cable and well worth the money. Be aware though that the RCA connectors on one end are angled, which might cause problems with some equipment whose the RCA connecters are very closely together.

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Put the Monster in Your Mixes! Introducing Monster DJ Cable.

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Powered Monitoring Sys.- Pair Review

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(More customer reviews)First of all, these are very small. They are basically high quality computer speakers. I read about them in TapeOp magazine (if you don't have the book, get it: Tape Op: The Book About Creative Music Recording ) where they recommended them as good monitors for mixing. I find they lack some low end but definitely found that the mix I did on these translated well to other speakers. Considering that many people are listening to music on computer speakers or so so earplug headphones, this is a good reference if you're mixing music. As for just listening to music on the computer, these are excellent and many times better than the standard plastic box speakers that come with your computer. Well worth the price. My only concern is that the left speaker (which contains the amp) can really heat up if you leave it on a long time. Other than that, these are great speakers at a great price.

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