Great overall sounding monitors to give the musical image you require when mixing. (Alesis M1-Active MkII)

Member Name: winger15mk

Product:	Alesis M1-Active MkII
Date:	16/08/09 (60 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great stereo image representation and great low end frequency response

Disadvantages: Would be nice for the monitors to have a dedicated bass output

I have been working with audio editing for around 5 years now, when i started i began with a pair of basic edirol monitors, despite being classed as monitors these were actually just 'better sounding hi-fi speakers' so as i began to work on more serious projects and reading about how a studio works it was quickly apparent to me that i was going to need to invest in a new pair of actual studio monitors.

If you read any studio setup guide you will notice that they all say the core of a successful recording studio is the monitors that you are listening to the sound out of as if youre hearing a false interpretation of the sound then it is that sound that you will be adjusting by false listening.

I began my research into which pair to buy and in a short amount of time stumbled across a list of 5 one of which being the Alesis M1s, i did a little more digging and quickly found a review from audio super knowledge Paul White (of sound on sound magazine) who after a sturdy test admitted that even he would use these monitors as his main reference monitors in his studio! That was enough to convince me!

My monitors came and i found in no time i could connect them up to my sound card! The back of each monitor simply contains a power cable input, on/switch, input line level and of course the input connection socket which can either have an XLR or 1/4'' jack inserted into it.

As soon as i heard the sound coming from the monitors it was easy to see that these were indeed studio class monitors, the sound felt very well balenced and gave a great stereo representation of the sounds as well as a great bass end, which is missed out on a lot of monitors in this price range i have found.

The monitors feature a fix crossover bandwidth of 2KHz between the tweeter and sub of each unit to give a nice tonal balence as mentioned before,

The only thing i really missed on these monitors which i have seen on previous ones would be a dedicated bass control level, just a knob on the back alongside the line level to control how much low end the units were forcing out. I only really ask for this as its a great little add on to have when making the monitors work comfortably alongside the acoustics of your monitoring room.

Regardless of this last point i would say i am more then pleased with the quality and price of these monitors! They are without doubt the best enhancement i have purchased towards my studio setup and i would definently recommmend them to mixing engineers from all around!

Summary: Great overall monitors and would recommend to mixing engineers everywhere!

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