IK Multimedia iLoud MTM Compact Studio Monitor Speaker 2-Way 100W RMS - Black

Product Information

I work in radio and post production for more than 20 years. I spent my last years on Yamaha‘s HS7 and Genelec’s 8030s. My studio is acoustically treated and everything is well calculated but you cannot defeat the room. The size of the space is something you have to accommodate to. There is some DSP wizardry going on behind the scenes here. It's EQ for sure, but there's also phase correction and it sounds to me like possibly some dynamic adjustments with volume level. The iLoud MTMs sound really, really good quiet. As you turn the volume up or down, it sounds to me like these are making some compensations for the Fletcher Munson Curve, or natural changes in our perceived frequency response as volume changes. They seem to stay balanced at lower volumes better than most monitors. I know that DSP is a somewhat controversial topic in audiophile circles, but these make a great argument for including the option in more products. IK has a long history of modeling analog equipment and DSP solutions for guitar players and engineers, and they've put that experience to good use here. I haven't had a chance to hear the Genelec 8341s, but it's really great that some of that technology is becoming available in more mass-market products. The sound was instantly more focused, especially the stereo imaging. There was a clarity in the midrange which was very revealing of vocals, and I noticed an overdub which sounded like the singer was a little further away from the mic. When set up in a great-sounding control room, the MTMs aren’t overly impressive, but when placed in less desirable or acoustically compromised sonic locations, iLoud MTM monitors truly shine."

But this small size sums up IK’s ambitions thus far. Everything has been aimed at the consumer end of the market, albeit often with professional specifications. Not so these latest speakers. The new iLoud Precision range is aimed at project/pro musicians with great specs and a price to match. Acoustic measurements can be grouped in a way that can be perceptually analyzed to determine how good a speaker is and how it can be used in a room. This so called spinorama shows us just about everything we need to know about the speaker with respect to tonality and some flaws: ( note: actual SPL = 86 dB)I wouldn’t use the IK Multimedia MTM monitors for super loud listening. They’re not made for that. As expected, cranking up the volume caused the red LED to flash, and there was obvious distortion. I must stay, I did not expect such a nice frequency response out of this speaker! The word "multimedia" makes me think of mostly junk consumer speakers for computers. The iLoud MTM firmly belongs in "pro" space with this kind of good on-axis response and reasonable directivity. The sharp drop off in bass indicates good use of DSP to flatten bass way better than these two little midwoofers could do by themselves I suspect. Sure, there are some resonances but their overall effect seems mild. Moving my head from extreme side to side was a strange sensation, as there was considerable movement in the stereo image, and individual instruments lost their pristine clarity. Finally we get to the truly unusual aspect of the iLoud MTM: its integration of IK Multimedia's ARC room–correction system. The basic principle upon which ARC works is to make a frequency response measurement of the monitor working at its installed position in the listening room, and then to generate a correction EQ curve that flattens the frequency response. Effectively, the output of the monitor is pre-shaped such that the time–averaged response (ie. the response including the delayed room effects) at the monitoring position is flat. It's far easier said than done of course, and raises some psycho-acoustic questions, but ARC (and products such as Sonarworks and the much more ambitious Trinnov system) can definitely produce impressive results. Before I flesh out the iLoud MTM EQ options there's one more feature of its internal electronics that justifies a mention, and that is that the internal signal processing is entirely digital (at 48kHz, 32 bit). This means that there's an A–D conversion on the signal input and subsequently a D–A conversion before the amplification stages. It also means that the iLoud MTM designers had the opportunity to introduce crossover filter profiles that optimise the benefits of the D'Appolito format, and to correct for overall system phase response. Both of which they did. The only downside of such DSP adventures is that they introduce around 3ms of overall latency, which you may or may not feel is significant. EQ Options

Also I would like to highlight how good MTMs are in creating phantom center feeling. You may see VOXs, bass drums, snare and bass as if in the palm of your hand. The optional remote control allows you to store four different monitor ‘voices’ and toggle between them on the fly. This could be handy if you want to A/B the accuracy of the Precision monitors against another style of your choosing, offering a whole new perspective while mixing. Final Thoughts

What makes a speaker great?

A stylish, compact monitor that delivers decent sonics, flexible connectivity and solid build all at a very attractive price.