Published 11/9/08
A bumper crop from M-Audio
If you’re looking to upgrade your home or project studio in the next few months, it’s probably worth checking out M-Audio’s new offerings. First up are two new active nearfield monitors, the Studiophile DSM1 and Studiophile DSM2, which have been developed in collaboration with fellow Avid Group company, Digidesign. (Interestingly, at the Frankfurt Musikmesse earlier this year, the monitors were on display on the M-Audio stand, badged with Digidesign regalia.)
Both monitors feature bi-amped designs, which use 100W and 80W lightweight Class ‘D’ amplifiers for the low- and high-frequency drivers respectively. They carry on-board Digital Signal Processing (DSP) circuitry to manage the built-in crossover, equaliser and ‘acoustic space’ functions, leading to what M-Audio call “pristine imaging”, customisable to the monitoring environment. The main difference between the two DSM monitors is the size of their low-frequency drivers, and therefore, the frequency range within which they work. The DSM1 has a 6.5-inch woofer and can handle frequencies as low as 49Hz, while the DSM2 has an eight-inch LF driver and can go down to 42Hz. Both monitors are, according to the manufacturers, accurate up to 27kHz.
The DSM1 and the DSM2 can accept balanced and unbalanced line-level signals on XLR and quarter-inch jack respectively, as well as AES/EBU and S/PDIF digital inputs on XLR and coaxial RCA. A ‘digital channel assign’ switch, located on the rear panel, enables the user to instruct the speaker which channel of the digital data stream it should derive its signal from. There’s also a useful ‘mono’ setting, which sums both the left and the right signals.
Also on the rear panel are a number of controls. A knob marked ‘volume trim’ enables the user to boost the input level by up to 10dB, or attenuate by 22dB, while a series of 12 dip switches (grouped into six banks of two) can be set to different values to allow for a number of EQ cuts and boosts to be made. Usefully, there’s a chart to display what the switches do, so the user doesn’t have to refer to the manual every time they want to set-up their speakers. Both the DSM1 and DSM2 have high-density, rear-ported cabinets with radiused corners to minimise diffraction, and feature an LED on the baffle, to notify the user that they are powered up. Prices were to be confirmed at the time of writing.
Also new from M-Audio is the Profire 610, a portable Firewire audio interface that offers some of the same features as the Profire 2626 (see the review in SOS September 2008 and on-line here). It has four analogue inputs, eight analogue outputs and S/PDIF in and out, enabling the user to record six channels and play back 10 channels simultaneously. It also has MIDI inputs and outputs, and can be powered by the Firewire bus.
Inputs 1+2 are located on the 610’s front panel, and feature M-Audio’s respected Octane preamps that can accept microphones or instrument-level signals. They have -20dB pads and supply phantom power, so can be used with condenser microphones. Also on the front panel are the sockets and volume knobs for a pair of headphones outputs, as well as the assignable master volume control.
The 610 has on-board DSP that allows the user to configure up to five different cue mixes, and it’s capable of running in stand-alone mode, where it functions as a two-channel mic preamp and A-D/D-A converter. It can record at rates of up to 24-bit/192kHz and, as it’s part of the new M-Audio stock, it will work with Pro Tools M-Powered, although this is an optional extra.
The Profire 610 costs £309 including VAT in the UK and $500 in the USA.
M-Audio UK +44 (0)1923 204010
www.maudio.co.uk
www.m-audio.com
If you’re looking to upgrade your home or project studio in the next few months, it’s probably worth checking out M-Audio’s new offerings. First up are two new active nearfield monitors, the Studiophile DSM1 and Studiophile DSM2, which have been developed in collaboration with fellow Avid Group company, Digidesign. (Interestingly, at the Frankfurt Musikmesse earlier this year, the monitors were on display on the M-Audio stand, badged with Digidesign regalia.) Both monitors feature bi-amped designs, which use 100W and 80W lightweight Class ‘D’ amplifiers for the low- and high-frequency drivers respectively. They carry on-board Digital Signal Processing (DSP) circuitry to manage the built-in crossover, equaliser and ‘acoustic space’ functions, leading to what M-Audio call “pristine imaging”, customisable to the monitoring environment. The main difference between the two DSM monitors is the size of their low-frequency drivers, and therefore, the frequency range within which they work. The DSM1 has a 6.5-inch woofer and can handle frequencies as low as 49Hz, while the DSM2 has an eight-inch LF driver and can go down to 42Hz. Both monitors are, according to the manufacturers, accurate up to 27kHz.
The DSM1 and the DSM2 can accept balanced and unbalanced line-level signals on XLR and quarter-inch jack respectively, as well as AES/EBU and S/PDIF digital inputs on XLR and coaxial RCA. A ‘digital channel assign’ switch, located on the rear panel, enables the user to instruct the speaker which channel of the digital data stream it should derive its signal from. There’s also a useful ‘mono’ setting, which sums both the left and the right signals.
Also on the rear panel are a number of controls. A knob marked ‘volume trim’ enables the user to boost the input level by up to 10dB, or attenuate by 22dB, while a series of 12 dip switches (grouped into six banks of two) can be set to different values to allow for a number of EQ cuts and boosts to be made. Usefully, there’s a chart to display what the switches do, so the user doesn’t have to refer to the manual every time they want to set-up their speakers. Both the DSM1 and DSM2 have high-density, rear-ported cabinets with radiused corners to minimise diffraction, and feature an LED on the baffle, to notify the user that they are powered up. Prices were to be confirmed at the time of writing.
Also new from M-Audio is the Profire 610, a portable Firewire audio interface that offers some of the same features as the Profire 2626 (see the review in SOS September 2008 and on-line here). It has four analogue inputs, eight analogue outputs and S/PDIF in and out, enabling the user to record six channels and play back 10 channels simultaneously. It also has MIDI inputs and outputs, and can be powered by the Firewire bus.
Inputs 1+2 are located on the 610’s front panel, and feature M-Audio’s respected Octane preamps that can accept microphones or instrument-level signals. They have -20dB pads and supply phantom power, so can be used with condenser microphones. Also on the front panel are the sockets and volume knobs for a pair of headphones outputs, as well as the assignable master volume control.
The 610 has on-board DSP that allows the user to configure up to five different cue mixes, and it’s capable of running in stand-alone mode, where it functions as a two-channel mic preamp and A-D/D-A converter. It can record at rates of up to 24-bit/192kHz and, as it’s part of the new M-Audio stock, it will work with Pro Tools M-Powered, although this is an optional extra.
The Profire 610 costs £309 including VAT in the UK and $500 in the USA.
M-Audio UK +44 (0)1923 204010
www.maudio.co.uk
www.m-audio.com
