IK Multimedia iLoud MTM Review (active monitor)

[Chromatischism]

I've had it happen once in my first year with them and I leave them at 40 Hz.

 

[Berwhale]

I've had it happen once in my first year with them and I leave them at 40 Hz.

Thanks, i'd found 2 or 3 other reports of it happening that pre-date the 1.2.0 firmware and it's 80Hz setting. I couldn't find any details of how to fix it though.

The behaviour for the new firmware is completely reproduceable, at least for me and one other ASR member. Set the LF Extension to 80Hz, then this and any other setting will be lost after a power cycle. Leave the LF on 40, 50 or 60Hz and the issue goes away.

It's not a massive problem for me to leave it on 60Hz as I also have the 80Hz HPF engaged on my Sub8, but it would be nice to have it fixed. I have a hunch that slightly different EQ is applied within the MTMs when the 80Hz setting is engaged, perhaps because more headroom becomes available when relieving them of the lower frequencies (maybe less -ve pre-amp is applied?).

 

[Berwhale]

Update on the lost settings issue. IK Multimedia released an update to the firmware for the MTMs on 4th March...

There is no changelog or other indication that this would resolve my issue, but I thought i'd give it a go and it worked!

I have updated both my MTMs and have both persisted settings through multiple power cycles (using both rear switch and IR controlled mains switch).

Side Note: I was contacted by IK Multimedia support on 8th March in response to my support request. They asked me to run a series of tests with different inputs in use and then to send a bunch of information (including a video of the issue) in preparation for a warranty claim. They did not mention that they had released a firmware version that fixed the issue 4 days earlier!

 

[PacificDaylightTime]

Great thread here. What stands and placement do you guys recommend for use with the MTMs?

I'm a musician––definitely not an engineer or audiophile––working on a setup for listening. No mixing, no recording. The primary use is to listen to mixes of an upcoming project and give feedback to the mix engineer. And, for more everyday use, listening to commercial music. I've just moved in to a new space and am turning a spare bedroom into an office/listening space. I have no pretenses about it being a studio.

I've been using the MTMs for a couple of weeks. Long story short: They were decent when placed on the desktop with the included stands. I then floor-mounted them on well-built K&M floor-standing mic stands. Removing the MTMs from the desktop and their stock stands did wonders: they sounded excellent. But given that these are floor-standing, they had to be placed behind my desk––and thus behind my computer monitor––in order to achieve anything close to the equilateral triangle positioning.

The stock desktop stands were losers, which makes me wary of going the desktop route at all. However, the geometry of floor-mounting is damn near impossible for anyone with a desk bigger than a school pupil's. The MTMs' peculiar shape means that a lot of stands I'd otherwise consider seem ill-advised (e.g., isoAcoustics and even most put-it-on-top-of-the-slab-style stands).

What are you doing with your MTMs? I would love to hear recommendations and see some pics for standings/mounting/positioning.

Here are some pics of my in-progress setup, showing what I described above. Rugs, a slightly smaller desk, and minor acoustic treatments are coming soon.

 

[Berwhale]

The MTMs work well on desktop mic stands as long as they have a large diameter and heavy enough base. I have mine on a pair of Moukey ones like this...

Moukey MMs-2 Adjustable Desk Microphone Stand Microphone Holder Microphone Clamp Height Adjustable 32-47 cm with Microphone Clip and Adaptor (2 Pack) : Amazon.co.uk: Musical Instruments & DJ

Free delivery and returns on eligible orders of £20 or more. Buy Moukey MMs-2 Adjustable Desk Microphone Stand Microphone Holder Microphone Clamp Height Adjustable 32-47 cm with Microphone Clip and Adaptor (2 Pack) at Amazon UK.

www.amazon.co.uk

They are very easy to position on these stands and consume minimal desk space.

​

 

[Tenfilip]

I use something like a desktop arm for microphones: https://www.digitec.ch/de/s1/produc...streaming-mikrofonarm-mikrofonstativ-10160428 but cheaper (costed maybe ~10 EUR). And it's way to cheep and barely holds them, actually holds them a bit too low. Previously used to use these with iloud micros and the worked ok, the improvment from taking them of the desk and getting them at ear level was very noticeable - also helped to reduce my desk moving from bass, or when I changed the height of the desk. Currently, I plan to use something similar, but shorter and more robust. Here, the arms are just to long for such a weight.

 

[Tenfilip]

Hi guys, what a disappointment with the damn little noise caused by the 230v.

I was seriously considering changing my Genelec 8020 for these MTMs. My main idea is to listen to music at a very short distance without the need for a subwoofer and for this the 8020 are very short. After seeing the review of the colleague @mitchco https://audiophilestyle.com/ca/revi...rs-using-focus-fidelity-filter-designer-r990/, I was excited to see how they could go down to 40hz, even if they were at contained volumes. It was just what I was looking for.

Had the noise issue with micros, dont have with MTMs. Buy a 230 110v converter and run them off 110 v, maybe this will help.

 

[Tenfilip]

'Studio' Monitors, like the MTMs usually have the power switch on the back of each monitor. This can make it awkward to reach and operate without moving each speaker (especially when they are relatively small and light one like the MTMs). I have my MTMs aligned correctly for my listening position, measured and corrected using REW and eAPO - I don't want to keep moving the speakers to turn them off and on.

I currently considering the same issue to solve, but more for safety reasons. My plan is to either use a master-slave power strip (which works great for my home theater, where my amps and source are only provided power once the AVR is on), or 2 smart outlets (thus enabling a delay or some other logic).

EDIT: I should mention this - the master outlet would be driven by something that is always on, when using the monitors (e.g. the "LCD" monitor), and slave would be occoupied by the MTMs.

 

[PacificDaylightTime]

Thanks to @Berwhale I am now using the above-mentioned mic stands for the iLoud MTM's. They were a little bit tall, but then I raised my chair

Due to where the rotation stops on the threads they must be oriented this way, but it's fine because they would be more tippy if you turned them around.

The stands aren't any wider than the speakers so you keep the slim profile advantage.

I used these to adapt them: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B08LNT48CS/r because I wanted black to match.

@Chromasticism and @Berwhale were posting about these K&M desktop stands last year:
23250 Design microphone table stand | König & Meyer US (k-m.de)

How did they work out? Are you still using them? How do they compare to heavy round-base desktop mic stands?

These are about two inches shorter than what I need. Is there any downside on putting a pad under these? Or––spitballing here––maybe isoAcoustics pucks?

 

[Tenfilip]

Given the stand is quite light, it would move the weight centre quite high and this might cause small instability problems.

 

[Berwhale]

@PacificDaylightTime I have the 'traditional' height adjustable mic stands from Moukey that I mention a few posts back. I didn't buy the K&M ones because I wanted to be able to adjust the height (although I do like the look of the K&Ms).

 

[Chromatischism]

@Chromasticism and @Berwhale were posting about these K&M desktop stands last year:
23250 Design microphone table stand | König & Meyer US (k-m.de)

How did they work out? Are you still using them? How do they compare to heavy round-base desktop mic stands?

These are about two inches shorter than what I need. Is there any downside on putting a pad under these? Or––spitballing here––maybe isoAcoustics pucks?

They have rubber pre-installed and do not move easily. I am liking them quite a bit.

 

[Tenfilip]

I just increased the height at which they are by adding a can of bear under each. It's amazing how much better they sound once the twitter gets exactly at ear height, and you get them away from the desk.

 

[PacificDaylightTime]

I just increased the height at which they are by adding a can of bear under each. It's amazing how much better they sound once the twitter gets exactly at ear height, and you get them away from the desk.

Cool! Would love to see a pic of your new setup. I need all the inspiration I can get for mine!

 

[Berwhale]

Inspiration...

Your Desktop Audio Setup?

I think it would be entertaining to see what members have for their setup. I thought of making a thread asking what I should get but I didn't think it would be as fun seeing what other members have and to generate ideas for my new desk setup in my small bedroom.

www.audiosciencereview.com

Post photo of your desktop setup

Post your desktop setup with a photo. You can choose to describe your gear or let the members guess it.

www.audiosciencereview.com

There's a picture of my MTMs on desktop mic stands here: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-desktop-audio-setup.12057/page-7#post-605125

 

[PacificDaylightTime]

Inspiration...

Your Desktop Audio Setup?

I think it would be entertaining to see what members have for their setup. I thought of making a thread asking what I should get but I didn't think it would be as fun seeing what other members have and to generate ideas for my new desk setup in my small bedroom.

www.audiosciencereview.com

Post photo of your desktop setup

Post your desktop setup with a photo. You can choose to describe your gear or let the members guess it.

www.audiosciencereview.com

There's a picture of my MTMs on desktop mic stands here: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-desktop-audio-setup.12057/page-7#post-605125

Thanks for this, @Berwhale! The thing that gets me is that the MTMs are so oddly shaped that the options for stands seem limited: Mic stands or the stock stands (from which I got terrible results).

Is anyone using a different stand setup?

 

[Tenfilip]

Cool! Would love to see a pic of your new setup. I need all the inspiration I can get for mine!

It just felt apart so today so I'll skip... ;D

This looks nice, still I will look for something of lesser footprint: https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Framewor...her+schreibtischständer&qid=1649630455&sr=8-3

 

[Vict0r]

It just felt apart so today so I'll skip... ;D

This looks nice, still I will look for something of lesser footprint: https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Frameworks-Desktop-Monitor-Speakers-GFWSPKSTMNDSKCMP/dp/B084HPVQBK/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=lautsprecher+schreibtischständer&qid=1649630455&sr=8-3

I was looking at these as well for my MTMs, but the plateau is way too large. I am now considering just hacking it all together myself. I found these sturdy table clamps, that you can extend with telescopic mic rods. Could work.

 

[Tenfilip]

I was looking at these as well for my MTMs, but the plateau is way too large. I am now considering just hacking it all together myself. I found these sturdy table clamps, that you can extend with telescopic mic rods. Could work.

View attachment 199120

So, you could get one like this, but they seem to be a bit to high for my needs: https://www.amazon.de/Adjustable-Monopod-Photography-Streaming-Recording/dp/B08MZTSDDG

 

[Tenfilip]

I was looking at these as well for my MTMs, but the plateau is way too large. I am now considering just hacking it all together myself. I found these sturdy table clamps, that you can extend with telescopic mic rods. Could work.

View attachment 199120

I bought these, seem to do the job ok for the first few days:

Moukey MMs-2 Adjustable Desk Microphone Stand Microphone Holder Microphone Clamp Height Adjustable 32-47 cm with Microphone Clip and Adapter (Pack of 2) : Amazon.de: Musical Instruments & DJ

Moukey MMs-2 Adjustable Desk Microphone Stand Microphone Holder Microphone Clamp Height Adjustable 32-47 cm with Microphone Clip and Adapter (Pack of 2) : Amazon.de: Musical Instruments & DJ

www.amazon.de

The only issue is that they take space on the desk, and are not extra stable. But on the other hand, they are quite affordable.