IK Multimedia iLoud MTM Review (active monitor)

[paudio]

I had plans to "upgrade" from my KRK Rokit 5 G4 and save space om my desk at the same time so I ordered the Iloud MTM's. I a/b'd the monitors on a track I'm working on where I made subtile changes to the sound of the bassline with Waves vitamin and Denise XL vst's, mostly affecting the region between 50- 250hz. On the MTM's I could bearly hear the difference turning the vst's on and off - they sound quite muffled, but on the KRK's the difference was crystal clear. The MTM's will be going back. Too bad, they looked good.

What settings on the back have you selected? How do you have them setup on your desk? Have you setup them so the tweeter is at your ear level? Have you tried to do room calibration? All these things are rather important.

 

[Raz]

What settings on the back have you selected? How do you have them setup on your desk? Have you setup them so the tweeter is at your ear level? Have you tried to do room calibration? All these things are rather important.

Factory settings on both KRK and Iloud. Levels matched. Ear level on stands. Only one speaker side by side when testning bass since kick and bass allways are in mono in my mixes and it minimizes reflections when comparing. Aprox 1 meter from tweeter on moderate volume, but also as far away as out on the balcony and as close as wearing them as cans.

 

[paudio]

Factory settings on both KRK and Iloud. Levels matched. Ear level on stands. Only one speaker side by side when testning bass since kick and bass allways are in mono in my mixes and it minimizes reflections when comparing. Aprox 1 meter from tweeter on moderate volume, but also as far away as out on the balcony and as close as wearing them as cans.

Why not set up the speakers like suggested in the manual and test? Have you tried REW to see what you're getting for in room response with the KRKs?

Imho you are just rolling the dice with "factory settings" when there are plenty of FR adjustments on both sets and even an automatic room calibration on the MTM.

Also the KRK is front ported and MTM is rear ported so they have different placement tuning needs.

 

[Raz]

Why not set up the speakers like suggested in the manual and test? Have you tried REW to see what you're getting for in room response with the KRKs?

Imho you are just rolling the dice with "factory settings" when there are plenty of FR adjustments on both sets and even an automatic room calibration on the MTM.

Also the KRK is front ported and MTM is rear ported so they have different placement tuning needs.

Well I know my mixing environment and I know the individual tracks I'm mixing. Eq can't change every attribute of a speaker and frequency response is only one aspect. Otherwise I would buy some logitechs, eq them to sound like genelecs and call them genetech. To my ears (wich are my most important mixing tools) the MTM's was a bit “too forgiving“. For my needs that is. I really enjoyed listening to music on them - they beat my Denon soundbar and Symfonisk bookshelf, but for mixing no.
With the G4, KRK took the tech and knowledge from their more expensive speakers and put it in a Rokit. It has more in common with the V-series than with previous Rokits, while IK probably had to kind of reinvent the wheel creating the MTM's.

 

[paudio]

Well I know my mixing environment and I know the individual tracks I'm mixing. Eq can't change every attribute of a speaker and frequency response is only one aspect. Otherwise I would buy some logitechs, eq them to sound like genelecs and call them genetech. To my ears (wich are my most important mixing tools) the MTM's was a bit “too forgiving“. For my needs that is. I really enjoyed listening to music on them - they beat my Denon soundbar and Symfonisk bookshelf, but for mixing no.

I think you are missing the point. You should set up each speaker the way it is intended be setup and compare. Maybe the muddiness is from the positioning as they are different designs.

With the G4, KRK took the tech and knowledge from their more expensive speakers and put it in a Rokit. It has more in common with the V-series than with previous Rokits, while IK probably had to kind of reinvent the wheel creating the MTM's.

Weird conclusion to come to after comparing monitors with different designs at default settings

 

[Locotek]

I replaced mine with kali in8 v2s.. I felt like the mtms sounded better when just listening to music but weren't as accurate when monitoring. Mtms would distort easily as which didn't do them any favors for house/techno production. Both benefit and are significantly improved with sonarworks though for different reasons.

 

[paudio]

I replaced mine with kali in8 v2s.. I felt like the mtms sounded better when just listening to music but weren't as accurate when monitoring. Mtms would distort easily as which didn't do them any favors for house/techno production. Both benefit and are significantly improved with sonarworks though for different reasons.

Reasonable take. The MTMs extend low but have very little headroom without distortion. I'm guessing the MTM would do better paired with sub.


I havent tried Sonarworks but would like to. I think I'd like to do some room correction in my car actually. Probably manually via peq.

 

[Raz]

I think you are missing the point. You should set up each speaker the way it is intended be setup and compare. Maybe the muddiness is from the positioning as they are different designs.




Weird conclusion to come to after comparing monitors with different designs at default settings

They are both near field monitors with their flattest frequency response being out of the box with factory settings and both follow the laws of physics, so that is the condition I will evaluate them in. If I hear lack of detail in a specific frequency range at levels so low reflections aren't an issue, I do trust my ears on that. I am well aware of the pros and cons with front and back ports. The lack of detail was in the direct sound.

What I wrote was said by the head of development at KRK. And I added my thoughts regarding the fact that IK have designed only two speakers (as far as I know) before the Mtm.

 

[MadMaxx]

IK's new Precision line looks intriguing. I love their Micro Monitors and use them for my iPad Pro's audio.

iLoud Precision MKII

iLoud Precision - Handcrafted, digitally controlled studio monitors

www.ikmultimedia.com

 

[paudio]

They are both near field monitors with their flattest frequency response being out of the box with factory settings and both follow the laws of physics, so that is the condition I will evaluate them in.

Is this really true though? You do not mix in an anechoic chamber. The flattest response would be to optimally place them and tune them to your room using the available customizations on the back.

Edit: Like front ported vs rear ported are going to act real different with walls behind them.

 

[Raz]

Is this really true though? You do not mix in an anechoic chamber. The flattest response would be to optimally place them and tune them to your room using the available customizations on the back.

Edit: Like front ported vs rear ported are going to act real different with walls behind them.

If you know your mixing environment your mixes will sound better there than if you mix in an anechoic chamber, if you are not used to those conditions. And you can't eq a speaker to sound like it's in another space than it currently is. Knowing your mixing environment is key.
No you don't get the flattest respons by using built in customizations in these speakers. You need 3rd party gear and software to achieve that

Yes, I wrote that I know of the pros and cons with back and front ports, did I not?

If you are satisfied with the MTM's then good for you. I wish I was too. Different strokes for different folks.

 

[Raz]

I replaced mine with kali in8 v2s.. I felt like the mtms sounded better when just listening to music but weren't as accurate when monitoring. Mtms would distort easily as which didn't do them any favors for house/techno production. Both benefit and are significantly improved with sonarworks though for different reasons.

This was my experience as well. The MTM's was very forgiving when listening to professionaly mastered tracks. but lacked the ability to reproduce a detailed sound image when monitoring individual (or just a few) instruments/sounds/stems etc. Therefore I would not recommend them for producing or mixing EDM, not even taking the inability to play loud in consideration.

 

[paudio]

If you know your mixing environment your mixes will sound better there than if you mix in an anechoic chamber, if you are not used to those conditions. And you can't eq a speaker to sound like it's in another space than it currently is. Knowing your mixing environment is key.
No you don't get the flattest respons by using built in customizations in these speakers. You need 3rd party gear and software to achieve that

Yes, I wrote that I know of the pros and cons with back and front ports, did I not?

If you are satisfied with the MTM's then good for you. I wish I was too. Different strokes for different folks.

I don't care which speaker you use but it seems weird you wouldn't adjust at least for bass response in a room. The Rokits have a built in PEQ.

 

[Raz]

I don't care which speaker you use but it seems weird you wouldn't adjust at least for bass response in a room. The Rokits have a built in PEQ.

Ok, can't recall I asked you to or asked if you do but thank you for the clarification.
I never said that I don't use eq, just that I don't when comparing speakers that are supposed to be "flat" with factory presets.

 

[MDNSC]

One of my iLoud MTM's tweeter shrinked due to cold weather and cannot be "sucked out"... Does anyone meet with this issue before?
Below is how a normal tweeter looks like:

And now comparison:

After my try to "suck it out", weird pattern appears and the tweeter still doesn't came out:

Sound wise, the shrinked one seems to suffer at higher frequency and is noticeable quieter than the normal one.

That's very strange because it just happens suddenly, I even tried to use a stick to push in the other speaker's tweeter and it will pop out automaticly, but this shrinked one cannot, looks like the air pressure inside (the tweeter?) is smaller? I just don't understand.

 

[paudio]

Is it possible that there is a vacuum being held behind it?

 

[MDNSC]

Is it possible that there is a vacuum being held behind it?

I've tried using a hair dryer blowing air into the port, that doesn't help either.

 

[paudio]

I've tried using a hair dryer blowing air into the port, that doesn't help either.

Maybe it's holding a vacuum somehow at the back? Causing it to be very dampened. Either that or something has gone wrong mechanically like the driver being stuck fully reversed for some reason?

 

[paudio]

Tweeter maybe sealed https://shop.audiotronic.fr/1854-large_default/tweeter-for-ik-multimedia-iloud-mtm-speaker.jpg

 

[MDNSC]

Tweeter maybe sealed https://shop.audiotronic.fr/1854-large_default/tweeter-for-ik-multimedia-iloud-mtm-speaker.jpg

Thanks mate.

Maybe it's holding a vacuum somehow at the back? Causing it to be very dampened. Either that or something has gone wrong mechanically like the driver being stuck fully reversed for some reason?

Seems like something's gone wrong because it worked for the last two years and this suddenly happens.