IK Multimedia iLoud MTM Review (active monitor)

[infinitesymphony]

I could see these being great speakers for an edit bay or production truck where horizontal desk space is limited if the budget doesn't allow for Genelecs. Frequency range looks similar to the 8030C and while the frequency response is not as clean out-of-the-box and distortion is not nearly as low at higher volumes, at lower volumes the MTMs should be a good fit at less than the cost of one 8030C. Might need to rely on headphones to be the magnifying glass if listening loud for noise and imperfections, but spatially these should be on track.

Or they could be great office speakers.

 

[Berwhale]

My home office is about as big as a truck (2.7m x 2.0m), so I think i'm good on both fronts

 

[mitchco]

Pretty close to what I expected. For the listening level I use. Basically nothing wrong. These are really quite nice.

Agreed. Quite nice as desktop speakers that actually go low without a sub. And still sound good at 83 dB SPL reference level.

The built-in ARC calibration unfortunately tunes the speakers "flat" so sounds unnaturally bright. But using 3rd party DSP that allows tuning of parameters, it is amazing how neutral these can sound, with bass.

 

[Cortes]

Funny, I have the iLoud MicroMonitor in my amazon basket since a week ago ;-).
I'm glad to see iLoud is a competent company.

I'll probably go for the MicroMonitor because: (i) I just need low volumes, and (ii) silk dome tweeter, which I think will be nicer for continous background music, (iii) light weight to put on top of a screen.

Edit: anyone can comment of the bluetooth realiability of these monitors?.

 

[F1308]

Don't think I will always be posting these but here is the CSD/waterfall showing resonances:

View attachment 98878

Ohhhhh...I am understanding this one !!!!

 

[earlevel]

Thanks for the review Amir.

Getting one of these on sale for US$280 could work as a 'soundbar', for a near-field setup, like in front of your PC monitor.
Just position it underneath the monitor (usually on the monitor stand) and in front of your keyboard.
They're only 6.5" in width, so it should fit without issues.
Might be worth it for people who want great sound, but with very limited space requirements.

View attachment 98927
View attachment 98928

The catch is that they are so directional, they didn't do the job for me under the monitor, I had to put them upright on the sides. IK seems to include the side stand mainly for center channel use, and on end the MTM arrangement is supposed to help with desk reflections. That said, I've seen them in studios on their side (via youtube), but on platform at ear level.

In fact, I picked them hoping they would be adequate for lurking just under my Pro Display XDR—they do fit, but you lose a lot of highs due to the narrow pattern. I did figure that was likely, but hoped I could use them like that, and reposition when I wanted to mix something. But in the end they sound great properly pointed at the ears, so I sacrificed the desktop space full time with them on their ends. Still, they take up a lot less space than other candidate studio monitors, not one bit sorry for buying these. So much less desktop intrusion than, say, Neumann KH 80, etc.

Oh, and they are only 5" wide. IK Multimedia lists their dimensions in an unusual order (Size: 264mm/10.39" x 160mm/6.3" x 130mm/5.12"), and many sellers take that and assume the wrong one is width. I was most concerned with width, so this was real annoying to me, trying to verify the true width—ultimately seeing someone grab one on a youtube video convinced me and I bought. (And don't let "5.12" fool you, it's dead-on 5", I think they just did the conversion from a convenient round number of millimeters.)

 

[earlevel]

BTW—I think many know this, but some maybe not—"IK Multimedia" is the name of the company, and they didn't start out making speakers. They don't call this a multimedia speaker, they don't use the word in the description on their website, they call it a studio monitor. So don't let that word influence you.

FWIW

 

[earlevel]

I suspect that the loudness issue vs wattage is largely them trying to square the low end. It helps some to switch the cutoff to 50 or even 60, versus 40 Hz. I’ve got mine at 50 Hz (I believe ARC put it there, but either way I wouldn’t leave it at 40). I’m using these close (24-28” from each ear), most songs I can play louder than I’d want to hear. But for the ones that have deep and significant bass, they’ll overload at anything more than modest volume. For example, you’re not going to listen to Billie Eilish’s “bad guy” loud with these, to pick something with a spartan density but strong bass. But you can crank most rock works, including heaver stuff like Opeth. Maybe 90% of what I play through them I can player louder than I want to listen to for very long.

These make very good nearfield monitors and do well at the price point (even better after they went on sale and B&H credited me back $140). But the thing that makes them special is that plus how well they work out on a desktop along side a big computer display. Not only being narrow, but the tilt stand is perfect for aiming their narrow hf field. (The MTM arrangement helps with desk reflections, but they are also pre-threaded for mic-style stands).

So, while I might have gone with Neumann or Focal if these were to be used on the sides of my mixing console next to my main studio monitors, these work out far better as computer speakers that can also be additional mix monitors from my DAW.

 

[earlevel]

BTW, I see a lot of '3"', but to be clear these are 3.5" mid woofers in the iLoud MTM.

 

[bennybbbx]

BTW—I think many know this, but some maybe not—"IK Multimedia" is the name of the company, and they didn't start out making speakers. They don't call this a multimedia speaker, they don't use the word in the description on their website, they call it a studio monitor. So don't let that word influence you.

FWIW

and exactly it should be awesome, when read there promotion https://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/iloudmtm/
The result is iLoud MTM, and it changes everything about the sound, accuracy and convenience of reference monitors in today’s modern studio.


Once you hear iLoud MTM, you’ll find it hard to ever go back to traditional big-box speakers.


because they add 2 microphones i buy a microfon bar and do stereo records to find the correct place and compare stereo width and room reproduction with my other speakers i have. when put them direct on desktop sound not so good as when put them 25 cm higher on a desktop stativ with less angle.

many tell that they sound too bright when use CAL. have you set the microphone behind hear position and the microphone angle show direct to tweeter. i think this is very important that microphone is in X and Y exact for measure. to tweeter because when a little of axis microphone get less high and then high freq get boost.

Keep also in mind the HF LF and 40 50 60 switches work in CAL mode too. when high freq is really too much for you, then you can try HF switch -2 db. and if bass is too weak can try with CAL mode on LF + .

the only week point is for me the port noise when play solo Bass. and this do every guy in his songs i guess. because begin with drums, then do some bass rythm and then the other. Once you hear iLoud MTM, you’ll find it hard to ever go back to traditional big-box speakers. I still not sure if i keep them, but they sound really width and precise because of the small mid range speakers. and they have near not hearable hiss. only when i do my ears 3 cm near tweeter i hear a little. on LP6 i hear it at 70 cm a little

 

[The Jniac]

I have these speakers right here at my desk. I do not tend to listen loud, even with headphones, and since I have them both within arm's reach of me, I do not need to crank them. They sound good to me, but I find their warranty service to be shameful: if you do not register the product within 30 days of purchase, you are SOL, and if you do, you only get one year. Frankly, for almost $1000 CAD for a pair, I expect the company to be willing to stand behind their product. Making matters worse is the fact that their touted auto calibration is notoriously buggy, so I was not able to use it because only one of my two MTMs was able to self-calibrate.

 

[sarumbear]

https://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/iloudmtm/

"And of course it’s loud, with 100W RMS total power per speaker and 103dB SPL maximum sound pressure, delivering the proven volume the iLoud brand is known for."

When I see that graph and the above write-up to follow all I ask myself why are people are even talking about this speaker? It doesn't work properly as @amirm proved it and its published specs are pure fabrication. Are we going to say, maybe it was a faulty unit, or ask him to re-test -- again!

For a speaker to go loud it should not go down in the bass. More bass = less volume capacity. If your brand is about loudness than don't market speakers that go down in bass. Richard Small wrote the book on how speakers operate 50 years ago! I have a signed copy!

 

[Pietro]

It looks like the amplifier got into limitation during the 96dB SPL distortion test.

 

[testp]

Agreed. Quite nice as desktop speakers that actually go low without a sub. And still sound good at 83 dB SPL reference level.

View attachment 99049

The built-in ARC calibration unfortunately tunes the speakers "flat" so sounds unnaturally bright. But using 3rd party DSP that allows tuning of parameters, it is amazing how neutral these can sound, with bass.

well... judging by that guitar at the corner, these are not the same sized iLouds...

 

[richard12511]

Would be interesting to compare this side by side with the Genelec 8010c.

 

[amirm]

well... judging by that guitar at the corner, these are not the same sized iLouds...

There is a lot of optical distortion in that graph. Look at the rear speaker on top right and how distorted it is. I think they are the same speakers.

 

[wwenze]

"And of course it’s loud, with 100W RMS total power per speaker and 103dB SPL maximum sound pressure, delivering the proven volume the iLoud brand is known for."

When I see that graph and the above write-up to follow all I ask myself why are people are even talking about this speaker? It doesn't work properly as @amirm proved it and its published specs are pure fabrication. Are we going to say, maybe it was a faulty unit, or ask him to re-test -- again!

For a speaker to go loud it should not go down in the bass. More bass = less volume capacity. If your brand is about loudness than don't market speakers that go down in bass. Richard Small wrote the book on how speakers operate 50 years ago! I have a signed copy!

We will never know without a retest at different volume setting, as pointed out by post #44

The previous iLoud MM will go into bass compression when output volume gets higher.

 

[Berwhale]

well... judging by that guitar at the corner, these are not the same sized iLouds...

IK multimedia only make three speakers, the iLoud, the iLoud Micro and the iLoud MTM. Are you suggesting that the these not MTMs?

 

[restorer-john]

...I use T20 SII as a default PC speaker for Windows event sounds

Sorry, that's not good enough. You need a pair of Revels, a Benchmark power amp and a powered subwoofer for Windows event sounds.

 

[Berwhale]

Sorry, that's not good enough. You need a pair of Revels, a Benchmark power amp and a powered subwoofer for Windows event sounds.

My new 34" monitor has a Windows Hello capable camera in the top so I can login to my PC using just my face. I was disappointed to discover that Microsoft has disabled the login sound in the pursuit of faster start up times. I really wanted it to say "Hello, Dave. You're looking well today" or "Good morning, Dr. Chandra" when I logged in. (I discovered there are ways around this with scheduled tasks, but the moment had gone...)