Iloud Precision Monitors

[Matias]

Cool video!

 

[VenVile]

They've made a lot of bold claims... Just waiting to see if their claims are 100% concrete.

If measurements and listening tests prove to be accurate to their claims, I can only imagine the kind of performance we might get with a 3-way design.

 

[Kyle / MrHeeHo]

There's no excuse for studio monitors to not have proper wave guides in 2022

 

[Grotti]

There's no excuse for studio monitors to not have proper wave guides in 2022

I strongly suggest to wait for third-party measurements before making assumptions like this.

 

[TurtlePaul]

There's no excuse for studio monitors to not have proper wave guides in 2022

iLoud is doing something different and I think that it is easy to miss what they are doing here. I think it all has to do with the tweeter. The waveguide is there but is shallow on purpose.

Genelec 8040B:
Tweeter 19mm (3/4 inch)
Woofer 165mm (6 1/2 inch)
Crossover 3000 hz (the 8340 reduced this to about 2.2 khz, I think)

iLoud Precision 6:
Tweeter 1 1/2 inch (2x size of Genelec)
Woofer 6 1/2 inch (same as Genelec)
Crossover 1900 hz (8th order / 48 dB/octave, so this woofer is doing nothing above ~2300 hz)

iLoud is using a much larger tweeter with a very steep crossover about 3/4 an octave below the Genelec 8040B. Naturally, these 5-6 inch woofers should have much wider dispersion at the crossover when crossed below 2 khz. Look at the directivity index of any Genelec or Neumann 5-6" monitor around 2 khz, the different between crossing over at 1.9 Khz vs. 2.2 kHz vs. 3 kHz can be 2-4 dB of wider directivity index on the woofer. Furthermore, even with little or no waveguide a 1.5" tweeter should be quite narrow in directivity relative to a 3/4 inch tweeter. This helps with the crossover to the woofer at the expense of expecting this to be beaming at 15 kHz+. I can hardly hear above 13 kHz, so the huge tweeter is a trade-off I would be willing to take. I don't think there are many speakers in the ASR database with 1.5" tweeters.

 

[mvnchies]

Seems like the smaller models are in stock at European retailers now - has anyone here seen any news/reviews about them yet?

I found this video linked here on ASR but not in this thread, in case anyone is curious.

 

[Grotti]

First Test (German language):

IK Multimedia iLoud Precision 6 Test: Aktiver 2-Wege-Monitor der Oberklasse

IK Multimedia iLoud Precision 6 Test: Aktiver 2-Wege-Monitor der Oberklasse mit 6-Zoll-Mitteltieftöner, DSP-Steuerung, Raumanpassung und Messmikrofon. Klick hier!

www.delamar.de

 

[UserNameRequired]

Hopefully they get the amp hiss under control, it's still gonna lobe a fair bit in the vertical direction in the mids though, being an MTM and all.

They argued with me over the amp hiss of the mtm's......thankfully the shop I bought them from agreed with me and refunded my money

 

[benzonchan]

Local store has a pair of iloud precision 5 as demo so i listened to them for half an hour. There is also a pair of iloud MTM on the shelve.

My impression:
- Precision 5 is definitely a step up from iloud MTM. As the store computer’s interface hocked up both monitors, so i can switch quickly between MTM and precision 5. Precision 5 has much better high/mid/low separation and much 3D + clear bass response than MTM.

- But Precision 5’s midhigh-high response is similar to MTM. Precision 5’s midhigh-high separation is definitely better than MTM obviously , but is just OK when compared to competitors at its price point.

- Precision 5’s driver can create a depth which give you an impression that it can move air in the low / low mid range. Kick and bass sounds so 3D and vivid. Reverb on snare can be heard very vividly. However, the low end driver’s texture sounds a little “plastic”. Maybe the monitor is just too new.

- Precision 5 has a really narrow listening sweet spot . The listening experience deteriorated quickly if your head is not exactly at the sweet spot. MTM doesnt have this problem.

- Soundscape of them are both as good. Very immersive when listening to Precision 5 or MTM.

- Precision 5 has a overall smooth and flat response. The bass is a bit exaggerated due to the driver, but it is not muddy and can be very easily corrected by its ARC technology.

- My main problem with Precision 5: the detail/resolution of midhigh-high is just really not enough. The happens to MTM too. It is just like there is a multi-band compressor compressing the midhigh-high of Precision 5 . I try to change from song to song (from pop ballad to k-pop) , the midhigh-high performance are similar. The midhigh-high texture is always very smooth when it shouldn’t be. Not revealing enough i would say.

- My verdict: Given the size of it, the low end performance (clarity, transient response) from Precision5 is amazing. No sub-woofer is needed. Midhigh-high is not detailed enough , resolution is not high enough. Good spatial seperation and soundscape. Sweetspot is narrow so u need to sit very still. Overall quite balance frequency response. Suitable for casual listening or music producer; midhigh-high not detailed / not revealing enough to mixing engineer.

Other note: if you really want built-in monitor calibration without using Sonarwork SoundID or any plugin/app, iLoud's ARC technology can really come in handy. Also precision series has a 4 button profile control which is quite useful for quickly switching frequency response of the monitor (but i didnt have a chance to test this feature at the store)

Above is just my two cents, YMMV.
ps. PMC result6 is my studio’s main monitor.

 

[charleski]

First Test (German language):

IK Multimedia iLoud Precision 6 Test: Aktiver 2-Wege-Monitor der Oberklasse

IK Multimedia iLoud Precision 6 Test: Aktiver 2-Wege-Monitor der Oberklasse mit 6-Zoll-Mitteltieftöner, DSP-Steuerung, Raumanpassung und Messmikrofon. Klick hier!

www.delamar.de

No measurements = no review.
"So viel Spaß beim Musikhören hatte ich lange nicht!" doesn't really tell me anything.

 

[Grotti]

No measurements = no review.
"So viel Spaß beim Musikhören hatte ich lange nicht!" doesn't really tell me anything.

You are of course absolutely right: nearly worthless but better than nothing....

 

[TurtlePaul]

- My main problem with Precision 5: the detail/resolution of midhigh-high is just really not enough. The happens to MTM too. It is just like there is a multi-band compressor compressing the midhigh-high of Precision 5 . I try to change from song to song (from pop ballad to k-pop) , the midhigh-high performance are similar. The midhigh-high texture is always very smooth when it shouldn’t be. Not revealing enough i would say.

Given the very large size of the tweeter, I suspect that these have quite narrow dispersion in the highest octaves. I think if these were toed in to point straight at your ear it would have helped, but that is not how it was setup in the picture. I don't believe nearfield monitors are generally tuned to point straight out into the room with best performance 15%+ off-axis like some home hifi speakers.

 

[sarumbear]

Which technical problem? I have the MTM and I have no problems here.

Vertical directivity.

 

[sarumbear]

First Test (German language):

IK Multimedia iLoud Precision 6 Test: Aktiver 2-Wege-Monitor der Oberklasse

IK Multimedia iLoud Precision 6 Test: Aktiver 2-Wege-Monitor der Oberklasse mit 6-Zoll-Mitteltieftöner, DSP-Steuerung, Raumanpassung und Messmikrofon. Klick hier!

www.delamar.de

It’s more a review than a test. I can’t see any measurements.

 

[Grotti]

It’s more a review than a test. I can’t see any measurements.

You are right. My bad: in German language we use "test" also for a review like the posted one. Learned my lesson and won't post subjective reviews anymore.

 

[bogart]

I visited my local pro audio shop today after seeing they had Precision monitors in stock.

I listened to a few things while I was there, including:
-Genelec 8040, 8010
-Neumann KH80
-Adam A7V
-iLoud Precision 6

The shock to me was how much the 8010 and Precision 6 stood out in this group. This was the first time I heard the 8010 and it is really surprising how big it sounds, and how satisfying it was.

The Precision 6 is clearly larger sounding, with more low end extension, excellent clarity… just a very good overall impression. The store had done EQ corrections, but I didn’t toggle on and off to compare. It did not sound at all negatively affected by it. The build was really solid, and went loud comfortably. It definitely kept up with the Genelec 8040 to my ears, though I didn’t push them to max SPLs.

Overall a very pleasant surprise to find how much I liked the iLouds. Clearly a step up from the MTM.

 

[crappypanther]

My impression:
- Precision 5 is definitely a step up from iloud MTM. As the store computer’s interface hocked up both monitors, so i can switch quickly between MTM and precision 5. Precision 5 has much better high/mid/low separation and much 3D + clear bass response than MTM.

This is expected. I have also AB tested my iloud MM (not MTM) with other 5" and 6" speakers. Larger speakers had better resolution across all frequency ranges.

 

[Hexspa]

Seems like the smaller models are in stock at European retailers now - has anyone here seen any news/reviews about them yet?

I found this video linked here on ASR but not in this thread, in case anyone is curious.

This is peak IK Multimedia right here: send it to a synth reviewer who, by his own admission, knows little about speakers and room acoustics and neglect the one or two places that'll lay the speaker's performance bare.

 

[jean-benoit]

here a more informative video review from nick (sonicstate):

he gives them very high praise, which after listening to the iloud precision mtm, i can fully relate.
there is also a more indepth article in the new sound on sound magazine (january). in this magazine, they also review the neumann KH150, which they put slightly above the precision mtm's, due to even more neutral frequency response. the magazine can be purchased digitally for cheap, so if anybody is interested in one of these speakers, give it a read.

 

[Hexspa]

here a more informative video review from nick (sonicstate):

he gives them very high praise, which after listening to the iloud precision mtm, i can fully relate.
there is also a more indepth article in the new sound on sound magazine (january). in this magazine, they also review the neumann KH150, which they put slightly above the precision mtm's, due to even more neutral frequency response. the magazine can be purchased digitally for cheap, so if anybody is interested in one of these speakers, give it a read.

Sound on sound has had free access to their digital issues since the pandemic.

As much as I love Sonic State, he is again primarily a synth reviewer. Idk, ever since I heard about spinorama, I’m not interested in speaker reviews that lack it.

At this point, I suspect IK is afraid to show the performance of these things. I’m reminded of their recent modeling amp software release, Tone-X. Lots of hype for what, in the end, was pretty just ok sounding software. I do not recommend this company. Take that for what you will.