Mesanovic cdm65 or Neumann KH150

[Dubmax18]

Dear all,

I’m hesitating about a new pair of monitor to purchase.
As a recording engineer, mostly mobile, recording in different acoustic spaces from recital to opera, i need a pair that i can transport easily but with high definition.

I have used the dutch 8c which i love very much but not so easy to carry around and also the actual price that has increased through the last years makes it not really an option at the moment

I do have a pair of Genelec 8030C but i definitely miss low end and also more cardioid directivity as most of the time you dont have a nice room where you can use your monitor properly.

From what i have read in last release, it seems that my choice will direct to either Mesanovic CDM65 or the Neumann kh150.

I do use Merging technologies Anubis for my monitoring which makes the Neumann to be able to run through Ravenna/AES67 protocol.
But this is not the most important for me. I want the high fidelity and full spectrum pair that i can carry on.

If somebody had opportunity to use those speakers, i’m looking forward yo your feedbacks

Thank you!

 

[tifune]

In this case, I would probably go with the CDM65. The cardioid mode will help them sound consistent from room to room.

Easily compare loudspeakers measurements

www.spinorama.org

 

[dfuller]

CDM65. Cardioid gives them the advantage here.

 

[Ilkless]

CDM65 for sure -- the midbass directivity control is much rarer to come by than SOTA performance but with ultimately conventional dispersion pattern.

 

[holdingpants01]

Once again Neumanns are directly compared to much more expensive monitors, they really are a bargain. To be honest I wouldn't pay almost $2000 for difference in pattern between 150Hz and 500Hz or so, they would probably be used in very near field and Mesanovic seem to have the tweeter rather far away from the midbass, which up close would probably be more noticeable than the difference in pattern. For moving around I wouldn't ignore the weight difference, CDM65 weights 32lbs/14,5kg while KH150 only 17.6lbs/8kg. One person could easily carry a pair of Neumanns in a case, should still weight less than 20kg with cables and all that, not really feasible with CDM65.
In both cases the room would be the biggest limitation. I've done my share of mobile recordings and to be honest I'm using monitors only occasionally, mostly just to show someone what's going on. The rooms are often noisy, sometimes there's other personel around, there's no treatment or a way to setup a proper stereo, bass is bloated and decay for seconds and you really don't want to put 30Hz into it, as it won't help the judgement. So for critical listening, live mixing if it's a broadcast, editing on the spot or just listening while it's being recorded I just use headphones. So IMO smaller, lighter, cheaper Neumanns KH120II + DCA Stealth or whatever headphones you like and trust would be the way to go, to get the best possible results, but that's slightly off topic.
BTW I can switch between directivity modes below 500Hz in my stationary monitoring, and to be honest the only difference between cardioid and omnipolar is below 150Hz as it help with biggest nulls resulting from SBIR, above this point it's whatever to me, especially up close

 

[andrew]

CDM65. Cardioid gives them the advantage here.

Is the ‘here’ in the sentence because of the requirement to be able to use the speakers across different rooms? Or, put differently, in what situations would you recommend the KH150 over the CDM65?

 

[dfuller]

Is the ‘here’ in the sentence because of the requirement to be able to use the speakers across different rooms? Or, put differently, in what situations would you recommend the KH150 over the CDM65?

I'm not sure I would, actually - the CDM65 does pretty much everything better (save for distortion, where it's still no slouch). It extends a bit lower and has quite a bit more oomph down low (150+150+300w, 2x 6.5" bass vs 120W, 1x6.5" midwoofer), it has ever so slightly better directivity, and of course the cardioid thing is useful.

 

[Pearljam5000]

KH150+2 KH750 subs

 

[YSC]

Both don’t really seems portable by any means, so either way I would personally opt for CDM65 for the cardioid bass. But since you’re considering the Neumann, I just guess setting it up with the MA1 calibration everytime could help it to be easily set up in a new workspace? No real experience here but from what I watch about genelec GLM and Neumann MA1 it seems like it’s a real quick one sweep and tackling room mode boats quite well. Any chance you would want to consider that approach for work?

 

[dfuller]

Both don’t really seems portable by any means, so either way I would personally opt for CDM65 for the cardioid bass. But since you’re considering the Neumann, I just guess setting it up with the MA1 calibration everytime could help it to be easily set up in a new workspace? No real experience here but from what I watch about genelec GLM and Neumann MA1 it seems like it’s a real quick one sweep and tackling room mode boats quite well. Any chance you would want to consider that approach for work?

They're pretty portable compared to bigger speakers. The CDM65 is surprisingly compact.

 

[YSC]

They're pretty portable compared to bigger speakers. The CDM65 is surprisingly compact.

size wise yes, but a pair speaker weighting 32kgs isn't what I would personally think of linking to "portable", though maybe with a small car to lurk around it's fine.

 

[dfuller]

size wise yes, but a pair speaker weighting 32kgs isn't what I would personally think of linking to "portable", though maybe with a small car to lurk around it's fine.

That's not bad, 35 pounds is movable with one hand if needed for me. No, it's speakers like ATCs where a similar size box is close to 60 pounds that I start having problems with moving them...

 

[andrew]

KH150+2 KH750 subs

Yes, at least here in Australia, this option is a similar price to a single pair of the CDM65. My situation is that I’ve got existing sub(s) so it’s all about the >80Hz performance in the near-field.