Recording and engineering music is a difficult process. For years I’ve dabbled in producing my own songs and music. Nothing too serious, but enough to warrant the purchase of some equipment and software. However, one key component of my recording setup that I have been missing for years is a decent pair of studio monitors. When I was at CES 2007, I was shown a pair of AV40 Studiophile Monitors that sounded fantastic. Realizing I could explore their full potential in my home setup, I was sent a pair to try out. By the end of the following account, you’ll know whether these are right for you.
Unboxing the AV40s, I noticed they had some weight to them. “Light” is not the term I’d use to describe these bricks. But with weight comes quality (at least in my book) and having a solid piece of equipment already let me feel comfortable using these monitors. The design is basic and black — nothing new here. Each speaker has a separate 3/4-inch tweeter and a 4-inch subwoofer for robust bass. On the front of the left speaker is a backlit volume knob and an auxiliary input as well as a headphone jack, which are welcome features to any recording artist. The less hassle, the better.
Hooking the AV40s up required some cable untangling but eventually they got set up just fine. I plugged them into my M-Audio FastTrack Pro digital I/O interface so that I could precisely control the levels and easily input my guitars and microphones. Finally, I sat down, powered them on, and put on some music.
Right off the bat, I noticed these speakers were perfect for all around sound. Fantastic bass thanks to the “Bass Boost” switch on the back of the left monitor and crisp highs and mids kept me intrigued as song after song played, genre after genre. My office is a small room so the acoustics sound fantastic. However if you plan on using these in a large room, I’m afraid they might not be the best solution. You might want to look into a pair of monitors that can get more range or power to compensate for room size.
Truth be told, while I was listening to music, I felt the AV40s just weren’t as good as my Sony entertainment setup, which is just a Sony receiver, SACD player, EQ, and set of bookshelf speakers. I mean the quality wasn’t that big of a difference to the point where I’d actually start complaining, I’m just saying that for music, I’d probably switch between the monitors and Sony speakers depending on the genre. The monitors have better bass than my pair of Sonys, but as far as treble and mids go, Sony comes out on top. But no matter. I knew recording would be the true test of M-Audio’s product.
I decided to compose a basic song to test the true range and capability of the AV40s without comparing them to any other speakers. I loaded up Native Instruments’ Guitar Rig 2 to lay down some guitar and started wailing away like I was in Rush or something. Sure enough, as I had previously suspected, the AV40s sounded beautiful with each note flowing out of the speakers without any (speaker-based) distortion or feedback. When clarity is a must and you need every note to count, I suggest trying out the Studiophile AV40s. You won’t miss a note. Seriously. If you miss a note, no matter how subtle, you’ll hear it on these things.
Though I’ve played bass for a long time now, I know that bass is usually just bass. I wasn’t trying to do anything insane or crazy, just a basic bass line. It sounded fine, the result was great, and I don’t think that anyone is really going to notice a difference between the AV40s and any other monitors when it comes to recording bass guitar. It’s good to know that these speakers get the job done though.
Then came the synth-work. Laying down a bunch of softsynth tracks is a painstaking process that I personally hate. The end result is always wonderful, but getting there, to be quite frank, is a pain in the ass. This was the final test though since I planned on using looped drum tracks for the percussion. Using a MIDI keyboard, I played some cheesy chord progressions and went back and tweaked filters using Native Instruments’ Absynth 3 and Ableton Live. The synths sounded fantastic and at times, quite stunning. Power and sound weren’t an issue here thanks to the AV40s. Everything resonated perfectly into my ears with a discernible quality unmatched by any other product I’ve spent more than a day with.
So should you pick these up? If you’re not a musician or recording artist/producer, then no. These are great for music, don’t get me wrong, but a $100 pair of JBL speakers will produce similar results and sound just as good. The AV40s truly shine when you painstakingly spend weeks with them, checking out every detail in music you’re working on. Guitarists especially will appreciate the clarity built within M-Audio’s Studiophile AV40s. With an MSRP of $199, they’re certainly a bargain you can’t miss out on if you own a small or home recording studio.
I have a pair of Yamaha HS50M’s that I’m absolutely in love with. Of course your home system sounds better because the response in those types of speakers is designed to amplify certain frequency ranges. Studio monitors are intended for the flattest response possible, ensuring that when you’ve completed a mix, you can play it back on anything. I definitely wouldn’t use my yamaha’s to jam out to, but they’re absolutely the bees knees when it comes to mixing and recording.
I have listened to speaker systems costing less [Logitech (Z-10 + others), Creative (T-20 + others)] and more [Bose (companion series 2, 3, and 5)] than these speakers, but none of them had the dynamic snap and even midrange of the AV 40 speakers–I could tell that just listening in the store. Of all the others, the Bose companion 5 sounded the best in-store (better demo setup, too)–but it fell far short of the AV 40s. I wish I could comment on the comparative focus and realism of the speakers, but I only took the Av 40s home and not the others, so there’s your caveat for the rest of this review.
The first thing that impressed me was the imaging behind my monitor–but I was also a little disappointed initially, because I was used to the in-your-face treble of cheaper speakers. Vocalists and lead instruments sounded a little recessed, but focused and not lacking in detail. Things quickly got better after the amp warmed up, and since that time, I haven’t noticed a recessed sound, and the speakers seemed to open up. So I think the amp does need a little breaking-in to sound its best.
Even when playing simple recorded voices from YouTube, I was struck with how focused and life-like the voices sounded. I could hear more parts to my CDs than before. I played “Step Into Liquid”, and immediately noticed how overly processed recordings (”Back to You”) sounded somewhat better, while cleaner tracks (”Endlessly”, with deep harmonized vocals, percussive hollow woody instruments being thonked, etc.) totally blew me away! The voices and percussion sounded beautiful, rock-solid, and much more lively than I recalled hearing on cheaper speakers.
These speakers can deliver a very dynamic punch on the right music. I played “La Folia” on track 11 with the drums, and I can’t recall ever hearing such a palpable impact on the attacks except when I played that CD in a car which had MB Quart speakers, known for their high dynamic kick. We’re talking midrange kick, not bass–if you hear the Bose system, you’ll understand the difference (Bose puts all of its dynamic range into the bass module, with mids and highs sounding flaccid). There was plenty of bass to satisfy a music lover, but probably not a bass lover. For near-field sound, it’s perfect.
Because the sound was as good as it was, and because I played these using the built-in sound chips on my motherboard (Dell Precision 390), I was motivated to buy an M-Audio Audiophile 2496 sound card to see just how good my system can be on a budget (to be continued, below).
I recommend these speakers to anyone who cares about clean reproduction and approaching that sweetness and liveness that better components can offer. I paid $150 + tax.
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This is a follow-up review. I installed the M-Audio Audiophile 2496 sound card, and a 1 meter pair of Audioquest Diamondback interconnects. The sound card/cable combo required about 3 hours to break-in (initially, the new components made the sound restricted and somewhat bass-shy).
But after 3 hours, what a difference:
1) Bass was now tight and extended, and I realized I had been hearing a slight bloat before. So I flicked the bass boost switch on the speakers, which gave a small boost to the lowest range of the speaker–no coloring of the midrange per se (human voices remained unchanged), but a lift added from the upper bass on down. If the bass was not so tight and well-controlled, using this switch would have been unacceptable. In fact, before the upgrade, the switch WAS unacceptable.
2) Treble was now extended to my liking, with a remarkable smoothness (lack of grain). No peakiness, just good honest extension.
3) The biggest difference: a layer of masking had been removed. I could enjoy a more natural level of detail and fluidity, with less dynamic restriction.
I could now play some of my best CDs and get that level of excitement I had felt was missing before. These included “Just Friends” by the LA4, “Modern Cool”, by Patricia Barber, and “Salamander Pie”, by Jay Leonhart. These CDs were missing that magic breath of life before the upgrade, but now they were “in the zone”. You could now easily hear the varying dynamics in percussion–the drummer’s tactics that convey expression. Vocalists sounded less isolated and more like they were occupying a space. And plucked bass was outstanding (pluckier, better defined, less boomy, but nevertheless full on the bottom)–the best instrument for these speakers.
I played Vaughan Williams’ “Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis” with the sound card volume maxed out and the speaker volume over halfway–really loud! I wanted to hear the massed strings get muddled, harsh, break up. The music hit its high crescendo, I waited, clenching my teeth, and–it all held. Instruments stayed well-defined, and those massed loud high notes never lost their profile, got harsh, or grated. They just got very, very, loud… Oh, and the bottom was definitely missing from this orchestral work, even though I was getting plenty of ‘motion from the violins.
Clannad “Macalla”, track 1 (low voiced choir)–mission accomplished. Fresh Aire III–mission accomplished, but… I noticed that if there was electric synthesized bass in the right area, these speakers would show a rare bloated character (I think it’s more from sitting flat on the tabletop), partially remedied by knocking back down the bass boost switch. Clearly, these speakers are best used for acoustic music.
I even went back to YouTube and listened to some of the audiophile recordings there and was astounded all over again at the quality. Try searching for “Greek Audiophile” for an example.
A final caveat: in my room, I use a 1500 watt APC UPS and plug everything into it. I have to believe the battery power conditioner helps. Also, I am using a very dead-sounding wood-and-steel-frame modular table from Ikea. And I use flat-screen monitors, with the speakers to the sides and slightly behind them, about 4 inches from the back wall–no obstructions on either side of the speakers. This means there isn’t much interaction between the M-Audio speakers and my office furniture. And last but not least, I had chosen the Audioquest Diamondback cables to help balance-out this speaker’s profile, in that they are very extended in the highs, albeit just on the lean side overall (I wish they weren’t).
In the end, I found the AV40s to perform best on human voice, percussion, and bass. They work well with chamber ensembles, close-miked instruments, and basically anything acoustic that has a nice dynamic character. Acoustic guitars hold onto their honey-sweet character. Horns and flute are without annoying resonances. And it all comes across full-bodied in character.
So there you have it. The AV40s are capable of a high-end uncolored yet engaging sound–but possibly only if you hook ‘em up with high-end interconnects and a “music-oriented” high quality sound card.