Hi I´m gearing up for a small but good project studio at home. It´ll be based around a MacBook Pro, either a MOTU Traveler or a RME Fireface 400/800 firewire interface, an Fractal Audio Axe-Fx, TC 2290 and some other stuff. I´ll also need some high quality active nearfield monitors, and being extremely satisfied with the Dynaudio Confidence C2 speakers in my HiFi system, has made me look long and hard at the Dynaudio offerings. So does any of you have any experience with any of the dynaudio aktive monitors like the MC-15 (actually marketed as a multimedia monitor, but is a tweaked active monitor), the BM5A or BM6AmkII or other active Dynaudio monitors ?? Any insights, pros or cons would be highly appreciated. Also If anybody has tried the Dynaudios against anything else that they found better for their use, please comment on that. Thanks RB
We've got BM15As at the studio and I love 'em. Not for a small room, tho. I haven't heard the smaller ones, but I'd also look at Adam A7s, they seem to be the one to beat in the $1K category. Loudboy
Loudboy, I'm also looking at the BM15As or the ADAM 1-10 system (satellites and sub). Is there enough bass with the BM15As to not need a sub? Thanks!
Hehehe...hello again. I have a lot of experience with the Dynaudio BM6A monitors. I've used them for about 6 years. I think they're excellent. You can listen to them for long periods without ear fatigue. They are very "honest" in that you get a flat picture of the bass, middle, and treble. They aren't hyped, like a lot of monitors, and they don't fatigue your ears like some other monitors. I have compared them to the BM5A; the basic difference is that the BM5A don't have as powerful internal amplifiers (BM6A offers about 100W per), and the smaller woofer doesn't transfer as much bass. The main difference between the BM6A and the BM6AmkII is that the new versions use cheaper parts and have a smaller amplifier (I think 80W). The irony of your post is that I just took pictures of my BM6A to list them for sale on Ebay. Not because there's anything wrong with them, but I just finished my album, and a friend of mine who is a pro engineer sold me on the idea that after I've lived with one set of monitors for so long, I should get some others just to get used to lots of different monitors. So since I'm between projects, now's the time to sell. If you're interested, I plan on selling them for about $650 (PM me). If you want new monitors, I highly recommend the Dynaudios. The Adams GAT recommends are also very good, by my engineer friend had them for a few months, and ended up selling them, because he felt the treble was a bit hyped. Hope that helps, Orren
Dyns are great, can't go wrong with them. I prefer the Adam A7s, though. I think they're inaccurately described as bright. What they are is very detailed and they handle transients very well. If the recording is bright, it'll sound bright on the Adams. For reference, I'm a pro audio engineer and work on the much higher end Adam S3As all the time and in a comparision the A7s hold up very well to their 5x the price bigger brothers. My advice for monitors is always to get a short list together and go listen to them somewhere reputable. Its a personal choice and what works for one isn't always good for another. Either speaker will allow you to do decent mixing...oh, and I think the BM6s are worth the extra money over the 5s...
Thanks to everybody for the input - please keep it comming. I´ll have to check out the Adams A7´s too if I can find a dealer near me. With regards to the different models I´ll probably setup in a small/smallish room ( either 3x3 meters or 4x5 meters ) does that affect which model woul be right for me - as in is the BM6A(mkII?) to big/powerfull for that size room? As mentioned in the original post I have Dynaudio speakers in my HiFi system, and the thing that sold me onto these after exhausive testing of high end speakers, was the transparency of them, that they were not hyped in any way. You get what´s on the album, nothing more or less. Also they have no preferences genre-wise and handle ANY kind of music with ease, and most importantly my ears NEVER get fatiqued from extensive listening, a feature I´ve never found in any other speaker. In short they were a no compromise choise and beat every other speaker I tried in all areas. I would think that the caracteristics in the HiFI speakers hint´s that their monitors would be very good, since I allmost listed monitor-attributes for the HiFi speakers.
Ive used dynaudio's for a lot of years and now have the bm10 passive speakers. The good thing about all dynaudios is that they all have a similar sound and are all well balanced. Yes they do lack a bit of bass but I just added a sub to my set up and it has covered the bottom octave nicely and given them a lot more ooomf.
Good points from all, giving me much to work with and think about. Do you guy´s all use subs, and find that it´s a must ?? While I can certainly see the potential with a sub in the system, I´ve heard a few people say that they can be very trickey to integrate in the rig unless you can position them in the perfect spot and can dial them in frequency-wise - especially in a smallish room. Also I intend to listen back to the recordings on other speakers and in other rooms than just on the monitors in the musicroom. I have a reference class HiFi system in one room and a hiend system in another, so I intend to listen to the recordings there as well, when they are in the final stages, before they recieve the last tweaks.
I have used the BM6As for a couple of years now, and I am very satisfied, but I have to admit I don't have much experience with a lot of other monitors. But I agree with the other posters here, the BM6As seem to excel especially in their non-hyped presentation, which also makes them "easy on the ears" for extended listening. But I have found them wanting at times, when it comes to high end detail/transient focus. But this may also be a result of a poorly treated room. Which leads me to the OPs question about needing a sub with the Dynaudios. I think it will depend a lot on how well treated your room is. A sub in a poorly treated room will most likely cause a lot of problems. In a well treated, but small room, the BM6As will still most likely handle the bottom end well enough on their own, IME.
I have BM6a's (the older version) since they first came out and love them. Totally my main monitors. I have some big Tannoys for blasting as the Dynaudios low end is great for balancing, but not great for blasting. If I can get a mix to sound good on both sets of monitors it IS good! I say go with Dynaudios...
We don't have a sub, and it's never been a problem. We use them mid-field, and our room is big enough to let them stretch out a bit, tho. I wouldn't put them in a small room. Loudboy
I had a chance today to get a first "quick and dirty" listen to a few aktive monitors. The monitors very not positioned entirely correctly, but it gave me an impression of their caracteristics. I tried the Dynaudio BM5A, the Adam A7´s and Adams P11A. The vendor didn´t have the Dyn BM6A so I didn´t get to hear that one. I found the BM5A´s to be quite nice, with a good fullbodyed tone. The treble was better IMHO with the A7´s I found them somewhat lacking in the rest of the freq. compared to the BM5A´s. Enter the P11A´s they had the brilliant topend and upper middle of the A7´s but with alot more body and caracter than the A7´s which should be expected from the bigger woffer and the bigger cabinet - still not as even and balanced as the BM5A´s but overall from the first listen the P11A´s have a alight edge (I think). I´ll have to hear all of them again and I´ll have to hear the BM6A´s as well before I decide. If anybody has other suggestions please bring them to the table - I love this fase of research and trying out stuff, before buying. RB
If you're looking in the range of the P11s, you may want to look at the Focal Solo 6be. I just got a pair and w/a few hours of introductory listening was shocked at how good they are. I immediately heard a few parts on some favorite CDs that I'd never heard before, and when checking a few mixes I'd done, could hear w/in about 30 seconds what was wrong and needed fixing. And that's BEFORE the 20-hour recommended break-in period... Tannoy and JBL also make nice stuff in the $1500-2000 range. Loudboy
