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MillimeterEdit Review: M-Audio ProFire 610 and Studiophile BX8a Deluxe
Nov 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Reviewer: Gary Eskow
Good price/performance value from digital audio studio components.
I listened to a variety of material on the BX8as — including some favorite cuts by George Strait; James Taylor's beautifully mixed “Mean Old Man,” which features a lush string introduction; and several classical recordings. Low-frequency material in the 40Hz-to-60Hz range packed a nice, warm wallop. However, as I climbed up toward the top of the bass range, roughly the 90Hz-to-120Hz area, I noticed a pronounced lack of definition, which had the unfortunate tendency to mask the clarity of the entire mix. Things improved dramatically when I loaded up the Waves Q10 digital equalizer and strapped it across the stereo output of Steinberg WaveLab 6, the application I was using to listen to .wav files. I used a slope filter to cut the 70Hz-to-90Hz range by about 6dB and noticed an immediate improvement: The bass line in Fleetwood Mac's “You Make Loving Fun” was brought into focus, and the mix was tighter and easier to listen to. You could achieve similar results by running the IK Multimedia ARC system I reviewed recently (see digitalcontentproducer.com/videoedsys/
revfeat/ik_multimedia_arc), but you'll have to decide if the inconvenience and CPU sap nullify the effort.
The stereo image for all material was quite good, and the BX8a offers plenty of output. It's sleek-looking, with an aesthetic that should fit well into your streamlined studio. The BX8a might not offer perfect fidelity out of the box, but it is an extremely cost-effective loudspeaker that can — with a bit of tweaking — yield excellent sound at an affordable price.
bottomline
Company: M-Audio
www.m-audio.com
Product: ProFire 610
Assets: Excellent sound quality, impressive software mixer makes the unit easy to operate in StandAlone mode.
Caveats: No individual input gain controls, no XLR connections.
Demographic: Anyone looking for an affordable, high-quality conversion device for studio or field work.
PRICE: $499.95 (MSRP)
Company: M-Audio
www.m-audio.com
Product: Studiophile BX8a Deluxe
Assets: Plenty of volume, good stereo imaging, solid construction.
Caveats: Lack of clarity in the bass range, no EQ control or auto power switching.
Demographic: Anyone looking for a reasonably priced set of studio monitors.
PRICE: $599 (MSRP FOR A PAIR)
Continue the discussion on Crosstalk the Millimeter Forum.