iLoud Micro (monitors)

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braincell
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iLoud Micro (monitors)

Post by braincell »

A great engineer told me about these. He says they sound incredible and have bluetooth! They are said to be good for mixing in a bad room. Currently you get a $50 gift certificate with it and 3 years no interest with store car (good through Friday). The no interested thing is on most of the products some for 4 years.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/iLoudMicro
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Re: iLoud Micro (monitors)

Post by dawman »

I'm looking for something small like that for HTPC.
Wish they had 2.1.
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Marco
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Re: iLoud Micro (monitors)

Post by Marco »

They write :The Smallest, Lightest Reference Speakers in the World
I fear it is :The Smallest, thinnest referenc Speakers in the World

It is physically not possible to pump out more bass outside of this little thing

When I read all the faked reviews.... Be careful

BTW never buy monitors blind unheard in the Internet

Okay the best could be, you never knew after years what the shit you bought uncompared....
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Nestor
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Re: iLoud Micro (monitors)

Post by Nestor »

It is not misleading publicity, they really are great sounding and flat as stated. Of course, you can get better boxes if you need big sound, but for their price and size, they are ridiculously good and you can definitely mix with them for a small studio! IK is a serious company nevertheless.
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Marco
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Re: iLoud Micro (monitors)

Post by Marco »

Okay try and buy.
:wink: out and about for music production. Are you still configguring your Studio :lol: music first!
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Nestor
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Re: iLoud Micro (monitors)

Post by Nestor »

If you add a good pair of Sennheiser like the HD 600, which you can get for about 200 US today:

https://en-us.sennheiser.com/best-audio ... ifi-hd-600

then add the amazing Sonarworks headphone callibration software for it, you are done with a basic, but very good monitoring system:

http://www.sonarworks.com/headphones?ut ... kQodTZ4Lcg
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braincell
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Re: iLoud Micro (monitors)

Post by braincell »

An engineer I trust said they are great. Obviously the bass isn't going to be the deepest.
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Re: iLoud Micro (monitors)

Post by Nestor »

It doesn't matter, deep enough to get a good idea of what you are doing.
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Re: iLoud Micro (monitors)

Post by Marco »

Oh yes the sonarworks works good for calibration of any good headphone. And there is a calibration software for the speakers too. Very useful. This requires a special routing in scope, because you need to separate the VST Plugins audio in and output if you want to use it as the last effect before the main signal goes out of scope to your amp, phones or speakers.
I have not tried yet, but I just read an article about it, and I will try this soon. Maybe I can solve some problems with this. But it sounds really pretty good to me.
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garyb
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Re: iLoud Micro (monitors)

Post by garyb »

speaker calibration software is bullshit.

this only makes a very small window in front of the speakers ok, but it does nothing for off-axis and reflected sound from the room.

for headphones, such software might be useful.

there is no software shortcut to fix anomalies in the speakers and the room. only physical improvements to the room provide truly useful improvements to the monitoring system.
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Re: iLoud Micro (monitors)

Post by Nestor »

For headphones ti does work pretty well, but you need to match your software with your headphones exactly as required.
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Re: iLoud Micro (monitors)

Post by valis »

I agree with the statements about room correction.

the iLoud Micromonitors however have dsp to internally correct their response (flatten overall & extend low end). My main question is what the latency is from this, I'm waiting to see some measurements. I have some old Roland 3" monitors that I use for 'multimedia' reference on a secondary use computer near my main workstation, and would love to upgrade to something with a bit more low end (these roll off under 150hz...)
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Re: iLoud Micro (monitors)

Post by Nestor »

Well, I have always understood these methods of “monitor calibration” as a plus for rooms already pretty well constructed and standardized, then they make total sense and it really help to use a speaker sound adjustment software through microphones, etc., because you can perfect your perception to a certain degree, giving you a better final work, overall. The problem arises when people want to do magic with a piece of software, like if you try to “correct” a large rectangular room perception, which is literally impossible.

What I mean is that speaker calibration has its place, we should not discard it entirely, because used in a decent sound booth or studio room, it helps and it helps well.
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Re: iLoud Micro (monitors)

Post by garyb »

do not waste money on stupid speaker calibration software!

DAMN! this industry is getting beyond stupid. people think that everything can be solved with a little more processing. guess what? if you start out with garbage ingredients, no matter how many spices you add, the food is garbage.
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Re: iLoud Micro (monitors)

Post by Nestor »

You are right Gary, but don’t you believe these kind of calibrations could help in minor problems if you have already a pretty good room? There are serious studios and engineers using them for “minor” acoustic problems, it seems to be a fair use, not an abuse of them.

There is a user in Gearsluts that explain very well, what I think it is your point, here I will quote his words:

"You can tell "what's wrong" with a room by shooting it -- You can't fix it using EQ (no matter what certain software claims).

Let me rephrase that -- You can't make the room more accurate by EQ'ing the speakers. You can make the speakers less accurate to affect the room less. If you're trying to EQ out an anomaly (or simply a preference) with the speakers, then go nuts. If you're trying to EQ out a room anomaly, it's not gonna happen.

Just helped a guy set up a room a month ago and he was all excited about his speakers and ARC control... I told him all it was going to do was take away all the low end and he needed broadband traps.

But he wanted to try it anyway. No low end. Sure - It measured somewhat "flat" at the mix position - but not several inches away (where there was no low end to speak of).

In short -- You fix a room by fixing the room. There is no substitute, period."

But, again, I think calibration can help in minor issues, you can find it done in many pretty good studios out there.
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Nestor
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Re: iLoud Micro (monitors)

Post by Nestor »

I found a clear explanation of my poing, very well explained by Chris Korff, have a look:

http://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/roo ... n-software
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Re: iLoud Micro (monitors)

Post by garyb »

no, it only improves the point of measurement.

yes, it was popular to use eqs. engineers used super clean White eqs on rooms in the 70s and 80s. i used eqs on rooms for years and i sold quite a few of those same White EQs(in the 90s and 2k). really, it's a waste of time. fix the room as best as you can and then learn your speakers. having a perfectly flat response from your speakers won't make the difference between a good and a bad production, really it won't. in fact, there isn't any such thing as a perfect speaker, or a perfect room.

you have to do what you can to fix the room and you have to buy as accurate a speaker as you can afford(still fixing the room) if you are trying to maximize your tools and do the best job possible. if you can't or won't fix the room(at least a little), then get the best speaker you can and be happy. an eq won't improve your chances of success, in fact, since all eqs create sonic mayhem(phase and other distortion), it will probably make your projects worse.

take your mixes and listen in many different environments. see what is missing from the mix you thought you made, see what pops out in that mix in each different environment, friend's house, computer speakers, car, cheap headphones, etc. after doint this a while, you'll know what the speakers' stregths and weaknesses are, how they lie to you, and how they tell the truth. even in the finest studio, this would be necessary at first, if only for reference's sake.

the time is worth more than the money, and the money is better spent elsewhere. my apologies to the developers. i know that most people won't hear me anyway, though... :)
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Re: iLoud Micro (monitors)

Post by Nestor »

Well, I tend to prize experience as being more accurate and precious than my own concepts, experience is in most cases more accurate than any other method. You have been working as an engineer for a long time and you know all these things first hand. My experience in this field is very limited, and yes, I did believe in these type of calibrations because I had eventually tried them and I believed to have succeeded in getting a better end result, but this is so subjective.

I think that listening to your final mix in many different environments and systems with different speakers it is essential though, and I tend to believe it is kind of a reverse engineering of what software calibration does, so instate of fixing it in the IN, you fix it in the OUT, as long as you can change what you have done, of course, a mix that it is not yet bounced and burned as a final master.

This is a very interesting topic indeed.
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Re: iLoud Micro (monitors)

Post by garyb »

of course, if it works for you, it doesn't matter what i say...
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Re: iLoud Micro (monitors)

Post by valis »

When garyb says it only improves the point of measurement, what he means is that the way the sound 'field' works changes completely from point to point in space, and also changes with the positioning of elements within the room.

So if you move a microphone a few centimeters either direction you are likely to see an ENTIRELY DIFFERENT frequency plot, thus leading to any major 'nodes' that have been corrected for at the position of the microphone being completely irrelevant. Unless of course you're going to measure exactly at the position of your two ears and lock your head into a vice contraption so you never move or turn your head...
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