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[Jack Schitt]

Where do alesis monitors fall in the food chain? I have heard a wide range of opinion from steller for the cash to put'em in the trash.

I got a set of M1 actives several years ago and have been ugrading the studio around them. I haven't seen any need to upgrade them but I have no illusions there aren't better monitors out there. Without getting into the genelec or other absolute top end (and budget)monitors is there something else that would be an upgrade and not just a change?

[Tomas Danko]

Denny W. wrote on Mon, 12 September 2005 16:10

Where do alesis monitors fall in the food chain? I have heard a wide range of opinion from steller for the cash to put'em in the trash. I got a set of M1 actives several years ago and have been ugrading the studio around them. I haven't seen any need to upgrade them but I have no illusions there aren't better monitors out there. Without getting into the genelec or other absolute top end (and budget)monitors is there something else that would be an upgrade and not just a change?

I have tested a whole heap of monitors throughout the years, and you know what, the old Alesis Monitor One's always landed me very good mixes that translated just about everywhere. They also do not fatigue when cranking it up. With a lot of todays new less expensive stuff, I keep thinking the Monitor One's probably did a better job. Anyway, with the advent of the latest 80x0 series from Genelec, cheap Mackie's and the brilliant Adam's I think it's all better these days if you can step up atleast a notch or two price wise.

I stopped using the Monitor One's once (eh, was that an echo?) the mastering engineer at Cutting Room showed me this huge peak close to Nyqvist that was very apparent on his system (both aurally as well as visually). I had simply not heard it on the Monitor One's, because they kind of roll it all off before 18 kHz. It was enough to upset older CD players and DAC's (I also tested this to be sure it was a fact).

Still, they always gave me nice mixes. The later models sounds more harsh in the 10-12 kHz area, and less linear. They do go above 18 Khz, mind you, and probably reveal more details but I don't care what their ads say.

Sincerely,

Tomas Danko

[spankenstein]

I don't have a lot of experience overall but I use the M1 MKII and enjoy them. I don't feel much fatigue when I'm mixing.

The only other monitors that I've worked on were the Mackies and I was left unimpressed. They sounded too good IMO. They kind of glossed everything over so that it sounded good even when it wasn't.

[Beezoboy]

I have used them with an Alesis amp and later used them with a nicer McIntosh amp. With both amps they are mid-heavy and weak on the lows. I just found that I was overcompensating in the lows to try and make up for what I wasn't hearing.

I now have Wharfedale 8.2a's, and I can judge bass and kick drum much more accurately. Not to mention the imaging is great and these translate even better than the monitor 1's.

I had mkII passives BTW.

Beez

[josh]

I used a pair of M1Mk2's for about a year.  Thought they sounded real good, but a hair forward in the upper mids (which I like).

When we first got the desk setup in the control room we fired up the M1's and they sounded real good.  No complaints at all.

When we A/B'd them against our JBL LSR-28P's, the Alesis sounded anemic in the bottom end and the JBL's sounded seriously lacking in upper mids.  After a few days of listening influenced by the price tag differences we wanted to think the JBL's were more accurate and the Alesis had the problem.  We actually fired up some measurement mics and made some pink noise plots and could see only a coupla dB difference in certain bands between the two.  It became clear that the JBL's were indeed weak around the crossover point or the bottom end of the tweeter, and the Alesis were just the opposite (3-4 kHz).  So we ended up dinking with the DIP switches on the JBL's to get them to cop the Alesis forward midrange vibe a little more and in the end, once they were tailored to sound the same, the JBL's were obviously more detailed and less distorted in the very  high end.  Basically the JBLs have that "very expensive tweeter" kind of sound while the Alesis have that hifi "fabric tweeter" sound ...  a little softer in the very top end, less detailed, and more euphonic.

Anyhow ... that to say, I dig the M1's a lot and they helped us reveal a weakness in the JBL's and tune them.  I can't really say the JBLs are worth 5X the price of the Alesis.  I think we'd have been very happy mixing on M1s for a long time.

[disco stu]

I have a good quality amp that im already using with my hifi and i was actually thinkin about getting the alesis monitors so i was thinking of going passive (great at

[blueguitar322]

I have the actives and I enjoy them.

Then again, pretty limited experience so take my words with a grain of salt. My primary reference is a pair of Genelec 1031s which are a bit clearer but didn't jive with me as much as the (much) cheaper M1s did.

You won't get terribly accurate bass from the M1s, but for some reason I have an easier time judging bass on them than I did the 1031s (with or without matching sub).

Bottom line for me: if I'm mixing it, its not a high-budget project

If (when) I get my skill to a level where I'm enjoying my mixes more than those of a local professional studio, I'll upgrade.

[Jack Schitt]

Interesting feedback from all. I am currently test driving a set of Tannoy Reveals with the 6.5" driver I have borrowed from a partner in crime I record with. I definitely hear differences but I am not certain I hear better. Especially for mixing, there is value in being familiar with your speakers.

Ive been looking into this as part of a process to identify the current weak link in my audio chain. I do it once or twice a year. The last pass I upgraded the audio card and Mic pre's to RME and Groove Tubes products respectively.

It should be an interesting journey to see if there is a plateau between where I am at and big dollar tools like genelec 8040's. Its a home project studio that generates virtually no income. While I love my audio toys and usually have no qualms about spending more than the average bear on gear, even I have limits.