Alesis M1 Active Monitors

**sharmon** · 09-20-2005, 12:07 PM

Am thinking of buying the Alesis M1 Active studio monitors, has anyone used them? Would love to hear any opionions. My Price range is about 350 Euros or US$420, any other recomendations in that range? Any feedback would be much appreciated... Thanks!

**TeddyG** · 09-20-2005, 12:35 PM

Certainly 1000's of people have and do use them, for the price they have been rather well-received over the years. Try to listen to them before purchase, preferably with several other monitors at the same time, lower-priced, same price and higher price. Are they fantastic? No. Are they usable until you fork over the dough for a 3000 dollar set of something or other? Maybe..? Only you can decide.

Sound on Sound and Mix magazine's are two reliable sources that have reviewed them and which offer free on-line viewing of many reviews...

Others "in the range" might be Wharfdale and Yamaha, along with about 900 other makers.......

TG

**TheArchitect** · 09-20-2005, 01:40 PM

I have a set of the original M1 Actives. They are very good for the money and certainly good enough that they won't be the cause of a bad mix.

I am currently comparing mine with a set of older Tannoy Reveal Actives I have borrowed from a friend and they are pretty close but have subtle differences.

In the process of comparing I have learned that using the M1's vertically makes the imaging better than using them horizontally. The manual suggests horizontal is OK and it certainly isn't terrible but vertical brought better imaging and just better sound although I haven't laid my finger on specifically why. Probably has to do with time alignment of frequencies or something else I don't entirely understand.

**o2x** · 09-24-2005, 09:47 AM

I like M1a's but if you can audition, another few to try in your price range would be:

Yamaha MSP5
KRK RP5
Tannoy Reveal Active

**eddies880** · 09-24-2005, 12:32 PM

Originally Posted by sharmon

Am thinking of buying the Alesis M1 Active studio monitors, has anyone used them? Would love to hear any opionions. My Price range is about 350 Euros or US$420, any other recomendations in that range? Any feedback would be much appreciated... Thanks!

Ive been using them for quite some time now,there great for the money.
The one thing Ive noticed,,,is that they really dont give you accurate duplication of lower freq,s.
It may not be the case for everyone--but it is for me.

**alanb** · 10-05-2005, 01:41 PM

I have a set of these myself and have used them for the past year.
For the price i would say there about a 7.5 out of 10
I agree, the lower freqs are clear when you mix however muffled when you get EM into your car
also i find them quite sketchy around the 5k and up
seems like the highs are always louder on a second system.
But then again.............of course i shouldnt even have wrote this cause my acoustics are not great

**eddies880** · 10-05-2005, 05:42 PM

Originally Posted by alanb

I have a set of these myself and have used them for the past year.
For the price i would say there about a 7.5 out of 10
I agree, the lower freqs are clear when you mix however muffled when you get em into your car
also i find them quite sketchy around the 5k and up
seems like the highs are always louder on a second system.
But then again.............of course i shouldnt even have wrote this cause my acoustics are not great

My acoustics arent that great either,but Im learning "how" to use the monitors.
Untill I can fork out the cahs for some real monitors,these will do just fine for now.
I agree with you on the 5k issue,,,,,,,,,
One thing that Ive been advised on as far monitors,is to get them away from you,at least 6 feet,Mike F. from the mastering forum suggest that distance from youre ears and the monitors makes a big difference----the dudes is absolutly correct----------its helped me a great deal :lol:

**TheArchitect** · 10-06-2005, 01:56 PM

Originally Posted by alanb

I have a set of these myself and have used them for the past year.
For the price i would say there about a 7.5 out of 10
I agree, the lower freqs are clear when you mix however muffled when you get em into your car
also i find them quite sketchy around the 5k and up
seems like the highs are always louder on a second system.
But then again.............of course i shouldnt even have wrote this cause my acoustics are not great

What you are describing about the lows may be because the M1's are little light in the low end causing you to add a bit more than really needed. When played back on speakers more solid in the lows or even just over boosted with EQ the bass becomes overwhelming. I've had to learn to adjust for this when mixing on mine.

I test drove a set of M1 Mk2's tonight along side of Mackie 624 and KRK V6's. The differences were pretty wide. The crack of the snare was right in your face on the KRK's compared to the Mk2 where the snare almost disappeared. I'm not sure if I'm liking that as that could cause ear fatigue fast. Overall the Mk2's were closer to the mackies than the KRK's. Which flavor you prefer is a personal choice.

**eddies880** · 10-06-2005, 05:40 PM

Originally Posted by TheArchitect

Originally Posted by alanb

I have a set of these myself and have used them for the past year.
For the price i would say there about a 7.5 out of 10
I agree, the lower freqs are clear when you mix however muffled when you get em into your car
also i find them quite sketchy around the 5k and up
seems like the highs are always louder on a second system.
But then again.............of course i shouldnt even have wrote this cause my acoustics are not great

What you are describing about the lows may be because the M1's are little light in the low end causing you to add a bit more than really needed. When played back on speakers more solid in the lows or even just over boosted with EQ the bass becomes overwhelming. I've had to learn to adjust for this when mixing on mine.

I test drove a set of M1 Mk2's tonight along side of Mackie 624 and KRK V6's. The differences were pretty wide. The crack of the snare was right in your face on the KRK's compared to the Mk2 where the snare almost disappeared. I'm not sure if I'm liking that as that could cause ear fatigue fast. Overall the Mk2's were closer to the mackies than the KRK's. Which flavor you prefer is a personal choice.

I totally agree with you on the low end issue,I too have had to lay back on pushing the low end.
The more I use them,the more I understand.
This is one of the reasons Ive been looking into a frequency analyzer-----------------this way I can visually see what the hell Im listening to :cry:

**Mr-Nice** · 10-07-2005, 05:07 AM

I have them and I like them, but as I said in a similar thread on here, you should really go and audition them in a music store before you buy them.

But if you dont have the luxury of getting to a music store and hearing them in person and you need someones opinion, I do like them alot and for the $399 you'll spend on them I think is well worth it.

They do have nice bass and a crisp high to them. They are pretty flat too as far as sonics and 95% of my mixes translate well on other stereos when I bounce the test CD's around.