Side by Side Comparison of: M-Audio vs Mackie

I seriously love these speakers. I have had them for 3 years now and they still sound super good and loud. They have a high quality sound output so I originally got them for my desktop to record on but most recently I moved into a new apartment with very thin walls. My neighbors are extremely annoying and always making some kind of obnoxious noise. Anyways these speakers are great for playing super loud and getting even with those neighbors that you know you absolutely hate.

I love these monitors...I cant say enough about them. They are clear and accurate but great for everyday average movie viewing. To me,they are as good as some Yamaha of Rokit monitors I have heard ...but half the price! Unexpectedly, these monitors run true in every phase of recording. In pre production, they have have the "thump" that you want to be excited about creating. In mixing, they have a great sensitivity level so you can mix strings and ambiances with professional levels. In Mastering is where these speakers shine...especially for songs hat are vocally dominated. They are soild,durable, and very attractilve. They have a headphone jack on the front speaker for gaming or personal headphones...I am getting a second pair for DJing and when I travel. These speakers are a great investment...coming from a 20yr music vet!!!

5 stars if used for desktop general use. I'm not recording music so no opinions from a studio monitor point of view. I was sick or the clutter of my old 2.1 system. These AV30's are great! I am using these for general desktop speakers for work in my home office. Conference calls and web meetings sound as good as the source, everything is reproduced very clearly. Music and game sound is excellent! Some may miss heavy or hard hitting bass but you will need a sub even if you get larger monitors, I didn't want that. The speaker cord is a tad short for me to wire them super clean on my desk but its fine for now. I have them about 44" apart and the stereo imaging is very very good. The sound comes right out of the center of my screen and left -right is easily perceptible. I purchased some foam isolators to angle them up and eliminate sounds & vibration transmitted through my desk. I highly recommend doing the same or something similar. I do get some popping and snaps when using my PC and no sound is playing. I am connected to my docking station via a standard 3.5 mm stereo cable. Not sure if its my laptop, docking station or the speakers at fault here and don't really care.The three minor negatives for me are:1. I would like to turn off the blue LED light around the volume knob.2. A little too short speaker cable. Again not major because Ill just use my own cable for a little cleaner wiring.3. Popping and snaps when using my PC and no sound is playing.

Just got these little puppies yesterday, so my review is on initial performance not long use. Shipping and handling was prompt and accurate, which is as to be expected from amazon. Now, about the speakers themselves.Setup is quick and easy. I purchased these for small home studio work. However for excitement purposes I just hooked them to my standard computer audio. Which you will need to purchase a Y cable jumper to do so which is only a few bucks. After hookup I punched up several different music choices on youtube to get a quick, overall performance test. They sound wonderful! Great lows, mids, highs; without any equalizer adjustment. For small little speakers these things pump out some sound. But, if you are looking for crazy, sub beating, rattle the china of your walls bass, look elsewhere. One thing that I enjoy especially is how the volume knob is set to where maxed out, while very loud, it is not distorted or overpowered. As with most speaker systems you don't want to go past half with fear of obliterating everything involved.So far no cons yet, however like I said only had them for 24 hours but I hope the stay as nice.

I've read the bad reviews about these speakers but I ordered them anyway and yes, after a year of normal use, the main power speaker cuts in and out. I've found a solution if you're comfortable taking apart the unit. Get some contact cleaner, unplug from the outlet and take apart the speaker. Be careful not to touch any of the electronics because this unit, even unplugged, will store an electrical charge. Unscrew 10 screws and take off the back plate. Inside the cabinet are four screws you will remove to get the front plastic part off. The volume knob is attached with two very small screws. The black plastic volume knob is hard to take off, but I wrapped it in tape and it was easier to pull. Unscrew the washer holding on the white plastic housing around the pot. Spray the pot with the contact cleaner and work it in. Be liberal with the contact cleaner and sue it in a well ventilated area. You should feel the pot loosen up after a few sprays and turns of the knob.After reassembly the speakers work again. Keeping them alive for $8 I paid in contact cleaner and 20 minutes of work seems like a fair trade for another year, maybe more! I'm not a fan of spending lots of money on my setup.In conclusion, these speakers are great in my small apartment. I've never had them up past the 11'o'clock position because they get loud. I'm not an audiophile so I don't really care about small nuances. They work, they let me listen to my music. I have them plugged into my AT-LP120 and i also use them with my iPod connected to the aux input.

The AV 40 has a sonic signature similar to the larger M-Audio BX5: neutral and balanced but with less power and bass reach. Compared to typical computer speakers, the AV 40 are a little understated but that's because they lack bass bloat and exaggerated highs. The even keeled tonal signature is designed for accuracy but is still pleasing and easy to listen to for hours.These monitors are powered with a single stereo amplifier on the left monitor. The right speaker is passive and tethered to the left with a speaker cable. For near field monitoring, there's plenty of power at half volume and can get really loud if cranked. These are directional speakers and render placement of instruments in a stereo soundfield accurately as long as you sit in the sweet spot a couple feet out (your head should form a triangle with the speakers). That diffuse room filling tone typical of home theatre speakers is MIA. Unlike most speakers, there is little rear projection. Perfect for not bothering family or neighbors but bad for parties.I mainly use the AV 40 to sound check my acoustic guitar recordings after laying down the track or mixing on my BX5 monitors. The bass extends down to a clear 80Hz, the lowest note of the guitar. If you track bass guitar and kick drum you'll want larger speakers (BX8) or a sub but these are fine for straight guitar.I positioned the AV 40 an inch from the sides of my iMac and there is no interference or RFI, so shielding is effective. The rear of the left monitor (the powered one) is very warm after a few hours but runs cooler than my BX5. I recommend turning the AV 40 off when not in use: saves both electricity and wear and tear on circuits. Plus, I find computer beeps and warnings in Hi-Fi stereo unpleasant.There isn't much in terms of controls: power switch on the rear and an illuminated volume knob on the front panel. Ins and outs are more extensive than typical computer speakers: TRS, RCA and 1/8" stereo, but no XLR. A speaker cable and input cable (RCA to 1/8" stereo jack) are supplied.These are handsome units but blend in well with most gear: black finish goes with anything! Construction appears excellent with dense particle board (MDF) cabs covered in satin black vinyl, metal back plate (heat sink) and black plastic front molding around the drivers. These monitors are smaller than most units with the same sized bass driver. Unlike most mixing monitors, the AV 40 have protective grills. So no worries should a careless finger or chopstick befall them.LAST BLURB: These are wonderful monitors for a home studio mixing, or just kicking back and cranking iTunes: compact, good looking, accurate and an amazing value.

Been listening to these for about 3 hours and I love them. Retired a set of Altec Lansing that lasted for 15 years or so and I hated having to do that. I deliberately ordered these because I did not want a separate 'sub'. The sound is just great - very 'clear'. They are playing 'Hooked on a Feeling' and the sound is 'crisp'. Spatial separation is very good. Words like 'clear', 'crisp', 'no coloration', and such come to mind. I really, really like these speakers.Hookup was a snap and the ability to switch the powered speaker to left or right channel was very smart as my computer setup here is opposite what Windows thinks should be left and right. These are keepers.

What can I say about these speakers? For starters, THEY'RE AMAZING. Right after unboxing I was immediately impressed by the quality of these little speakers. They are made from sturdy wood and the finish is very nice. I bought these with the intention of using them in tandem with a projector to play movies or video games outside. Now I'm considering purchasing a second pair for my computer. I am a fan of the green accents since I have xboxes and I feel like they will tie in nicely with my gear since it provides a clean, sleek look without overdoing it. Sound quality is very impressive for such small speakers. The low end is, surprisingly, very noticeable and powerful and the high end is very light and clear like it should be. I especially like the option to switch which speaker is powered, aka left or right, so you can adjust based on your setup. The active speaker is noticeably heavier than the passive one, but for good reason that it houses the majority of the electrical components. I can't say enough about these. I'm absolutely amazed something so small can pack that much of a punch. The only gripe I have about these is that the dimensions listed on amazon are incorrect. When I bought them I thought they would be larger, but learned otherwise when I looked them up on youtube. They actually measure 8.2 x 5.5 x 6.2 inches. In my opinion great product for the money and would definitely buy again.

Just plugged them in and tied them into my existing setup of dual KRK Rokit 5's and M-Audio Fast Track sound mixer. They seriously compliment my setup and even though they are smaller than my KRK's they can keep up as far as quality. I did run them on their own as well and they sounded great. Good volume. Great look. Absolutely love the fact of how many connection types and chords that come with these. They do get a little fuzzy when the volume is cranked on very low bass notes but thats to by expected from 3" speakers. Loud and low are best from subwoofers. Overall i already adore these speakers. Every genre and every custom EQ setting i throw at them they sound great and preform exactly how i want them to. A+ In my books!

I recently bought an Audio Technica AT-LP60 turntable and needed some good powered speakers that wouldn't break the bank. WOW, did these ever fit the bill! They're light and compact, yet very powerful. I was blown away after hooking them up. I heard parts in songs I had not heard before on digital versions, and I believe these speakers had a good role in that. All things considered they have a surprisingly awesome range; it's all there: bass, mid, and hi ranges. Everything I needed to hook up the system indeed came in the box as promised. Are there better speakers out there? Sure. But if you're looking for powerful, cost effective, home entertainment bookshelf speakers, then look no further.

I like listening to music, that's all. I'm no audiophile or musician, I just wanted speakers that could play music with great quality when I'm hanging out at home (mainly through Pandora, Spotify or Google Music). So my research began and obviously considered all the big name bluetooth and wifi speakers, such as Bose and Sonos. But then I remembered that Google came out with the Chromecast Audio that allows me to connect to any speaker through a headphone jack and cast music from any iOS, Android or computer device. So ultimately I could buy speakers that are better quality at a cheaper price, and so I began looking into the world of studio monitors which I hadn't considered before.My budget was $200 and luckily you can get some really great studio monitors for this price, such as these Mackie CR4's. They're the perfect size for my bookshelf, had amazing reviews (and rightly so), very easy to hook up, very very good quality sound and look fantastic. My wife was frustrated asking "Why do you even need these speakers when you have your (cheapo) bluetooth one????" but after I played her some music with the Mackies she just said, "oh...yeah these are nice".Overall quality wise, you get to hear all the nice details in the music with very good lows, mids and highs. Some people complained that the bass was not good enough, but I think it's perfect. There's certainly a lot of bass there and you will be surprised at how much you can get out of these guys. The clarity you get, even at low volumes, it simply astonishing. It's not that I've never listened to high end speakers before, but it's that I didn't think (even after reading all the reviews) that the quality would be THIS good.I would recommend these to anyone looking to get a set of quality monitors plus a Chromecast Audio if you want the wireless option. I would pick these over a Sonos 3 or 5 any day, unless I was doing the whole entire home wireless speaker thing, which I'm not.

I very rarely ever leave reviews but I feel like in the case of the CR4 LTDs I need to, as the difference in audio hardware greatly will alter your listening experience.I ordered these speakers as an upgrade to my existing computer audio system, a 2.1 set of 15 year old Logitech gaming speakers. The new build included the Mackie's, along with the Schiit Magni/Modi Uber stack. The CR4 LTD's arrived two days before DAC/amp, so I had around 48 hours to experience what these speakers sound like both when plugged into my computer directly and using the Fiio E07K DAC/amp.The packaging was more than adequate, which is fortunate because Amazon shipped them in a box which was 3x larger than necessary. At this price point the construction of these speakers are punching well above their grade, leaving me nearly completely impressed. While it's completely cosmetic, there were a couple 'pixels' of space on the tweeters that didn't receive the black coating, which reveals a silver, reflective surface. It doesn't impact the performance of the speaker in any way, but it's distracting when I'm trying to admire them haha. The surface space they take up is very manageable; they don't feel excessively large. The speaker isolation pads they provide are a very nice touch.Reading the reviews for the CR4's (there was only one CR4 LTD review before I had made my purchase) gave me the expectation that the bass was lacking, so after plugging the speakers directly into my motherboard's audio port I was prepared for what I heard. The mids and highs sounded fantastic, but the lows felt fairly recessed. I had chalked it up the 4" speaker size, and that I would need a subwoofer to really experience the bass I was looking for. The next day I was able to test the speakers with the E07K and it brought clarity to the softer mids and highs. The bass still felt lacking, but it wasn't nearly as noticeable as before. Still at that point I was convinced I would need an independent subwoofer at some pointAfter having listened to these speakers with the Schiit stack, my thoughts on needing a subwoofer have gone out the window. The bass stepped up in such an incredible way that I can't believe these are the same speakers I was listening to yesterday. You're not going to feel the thump of a bass heavy song in your chest as you would with a dedicated subwoofer, but the sound landscape is so much more balanced with the higher quality DAC and amp. At low volumes the accuracy in sound reproduction stayed consistent, with no noticeable degradation between the lows, mids, and highs. For comparison I also had a pair of Sennhesier HD 598s to compare them to, and the sound coming out of the Mackie's was significantly cleaner. The difference in audio precision between the two was uncomfortably noticeable, as now I can't find many reasons why I would want to listen to the headphones over the speakers.If you're planning on purchasing these speakers to hook them directly into your computer without any additional audio equipment you'll absolutely notice an improvement in audio fidelity, however you're nearly doing yourself an injustice to not have an audio system that is capable of demonstrating what these speakers can do. If you already have an audio system capable of driving the Mackie's though, you're in for quite a treat, especially at this price point.

I listen to music for a couple of hours a day. Mostly Pandora on my PC, which is set up in a closed 12x24 room (avg apt living room). These speakers are plenty big enough to fill the room with noise! The built in amp is convenient and the speakers develop great sound either loud or soft. There is great separation of sound and good definition of the instruments in the music I listen to.Like they say in the write up, the bass is tight - it's not muddy like you find with a sub woofer set up There isn't much rumble to them- I like that. It's one of the reasons that I chose these speakers. I'm not going for THX sound quality here, but I did run into a problem at the top end.Any speaker manufacturer on the planet can develop the full range of top end sound. My ten year old $30 Logitech speakers could do it these should too, but they don't. All my symbol crashes and sparkling highs sound like Shhhh.... C'mon. I was pulled in by the glitz and marketing and ignored the specs that were right in front of my eyes - 20kHz is the top end - not 22kHz. It doesn't sound like much, and maybe its not but....The reviewer who described these as flat hit it right on the head. They are not dynamic and shrill, they are not rum-bally at the low end They sacrifice sound at the edges to preserve definition in the middle. That's fine, but, in the case of the high end it turns out to be a pretty big sacrifice, and if you like hip hop these are not for you. They do best with the Talking Heads style drum slap and the bass guitar you find in a Cake song. The base line in Deacon Blues by Steely Dan is well covered and I can follow it almost all the way through the song...cool. Dire straits songs sound good too.I like these, but they are not five star speakers and they definitely do not live up to the manufacturer hype.

My experience with audio equipment is quite limited.I had a hand-me-down Logitech LS21, and upgraded to this, the AV40. I also own a M50The difference was pretty outstanding, songs don't face distortion at louder volumes unless you really crank it. Things that scare me are that when you turn off the speakers after use, it may have a pop. Also, it can get very warm. I've also had it shock me one occasion. I was reaching the back trying to find the power switch, and I would feel this zap. It happened three more times until I was able to turn it off. I wouldn't say it hurt, but it was unpleasant.

Man, this speakers are BASSy! If you like music like Hip-Hop, I think you'll be happy. I'm more hard rock, so I have to mess with equalizer on iTunes to get a balanced sound. I'm using generic audio card from Mac Mini so, I can guess how these bad boys would sound on a proper PC sound card. I had to buy a transformer of voltage since my Country (Peru) we use 220v and the AV40 use 110v.Other than that (and for price), these are great Speakers!

I compared these with the Bose Companion 20's and while M-Audio has an overall better soundstage they lack in the bass area and at lower volumes offer very little. I understand these are monitor speakers which I assume are meant to be played at louder volumes and they do that very well but they will not satisfy individuals that listen to mostly rap music since they can't hit very deep notes via computer. Think of these speakers as being similar to an 8" subwoofer in car, you won't get deep bass but for electronic music, rock/metal, and other various genres it's good. I've played them relatively loud in a living room and they don't bottom out or have any type of unwanted feedback. Assuming I used them with audio equipment that allows the bass levels to be modified I have no doubt these would perform better.They are relatively large but fit fine on a medium sized desk and but I dislike how I had to run a cable from the front of the speaker when using the aux connector. At low volume these speakers still manage to keep a great soundstage if spaced correctly and at ear level but as mentioned you will hear little to no bass so if you are watching movies don't expect much.I would give the speakers 3.5 stars if I could because the price is much better than the Bose Companion 20's. M-Audio sound more clear and accurate by far but there's very little low volume benefit and as with most computer users that's the volume we primarily use. I would recommend but they are best suited for louder volumes where you wouldn’t want to sit in front of them.

I picked these up to be able to take with me in my luggage when I travel along with my DJ controller. For this they work awesome. Excellent sound quality and clarity. My only complaint is the pictures around the web actually show the previous version being the one that is sold now in regards to the power cord. It is the same part number for the speakers however they shifted to an integrated power cord rather than the detachable one. I am not sure why they felt that they had to do so, but it does make it a little worrisome of you are the type to move them a lot.

Fours stars because of the power switch and the bright blue power light. If the switch was up front, they would get a full 5 star rating. More about that in a paragraph or so.Sound: Nice, crisp, clean, solid. I have to admit, when I first got them, I was moving from 15 year old Yamaha system with a sub-woofer. These seemed to lack a good bass. I couldn't feel it in my bones any more. It bothered me, There just wasn't enough bass. So, I hooked up a sub I borrowed from a friend. That was better. But, it had an auto-off and was constantly turning off if the volume was too low. After a while I just turned it off. A couple weeks went by, and I readjusted to the sound without a sub. And I started noticing the bass was actually fairly solid. And so wonderfully sonorous. Rounded, robust, defined. No, it didn't jiggle my innards. Or rattle the pictures on the walls. But, it was clean, concise, and very very pleasant. And actually fairly intense once I adjusted to the lack of sub.After a month or so of this, I flipped the sub back on. It only took a day before I turned it back off. The sound just wasn't as consistently well defined. I do think that these speakers would benefit from a sub, but the quality would need to match the speakers and need to be well balanced. For reference, this was a sub from a medium priced Klipsch system, not cheap, but not high end. I've read some reviews that said similar things, so, maybe some day I'll invest in a sub, but the recommended subs to pair well with these speakers cost more than 2.5 times the speakers... Another thing, I run these off a fairly good quality USB DAC, so good clean input is important. Straight off the computers sound card, not as nice. Maybe if I had a high end card, but I don't, and the DAC does the job just as well.Now, what type of music was I listening to? I listen to a lot of Triphop (Massive Attack, Nightmares on Wax), Classical and Choral, 90's alternative and some Industrial, Some folksy stuff, 60's rock, and lectures/talk/radio/podcasts. All of it was wonderful sounding. I'm not an audiophile, couldn't afford to be, but, I have a decent ear for music, and this is an excellent comprise for the price. Much better than I would have expected for the price.Ok, the power button. Why this is not on the front, with easy access makes no sense. These use a good piece of electricity, and there's no reason they shouldn't be turned off when the computer is turned off. They do use power, enough to feel both warm, and sometimes very uncomfortably warm when not in use. Honestly, having the switch in the back is not even a design choice, it's a defect. That's the only reason for the 4 stars.The light on the front. A ring around the volume button. It's a little bright for my taste. Enough to see by in a an otherwise pitch black room. Enough to be distracting in a room with a window. It's blue, I would have chosen red, but, that's really a personal choice, just like the brightness is. I mention it because back in the day, when I had a small apartment (or dorm room) and the computer was in the same room as the bed, this light would have been VERY annoying. So, hope that helps someone. Buy a silver paint marker, because they are opaque, and color in the lighted ring if this is problem. That will solve the brightness issue.All said, worth the money. Great sound. Oh, and be sure to read the guide on how to position Audio Monitors that comes with the speakers. It will really help you get the most out of the system. The guide is well written.

The sound quality seems quite good. One thing I don"t like is that they don't turn themselves off and they get warm when you leave them on which means they are wasting power and anything that gets warm when not in use makes me nervous that it might cause a fire. They ought to SHUT THEMSELVES OFF after say 15 minutes of non use. I have to remember to turn them off myself.

These speakers sound pretty good despite their small size. They come with all of the cables you need and 2 sets of foam platforms, one flat and one tilted. There are convenience jacks on the front of one of the speakers, one for an aux input and the other for headphones. I would have given these speakers 5 stars but the headphone jack reduces sound quality greatly so I end up having to unplug the speakers from my computer and then plug the headphones into the computer directly which kind of defeats the purpose of the convenience jack on the speaker.

These little speakers sound way better than expected. I hadn't thought I would like these as much as I do. They are very convenient and easy to use. The L/R toggle is great if you are like me and end up moving my computer station around a lot. The ability to use both a 1/4 patch cord connection and/or the AUX is also a nice feature if you "pass the aux" with friends or switch computers often. I'm able to use these guys for light mixing on music (though I wouldn't trust these alone). Overall I am very happy with this purchase. Great for anyone on a budget or for those just looking to play music and watch movies. If you are looking for legitimate studio monitors these aren't the way to go. But if you are looking for a cheaper set of speakers to compliment your Monitors I would recommend these. 4.5/5

I got these speakers because my previous 2.5 computer speakers stopped working. I produce music as a hobby and decided to upgrade to monitors and settled on these due to the price for the pair. I connected them to my computer via a second generation Scarlett solo USB interface and the highs and mids were amazing. They did a good job of highlighting the parts of my songs that needed work. However I like my songs base heavy and these speakers just could not deliver in that regard. I wanted to give these speakers 3 stars due to the lack of base but the speakers are pretty great otherwise, good for gaming and tv/movies. If you are a person that likes to feel the base in your body then these speakers aren't for you. Im returning these for the Mackie MR mk3 Series MR5mk3. For people who really like base 5inch monitors are the minimum size you should get.

I recently bought a turntable and needed some powered speakers to go with it as I didn't want to go the whole amp/receiver route. The price point on these made it a relatively easy decision. I figured for $150, worse case, I'd just relegate these to computer speakers. That said, they didn't disappoint at all! They're great sounding speakers! The bass is surprisingly good fro 4" woofers. I may add a subwoofer someday, but for now I'm quite happy with the sound. Also plenty loud to fill a large living room even full of people.My ONLY complaint with these speakers is the green circles around the cones! While it's a nice green, it's a really bright color and unless you have a green decor thing going already, these tend to stick out visually much more than I'd like. I may try to eventually try to paint them black. (I think Mackie could make a few extra buck by making these rings removable and selling different colored replacements!)

These speakers are amazing. I wouldn't necessarily call them monitors though, but they do a fine job for some one who messes with amateur production like my self. The Mackie CR4's are loud as all get out though. Paired with my s***ty audio interface, these two four inch speakers bang. While the bass coming from these guys isn't really banging, it is still full and sounds superb.

One speaker broke after a year. Sounded great to til then.

I bought these and the Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 THX. The Klipsch's blow these out of the water. Its not ever close. I had to return these because it bothered me so much to listen to these after hearing the Klipsch's.Do yourself a favor and get these instead. You will not regret it:http://www.amazon.com/Klipsch-ProMedia-Certified-Computer-Speaker/dp/B000062VUO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418496382&sr=8-1&keywords=thx+2.1Signed,An informed customer who went thru the same dilemma of choosing quality speakers

These are OK. Not great, but OK. Good enough I suppose. They sound quite good. Could be louder. Unfortunately even though they are shielded, they will still pick up interference from some cell phones. Also technically I'm not sure what's wrong here, but if you unplug whatever is plugged into it so you have the bare cable hanging out on your desk, they will buzz. If you touch the jack it'll buzz incredibly, but it'll even buzz lightly just sitting there. Grounding issue? Not sure. For the price, I guess this is as good as you can get. I dug around quite a bit and these seemed to have the most bang for the buck.

I bought these speakers for use with a home video editing system. After a week of use, I'm pretty happy with them. They don't have amazing sound, but it's perfectly acceptable for my purposes (which is mostly to match what might be coming out of a TV set). The bass is present enough (not overwhelming, which is a good thing) and they certainly get plenty loud for monitoring uses. These wouldn't be sufficient for a party or an entertainment system, since even at full blast, the sound barely fills a room. As for the design, I'd say the main annoyance is the volume knob. It's completely smooth and difficult to grip. It could really use some groves to help turn it easier.My main gripe is that I only received one stick-on traction pad for the bottom of the speakers. It should have come with two. I figured this would be a simple issue to resolve, so I contacted M-Audio expecting to quickly receive another pad in the mail. A week later, I got a call from Greg (customer service rep) who very nicely informed me that he could not track down that part and there was no way they could ship another pad to me. The only solution he offered was to initiate a return and replace the entire order. Since I already had the speakers set up, I declined this solution due to the sheer inconvenience of it. While Greg was very regretful, I was offered no other solution. This to me is pretty shoddy and shows a clear disconnect between the company and their Chinese production line. It will likely mean I will avoid M-Audio for future purchases of this type.

I'm not an audiophile. I don't mix music. I'm just a computer user that likes tunes and spends all day at the idiot box, so I wanted something that would sound better than my Best Buy econojunk computer speakers, but I didn't want to drag an entire home stereo setup to my office.My first reaction upon plopping these on my desk were that they sounded worse. And that's where the huge caveats start.First, studio monitors like this are incredibly picky about placement. Just setting them on the desk aimed at your guts or whatever is not going to work. You need some stands or supports of some sort, so these babies point at your head. I got a pair of rubber wedge feet that direct them up and at my ears, and then carefully angled them so they were set up perfectly aimed at my head. That made a huge difference. If you're looking for a speaker to fill a room so you and your buddies can all hear SportsCenter from the couch, these aren't going to work. But if you're in the same chair looking at the same screen all the time, perfect. There's a little comic book that comes with the speakers that talks a little more about placement, which is helpful.The other thing, and maybe I'm wrong here, but the volume on these is somewhat problematic. I used to keep my computer volume at 100%, my iTunes volume at 100%, and then adjust the knob on the speakers when I needed to change the volume. But I've noticed that when these are turned to anything below about 40%, you lose one side a bit, and the quality is lower. Maybe that's my imagination, but I found that these worked much better when I kept the volume on the speaker up a bit, and then managed my actual volume from the computer system itself.I've also noticed is there's a bit of a pop when these are turned on and off. That worries me a bit about the longevity of these. No problems so far, though.These seem to be decent for the price. There's unfortunately a weird gap between the cheap speakers you get for free when you fill up at a participating Arco station and the esoteric audiophile units that recommend you swap out your desk, walls, ceiling, and internal organs with ones specifically designed for the acoustics of your sound stage. I feel these are a decent compromise, but I also felt that there might be ones out there that were just slightly more expensive that would have done a better job. I.e. I had the Toyota Yaris of speakers, and I wasn't about to shop for a McLaren MP4-12C on the cheap - I just wanted maybe a 3-class BMW that could be beaten and driven daily without incident. These are somewhere in the high-end Camry range.

This is tricky to review. I bought these speakers 3 years ago and they indeed were great sounding and a good size. I did not get the AV40 due to the size. I like to cary them to different location in the house and the AV30s were as big as I could easily tote around. I did not use them that much during the time I worked in an office. When I recently moved to a home office I turned them on one day using my iPod heard a deep noise and them they blew out. The volume was not the issues. I contacted the company who referred me to a repair shop. The shop said they were not worth fixing and did not seem to want the task anyway. I wrote back to the manufacturer and still asked for another pair since I really did not use them much. Maybe 40 times max over the 3 years. They still would not help me.So I did place another order for them. Maybe it is foolish but I bought the 2 year warranty this time. I plan to play the hell out of them in the next 2 years and be covered just in case. So my review is mixed. Great sound and reasonable size but they could blow.

Expected more. I shouldn't have considering the price.

Distortion from bass of the Limited Edition CR4 after only a little more than a month of use. I filed a claim with Mackie as they should still be under warranty. I will update later but in the mean time, only 1 star.Update: Mackie was fairly unhelpful/not useful. Amazon was very helpful. After contacting Mackie, they said they could not help me at all because mine set was the Limited Edition CR4. After contacting after Amazon, they were able to get a replacement order shipped very quickly.3 stars for for the speakers, 1 star for Mackie customer service, and 5 stars for Amazon customer service.

I've had these speakers for about 9 months now, and they've been great. Recently the powered speaker started sounding a little bit muddy, but that has progressed to an awful buzz. It sounds blown out, but I never pushed these speakers too loud or anything.They were definitely great while they lasted though :/

These studio monitors work great, except for the fact that they overheat and stop working for 30 minutes, when the weather gets warmer. I rma the first set thinking it was a defect, because the monitors will work for 1/2 a second when turning them off, the light on the front stay on, just no sound but sometimes it came on and off. Now 5 months into the second pair same thing is happening. So it's obvious a quality problem with the build in amp not being able to cool down enough.The audio quality is awesome very clear reproduction, so instead of treating them like computer speakers and leaving them on, turning them off when not used to cool down the buildin amp, makes them still usable.4/28/16 Update: My replacement set is now having the same problem as the first, it's been 2 months since receiving these replacement. This one is only staying on for 15 minutes before the sound starts to cut off. The internal amp is definitely blown again, I leave the monitors on 24/7 which the manual doesn't say it's outside of the normal use. Mackie customer support has been very helpful with RMA this set as well, but they have warned me that the warranty doesn't refresh and is based on the first pair I bought.Although my experience with these monitors hasn't been great with the amp blowing again, so the quality of the internal amp definitely needs to be improved, but I still can not deny the sound quality produced by these Mackies. Sticking with 3 stars, and hopefully these 3rd pair will last me at least 2 years past the end of the warranty.

Upon first getting these speakers, I loved the clarity of the speakers, where the highs and mids are crisp, even though the bass was a little lacking. I got a sub to supplement this problem, and the overall sound output is great for most songs. I had to replace the first pair because I noticed a hum coming from the main powered speaker, from anywhere to it's cutoff point of around 55 hz to around 105 hz, making songs with mainly bass and no higher register to overpower the sound of the hum a pain to listen to. Thanks to Amazon I received a replacement pair when I returned the old speakers, and when I got my speakers enjoyed the sound initially like on my last pair, but when listening to the speakers at a moderately high volume (but still not enough that the speakers shouldn't be able to handle) I still hear that familiar rattle coming from the main powered speaker once again, less than last time but still there on big bass pops or muffled bass. I'm going to keep listening to these for a little more too see if the rattle gets worse like with my first pair of Mackies.The volume I usually listen to is just a little less than 12 o'clock on the speakers as well

Pros:- Excellent sound quality and features for the priceCons:- Stopped working after about 5 monthsMisc Notes:- I have never run these at full (output) volume and they failed after regular use. However, after looking at other "real" studio monitors for professional use, I noticed that every one of them have an input attenuation switch. This is because professional setups can pump very high levels of input to the monitors and having this option prevents input overload, which I suspect happened to my pair.- Given my usage, I'd probably consider these as very high end general listening speakers- They sound great (when working)// EDITSo I left them unplugged for 24 hours and it works again, though the treble doesn't seem as "crisp" as before.

These worked well for the first ~6 months till the built in power amplifier started to fry and the volume knob would not adjust the volume correctly or evenly between both channels. This is totally unacceptable for 'studiophile' and especially marketed as 'monitor' speakers regardless of price. These should be marketed as 'powered PC speakers' and are not studio quality build.After contacting AVID, they wanted me to return them having myself paying for shipping back to the MFG. This would cost me roughly 60% of the price I paid for them without any guarantee that it is covered under warranty.I was able to circumvent the issue by finding only one spot within the volume range that got correct volume/balance and adjust the volume at the output source instead of at the speaker level. It works but not for any type of studio environment.I have an M-audio input box as well as m-audio usb keyboard and all those have worked flawlessly, but I'm hesitant to purchase AVID products in the future, my next monitors will be Mackie.

I have bought two pairs of these speakers. First set lasted little over a year then one of the speakers amplifier went out. I really enjoyed the sound, the company said I had for two long for any warranty.I ordered another set. Well had for about two years, and now the power in the unit just went out. I really like the sound, but am not willing to continue buying these and have to replace them ever year or two because of the quality of the units.

My last pair of these sounded good. The new pair also sound good. They could stand a little better high end...but definitely good mid and low end. They look good as well. OK...here's the rub. My last set had a problem where the powered L speaker got quite warm to touch. After a couple years it started cutting out on that L speaker briefly. For the next 3 years I put up w/ that...until it just plain quit working. For a year or more before that it didn't work very often. My testament is I liked them enough to get another pair 5 years later. Darn...the L powered speaker is still running hot. Hasn't failed yet...but are you kidding me. My stupid hope was they would have fixed that by now. DON'T BUY. Hope M-Audio and Amazon are listening, however, I never did call M-Audio.

These are outstanding small speakers--the sound was excellent for all 30 seconds that they worked. Very disappointing. They're now back in their box awaiting the UPS driver. Amazon did not offer replacement as an option, and they are no longer selling this item themseves (perhaps signifying that a lot of them have been coming back). I'm very experienced with electronics and audio gear, and I tried different sound sources, different cables, double-checked the polarity of the speaker wires (which carry power to the right speaker), different outlets. Dead, dead, dead. Since the blue ring around the volume knob went out, the only sound that's come from them is a -very- faint speaker pop when I flipped the power switch in the rear.

I bought these speakers in September of 2014, and they were great. However, it is now December of 2014 (a mere 3 months after purchase) and the left speaker does not work. I've scoured the internet for help, and have read lots of helpful forum posts about people with this similar problem, but to no avail. I DO NOT RECOMMEND BUYING THIS PRODUCT IF YOU EXPECT A LONG LASTING, QUALITY SPEAKER! Or, if you can, buy this set under warranty so you can replace it every time one of the speakers blows out (although this idea is stupid; just buy a different set!)TL;DR: I do not recommend this set of speakers! They work for a short amount of time.

I originally thought these speakers were amazing and gave it a 5 until the left one fizzled out today, which is COMPLETELY unacceptable after such a short time frame. It's like it was programmed to happen after exactly a year, and, sure enough, all the most helpful reviewers are showing the same issues. I am literally coming up on exactly a year since i placed the order for these so I almost feel like it's some sort of conspiracy, like they're designed to need to be replaced so M-Audio can get more money. Not gonna happen this time. I originally had AV30s and the left speaker went out in the same fashion after 3 years. I can at least stomach that since they costed roughly half of what these do and are more entry level. I'm sure you can find monitors of this clarity for the money that will be more reliable and have high-fidelity (which the two terms are pretty much grammatically synonymous). I can't even begin to tell you how frustrated I am about this. These are near perfect for the money minus the premature death, but M-Audio, you need to not skimp out on whatever drives these wonderful speakers into the ground so quickly. Maybe install more heat dispersing hardware so they don't heat up so much, because i know heat is the number one killer of any hardware. On a less related note, these costed 10 dollars more than my very best headphones which are still going strong after over 6 years. Sure there aren't isn't any built in amplification, but that is still no excuse, this just gives perspective on how long audio equipment should last. I was even careful to turn the power off on these speakers every single night so they wouldn't wear themselves out... Sorry for the overly dramatic rant, but in this age you do not expect highly competitive technology to straight up fail on you without warning.

I purchased these as computer speakers for my desk at work, back in January of 2016. I work in an office, where I can't get too loud, so it's not like I was working them hard. I even turned them off every night when leaving the office, so they had a really soft life. At low volumes, I found that they performed very well at providing great sound up close, while still being effectively inaudible to my coworkers. So for my needs, they worked perfect. Then, one day back in June, I noticed that the left hand speaker had no sound. I checked wiring, everything was hooked up, I swapped the R and L RCA inputs at the back of the speaker and the problem stayed with the speaker, so the cable was fine. Then I touched the speaker position selection switch on the back of the RH speaker and suddenly the sound came back. It was clear the selector switch had gone bad. With time, I found that the LH speaker would fall out more and more frequently. wiggling the switch, I could usually get it to come back for a while, but eventually that stopped working too. I was able to flip the switch, so that the channels were reversed and got them to work again for yet a little while longer, but now after 4 more months of trying to finesse it, it's next to impossible to get it playing both channels at the same time. The speakers only carry a 1 year warranty, so I wasn't getting any help from the manufacturer. I was hoping that the switch might be serviceable, but after taking the cover off the back of speaker to look, I found that they glue over all of the components on the board, to ensure that you can't fix anything on these speakers. So instead of being able to continue enjoying the speakers, I'm going to give someone, other than Mackie, my money to replace them. There really is no reason these speakers should have started breaking down so quickly.

I purchased these in 2015 and they worked fine until a few weeks ago. They will now only emit a buzzing noise and no audio will pass through. I contacted customer support and was told there was nothing they could do since they were beyond the one year limited warranty. All of that is fine, but I have never had speakers completely quit on me before. I have 20 year old cheap speakers that will still play sound. The fact that these will not work at all after only 2 years means I cannot recommend these or Mackie for that matter. I would have hoped they would have at least offered me a discount on some new ones to keep as a customer. As a result, I will never purchase Mackie again. They are better options with companies that will take care of their customers.

These speakers are great, especially at around 80 bucks, but on occasion my right speaker will have this hissing sound that is decently loud, it sounds almost like static, but less aggressive. It only comes around now and then, but it started around 4 months into my owning these speakers, so I can't really turn my eyes away from the issue. I don't know if that's due to back quality control or bad luck on my end, but it's enough of a problem that I unfortunately feel the need to drop my otherwise 5 star review down to 2 stars.

after 6 months the power button will not work anymore so don't buy this

At first everything was working perfectly and I loved it but after a few days, it wouldn't connect to the Bluetooth no matter what I did.

I bought these speakers for at work. When I do a lot of computer work, or programming or so I like to listen to music. I hooked it up via my FiiO E10K USB DAC. It did not sound all that great, so maybe the speakers needed breaking in. Well it did not really improve. I gave these speakers who seems to be quite content with it. I then bought the Audioengine A2+. Wow that is so much more enjoyable.For my picky ears the Macky did not do it.

These speakers are amazing! I'm using them for my audio technica turntable and they are perfect! The setup is easy, the provide a clean and crisp sound, and are VERY LOUD. I have my volume pretty low and it's still loud (the good loud of course). I gave this product a 4 star just because the packaging was kind of poor, but the speakers themselves are great. They come with USB and speaker connect wire cables too so don't worry about getting those. I highly recommend these speakers for music and even gaming lovers if you like loudness.UPDATE: I've had these speakers for about two years now and the left just stop working. I've tried everything thinking it was my error but it just stopped so I'm disappointed

14 months after purchase, saw that the speakers wouldn't power on. Turns out that one of the two large capacitors blew, gooped itself all over the circuit board, and left a large scorched section on the backside of the circuit and inside wall. I'm not enough of a guru to disassemble and repair around this (assuming there isn't further damage to other components), and seeing the other reviews, I don't think it's worth trying to talk to AVID (with the expired warranty and all that). So thanks, m-audio, for the matching set of door stops! Ugh.That said, they sounded fine until they stopped working. No warning static/crackle like others have mentioned.

When these arrived, the left speaker did not work.The left speaker emitted a low frequency hum. I verified that all of the cables were connected correctly and reset them. I tried a different power outlet. I tested them with an Apple computer and an iPod. The output settings in the OSX were balanced. You could slightly hear the music from the left speaker when isolated, but it was not loud, even at full volume. I connected both to the rear cable and the front aux cable. Same result. The same thing happened with the iPod. The headphone audio port worked correctly. The right speaker works properly, and sounds nice.I checked the warranty pamphlet included, but they require you to pay for shipping to their repair center. I did not see a repair turn-around time, but I do not want to wait another month to listen to these speakers.I am disappointed, as I waited two weeks for these to arrive. Amazon no longer offers them at the price I purchased them for, and if I buy again, it will probably be the first week of February before they come in. One star.

Sho nuff - I opened the box, hooked them up at home. They seemed to work fine. I took them to work, hooked them up there, the speaker with the power button did not work. Nothing I did would change that. I started looking at all the "1" reviews. Evidently, that is a very common issue. Fortunately, mine went bad right away. I feel sorry for those who used them for 3-12 months, only then to have the thing go bad. I would strongly recommend not buying these until M-Audio can work out a fix. Seems pathetic that they are still selling these, knowing they have what appears to be at least a 10% failure rate and could be as high as...? All that's doing is giving them a bad name. Get it together guys.

The power speaker was a problem from day one.....giving an audible feedback noise. I continued using the one none powered speaker that offered pretty fair sound for one speaker...that speaker is no longer producing any sound. I suggest that these speakers are capable of producing quality sound but inconsistent quality control manufacturing can produce an occasional inferior product. Too bad. I just ordered a pair of JBL's a company with a proven record of producing quality products. My delay in returning these speakers and trying to do with one speaker was a bad mistake as I now have lost any ability to return the product and receive any credit. It should be noted that I asked for assistance from several knowledgeable installers none of whom could make these speakers work and so more money wasted.The speakers from Hell.

While they worked they sounded larger than they look with a big bottom end (just how I like it), lush, flattering and non-specific; basically, a shameless representation of the major qualities that a "studio monitor" strives to avoid. As a failing, their gossamer lack of detail was eclipsed only by the inexplicable silence that accompanied their sudden, complete demise. Had they up and biffed it three weeks earlier I could have returned them but, as it stands, I'm screwed. If you're looking for a decent pair of "multimedia" speakers (whatever that means) or a fun pair to take on your travels, and have penchant for losing possessions and money, these are your bag.

Terrible sound quality! Just good looking speakers. I was expecting much more being Mackie create this.

Good sound and features for the money but after 10 months the R speaker blew up. I'm awaiting customer service to reply but be wary of this before buying them. I was actually pretty happy before this happened. Bluetooth in the speakers is not the greatest as you may experience delay and interference, but nevertheless sound quality was good and the bluetooth feature is useful. They sound best when connected directly.

the speakers blew within a month. Not worth the price.

These speakers were awesome until the one speaker started to go out within less than a year. Seems to be the "powered speaker" switch that went out, because when you flip it the opposite speaker goes out. It's also something that comes and goes at random for no apparent reason. I contacted Mackie customer service via e-mail and told them the problem since it was still under the manufacturer warranty. They told me I had to call in with the speakers in front of me for them to determine if it was a product defect. Unfortunately their customer service is only open during the hours I work, so I am not able to call with my speaker set up in front of me. I told them that and they never got back to me. Why I would need to call in to go over something that is DEFINITELY a common manufacturing defect is beyond frustrating. Buy this if you have a disposable income and don't need speakers that last.

Super disappointed in these speakers. First of all, the 4" subwoofer is 3.25 inches. The right tweeter started crackling within a month of purchase. I have these hooked up to my iMac, simply to improve stock computer sound while listening to music/youtube/etc in my home office. Wasn't expecting deep bass, but better than average sound quality should be a given for proclaimed "studio monitor sound" ...for lack of better words, these speakers suck.

Bought these on Nov 2015. I used them sporadically at the same volume level (~75%) all the time as they were used for home automation. The speakers stopped working on Feb 2016. Needless to say very upset and disappointed with the quality of the product. Good for paper weight, although expensive for that purpose. Don't buy this product!!