Sonic Control.TV » Speakers

E-MU PM5 and the PS 12 Subwoofers

Peter Alexander — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 04:45:27 +0000

I agreed to review the E-MU PM5 monitors because the folks at E-MU stopped short of swearing on their mother’s Sunday chicken that these monitors, at $498 per pair (street price), were the equal of a $2,000 pair of Genelecs. To enhance the claim, I was also sent two (2) PS 12 subwoofers (one per monitor).

With the Super Bowl over with, and the stock market being where it is, I took the bait. To establish this, I’m doing the exact same test as I did with the KRK VX8 monitors.

General Specs
Drivers High Frequency: Type: Neodymium Soft Dome
Size: 25.4mm (1″)

Low-Frequency: Type: Glass Fiber Cone
Size: 127mm (5″)

Dimensions Height: 290mm (11.5″)
Width: 175mm (6.9″)
Depth: 245mm (9.7″)
Weight 6.5kg (14.3lbs)

Power 120V, 60Hz

Crossover Network

Type Active second-order Butterworth

Input 1: XLR female balanced
Input 2: 1/4″ Jack socket balanced
Input 3: RCA unbalanced

Setup
Normally I don’t praise manuals. This one I will. Even pros appreciate simplicity. The PM5 graphics are very much USA Today-like telling you in one graphic what you need to know. There are four setup pictures:

• pair only
• pair plus one subwoofer
• pair plus two subwoofers
• 5.1 Surround

Setting up the volume and other controls on the back were more difficult. Even with bright lights, we needed a flashlight (torch for UK readers) to clearly read the settings.

Setting up the PS12 subwoofer is a different story. Unless you’re really adept at this, plan for 1-2 hours to get the PS12 situated and operating properly.

Negatives
On the PM5s, the power light is a very bright blue that at ear level is really disconcerting to the eye. Again, as one reviewer wrote at online store, it’s a hot look. I don’t minimize that. But for all day use, I’d find that light in my eye really distractive.

With the PS12, the on light is on the back of the unit. With the PM5s, the on light lets you know if you’re clipping. With the on light in the rear of the PS12, there’s no way to know.

Audio Setup
We set up an AB test between the KRK VXT8s and the E-MU PM5s plus the PS12 subwoofer with audio routed from Logic 8 through an RME Fireface 800. On one hand, this may not seem to be a fair comparison because of the size difference between the two monitor systems (by specs, the KRK VZT4s are the more direct comparison). And we took that into account. The size we really took into account was money.

As an overall summary, the E-MU PM5s have a sweet sound in the midrange through highs, but barely have a bass presence. To get the bass, you need the PS12 subwoofer. Add $500. So, for $1,000 plus shipping you can have a pair of PM5s and a really needed subwoofer, or you can get a pair of KRK VXT8s for $200 more. If you add in a second PS12 subwoofer that’s $1,500, $300 more than the pair of KRK VXT8s..

Where the PM5s are small and lightweight at 14 lbs per monitor (see stats above), the subwoofer is huge! It takes Man Mountain Dean to move the thing (45 lbs per PS12 subwoofer!).

The space requirements are a big issue when you add in the PS12 subwoofer as you will have to do a lot of experimenting to get the right sound. And this means getting the 3 speakers situated properly in your studio.

For setup, one place I fault the PS12 manual is the writer’s expectation that the purchaser, whether pro or pro-sumer, is an audiophile and understands technical jargon. Bad assumption.

PS12 Stats
The E-MU PS12 Precision Subwoofer is a powered front-firing subwoofer with a 12” speaker driven by a custom 200W amplifier.

For creating the smoothest possible crossover between the subwoofer and your satellite speakers, the PS12 features fully customizable filter controls, including a low-pass filter on the subwoofer signal and a high-pass filter on the satellite output signal.

Other key features include:
• Extremely compact, sealed-cabinet design
• Linear frequency response down to 22Hz
• Variable subwoofer Level and Phase control (0 to 180 degrees)
• Subsonic Rumble Filter
• Built-in Overload Protection
• Balanced and Unbalanced Inputs and Outputs
• Subwoofer bypass (satellite pass-through) footswitch input
• Automatic 15-minute low-power Standby mode
• Selectable 100-120V / 220-240V Operation

Listening Observations
My perspective here is that when comparing speakers, you compare with what you have. For me, the difference in sound between the VXT8s and the PM5s is quite distinct. You can learn to mix on any pair of speakers. The PM5, I feel is very strong in the midrange and highs. The Vienna Appassionata Strings had a beautiful recorded sound to them. Lush sounding would be a good descriptor. But when I compared it to the VXT8s, I was startled as to how drastically different they sounded. They didn’t sound lush. They sounded like a totally different string library. After a while, you start to wonder, what do my samples really sound like?

FM sounding keyboards from SONiVOX’s Muse also were quite good.

In looking at the specs, and without hearing them in combination, you need the PS12, especially for orchestral work. The bottom range of the PM5 is 67Hz. This means you’re losing the bottom octaves of the Piano, Harp, Bass, Contrabassoon and part of the lower Tuba range.

After listening to both, there’s no question that if you’re doing any kind of orchestral work, you need at least the one PS12 to bring in the basses. It would be even better to get the recommended two PS12s, one for each PM5.

Comparing the frequency range, with the KRK VXT8s, you only lose a touch of bottom on the Harp and Contrabassoon. In fairness, I checked the specs of the VXT line. KRK VXT4s are directly comparable to the E-MU PM5s.

But to get a comparable frequency range to the KRK VXT8s, there’s no option, you have to get a pair of the PM5s and at least one PS12. Even then, when comparing back and forth, for mixing, I think the edge has to go to the VXT8s.

The dollars support my observation. To get the frequency range needed for orchestral, you’ll need a pair of PM5s and at least one PS12 – that’s $1,000. For $200 more, you can get the VXT8s. If you buy the second PS12, you’re now spending more than the KRKs and unless you have a spacious studio, I’m not sure you’re ahead of the game.

What To Do
Overall, the PM5s are good-sounding speakers. My concern is that the lack of low end means that as we used to do with the NS10s, you’d compensate for the bass, make a cassette (or CD), run out to the card and drive while you listened to the cut. If you’re not doing a film, you can do that. If you’re doing film/TV, you don’t have the time to do that anymore. The deadlines and the budgets are way too tight.

So if you’re just writing for yourself, or you’re not in a time crunch, then by all means, get out and do a demo with the PM5s first, then with the PS12 added in. But for $500 to $1,000 for monitors, I’d take my time in looking. There are a lot of monitors out there.

KRK VXT8’s

Peter Alexander — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 04:40:20 +0000

I am a composer who writes, records, and has to engineer his own projects unless there’s a big fee to include an engineer. I am not, on the other hand, an engineer (e.g., geek) who composes second and lives by specs first! So when I approach a pair of monitors where reading a bunch of engineering audio specs, or checking out the aerodynamically cool design or which fabric is used in the drivers is the main aspect of the presentation, I check out.

What I want to know is how they sound within the conditions in which they’ll be used. In short, save the mumbo-jumbo and get me straight way to the gumbo.

So what I did, with my lovely composer wife Caroline, was to set up a practical listening test reflecting how we work. So our practical test included samples, virtual instruments, MP3s, and two works with scores that I could compare to. The two works with scores were John Williams’ Battle of The Heroes from Star Wars 3 and Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis. With Mr. Williams, we looked at the score with mix direct from the CD. With Vaughan Williams, we compared the score to the realization done by Jay Bacal for the Vienna Instruments library.

For an A-B comparison, we listened to an older pair of Alesis Monitor Ones. I did this for two reasons – most of us came into film scoring or dramatic scoring without the aid of a rich relative. So in the beginning, you buy what you can afford and then move up.

Second, I learned from a wise engineer during that early period that you can learn to mix on anything provided you’re taking your mixes and playing them back on the worst sound systems possible, starting with a cheesy boom box, cheap car stereo et al for comparisons. A final mix is about trial and success.

And in today’s economy, with MP3 downloads now a mainstream digital distribution system, you have to know how well the mix works as an MP3 played through cheap computer monitors, laptop speakers, and headphones, because that’s where people are listening to final mixes. In some cases, artists are doing two mixes – one for CD and one for MP3.

This is the world in which we work today.

So, for technical specs and a companion review from EQ Magazine, follow the links below:

KRK VXT 8 Specs

EQ REVIEW

GENERAL NOTES
The speakers are very heavy, checking in at just under 40 pounds per monitor. Also, these monitors are packed extremely well for shipping. So if you order online, they should arrive in great shape. Once set up, as a non-musical consideration, the VXT 8s really give your studio a professional air. They’re very colorful, and the brightness of the woofer really gives the room a lift when you consider that most of the equipment we use is professional gray or black.

There are controls on the back of the VXT 8s to adjust settings for your studio, but we kept them at the factory settings which were fine for our studio.

COMPARISONS
The table summarizes our comparisons. I’ll use the same comparisons for each KRK sent over to test and for the E-MU monitor review in January.

Other Sample Library Tests
I also tested the older Garritan Orchestral Strings, Miroslav strings original (GS version imported into the EXS 24), Miroslav Philharmonik, Vienna Instruments Orchestral Strings 1 and 2, the Appassionata Strings, sounds from SONiVOX Muse.

Garritan and Vienna, which were both recorded using Sequoia from Magix, have great detail because they were recorded in programs whose audio engine brings out the exquisite detail of the sound. The transfer of detail and richness continued. The original Miroslav strings and the IK Multimedia version of them also sounded full and detailed.

The Violin highs of Orchestral Strings 1 are harsh, even on the Alesis Monitor Ones. The VXT 8s just bring out what’s there.

In comparing the Appassionata Strings to the Fostex NF1As (my usual monitors) or the Alesis Monitor Ones, the VXT 8s allow the Appassionata Violins to sound like 20 violins. Previously, compared to my time on the scoring stage at Warner Brothers or Sony MGM, they sounded more like 14 violins on the other monitors.

I also checked out various electric bass and percussion sounds. All I can say is, turn down the volume on the back of the monitors because you will get BASS and DRUMS.

TAKE A LISTEN
You should visit the KRK Dealer list and set up an appointment to bring in your own mixes, some CDs and MP3s. If you’ve got a laptop situation where you can audition some of the core sample libraries you’re now using, bring them, too.

CONCLUSION
As 21st Century composers, our task is to recreate a realistic orchestral sound and other types of ensembles depending on the projects and cues that come our way. KRK VXT 8s are like an electron microscope because they bring out the strengths and weaknesses of the sounds we work with, including reverb and other effects. How we hear the sound affects how we perform it, how we position it in the mix, and how we add effects. Unlike Joseph Haydn, we don’t have 16 “live” players at our disposal. Instead, we have artificial orchestral replications whose sound changes from one developer to the next.

In both orchestration and sound design, you learn quickly doing this kind of work that you have to know equally what something sounds like and what it doesn’t sound like. The KRK VXT 8s give your mixes an edge because you can hear all the detail.

Nor have I taken into account programs like WIVI and Synful, and keyboards from Korg, Roland and Yamaha where sounds are either pure synthetic or based on PCMs (Pulse Code Modulations).

The KRK VXT 8s are great monitors for media composers, game composers, sound designers and developers because they bring out a level of detail you may not be getting from your current monitors.

The street price for a pair is just under $1,200. Though pricey, I think the time you save in doing mixes will cause the VXT 8s to more than pay for themselves in a short period.

RME Fireface 800 & the KRK VXT8’s

Peter Alexander — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 04:37:15 +0000

The RME Fireface 800 is an audio card that connects to either the PC or the Mac using the Firewire connection. With this approach, you no longer need to install an audio card inside your computer.

The Fireface 800 is actually more than an audio card. It’s also a mini-mixing board in a single space unit. Starting with the back of the unit, going left to right, there’s the three-prong electrical connector. To the right of that is a pair of MIDI In/Out Ports. This gives you a couple of options. If your MIDI keyboard can connect directly to the computer via USB, you can use that connection. Or you can run the MIDI In/Out of the keyboard to the MIDI In/Out of the Fireface 800. In a larger studio, this saves a MIDI port on your hardware MIDI interfaces.

The next section has Word clock out, and below it, two options for Firewire connections. The first connection is the standard Firewire 400. The next connectors are for the newer Firewire 800 which doubles the speed of transfer. If you’re on either a Mac PowerPC or PC, you’ll get the standard Firewire interface. If you want Firewire 800, you’ll need a PCI card which ranges in price from $49 to $69US. On the new Power Macs, the Firewire 800 comes with it standard.

The next section contains the audio outputs. The Fireface 800 generously gives you eight balanced outs, along with two (2) ADAT connectors for both In and Out. So on the back panel you can have 32 audio ins and 32 audio outs total. There’s also SPDIF and Word Clock out. The final section contains eight balanced line ins, along with Video In, and LTC In and Out as a time code option. LTC stands for Linear Time Code.

Says RME, “The TCO (time code option) module is an optional extension for the Fireface 800 option slot.

“The little module provides the Fireface with a Word Clock input and offers a synchronization to LTC and video. Thanks to SteadyClock™, the TCO not only extracts absolute positions from these signals, but also a very clean low-jitter word clock. Thus a sample accurate timecode synchronization to audio or video sources is assured.”

The Fireface 800 enables you to connect two ADAT systems, and up to four systems with audio outs. Counting the sequencing/digital audio system, that’s seven (7) computers that can be connected to the one RME Fireface 800 card combining ADAT and stereo options.

I have one small system dedicated to strings with an RME 9652 audio card connecting directly to the Fireface 800. The richness and detail in the strings makes the investment well worth it. But if you can’t afford the Fireface 800, do the next best thing and get the Fireface 400.

The front of the audio card gives more options. On the front panel, you can connect up to five additional instruments, effects, or mics. There’s even Phantom Power. Each connector lets you control volume (also called gain).

Installation
This feels like my soapbox, but the installation instructions for the Mac were not clear. I even had someone smarter than me look at it, my wife, who has her Master’s in Film Composition while I have but a Bachelor’s degree.

What could have been handled in 5-10 minutes took about 30.

I had two issues with the manual.

First, the manual does not contain a complete graphic of either the front or back panels, but it does have sectional panels. The only place that does have graphics of the front and back panels happens to be the box. The Fireface 800 box does have outstanding graphics. It’s just amazingly inconvenient to use.

Second, the manual does not show the number of connection opportunities possible with the Fireface 800 the way the MOTU Traveler manual does. This may be a small point to some, but for many composers who come to recording with ground-zero level experience, or only slightly higher, having such a connection diagram is really appreciated.

The manual has a General section, followed by specific setup sections for Windows and Mac, and finally a section on the Total Mix software which allows for unlimited mixing and routing. This section is a bit of a geek’s paradise since RME gives you an engineering schematic for Hardware Input 1 and how the signals are routed.

The balance of the manual is dedicated largely to the mixing opportunities using the Fireface Mixer which is based on RME’s Total Mix software. Just learning to work the Fireface Mixer is a lesson in itself, and perhaps we’ll revisit that one day.

In all this is a very powerful audio package.

Re-Enter The KRK VXT8s
Because of the kind of work we do as dramatic composers, whether film or TV, one thing is guaranteed, we need audio clarity to create effective mixes, especially when audio engineering is a “second language” for many composers.

When I first heard the Fireface 800 with the KRK VXT8s, I was so surprised at the aural results when compared to the MOTU Traveler, that in fairness to the folks at KRK, I went back and retested half the pieces from my review in the December 11, 2007 issue.
In every single case, the detail was exceptional. I even listened to MP3s from a Jerry Goldsmith album available from eMusic. Even here, the level of detail compared to before was significant.

I retried samples from the Vienna Strings. And while there was still some edginess in the upper register, it wasn’t as pronounced and angular through the RME Fireface 800.

You’ll have to listen for yourself, but to my ears, the RME Fireface 800 combined with the KRK VXT8s is a magnificent audio combination to be heard.

Protecting Your Monitors With SUZY
Suzy is a great tool to protect your monitors, especially when you’re connecting your audio card directly to the computer and bypassing a hardware mixing board.

The front of the Fireface shows what appears to be a master volume knob. But it’s not. It’s the volume for the headphones. To protect your audio monitors, consider getting SUZY from Alva. SUZY acts as a bridge between the audio card and the monitors. You connect balanced cables from the Main Outs from the audio card into SUZY. Then connect balanced cables from SUZY to the audio monitors. At the end of the sawed off triangle, you see a knob labeled Volume. This acts like a master volume between the audio card/computer and the audio monitors. If your main DAW is also connected to the Internet, this is a great way to protect your speakers when you go to sites that have sound and volume set quite high.

Wrap Up
So there you have it - three pieces for a single system.

A while back I reviewed, positively, the KRK VXT8 monitors using the MOTU Traveler. Since then, I’ve had the opportunity to replace the MOTU Traveler and work with the RME Fireface 800.