Customer Reviews

Digital Monitor Speakers

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I see that as of this writing, 20% of people who viewed this item decided to instead purchase the Behringer MS-40, a slightly more expensive speaker that does not qualify for free shipping. That's too bad, because as I can personally attest, the speakers on this page *ARE* the MS-40. Again, this is true of the date I write this so YMMV, but right now these same speakers appear twice on Amazon, in one place as the MS-40, and here as an unidentified model.

They are very nearly perfect.

1. (+) No buzz or hiss of any kind, and that includes feeding off of a mini-PC across a 12' mini plug to dual RCAs (this unit can accept either a mini plug or dual RCAs as its auxillary input, by the way). This same mini PC hissed and hummed like crazy when connected directly to the LCD monitor.

2. (-) Slightly lacking in midrange, but only slight. One huge difference was heard when I went into the Blu-Ray's setup and changed from surround sound to stereo - midranges were by default being sent to a center speaker that in this setup does not exist! This would of course be an issue no matter what two-speaker solution I had selected.

3. (+) Separate volume controls for digital input and auxilliary input. You can set both how you want them and leave it. I have the Blu-Ray coming in through optical and the computer through RCA.

4. (-) You can run optical (Toslink aka SPDIF) or coax (single RCA) digital in, but to switch between them you have to flip a slider switch hidden on the back. I want to also connect my DVR, which would mean running a digital coax line, but then to switch between Cable and Blu-Ray will mean hunting for the little switch hidden on the back - not very convenient considering they are sitting on top of a wall unit. One star off for not putting that switch on the front with the others.

DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES BUY THE MS-40 SPEAKERS LISTED ON AMAZON (unless, of course, by the time you read this Amazon has already merged the two item pages or changed the price and shipping on the MS-40 to match this one). Buy this one instead, it's the exact same unit.

I had high hopes for these studio reference monitors, but I was sorely disappointed. Even with no inputs connected, nothing connected but power, if the bass knob was anywhere above zero, there was a constant hum; not loud, but there. I couldn't take it. And if that wasn't enough, the tweeters emitted a constant hiss; again, barely noticeable, but noticeable. And again, this is with no inputs connected, so you can't blame the analog inputs. I thought maybe I got a bad set, so I exchange them for another...Same problems. It is nice that these speakers have the inputs that they do, and the dual volume knobs. They do have a nice sound when there should be sound. Unfortunately, they also have a sound when there should not be any.

I do highly recommend American Musical Supply. They were very helpful and I never paid any shipping even after buying these speakers, exchanging them, and then returning them for a full refund.

So I finally talked the wife into letting me get a new plasma TV. I get it home and all set up and find one thing I overlooked, the audio out from the TV is digital only. No analog out, making my analog only receiver obsolete. Considering I had just spent a good chunk of change on the TV I wasn't really looking at spending another good chunk on a new receiver. So I decided to look at a all in one type of solution, which brought me to these studio monitors.

Now, I'm no audiophile and some people have said in other reviews that these speakers admit a hum or a buzz or a rattle but they sound pretty crystal clear to me. Then again they are in my living room and I sit a good 8 feet or so away from my entertainment center. Those that use these for their intended purpose are probably sitting closer and might notice something. To me though, they sound great. Much better than the 20 year old speakers I was using! They get very loud and have some nice base to them for a set of speakers without a dedicated sub woofer. Movies, music, and games all sound excellent on them in my opinion.

They are also a nice size so that they fit on some smaller shelves in my entertainment center. Now my wife is happier because the old speakers I was using used to sit on the floor. Everything is contained within the entertainment center now.

I guess my only gripe is that in order to change the volume on the speakers I have to get up off the couch and walk over to them to do so. Not a huge deal though. I shouldn't be so lazy!

So if you're looking for some decent quality speakers at a good price, you really can't go wrong with these!

I bought these monitors and have them returned due to the right speaker rattling with low frequencies at 60% of volume default bass and treble levels. I was hoping this would be a great product. I was only disappointed after receiving my second pair; they had the same rattling sound on the very same speaker. I can't find speakers with the same features at this price.

I could give it more stars because everything else is just about perfect, excellent sound in mids and highs, bass could be lower but you can't ask that much from 4.75" cones.

For me, it's more than flipping a coin when ordering this. Two in a row has to say something.

I always thought that our old Altec Lansing system we have in our main office was producing decent sound. Actually it IS fairly decent when compared with so many of the 'made for PC' speaker systems we've listened to that are on the market today. That system has lasted for approximately a DECADE without so much as a hiccup. It consists of a subwoofer and two satellites. Yes the sound is decent but then we got a set of these MS40's. I don't consider myself any type of "audiophile" but i am a musician and know my sound. I know what is good and what isn't. IMHO, for this price, i doubt if there is much better sound and "bang for your buck" than these. As a musician who has done some studio work, i know you can find better quality in true Reference systems costing much more. But for this price i am literally stunned by the quality. I actually prefer the sound from these than the older 3 piece Altec Lansing.

Purchased for a laptop in another room which we had hooked up to the aux in of a 2 watt per channel Teac CD/MP3 clock radio that actually is the best sounding clock radio we've heard outside much more expensive models [SR-L100]. We had used that to avoid the gutless laptop speakers as we did get a lot better sound including a bit of bass. Of course the MS40's blow the Teac away and have turned out to be a huge upgrade. And they cost us only $20 bucks more than the Teac! Have used them via both analog and digital (toslink) out without any hum or distortion or any other problems. They are totally quiet until you pipe some tunes through 'em.

They do get loud as well. Finally i can actually hear the music while in the shower and that doesn't mean i have to crank them all the way up to do that. In fact, i've not been able to crank them anywhere near all the way. While in adjoining rooms it sounds as though there is a subwoofer attached somewhere. We presently have them in a rather large bedroom. Positioning is important but no matter what, they will fill the room with decent and acceptable sound.

If you don't want to spend a whole lot to get decent sound for a PC, these are for you. I read a review from another happy user of these that this company seems to be one of the last left that provide a quality product for less $$. We highly agree. Everything sounds great with these.

Customer Service:
I had reason to have to call the company for some info [needed to confirm specs on cables etc.] and found them to be very helpful. Yes, connected immediately to real living breathing humans that spoke perfect English...a breath of fresh air in todays world.

I have no negatives/cons that i can relate here. Will post back if something comes up but for now, i can't say enough about them.

At first, I was excited to get these hooked up. They looked nice, and felt solidly built (except the controls on the front were cheap-feeling). I got them hooked up, and immediately heard a high-pitched buzz coming from them. I tried several power sources and surge protectors to make sure it wasn't just dirty power. Turning the treble all the way down seemed to fix it mostly. I tried plugging headphones into them, and they also replicated the whine. It had to do with a low grade/noisy analog input. I was able to get the high-pitched whine to go away by switching a switch on the back from coax to optical, but the sound quality was still way below expectations (even for the price).

They had decent bass (for the size) and volume, but it never sounded "good". With treble turned all the way up, everything sounded dampened/closed. Nothing sounded "live" that I played. I tried output from an mp3 player, iphone, and computer. Nothing sounded good, even ignoring the high-pitched whine. I want monitors that replicate the actual recordings I have.

I returned them for a refund. After talking with a sound engineer friend, he indicated that all Behringers have sounded muffled to him, and that he steers clear. I will too, from now on. They hardly had a flat response at all. Definitely not good for mixing, unless you're going for the muffled/closed feeling! These speakers are NOT recommended.

These are flat response speakers , used for recording purposes, that can also be used for playing audio(mp3..cd music/video). They sound awesome and have a good bass/trebile range. They are fine for computer based smaller sized studios (personal studios). They offer a wonderful crisp, clear, and deep sound range, perfect for audio editing. For the price they are the best on the market...hands down.

The sound quality is passable. But for the price what do you expect. I have a pair of M audio studiophile DX4 speakers and they have better sound quality. They cost 149.99 so the extra 20 bucks is well worth it. When i recieved my order it didn't even come with the wire to hook up both speakers so try not to go through american musical supply. They were however good in customer service and they sent me the extra wire free of charge. It just took a week. Overall the behringer speakers are decent, but seriously just spend the extra 20 and get M audio studiophile DX4's.

I grew really tired of my 2.1 PC speaker system. For starters I didn't like the external subwoofer. It was big and took up a lot of room. Plus it had tons of cords coming into and out of it. Also, my old speakers had a detached volume and power control - in other words just one more cord to keep up with. On top of that the mini-plug cord from the PC to the system really picked up a lot RF noise.

So I started thinking about getting new speakers. I knew I wanted a 2.0 system - a system with two L-R speakers and no subwoofer. On top that I wanted integrated controls and S/PDIF (aka digital coax or optical) inputs so I could use the S/PDIF ports on my motherboard to reduce the RF noise that plagued my old system.

I looked at a lot of different products in the PC Speaker category and really didn't see anything that met my requirements. 2.0 speakers are hard to come by in the first place, let alone higher quality speakers.

Somehow I found my way over to digital monitors and then happened across the Behringer MS-40 monitors. They had exactly what I was looking for: digital inputs, integrated controls, and a simple two-speaker form factor.

I was apprehensive about buying "flat" monitors rather than traditional loudspeakers, but at this price I was willing to take a chance. Plus, I can use my PC to mix the sound if I needed to.

I've been living with the MS-40s for a few days now. I use them for music and television and movies. They work fine for what they are. The cabinets are solid MDF and while not super heavy, do have enough heft to keep them stable.

The front panel controls are a little cheap feeling and I've found the bass and treble controls a little perplexing. They don't seem to do much until you crank them up then they get either really boomy or tinny. I generally keep them in the dead center. The volume control works well and seems to have a more fine adjustment. These speakers are LOUD! For casual listening I keep the volume at about 1/4, but they can easily fill a room.

Bass response is okay, but these can be a little boomy as noted. The boxes are ported on the front which is nice because it lets you put the speakers right up against a wall. Mids and highs are there, but not super pronounced. What the speaker lacks in range, it more than makes up for with clarity. With S/PDIF these guys are crystal clear. I'm very pleased about that.

Of course there are many speakers out there which sound better. But at this price and with a 24 bit / 192 kHz DAC, you can't beat these for value if they are what you're looking for.

Additionally, they are fairly versatile. I'm using mine as PC speakers, but you could easily use these as bookshelf speakers. There are lots of MP3 players out there now that have optical out, so these have potential to see use as a regular stereo system. I know the Roku Soundbridge and Squeeze box both have digital outs and those products would probably pair well with digital monitors such as these. Oh yeah, I suppose people who need reference monitors will find them acceptable as well seeing as how that is who they are designed for!

One note: Over optical I couldn't the DAC to decode at 192 kHz, only 96. In researching the problem I found conflicting information, some claimed that optical couldn't support 192, others said that Vista's DRM capped digital output. Anyway, I switched to a digital coax cable and can decoded at 192 now. (Not that I can hear the difference, but it's nice to know the speakers work as advertised.)