Alesis M1 Active 320 USB Studio Monitor Speakers (Pair)

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• Stereo monitors with integrated USB audio interface; 3-inch woofer and 1-inch tweeter
• 16-Bit / 44.1-48kHz recording and playback
• Features stereo 1/8-inch (3.5mm), RCA and 1/4-inch (6.3mm) inputs
• Includes a front-mounted 1/8-inch stereo headphone output
• Full, rich acoustics with a frequency response up to 20kHz

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I was using an Altec Lansing computer speaker setup (subwoofer + 2 satellites) as my studio monitor. They sounded good with plenty of volume, but I feared my mixes were being "colored" by speakers with bass & treble controls designed to make "already processed" music sound good. I wanted something with a "flat" response, but didn't have a lot of money to spend. So, I bought the Alesis M1 Active 320 USB to see how "studio monitor" sound would differ from "computer speaker" sound. Since the Alesis had no subwoofer & puny woofers, I didn't expect much bass. I was wrong. The M1 doesn't have as much bass as the Altecs with subwoofer, but what bass they do have is plenty adequate & much tighter. The whole sound is less muddy and more well defined from top to bottom, and I think that's the whole point. I know one could spend hundreds more for better monitors, but I'm no pro. For the price & for my needs, these work very well.

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Only 12 months after I bought a pair of these (exactly when the 1 year warranty expires!), the left speaker on a regular basis, after just a few minutes of listening at moderate volumes, dropped down in level by about 10db below the output of the right speaker, causing a severe and distracting balance issue, that can only be remedied by turing the volume knob way up on the right speaker (the speaker which houses all the inputs, outputs, and amplifier stages). That would temporarily kick the left speaker back into gear and resolve the balance issue, but the problem will return with a few minutes of listening at regular volumes. I am an audio engineer who troubleshoots complex audio systems on a regular basis, and trust me, I eliminated the possibility of it being a bad cable or audio source. These speakers are cheaply built and I don't trust that they'll work for more than a year or so. I called and the technical support personnel at Alesis did nothing to help, except direct me to take them into have them fixed on my own dime at an authorized repair facility two states away, in New Jersey! (I live in Massachusetts). To sum it up, I wish I hadn't spent my hard earned money on an Alesis product.

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The Alesis M1Active 320USB model offers an easy connection to the PC: you can choose between typical RCA connectors and an USB port that, when connected to the PC, appears like an audio device (sound card).

It has a pretty good sound (you get what you pay. If you pay 6000$, you will get something better).

There might be some spurious noise, which must come from power lines or other devices. You will not hear it unless you put on your headphones, plug them into the connector at the front of the main unit, stop the music and put the volume control to "Max".

It works fine with Linux, at least with the Fedora 10 distribution. The box just speaks about Windows XP/Vista and Mac, which are officialy supported.

Sound at the headphones seems to be a bit "naive", it lacks something, worse than at the main loudspeakers, but it might be so because I'm trying the USB connection. I promise I will write something more later, after checking the loudspeakers with an M-Audio sound card.

I suggest you to put them on some kind of base that allows the loudspeakers to "watch intently to your face" and not to your hands. Your hands do not have ears. 10 to 15 degrees seem to be enough. Keep in mind that the owner's Manual counsels you to raise the loudspeakers so you get the centre of the woofer gets aligned with your ears.

Keep in mind: the more you use the volume knob, the shorter live it will have. Damaged volume controls are a source of noise. Use the volume control of the sound card.

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FWIW a little background. Back in the 90's, I was a recording engineer at a 24-track, 2" tape facility and got to use some world-class audio gear.

Just got my monitors today, and I'm VERY impressed. I haven't tested any other reference monitors in the sub-$100 range, but Alesis has done a great job here. For my quick reference test, I used some Bonnie Raitt mixed by one of my all-time favorite engineers Ed Cherney.

Some random observations...

Small. These are smaller than I thought they'd be, but that's fine. I'm just using them in my small home office off of my Macbook Pro.

Nice tonal coloring. If you need seriously pro reference, I recommend Yamaha NS-10's. These are not flat, but that's OK.

Other's have mentioned a lack of bass. I didn't notice that at all. I'm running without the bassboost switch (I don't like those sorts of things...too exaggerated). Maybe folks are expecting something like a sub-woofer?

Spatial clarity is really good.

It's quiet. I'm used to external computer speakers being susceptible to interference and hums. Not the case here.

Bottom line. These are pleasant sounding speakers at a great price. Should you master your album on these? Obviously not.

As a commercial songwriter, I'm used to hearing my tracks on some really high end monitors ... I bought these for my daughter to explore her own creativity, at her own "musical workstation" ... Knowing that Alesis makes pro gear (or at least affordable semi-pro gear), I expected these monitors to be decent ... I was pleasantly surprised ... they're very clear, have some power, and decently represent the frequency spectrum, including a good bass response. For the price, it's a no-brainer ...