IK Multimedia iLoud MTM MKII

Broadly called accurate and balanced. Erin's Klippel data shows a linear response apart from a lifted treble, and Gearnews, proaudio.de, MixbusTv, bonedo, Audiofanzine and Thomann owners hear a balanced, linear sound — Gearnews and MixbusTv even before calibration. On a desk without ARC, reviewers in small rooms hear a bass or low-mid hump (Zeos at 125 Hz, a Japanese owner at 160 Hz, Erin at 150 and 220 Hz in his room), which calibration removes; that owner thinks the tuning leans on the calibration more than it should.

“has great linearity for mixing or mastering”

Erin's Audio Corner (video review)

“Even without their calibration, the monitors impressed with a very linear sound and substantial bass reproduction.”

Dirk B, Gearnews

“「補正ありき」の設計思想がやや極端に感じる瞬間もあった”

アカシア音楽日記, owner blog ("there were moments when the 'correction comes first' design philosophy felt a little extreme")

Surprisingly deep and full for 3.5-inch woofers — bonedo, proaudio.de, MixbusTv, Gearnews, Digital DJ Tips, MusicRadar and owners all say so — but with a firm floor and a noisy port. Erin measures a steep drop below about 50 Hz and says to add a sub below that; Audiofanzine finds the deepest notes there but not very precise or energetic. With the bass extension set to 40 or 50 Hz, Elektronauts and Thomann owners and Zeos hear the rear port chuff or self-resonate on bass-heavy tracks; one owner says it starts at low volume, another only near full level, and the 60 Hz setting or a sub cures it.

“we found the lows usable to about 50Hz”

Jon Musgrave, MusicRadar

“below about 50 HZ you're definitely going to need a subwoofer”

Erin's Audio Corner (video review)

“With the bass extension set to anything lower than 60 Hz, there are some bass-heavy tracks that cause the bass port/cabinet to self-resonate, even at very low volumes.”

tubefund, Elektronauts (owner)

“The iLouds does suffer from port chuffing with songs that are bass heavy”

Chris Effort, Thomann owner review (3★)

Mostly clear and well defined — Audiofader, MixbusTv, Gearnews ("ruthless"), a Mexican Amazon owner (warm but transparent) and Thomann owners, one of whom prefers them to his German monitors — and Erin found the midrange more lifelike once ARC removed his room's peaks. The two dissents point in opposite directions: MusicRadar hears a lack of low mids behind the bass punch, Audiofanzine a slight low-mid bump that colours voices.

“the mids were well defined”

Luca Pilla, Audiofader

“the low frequency punch is accompanied by a lack of low mids”

Jon Musgrave, MusicRadar

“cette écoute révèle assez bien une légère bosse dans le bas médium, qui vient un peu affecter la voix.”

Audiofanzine (Studios Mégaphone) ("this listen reveals a slight bump in the low mids that affects the voice a little")

Sources split three ways. Most — Audiofader, bonedo, Gearnews, MixbusTv, Zeos after calibration, WillyChin and most Thomann owners — hear a clean, detailed top end that isn't fatiguing. Erin measured and heard the tweeter about 3 dB hot on axis and cut it, and a Polish Thomann owner found hi-hats bright and tiring. Audiofanzine heard the opposite: a top end a little short of air and precision, which it nudged up with the +2 dB treble shelf.

Good for the size, best on stands. proaudio.de finds nothing missing in stage or depth, Thomann owners and a Mexican Amazon owner praise the depth and three-dimensional spread, and the Japanese owner heard more depth once the speakers went on stands and were calibrated. On a desk, Audiofader says the close spacing sacrifices a lot of soundstage, and Audiofanzine finds the image a little narrower than in higher-class monitors.

“Die Stereoabbildung lässt in der Praxis weder an Bühne noch präziser Ortung vermissen.”

Markus Thiel, proaudio.de ("in practice the stereo image lacks neither stage nor precise localisation")

“The position on the desk, unfortunately, sacrifices a lot of soundstage”

Luca Pilla, Audiofader

“L’image stéréo est un peu moins large et le haut du spectre un peu moins précis que ce dont on a l’habitude avec des moniteurs de catégorie supérieure”

Audiofanzine (Studios Mégaphone) ("the stereo image is a little narrower and the top a little less precise than we're used to from higher-class monitors")

A consistent strength once you sit in the right spot. Gearnews, Audiofader, bonedo, proaudio.de and Zeos describe a precise, focused stereo image — bonedo almost sterile in its precision — owners on Thomann and Amazon praise it, and a Japanese owner found it pinpoint once the speakers were on stands and calibrated. Placing them flat on a desk without calibration blurs it.

“The speakers create a very precise stereo image”

Dirk B, Gearnews

“maintaining a precise central focus both horizontally and vertically”

Luca Pilla, Audiofader

“klingt das präzise Stereobild mit seinen wirklich sauber klingenden Transienten fast schon steril präzise”

Patric Louis, bonedo ("the precise stereo image, with its really clean transients, sounds almost sterile in its precision")

Detailed for the size. Magnetic Magazine, MixbusTv and bonedo praise crisp transients and the ability to hear small mix decisions — bonedo hears nuances its larger monitors hide — and Thomann owners call out the resolution. Audiofanzine, comparing against Genelec 1030As, finds the top end less precise than higher-class monitors.

“The drivers and amps in the iLoud MTM MKII give you incredibly detailed sound, with crisp transients and the ability to hear every detail in the mix.”

Will Vance, Magnetic Magazine

“The level of detail, the balanced frequency response”

saymory, Thomann owner review

Sources split by how loud and how far away they listen. At arm's length, MusicRadar, bonedo, Gearnews, proaudio.de and owners find plenty of level for the size — bonedo hears a limiter step in cleanly near the top, and proaudio.de and a Japanese owner used pairs as a small PA in a living room and a 20-seat café. Erin's Klippel tests at 1 m show high distortion and lost bass and punch at 96 dB and a broadband ceiling of about 94 dB for the pair; an ASR member reads the same data as more distortion and compression than a Neumann KH 80. Audiofader, at about 85 dB, occasionally wanted a little more power.

Sources split on how forgiving the listening window is. The stand system wins praise — Digital DJ Tips and others like aiming the speakers up at your ears from a low desk — and MixbusTv found a sweet spot as wide as his desk. The data says to sit carefully: Erin measured a narrowing horizontal response and MTM lobing that brings a strong treble suck-out beyond about 20–25° above or below the tweeter axis, advises against laying them on their side, and an ASR member calls the directivity poorly controlled next to a KH 80. A Thomann owner found the sweet spot narrow next to Genelec 8020s, and another found them less balanced lying down — though Audiofader preferred them horizontal for wider lateral spread. Near walls and on desks the bass swells — one owner calls his corner desk the worst spot for them — until ARC tames it.

Trusted for mix decisions. Erin calls the linearity great for mixing or mastering, Audiofader found them reliable for finishing productions in a small room, Gearnews finds them very suitable for judging mixes, bonedo would pick them over its larger monitors for work, and owners on Thomann and IK's forum mix and master on them (one in an Atmos rig).

“the MTM MK IIs were great for finalizing productions and the mix, avoiding mistakes on the equalizer”

Luca Pilla, Audiofader

“In my opinion, the monitor is very suitable for assessing recordings and mixes.”

Dirk B, Gearnews

“Absolut verlässliches Ergebnis bei Mischen und Mastern.”

Ralf_0815, Thomann owner review ("absolutely reliable results when mixing and mastering")

Sources split. bonedo, with the speakers a metre away, calls the noise floor relatively quiet and notes the rear volume knob lowers it further. Owners report otherwise: a German Thomann owner hears relatively high self-noise with nothing playing, a Mexican Amazon owner hears white noise his Eve Audio SC203s don't make on the same setup, and two Thomann owners had interference that well-shielded cables or a USB isolator cured. Nobody has published a self-noise measurement.

The built-in calibration is the headline and wins near-universal praise: MusicRadar, proaudio.de, Audiofader and Magnetic Magazine single out ARC and the X-MONITOR app's emulations of other speakers, TVs and phones. The gaps are a single analog input with no digital input or USB audio, no auto-standby, and (at launch) no way to load ARC 4 curves. IK has since replaced X-MONITOR with its ARC X software.

“Despite the size, these pack a punch, but what sets them apart is the simple, powerful ARC integration and accompanying software.”

Jon Musgrave, MusicRadar

“keine Auto-Standby-Funktion”

Patric Louis, bonedo ("no auto-standby function")

“El único talón de Aquiles que detecto es la carencia de entrada digital.”

Sator, Thomann owner review ("the only Achilles' heel I find is the lack of a digital input")

Sources split between easy calibration and fiddly hardware. MusicRadar, Digital DJ Tips and bonedo found the on-speaker calibration quick — Digital DJ Tips did it holding the mic at arm's length. Others ran into friction: the rear volume knob has a detent only at 0 dB, making left/right matching guesswork (Audiofanzine, Magnetic Magazine); the rear power switch pushes a light speaker across the desk unless you hold it (Gearnews, delamar, an Amazon owner); Audiofanzine found the switches flimsy and had to reinstall the software before it saw the speakers; and IK forum and Thomann owners describe an outdated manual and confusing ARC X setup, which IK says it is updating.

Sources split. Digital DJ Tips, Audiofader (10/10 for construction) and proaudio.de describe hefty, carefully built cabinets, and owners note the metal grilles. Others disagree: a Thomann owner calls the plastic toylike and easily scratched, another likens the look to 2000s computer speakers, and a third finds it good but unremarkable. Reliability reports are few but pointed — a Japanese owner's pair was dead on arrival (IK replaced it in three days under a two-year warranty there) and an Amazon owner lost a tweeter just past the 12-month mark on two different speakers.

Mostly judged worth it for the package rather than cheap. Audiofader, bonedo, proaudio.de, Magnetic Magazine and Zeos credit the bundled calibration mic and software, owners on IK's forum call it great value under $1,000 and the cheapest way into a calibrated Atmos rig, and Amazon buyers mostly agree. MusicRadar calls it "quite pricey"; Audiofanzine thinks the same money buys better conventional monitors; an ASR member saw too little gain over the cheaper original; and owners troubled by port noise or build felt let down at the price.

“The iLoud MTM MK IIs are internally calibrated monitors with excellent value for money, considering the bundle and features.”

Luca Pilla, Audiofader

“The monitors are great value given they are under a grand.”

steviecosmic, IK Multimedia forum (owner)

“Le prix n’est pas négligeable, et pour ce tarif-là, on peut probablement trouver de meilleurs moniteurs dans un format plus classique, mais moins « tout terrain ».”

Audiofanzine (Studios Mégaphone) ("the price isn't negligible; for that money you can probably find better monitors in a more conventional, less go-anywhere format")