M-Audio BX5 Carbon The M-Audio BX5 Carbon studio monitor speakers deliver accurate, dependable audio in an affordable price range.

M-Audio BX5 Carbon

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M-Audio's BX line of studio monitors has had several iterations so far, with the latest edition of the speaker lineup dubbed Carbon. The M-Audio BX5 Carbon is the 5-inch-woofer model of the line (the BX6 Carbon and BX8 Carbon have 6- and 8-inch woofers, respectively). At $149.99 for a single speaker and $299.98 for a pair, the BX5 Carbon offers affordable, dependable monitoring for both professional and home studios alike. If you're looking for an accurate, powerful studio monitor pair in this price range, read on. If you just want an excellent pair of desktop or bookshelf speakers for listening to music and not necessarily engineering it, you might find the smaller Audioengine 2+ and its USB and RCA connections a bit more useful. 

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The black-and-metallic front panel of the BX5 Carbon houses a 1-inch silk dome tweeter above a 5-inch woven Kevlar woofer. A blue LED light between the two drivers indicates when the speakers are powered up. Each speaker is self-powered and bi-amplified with Class A/B amps sending 40 watts to the woofer and 30 watts to the tweeter.

The back panel is ported to allow for better movement of the drivers. The panel holds a 1/4-inch TRS input and an XLR input, but no RCA input. Fortunately, most studio applications don't need RCA inputs, so this is a minor omission. The power cable connects just below the Power switch, and an additional switch to select between 115V and 230V sources. The speakers are also fused, providing a helpful barrier should you accidentally run a too-powerful signal through them. Each speaker ships with its own power cable.

You can select Flat, -2dB, or -4dB response with the Acoustic Space switch, which cuts frequencies at 200Hz and below. We tested our speaker pair using the Flat settings, but the -2dB or -4dB settings are useful if your speakers are placed close to a wall. M-Audio BX5 Carbon inline

The volume knob is next to this switch, and unfortunately it lacks any click-stops. This means not only do you have set each speaker's volume by sight, but you have to hope that the knob stays in place. Generally speaking, there's no reason it wouldn't, but if the knob were bumped slightly, the lack of a click stop could cause it to move and throw off the balance of your speakers. There's also no way to properly gauge speaker-to-speaker volume other than with your eyes and ears. It may seem like nitpicking, but precision tools need precise settings, and the only way to guarantee precise speaker-to-speaker volume balance here is to set both knobs to maximum level (which can be a dangerous decision if you're dealing with unknown incoming volume levels).

On tracks with intense sub-bass presence, like The Knife's "Silent Shout," the BX5 Carbon delivers laudable bass response; you don't miss out on any of the extremely deep lows, but nothing is particularly boosted, either. Tracks like this can begin to distort at absolute top volumes on the speakers, but such levels are insanely loud and not really usable for mixing. There's no distortion to speak of at reasonable-to-quite loud volumes, and the BX5 Carbons deliver a flat-response style sound signature that gives the lows, mids, and highs each a fair share of the stage.

On Bill Callahan's "Drover," his baritone vocals are delivered with a focus on the low-mids complimented by a pleasant treble presence. Unlike bass-boosted speaker systems, the BX5 Carbon does not add any deep low-end to the mix, so the drums do not sound overpowering or unnatural as they often do with heavily boosted speakers. The guitar strumming and the treble edge of Callahan's voice don't cut through the mix quite as much as they do on a heavily sculpted pair of speakers, and everything seems to be given equal time. Some mixers might wish for a bit more presence in the high-mids, however; at times, his vocals sound more rich than crisp, but never muddy.

Jay-Z and Kanye West's "No Church in the Wild" also demonstrates the sound signature's less intense high-mid presence. The kick drum loop's attack is less sharp and cutting through the BX5 Carbon than it typically is, but the sustain of the hits gets plenty of low and low-mid presence. The sub-bass synth hits on this track are not delivered with the intensity you'll hear on a bass-boosted system, but they still pack a punch. The sub-bass range is generally subtle, while the mid-to-high raspy overtones of the synth hits have more of a presence in the mix.

Classical tracks, like the opening scene of John Adams' "The Gospel According to the Other Mary," sound about as pure and flat as it gets. The track gets no added high-mid sculpting or much bass boosting; the higher register strings, brass, and vocals command the spotlight, but never sound overly sculpted or boosted.

The most important characteristic of a studio monitor is accuracy, and the BX5 Carbon doesn't disappoint. No two models are going to sound exactly alike, though, and even with its accuracy the BX5 Carbon differs from other similarly priced models we've tested. The more expensive Editors' Choice KRK Rokit 6 G3 seems to be a bit more rich in the lows and offers more overall balance than the BX5 Carbon, while the JBL Series 3 LSR305 has a bit more focus on the high-mids and highs. And while not specifically studio monitors, the Audioengine 2+ and Audioengine 5+ both provide accurate audio in a small bookshelf speaker design. If you often find studio monitors a bit too crisp and focused on the high-mids, the excellent M-Audio BX5 Carbon tends to tone down that range slightly and might be just the studio pair for you.

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