Hi everyone.
I’m trying to figure out how to safely power down my 11-monitor system without having to switch off each speaker manually. If power is cut to all of them at once, they produce a “pop” that could potentially damage the speaker drivers. However, when a monitor is turned off manually, it briefly enters a standby state before shutting down, which protects the speaker.
All 11 monitors are running the latest firmware. However, when I check ARC X, there is no option to enable Auto Standby for the iLoud Micro Monitor Pro speakers. That option is only available for the iLoud Sub.
My question is: what options are available for safely powering down an immersive system built with iLoud Micro Monitor Pro speakers?
I don’t believe IK Multimedia released this immersive bundle expecting users to manually turn off each individual speaker every time the system is shut down.
Thanks for any help.
I have an 11.2.6 Atmos system with Precision MTM mkIIs for L, R, C as well as the regular MTM mkIIs for the rest. so I feel your pain, but have no notion in any way that IK will (or would at any point) address this.
I don’t think they had any expectations at all regarding using their speakers in an immersive set-up when they were designed; I think their use as part of a multichannel setup was anecdotal at first, but then Atmos and Spatial Audio started becoming ubiquitous via AirPods Pro, etc. and then people figured out that IK’s small format monitors had flat enough of a frequency response and were loud enough to hang without distortion such that they’d make a pretty good valued Atmos rig. particularly when faced with the prospect of having to buy several. So IK dialed in on this, saw the need, and ran with it (and I’m glad they did. It’s easily the best valued way to get into a pro Atmos mixing setup while factoring the room tuning into it.)
The immersive bundles are a pretty recent thing on their site… you used to have to buy the speakers a few pairs at at time since their web orders seem to only handle ten line items per invoice. Frankly, I think they absolutely expect people to turn each speaker off individually. The Precision series of speakers also has a standby mode like the sub, but not the MTM mkIIs.
I’m having the same problem in a 5.1 setup with the “iLoud Micro Monitor Pro”.
I didn’t really expect much from these little things, but the “Pro” in the name actually led me to believe that these monitors could be turned on and off professionally.
In any reasonably well-built studio, especially one that goes beyond 5.1, the monitors are usually installed in such a way that it’s not very easy to access the back panel.
This is, of course, extremely inconvenient when these units can only be turned off with a pop that sounds like a death knell.
The fact that these monitors aren’t really “Pro” in this regard saddens me greatly, and I regret the purchase.
At the very least, it would be helpful if IK Multimedia would allow them to be turned off via software. When power is restored, these monitors immediately return to an active state anyway. Perhaps something could still be optimized here via the firmware?
If they did manage to figure out a way to implement that retroactively, I’d be thrilled. I guess I’ve already made peace with it, as my studio has ceilings low enough that I can reach the speakers without much strain, but I’d eagerly welcome that change with open arms were it to happen.
It would be great if IK Multimedia managed to add an auto-off or standby feature via firmware update.