# Behringer MS-40 Review



## EnOYiN

I made a small review on the Behringer MS-40. I was asked to write down some impressions about these speakers and here they are. I am not sure whether I am supposed to post it here or somewhere else. Since they are computer speakers I thought it would be appropriate to post it here. If you are a moderator and feel different about this, feel free to move it wherever you like.

 I will try to not review them as monitor or high-end speakers. They simply aren’t. I think that you can see them as an alternative to the Logitech speakers a lot of people ( which included me - a while back) own. Just fun speakers for people who do not want to spend too much money and still want decent sound. They are magnetically shielded so they can be placed next to a CRT without a problem.

 These speakers can be had for $189.99. I got them cheaper though.

 On the front there are 4 knobs with which you can adjust the bass, the treble and the volume. There are 2 knobs for the volume. One per line input.

 Some specs:

 Loudspeakers
 Tweeter Ø 65 mm (2 1/2"), 8 Ω
 Woofer Ø 120 mm (4 3/4"), 4 Ω
 Audio inputs
 Line 1 1/8" TRS stereo, impedance 20 kΩ
 Line 2 2 RCA, impedance 20 kΩ
 Digital inputs
 Optical TOSLINK
 Coaxial RCA
 Converter 24-bit
 Sample rate < 192 kHz
 System specifications
 Output power 2 x 20 W
 Frequency response 50 Hz to 25 kHz
 Power supply
 Mains voltages USA/Canada 120 V~, 60 Hz
 Europe/U.K./Australia 230 V~, 50 Hz
 China 220 V~, 50 Hz
 Japan 100 V~, 50 - 60 Hz
 General export model
 120/230 V~, 50 - 60 Hz
 Power consumption 90 W
 Physical
 Dimensions (H x W x D)
 11" x 6 4/5" x 9 5/8"
 279 mm x 173 mm x 245 mm
 Weight right: 10.78 lbs. (4.9 kg)
 left: 7.04 lbs. (3.2 kg)

 Here is a link to the website of Behringer:
http://www.behringer.com/MS40/index.cfm?lang=ENG

 Well, they are speakers all right. It’s a 2.0 model with 2 woofers and 2 tweeters. It would be optimistic to call those somewhat larger speakers woofers( I would call them bigger tweeters), but Behringer does, so who am I to disagree. If you are planning on really irritating your neighbours I would try something else.

*Bass*
 I played the 8 mile soundtrack to check whether they did indeed provide enough bass and good bass. My parents sure did think so. You are able to get a small breeze going, but not so much more than that. The speakers are moving in a way which is really scary, but there is hardly any distortion even at volumes I would rarely use. The bass sounds pretty tight at low volumes and there is enough impact.

 When turning up the bass and the volume the speakers will start moving in such a way that I didn’t dare to turn up the volume more. Like I said before: If you want bass get something with a subwoofer. These speakers might not satisfy someone who is listening to Hip-Hop a lot or trance a lot. ( or whatever bass-head)

 They are able to give enough bass for me and I like my neighbours enough to not want to bother them too much.


*Mids*
 The mids are better than the bass which isn’t that strange because the speakers are quite small. It does clearly a better job at this part of the music. Things like punk rock can be played loud. LOUD and it will still sound good. I think, listening to it closely, you can go deaf at these volumes. It’s a shame I can’t measure it. Sounds like more than 85dB though.

 I played an album called Dookie to see if I am just writing absolute **** or whether it still has something to do with the reality. If you don’t know Dookie I suggest you look it up. Just because you should.

 The first thing I noticed when playing the first track was that the snare drums sound a bit muffled. Some people might want to call it laid-back. It’s not the Grado sound of a snare drum, that’s for sure. 

 Guitars are pretty much how they should sound, but also a bit muffled. These speakers just can’t get the truth aggressiveness of an electric guitar across.

 The mids are not extremely detailed, but they are there. You can adjust the bass and the treble to get somewhat better mids if you fiddle around with the knobs on the front a bit. It will not be spectacular though.


*Highs *
 I played the album New For MS made by Roni Size Reprazent to see how well they do with highs. I also played The Songs by Samuel Barber. 

 The highs are detailed. Very detailed. The cymbals sound like they should sound. You can tell everything apart. Nothing muffled here like there is in the mids. The vocals are clear. I don’t have a woman here to check out how it sounds in reality, but I imagine this is quite close.

 I would say the highs are the biggest plus for these speakers.

*
 General*
 Built-in 2 x 20-Watt powerful amplifiers with immense headroom

 That’s what it says on the website of Behringer. Immense headroom…. Well, immense is something else, but they will blow any Logitech 2.0 away. You will not have to worry about distortion or compression when listening to them at normal volumes at all.

 High-quality components and exceptionally rugged construction ensure long life

 That’s what it says there as well. I don’t doubt it as a matter of fact. They seem very durable. They are made of something which either looks an awful lot like wood or is wood and hard plastic. I can’t say anything about the high-quality components, but it can’t be that bad.

 2-way active studio monitors ideally suited for computer studios, audio and multimedia workstations and keyboard monitoring

 I wouldn’t use them as monitors. Although these speaker do not sound bad. They are most certainly not neutral. If you want monitor speakers you should look somewhere else.


*Conclusion*
 I think these speakers are well worth it if you use them the way I do. I use them when I’ve got people visiting me and I want to play something nice on the background. I also use them when I just don’t feel like wearing headphones.

 These speakers are not high-end as I mentioned before. They are way better than Logitech speakers though. These speakers are way more detailed than anything Logitech has to offer in this price range. I liked them better than the Gigaworks S750 myself as well – which is a 7.1 set – but I can understand some people will not agree with me on that.

 Since I am not a bass-head I have no problems with the lack of bass. For low volume music listening I think these speakers are among the best that can be had for this price.

 I hope you enjoyed reading this review as much as I did writing it.

 Cheers.


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## musicmind

Groeten Enoyin

 Thanks very much for taking the time to write the review.
 It was useful for me to note your comparisons against the Creative/Logitech speakers in the same price range and also that they perform essentially as "multimedia" speakers and not pure monitors, which is how I would intend to use them.

 My source is mostly mp3/flac format jazz, I think that the good mid and treble performance may suit this music quite nicely.
 The Swans 200A speakers are highly recommended by many, perhaps because they have a little more lower bass freq range, but I think they are almost twice the price of the MS-40, and also dont have a headphone output.

 I'll research a bit more yet, but these are definitely on my short list.

 Dank u wel


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## EnOYiN

I think that there are quite a lot of speaker twice the price are better than the MS-40s. They should be. It's the price that makes these interesting in my opinion. 

 Alstublieft.


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## musicmind

Hi again Enoyin

 I was wondering how useful you find the headphone out of the MS-40 for driving your DT 880's?

 Still researching for my purchase...so many alternatives..lol
 Ah well, the search is half the fun 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 Thanks, keep well


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## clc220

great review, nice read.


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## coolpurplefan

Can anyone comment on the Behringer MS20? Is the sound quality as good?
 I have a pair of Altec Lansing 120i and was frustrated with the 3 watt total output. So, I bought a pair of Logitech X-140. Anyway, I nearly went into a depression when I heard the sound.

 I've never heard pro speakers in my life but I want to know if the Behringer MS20 will be good not only for playing music but I'd like a great pair of speakers for people's voices when watching a movie. Would the Behringer MS20 do that? I mean, they're only 20 watts so they wouldn't bother my neighbor. Either that, or I could go for a pair of JBL Duet which are 12 watts.

 Can I use a piece of fabric attached with thumbnails to protect the speakers?


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## EnOYiN

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *coolpurplefan* /img/forum/go_quote.gif 
_I've never heard pro speakers in my life but I want to know if the Behringer MS20 will be good not only for playing music but I'd like a great pair of speakers for people's voices when watching a movie. Would the Behringer MS20 do that? I mean, they're only 20 watts so they wouldn't bother my neighbor. Either that, or I could go for a pair of JBL Duet which are 12 watts._

 

I haven't got the Behringer MS20s myself, but from what I've heard from them it's not the best option. I think if you want to get something slightly cheaper than the MS20s you should think about Edifier S2.1 D. They are better for what you want I think. They can be had for about $75. It's either that or try getting MS40s for a good price. ( I don't think you should pay more than $120 for them)

 The main advantage of the Edifiers is that they've got a sub woofer which (in my opinion) is more fun.

 I haven't heard the JBLs ever so I can't comment on those. Someone else maybe?

 Edit:
  Quote:


  Originally Posted by *coolpurplefan* /img/forum/go_quote.gif 
_Can I use a piece of fabric attached with thumbnails to protect the speakers?_

 

You can, but if you are not planning on throwing basketballs at your speakers I wouldn't do so. They don't need that much protection. ( the MS20s and MS40 don't anyway)


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## EnOYiN

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *musicmind* /img/forum/go_quote.gif 
_Hi again Enoyin

 I was wondering how useful you find the headphone out of the MS-40 for driving your DT 880's?

 Still researching for my purchase...so many alternatives..lol
 Ah well, the search is half the fun 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 Thanks, keep well_

 

It's God awful. Don't Don't Don't DON'T EVER use it. It's warbling and god knows what else. I doubt if they even thought about a resistor between the speaker amp and the headphone out. It's too loud for pretty much everything. (aside from K1000s maybe)


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## coolpurplefan

Thanks for the ideas but I don't want a subwoofer because I know my neighbor would go nuts. And I want a headphone jack and volume button on the front.


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## musicmind

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *EnOYiN* /img/forum/go_quote.gif 
_It's God awful. Don't Don't Don't DON'T EVER use it. It's warbling and god knows what else. I doubt if they even thought about a resistor between the speaker amp and the headphone out. It's too loud for pretty much everything. (aside from K1000s maybe)_

 

Groeten 

 Hmmm...well that is a little depressing to hear for me. I was hoping I could use that output as a better alternative to my onboard Soundmax headphone output and get rid of the little bit background "mouse accompaniment" sounds.

 I'm investigating the "T-amp" with bookshelf speakers route at the moment. 

 Still, the MS40s look tempting for their price and convenient layout.

 Thanks for answering all our questions


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## EnOYiN

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *musicmind* /img/forum/go_quote.gif 
_Hmmm...well that is a little depressing to hear for me. I was hoping I could use that output as a better alternative to my onboard Soundmax headphone output and get rid of the little bit background "mouse accompaniment" sounds._

 

It will get rid of the background noise when using a optical to connect it to your computer. It will sound awful though and hence I can't recommend it.


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## coolpurplefan

I got a question. What if I buy a pair of Polk Audio R150 bookshelf speakers and plug them into an amp. I see most active speakers have 10% THD. That's Total Harmonic Distortion right? Would that reduce the THD to under 2%?


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## EnOYiN

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *coolpurplefan* /img/forum/go_quote.gif 
_I got a question. What if I buy a pair of Polk Audio R150 bookshelf speakers and plug them into an amp. I see most active speakers have 10% THD. That's Total Harmonic Distortion right? Would that reduce the THD to under 2%?_

 

THD is total harmonic distortion indeed. AFAIK total harmonic distortion is mainly caused by the mechanical parts. So, I doubt it would change at all if you would use a amplifier which has <2% THD. I think it would still be 10%. ( if that is what the R150s have)

 If you want to be sure you should ask in the Cable & Speaker Forum. The people there are way more knowledgeable about these kind of things than I am.


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## Paul_in_Maryland

I looked closely at the Behringer MS40, the Samson Resolv R40A, and the m-Audio AV40 before settling on the m-Audio. The Behringer is the only speaker I've seen above $100 whose specs don't say what the woofer and tweeter are made of. I've downloaded the spec sheet and the manual--nada. Google, too, is mute. That leads me to conclude that the MS40s use a paper woofer and Mylar tweeter.


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## noseallinit

a couple of years ago I was looking to downsize me footprint in this world and base me music around me iMac. I started off looking at the Roland DM-20 which looks almost identical to the Behringer MS-40. each of the DM-20 monitors had it's on power supply and 20w amp built inside it. a single RCA interconnect passed the signal. one thing that was drawing me to it was it's built in DAC. 

 so I decided to take me iMac down to me local muscians store to give it a test run for a couple of hours. the DM-20's blew away any PC speaker setup I had heard but they did not compare to me NAD 710 and Polk RT-5 setup. I could not see getting rid of me NAD and Polk setup for the DM-20 just to save a little on space. I also took me Grado SR-80's with me and the headphone output was okay. 

 at the time Roland also made the DM-10 and a 2.1 setup the DM2100. Edirol also had versions of these. newer versions are also made but I think the DM-20 was the better model of old and new. Roland made the DM-20 for many years so I am sure they can be found. 

 I would take the DM-20's over any other PC speaker I have heard but I think there are better alternatives to be had. I personally would look at other active studio monitors or a amp/ receiver and speaker setup.


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## porschemad911

My Behringer MS40s arrived a week or so ago, so I thought I'd chip in my views of them.

 After pondering my financial situation, priorities in life and the best stewardship of my money, I decided to sell my $2500 AU Rega Planet 2000 -> Graham Slee Solo Monitor -> AKG K-701 headphone set up and purchase a not too painful set of speakers for my laptop.

 I love music, and wanted to listen to music, but could no longer justify the financial outlay in my headphone setup. I decided to move to powered speakers rather than a more 'budget' headphone setup on the grounds of versatility and practicality.

 So. How does a pair of speakers for 1/10th the cost ($250 AU) sound? Is the step down too painful?

 First, a little about my setup. I am using mainly 256Kbps WMA files from Windows Media Player to my Behringer UCA202 USB sound card outputting via a Toslink cable to the optical input on the MS40s. Also, the speakers must have been damaged in shipping, because on loud bass notes (sweeps especially), the left woofer rattles (the right woofer is fine at any volume level I have tried). I have spoken to the Behringer tech support people, and they said it's not a common problem, and a replacement driver will be on its way shortly.

*Edit: The new woofer has arrived, I've installed it, all works perfectly, and I'm very happy!*

 Anyay, to cut a long story short, I'm very impressed with the sound quality. I don't meant to say that for the money it is satisfactory, but rather that it is satisfactory full stop. I really haven't heard anything sound bad on these yet. The Beatles, Chopin, Beethoven, Sons of Korah ... all sound great. Just before, I was listening to Schumann's Fantasy Pieces Opus 12, and then some Tchaikovsky on internet radio and thoroughly enjoying it.

 And for the specifics?

 The built in 2 x 20W RMS amplifiers give plenty of volume headroom and excellent dynamics, most of my listening is done at around 9:00. At 12:00 it's too loud for me to listen to. The dynamics are really good for the classical music I mostly listen to. I even tried a bit of metal. Was fine.

 The mids and highs are nice and clear, not fatiguing at all. I think the midrange sounds very slightly recessed in comparison to my K-701 to my ears. Piano sounds very nice. My Claudio Arrau Chopin Nocturnes sound wonderful!

 I'm surprised at how hard these little 4 3/4 inch drivers can hit when the music calls for deep powerful bass. It's definitely not one-note boomy bass either, very nice. There's a spot in one Sons of Korah CD where all goes quiet, then some deep, powerful drum hits come in. I really felt those! It can be a tad boomy though. Just a tad, nothing dramatic.

 There's lots of soundstage too, with excellent imaging. Locating individual instruments in a classical recording is not at all difficult.

 So yes, all in all, very happy, and not missing my headphone setup in the slightest! I highly recommend this combination of sound card ($59 delivered) and speakers ($225 delivered) for a computer setup. I will be enjoying these for quite some time!


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## EnOYiN

I am still enjoying mine. They might not be the best speakers in the world, but they sure sound good to me.


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## miscbuff

Sorry to revive an old thread, but I just bought the Behringer MS 40s and the left woofer on my set also rattles terribly! I am debating whether I want to replace the set or go with the other model I was considering (M-Audio AV40)?

 I wanted the digital in because I have a rats nest of wires that tends to cause interference.


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## EnOYiN

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *miscbuff* /img/forum/go_quote.gif 
_Sorry to revive an old thread, but I just bought the Behringer MS 40s and the left woofer on my set also rattles terribly! I am debating whether I want to replace the set or go with the other model I was considering (M-Audio AV40)?

 I wanted the digital in because I have a rats nest of wires that tends to cause interference._

 

If you've got a pretty decent soundcard or stand-alone DAC I would probably go with the M-Audio AV-40s. Note that I haven't heard these, so I can't comment on the sound. They might just as well be terrible. I can't say. It does indeed need extra cables which might be a reason to not get them. 

 *There is only one cable going from my computer to the other side of the room which is crossing a little more than 10 meters. (toslink)


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## Alai

Reviving this year and half old thread with a couple questions:

 Is it possible to have a DAC and still connect to the MS40 (it has it's own DAC) without distortion? I heard double DACing is bad news bears, but I can't see anyway to bypass the MS40 DAC. Should I just sell the MS40 and buy a new DAC and pair of speakers (Swan M10?)?

 Also, for headphones, better to connect to onboard (Realtek ALC889A via Gigabyte X48-DS4) or MS40? I will be using the HARX900 and CMOY with OP2227.


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## EnOYiN

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *Alai* /img/forum/go_quote.gif 
_Reviving this year and half old thread with a couple questions:

 Is it possible to have a DAC and still connect to the MS40 (it has it's own DAC) without distortion? I heard double DACing is bad news bears, but I can't see anyway to bypass the MS40 DAC. Should I just sell the MS40 and buy a new DAC and pair of speakers (Swan M10?)?_

 

I'm not completely sure what you mean by 'double DACing'. You can only convert from digital to analog once after all.

  Quote:


  Originally Posted by *Alai* /img/forum/go_quote.gif 
_Also, for headphones, better to connect to onboard (Realtek ALC889A via Gigabyte X48-DS4) or MS40? I will be using the HARX900 and CMOY with OP2227._

 

Whatever you like best ofcourse. I didn't really like the headphone output of the MS40s, but it might be better than the Realtek. (probably isn't though) The main problem I've had when using onboard soundcards is that most of them are a bit noisy when used with headphones.


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## Alai

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *EnOYiN* /img/forum/go_quote.gif 
_I'm not completely sure what you mean by 'double DACing'. You can only convert from digital to analog once after all.



 Whatever you like best ofcourse. I didn't really like the headphone output of the MS40s, but it might be better than the Realtek. (probably isn't though) The main problem I've had when using onboard soundcards is that most of them are a bit noisy when used with headphones._

 

Ahhh... Yeah, double DACing doesn't make sense, does it? I think I may have been thinking of double amping.

 Hmm... Alright, I will test it out. Thanks!


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## area5x1

I have to ask, is the built in DAC really worth it? I'm currently looking at the AV40 from M-Audio and the MS40.


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## EnOYiN

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *area5x1* /img/forum/go_quote.gif 
_I have to ask, is the built in DAC really worth it? I'm currently looking at the AV40 from M-Audio and the MS40._

 

It depends I guess. I had nothing else to connect it to except for my laptop. The soundcard in my laptop is awful so for me it made sense. I wouldn't say the DAC in the MS40 is the greatest thing I've ever heard though.


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## Moz-Art

Hello,

 I'm a musician from Belgium and because I found this review here very usefull, I thought it would be helpfull to write down my findings on these powered speakers made by the company that does everything cheaper.

 Like many who bought this set, it is a choice driven by economical reasons and still wanting to get something good in return. There are a only a few companies in the world that I know of who can manage to make a few good products for a low price. I also bought a recording microphone (Neumann copy) from Stagg and it's an amazing microphone. So Behringer has some good products but I wouldn't compare it with Hi-end products in the high price classes.

 Anyway, I own the MS40 for a few days now and I must say I'm impressed. I do use them as reference speakers although you can't really do that if you don't set them up correctly. If you want good speakers next to your PC I would recommend them to anyone.

 I'm using an Edirol FA-66 audio interface which is also 24 bit at 192 kHz and that is also written on the Behringer speaker. I connected the digital output from my FA-66 to the speakerset and that is an amazing difference in clarity compared the analoge output. I have to say, you need a good dvd player in your computer or it will sound through your speakers while reading a cd. But that's not the speakers fault. If I connect the analoge cables I didn't have that sound and finaly I changed my dvd player and it was also gone.

 I work in a studio from time to time so I could compare real High End reference speakers to these ones and by using the same song on the two locations I was able to configure the bass and treble to get very close to the reference speakers. It's true that the midrange is a bit dull and the snare drums sound not like they should, although not too bad either. I found by turning the Treble 30% up I got a much better midrange sound. I hope that can be a tip to people who use them already. I did find the response of the bass and treble knob not to impressive. But they do work.

 With these speakers I'm able to do some very good mastering of my music and at both high and low volume levels they sound very clear to me and I do believe to have trained ears. I'm a singer and I've listened to tracks of my voice without the music and it sounds very wide. You can really hear every frequentie my voice touches.

 Conclusion:

 I would recommend these speakers for sure! Some people might not agree but if I compared them at the store with different brands in the same range of speaker sets like Yamaha, Alesis, Tannoy and M-Audio, the Behringer MS40 can really compete. First of all, all the other speakers were minimum twice the price and thay all had one or two things that were better in an other model. Only the Tannoy speakers really where amazing but they cost dubble the price of the Behringers. Second, the Behringer have very normal dimensions. Other brands where very wide, deep or high to put next to your screen. And last point I want to say is that the connectivity is complete with the behringers. All buttons on the front panel including on/off button, secondary input with seperate volume control, bass and treble (not good for a reference speaker but a good thing they are there as you need to adjust the midrange a bit), Digital inputs and headphone (I don't use headphones of the speaker set as my FA-66 has a much better output for that).

 So if you didn't win the lotery, buy this speaker set. But always think about what you want to use them for. Every human hears sound differently so don't hit me when you find I'm wrong. It's all very personal but by reading a lot of reviews, hopefully like mine, you can get a pretty good idea what to expect from these speakers.

 As a new member this is my first post and review. I hope to do some more in the future.

 Love,

 Moz-Art.


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## djokenzi

Hello guys!

 I'm thinking about buying new speakers since I'm slowly becoming interested in home music production (and I got tired from my 2.1 Altec Lansing AVS300 - sounds crappy!), but I have to keep it low on my budget, so MS40 seems like a fair deal to me.

 I like the reviews I read here and on other sites also, thanks very much for posting them.

 Anyway, the question I need to ask is: What type of sound card would fit good with these speakers and cost no more than 80 euros?


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## Johnson Inst

Ok I registered just because of this thread. Nice review, very all-around informative. BUT: Does the maker of this review realize, that Behringer MS-40 are studio monitors? I don't see the point comparing Logitech speakers to studio monitors. In your review you said that the mid freqs are really crisp and loud; This is not true. Behringer MS-40 plays them as their true level. Speakers like Logitech usually EQ the bass- and hi-freqs, but not the mid freqs

 Studio monitors are used by producers. The main (and most important) feature of studio monitors is to deliver ultimately clean sound, no freq correction AT ALL.

 Speakers are designed to add color to these songs. Bass boost and hi-boost is really common, almost a standard. That's why absolutely nobody uses Logitech speakers for production or mixing.

 Please correct me if I'm wrong or didn't understand this review correctly.


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## EnOYiN

johnson inst said:


> Ok I registered just because of this thread. Nice review, very all-around informative. BUT: Does the maker of this review realize, that Behringer MS-40 are studio monitors? I don't see the point comparing Logitech speakers to studio monitors. In your review you said that the mid freqs are really crisp and loud; This is not true. Behringer MS-40 plays them as their true level. Speakers like Logitech usually EQ the bass- and hi-freqs, but not the mid freqs
> 
> 
> Studio monitors are used by producers. The main (and most important) feature of studio monitors is to deliver ultimately clean sound, no freq correction AT ALL.
> ...




Well, I am aware that behringer markets them as studio monitors if that is what you're getting at. I would however never recommend anyone looking for studio monitors to buy these.

My reasoning for this is that these speakers are not in any way shape or form neutral enough to be used as such. I tried it for a short while. If you want neutral you generally would have to spend more money than the MS40 goes for. I don't know of any speakers that are even remotely neutral in this price range. Seeing as it is in the same price segment as speakers which logitech - or what have you - typically fabricate, it seemed like a good idea to compare it to those types of speakers. That's pretty much it. I like these better than your average logitech 2.1 set for listening to music. This is obviously my preference and could very well be different for anyone else. Aside from that reviews on the sound of anything are obviously something that have to be taken for what they are: The opinion of the reviewer and nothing else. Someone else might prefer a logitech set and I won't blame them for it. (well maybe I would, but that's another thing entirely)

Also I'm pretty sure that most high end speakers these days (and by that I don't mean monitors) try to reproduce audio in a way that is as flat as possible.

* Funny thing you mentioned by the way. One of the things these speakers have is the option to boost the bass and treble levels.


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## Johnson Inst

Quote: 





enoyin said:


> Well, I am aware that behringer markets them as studio monitors if that is what you're getting at. I would however never recommend anyone looking for studio monitors to buy these.
> My reasoning for this is that these speakers are not in any way shape or form neutral enough to be used as such. I tried it for a short while. If you want neutral you generally would have to spend more money than the MS40 goes for. I don't know of any speakers that are even remotely neutral in this price range. Seeing as it is in the same price segment as speakers which logitech - or what have you - typically fabricate, it seemed like a good idea to compare it to those types of speakers. That's pretty much it. I like these better than your average logitech 2.1 set for listening to music. This is obviously my preference and could very well be different for anyone else. Aside from that reviews on the sound of anything are obviously something that have to be taken for what they are: The opinion of the reviewer and nothing else. Someone else might prefer a logitech set and I won't blame them for it. (well maybe I would, but that's another thing entirely)
> Also I'm pretty sure that most high end speakers these days (and by that I don't mean monitors) try to reproduce audio in a way that is as flat as possible.
> * Funny thing you mentioned by the way. One of the things these speakers have is the option to boost the bass and treble levels.


 
  -Reason for bass/treble boost is (what i've heard) acoustic correction. Not everyone has same kind of room; different sizes, shapes and material.
 -Buy any speakers today (high end or not), their job is to color the sound and make it sound as best as possible (This is a fact). They have entirely different EQ settings than studio monitors, and definition of "flat" is probably different when speaking about studio monitors and entertainment speakers.
 -While you were doing your review, did you had your room treated acoustically? I can imagine almost every studio monitor sounding bad if your room has  plenty of refecting material, such as glass in your walls.

 - The point I was trying to explain is a bit deeper than the content of your review, it's whole idea of it: You really can't compare Logitech 2.1 speaker system to studio monitors. They behold entirely different purpose. It's like comparing Toyota Supra and Ford Galaxy which is better family car.

http://www.ehow.com/facts_5962330_difference-between-speaker-studio-monitor.html

 This is really good 'article' I found from eHow. Really explains it.


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## EnOYiN

johnson inst said:


> You really can't compare Logitech 2.1 speaker system to studio monitors. They behold entirely different purpose.




I can and I did. It's like saying I can't compare a Grado headphone to the beyerdynamic DT48. Since price range is often one of the considerations when buying pretty much anything it makes sense to compare it to speakers which are similar in price. Thing is, the logitech speakers sound worse in pretty much every way. That and the MS-40 goesn't have a flat frequency response. No matter whether you use the treble and bass knobs or use some more refined way of EQing the or taking in to account for the room. They are simply flawed speakers for that purpose. You can get them reasonably close to flat without a doubt, but without such money constraints anyone would go for something else. You are allowed to disagree with my opinion on that of course.

Please don't link to ehow articles. That makes me miss the times when people linked to wiki. Here is a neat link to a measurement of the nautilus. Seems pretty flat to me. Maybe not as flat as your average studio monitor, but surely you can't argue that they were trying to add color.


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## Johnson Inst

Quote: 





enoyin said:


> I can and I did. It's like saying I can't compare a Grado headphone to the beyerdynamic DT48. Since price range is often one of the considerations when buying pretty much anything it makes sense to compare it to speakers which are similar in price. Thing is, the logitech speakers sound worse in pretty much every way. That and the MS-40 goesn't have a flat frequency response. No matter whether you use the treble and bass knobs or use some more refined way of EQing the or taking in to account for the room. They are simply flawed speakers for that purpose. You can get them reasonably close to flat without a doubt, but without such money constraints anyone would go for something else. You are allowed to disagree with my opinion on that of course.
> Please don't link to ehow articles. That makes me miss the times when people linked to wiki. Here is a neat link to a measurement of the nautilus. Seems pretty flat to me. Maybe not as flat as your average studio monitor, but surely you can't argue that they were trying to add color.


 
   
  Beyerdynamic DT48 are closed headphones and Most of Grado's are open air. It's about taste, but both of these can be used to tracking and monitoring. I like to myself monitor with closed back headphones. They share almost same purpose, but I don't know why one would want to compare these two since one of them is closed and one of them is open.
   
  The eHow link tells you exactly what I'm trying to explain. If someone is looking for buying a decent pair of speakers for entertainment use, I wouldn't go for studio monitors. Instead, go for speakers.

 Edit: Also, I checked our link out (I hope you'll do the same to my link). It's an article about freq correction in B&W Nautilus 801yes?
 Nautilus 801 isn't a studio monitor. It's for entertainment purpose.

 Also, when I'm talking about coloring the sound, I'm not  talking about boosting up any freqs in your audio. I'm talking about boosting specific freqs to make your audio sound warmer and "colorful". (I can search this up for you)
   
  Stuido monitors have their EQ yes. This is because human ears hear different freqs in different volumes. (For example: Human ear is much more sensitive to freqs @ 3-4kHz, because it's the average human-voice area.) EQ is used to correct these parts.

_"The purpose of speakers is to provide listening enjoyment in music's finished state. The purpose of studio monitors is to provide a "clean drawing board" for the creation and building of music mixes, on its way to a finished state."_

 and

_"Speakers are designed to project sound evenly throughout the room. Studio monitors are designed to project sound a very short distance to prevent the room from coloring or enhancing frequencies."_

 These are the things I want to make clear.

 Edit2: Cleared something about Grado, my mistake
 ​


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## EnOYiN

I've made my points and I intend to stick with them to be honest. You are allowed to disagree with them and I won't hold it against you.


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## Johnson Inst

Quote: 





enoyin said:


> I've made my points and I intend to stick with them to be honest. You are allowed to disagree with them and I won't hold it against you.


 


  Agreed


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## miow

Have you guys ever tried the Hercules XPS 2.0 80? Seems to be a good alternative to these Behringers at the same price. Silk Dome tweeters. Not sure if the Behringers are silk dome. Plus they look AWESOME.
   
  But those are not Studio Monitors, but DJ Monitors, so most likely to enjoy music, like Hi-Fi speakers. Reviews says they sound way above their price range. I'm going to get them soon for my bedroom. Pretty inexpensive for the sound quality they seem to provide, awesome looks, EQ from the speakers (bass & treble knobs), Hercules build quality.


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