IK Multimedia has made a name for themselves with their ultra-compact series of studio monitors—the iLoud Micro Monitors, iLoud Micro Monitor Pro, and iLoud MTM MKIIs. With space in NYC at a premium, we were excited to get our hands on the recently released iLoud Sub subwoofer along with the Micro Monitors and a pair of Micro Monitor Pros. So does the iLoud Sub continue to uphold the disruptive reputation IK Multimedia has garnered through the 2020s, and can it really work in the small rooms and studios that the iLoud monitors are designed for?
A Quick Review: iLoud Micro Monitors and iLoud Micro Monitor Pros
Before I talk about the sub, it makes sense to quickly review the monitors it was paired with. They’ve built quite a reputation in the last decade and now that I’ve used them myself, I can see (and hear) why people like these little guys.
Both are pocket-sized powerhouses and are an incredible solution if you need to maximize desk space or take them on the go. They’re able to push impressive low-end for their size (50 Hz for the standard, 42 Hz for the Pros) and are perfect for tiny studios or a home studio in a cramped NYC apartment. They’re even small enough to be easily thrown into a bag if you need to head over to a producer collaboration or set up an ad hoc production studio.
They’re marketed as studio monitors, but they’re also perfectly suited as desktop or bookshelf speakers for entertaining, gaming, or casual listening. When they take the role of mixing and production studio monitors, they deliver exceptional loudness, phase accuracy, and stereo imaging.
They’re impressively small for the sound they produce, and I recommend them for anyone who needs great sound in a tiny package—they’re also perfect to take the role of a second pair of monitors if you want to switch between different sound profiles.
The standard model is Bluetooth-enabled and comes in a pair with one speaker holding the amp (25W RMS per monitor) and the other just housing the speaker system (not dissimilar to the computer speaker systems of the 90s and early 00s). The Pros (50W RMS each) ditch the Bluetooth but each have their own dedicated amplifier and power supply and have a slightly bigger chassis, so they can push a bit more air while greatly mitigating the overheating issue.
The best upgrade the iLoud Micro Monitor Pros come with is an included ARC X calibration microphone that, when connected to each speaker and run through the included software, calibrates the sound profile to your specific space with a series of frequency sweeps. They can be easily switched into and out of the calibrated mode with controls to choose between flat, desk EQ and the room calibration. For my circumstances (I have an ever-changing space full of equipment that moves in and out), I preferred the desk EQ over the calibrated sound, but it’s definitely worth the time and effort to tune the system—everyone has a different space with different stuff in it!
Overall, these systems are powerful, portable, and (for what you get) cost-effective devices that can serve anyone from music producers to audio/visual enthusiasts. If space is at a premium, I highly recommend either of these monitors.
iLoud Sub
While setting up the iLoud Sub in my tiny home studio, I knew that this tiny ~10” x 10” x 10” 200W subwoofer was about to be put to a serious test. IK Multimedia has advertised the iLoud Sub as the exact kind of thing you’d want in a studio like mine, delivering serious low-end—down to 25 Hz—without taking up precious and ever-diminishing floor space or exploding the corners of your room into oppressive bass traps.
The major issue with subwoofers, particularly those in the home or in smaller and untreated spaces, is the integration with the rest of the system and the issues it can introduce. Subwoofers in smaller spaces often introduce problems with crossover, level balance, and phase alignment, often making the addition of a subwoofer an actively detrimental choice. So how does the iLoud Sub deal with this? (Hint: with microphones!)
Calibration and Room Correction Are the Key
The iLoud Sub solves the subwoofer problem with intelligent calibration. Think of it less as an addition to a monitoring system and more of an upgrade that particularly works in the kinds of tight spaces that subwoofers usually blow out. The design lends itself to this philosophy: the iLoud Sub calibrates its sound profile in a very similar way to the iLoud Micro Monitor Pros does, using an ARC X microphone that attaches to the sub. It also uses two 6.5” passive radiators on the left and right to mitigate directivity, with the front speaker as the active subwoofer and the left and right cones pushing sound outward.
Of course, it handles low-end sub bass down to 25 Hz (as any subwoofer should), but when used with the ARC X DSP calibration system, the iLoud sub greatly improves the handling of level, crossover, phase alignment, and timing response, helping manage the entire system as a singular unit. What was before room shaking bass-head nonsense will become a clean, balanced, and professional sounding signal, and any mixing environment or home theater will benefit from it.
In smaller studios, dealing with low frequency content (think 808s or sidechained kick/bass) can be a major issue, as the volume and presence of particular frequencies can swing wildly despite being at the exact same level. The iLoud Sub manages this problem and gives you a flat, clean low-end response, mitigating the acoustic imperfections of your room and giving you a more honest truth to your audio.
If you decide to purchase the iLoud sub, don’t even think about using it without tuning it with the ARC X calibration system—it made what I initially thought was a normal subwoofer (I was disappointed with its performance in my particular space at first) into a powerful machine that greatly increased the quality and productivity of my mixing sessions … and WOW what a difference it made. The whole point is that it’s tiny, and IK Multimedia really put in a ton of time and effort thinking about what a tiny sub would need!
Hardware
The iLoud sub is Bluetooth-enabled and uses combo TRS/XLR for balanced input from an audio interface or mixer and two RCA inputs for unbalanced input—especially useful if you’re using the sub for a home entertainment system—along with two XLR and RCA outputs. The USB-B connection is there for connecting to whatever other iLoud systems you’re using to communicate the calibration between the systems while also handling digital audio input up to a 96 kHz sample rate.
You can set the crossover of the sub between 50 and 80 Hz or let the software handle the process (highly recommended, especially if you’re using something besides iLoud monitors for your main L/Rs) and has a volume pot with a 0 to + 6 dB boost, coming with a measurement microphone like the Micro Monitor Pros.
I appreciate the sub’s compatibility—it works best with its iLoud brothers, but is able to accept a wide variety of monitoring systems with XLR, 1/4”, RCA, USB, and Bluetooth setups.
Final Thoughts
The IK Multimedia monitoring suite is a serious contender for some of the best small-form monitors I’ve used, especially at the price. Adding the iLoud Sub became indispensable to me, especially after calibrating it to my room: it addresses a real and serious problem that goes beyond the extension of the low-end and fixes the way bass responds in the room.
For what you pay for, these things absolutely hum. While I still have my small studio, I’ll be using the IK Multimedia Micro Monitor Pros and the iLoud Sub as my main monitors, and if/when I move into a bigger space, I’m certain to use them as my secondary pair to compliment the sound of a larger system.
