Getting the right monitor placement was not so easy before the release of Neumann MA 1 Monitor alignment microphone. In some of my articles, I have discussed the importance of monitor placement and alignment.
It impacts a lot to get the best mixes from your monitors. But, there was a lengthy process to get the right placement of your monitors those days.
But, thanks to Neumann MA 1 microphone and software, now it’s super easy to align your monitors correctly and get the best mixes out.
So, in this review, we’ll discuss about Neumann MA 1 monitor alignment mic.
Pros
- Accurate measurement for monitor alignment
- Works well with Neumann KH 80 DSP and non-DSP KH monitors
- Automatically adjusts the frequency curve of DSP-powered monitors
- Easily trace the phase and amplitude of the monitors
Cons
- Does not work with monitors other than Neumann
- A bit more costly than other monitor alignment systems.
Table of Contents
Why The Need of Monitor Alignment?
Whether it’s a professional audio or consumer audio monitor alignment is very important to get the best out of your speakers.
Actually, speaker manufacturers don’t know your room size, shape and the materials used in building the room.
If you want to know more about the room acoustics, you can refer to my article, The Ultimate Guide To Acoustic Treatment For Home Studios.
So, every room has its own acoustic characteristics, and matching them with the speakers is important to get a balanced sound out of the speakers or studio monitors.
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As a professional recordist, I know how the wrong placement of studio monitors impacts a lot in the mix. If your room has built-in reverb and some reflections, you will definitely lower the reverb in your mix which when comes out, gets dry.
There are many examples of wrong mixes due to wrong monitor placement and alignment.
So, we need to place and align the monitor’s output sound with the room acoustics and then we’ll get the right mix.
Here, comes the importance of monitor alignment systems. There are many in the market and you can choose one to get help when aligning your monitors.
Neumann MA 1 is a top liner in them. However, it only works with Neumann monitors which is one of its demerits.
But, if you have a Neumann monitor then you should get this to calibrate them.
Feature Highlights
- Neumann MA 1 software and hardware are packed with algorithms derived from decades of experience in monitor alignment
- You will get an individually calibrated measurement microphone
- This measurement microphone and software is ideal for stereo setups with network-enabled Neumann monitors and other analog Neumann monitors
- Works with both Mac and PC
Multichannel Extension
The basic package is sufficient for stereo setups, however, if you want to calibrate surround sound setups then you need an additional multichannel extension license which can be purchased separately from this link.
The measurement mic is compatible with both stereo and surround setup software. So there is no need to buy extra hardware if you want to upgrade to surround alignment software.
Neumann MA 1 Software
Neumann provides a separate alignment software called Neumann MA 1 which automatically aligns the network-enabled Neumann loudspeakers such as,
- KH 80 DSP
- KH 120 II, KH 120 II AES67
- KH 150, KH 150 AES67
- KH 750 DSP, KH 750 AES67
Even if you don’t have network loudspeakers, you can manually calibrate the analog Neumann loudspeakers with this measurement software and hardware.
Network-Enabled and Non-Network-Enabled Neumann Monitors
Neumann MA 1 supports both Network-enabled and Non-Network Enabled Neumann monitors such as,
Network Enabled speakers,
- KH 80 DSP
- KH 120 II, KH 120 II AES67
- KH 150, KH 150 AES67
- KH 750 DSP, KH 750 AES67
and Non-Network Enabled speakers,
- KH 120 A, KH 120 D
- KH 310 A, KH 310 D
- KH 420 / KH 420 + DIM 1
Measurement microphone
You will get a measurement microphone that you have to place in front of the loudspeaker and start the alignment software to calibrate the phase, bass, treble, and other measurements.
How Neumann MA 1 Works?
The workflow is not tough.
You have to connect the mic to the DSP interface provided with the Neumann monitor and put the measurement mic at the front of the system.
Now when you start the process, it will automatically start calibrating the speaker system and store the calibration data directly inside the DSP software.
It calibrates the phase, frequency curve, and other important measurements to get the best out of your control room.
My Verdict
Now that you know the work and features of the Neumann MA 1 microphone it’s time to come to the decision.
As we know, this monitor alignment system is only compatible with Neumann monitors, so if you have another brand then this is useless for you.
Also, the price is really high for an average recording studio.
But, if you have a Neumann monitor system installed in your studio then this is an essential tool for you to calibrate them properly.
That’s it.
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