Mackie HR624 Active Studio Monitors


Mackie HR624 Active Studio Monitors
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The HR624 Active Studio Monitors are the little brothers to Mackie's HR824. The HR624 is a powered monitor aimed at smaller production studios and surround sound mixing. More engineers and producers are using self-powered speakers to take advantage of matched components (speakers and amplifiers) for a reliable, portable reference speaker they can take from studio to studio.

These magnetically shielded monitors contain two separate FR Series power amps that drive the 6.7-inch woofer with 100 watts and a 1-inch liquid-cooled aluminum tweeter (same as used in the HR824) with 40 watts. There is also a rear-firing, passive transducer extending low frequencies down to 49Hz (-3dB). The cabinets are finished in black and have the Mackie logo and a lighted mute switch on the front. The back of the enclosure has a down-facing panel for power and tone shaping switches, power cord and RCA, 1/4-inch and XLR audio input connectors. The HR624 is THX® PM3 certified with a stated flat frequency response of 49 Hz to 20 kHz. For matching the speakers with any subwoofer or correcting for less than ideal room acoustics, there are both treble boost and four different bass roll-off switch positions.

These speakers delivered clear and full-bodied sound at soft and very loud volumes with any type of mix I threw at them. For my modest sized control room, the amount of volume and low frequencies that the speakers delivered was impressive. The bottom end never got mushy or distorted--it just kept going. That's very impressive for speakers that have a frontal area slightly smaller than the Yamaha NS-10s found in most studios. The sonic quality that most impressed me was the vocal sound. Since the crossover point in a two-way speaker lies right in the vocal frequency range, some speakers have an unnatural boost or drop. The HR624s sounded excellent throughout the vocal range without any harshness or boominess. In fact, the high frequencies never sounded harsh or strident on any source. Overall, these monitors are slightly flattering to most mixes, but even at very low volumes the balances stay intact and the speakers sound full and pleasing.

The HR624 definitely fits the bill for a compact and great sounding studio monitor and sell for $649 MSRP each. For more information, contact Mackie at 16220 Wood-Red Road NE, Woodinville, Washington 98072. Telephone 800-898-3211 or Web to www.mackie.com

Adam Kagan is a Los Angeles-based engineer/producer and partner in Old Skool Productions.

Edited by: Barry Rudolph

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