G
The perfect little box
The perfect solution to onstage monitoring, small gigs and at home.
As a keyboard player in a busy 8 piece band, I sometimes struggle to hear a satisfactory 'mix'. Having lugged my own combo or speaker + amp for years, I wanted something more portable and flexible. Having researched what's available, I decided on a small 'personal' active monitor. Our backing singer recently purchased one from a well known manufacturer - which performs well, but is very expensive! Having bought a number of items from Thomann in the past, I was intrigued to find a very similar looking active speaker for a fraction of the price - 'the box MA5'.
Having studied the 'specs', I could see that the 'MA5' was virtually identical.
I was not disappointed - in fact I'm delighted!
This little box is very rugged and well made, and performs astonishingly well. The sound quality is more than adequate for my purposes - with clarity in the 'highs' and enough depth in the 'low' frequencies despite its diminutive proportions. The volume - should you need it is incredible! As an onstage monitor, I have it mounted on the 'mic stand' adaptor on top of my keyboard tower stand, facing me. In this location, the volume can be kept quite low. By turning it around it serves as a more than adequate p.a for small gigs. Even at high volumes, the sound quality remains consistently good.
For larger venues, I use the MA5' as my personal monitor and send my keyboard mix to the main mixer via the 'through' Xlr located at the back of the MA5'.
The MA5 is incredibly good value for money, (why spend 2 or 3 times more when you can get this!).
As a well built, great sounding, flexible and portable solution for onstage monitoring - this little box is fantastic!
As a keyboard player in a busy 8 piece band, I sometimes struggle to hear a satisfactory 'mix'. Having lugged my own combo or speaker + amp for years, I wanted something more portable and flexible. Having researched what's available, I decided on a small 'personal' active monitor. Our backing singer recently purchased one from a well known manufacturer - which performs well, but is very expensive! Having bought a number of items from Thomann in the past, I was intrigued to find a very similar looking active speaker for a fraction of the price - 'the box MA5'.
Having studied the 'specs', I could see that the 'MA5' was virtually identical.
I was not disappointed - in fact I'm delighted!
This little box is very rugged and well made, and performs astonishingly well. The sound quality is more than adequate for my purposes - with clarity in the 'highs' and enough depth in the 'low' frequencies despite its diminutive proportions. The volume - should you need it is incredible! As an onstage monitor, I have it mounted on the 'mic stand' adaptor on top of my keyboard tower stand, facing me. In this location, the volume can be kept quite low. By turning it around it serves as a more than adequate p.a for small gigs. Even at high volumes, the sound quality remains consistently good.
For larger venues, I use the MA5' as my personal monitor and send my keyboard mix to the main mixer via the 'through' Xlr located at the back of the MA5'.
The MA5 is incredibly good value for money, (why spend 2 or 3 times more when you can get this!).
As a well built, great sounding, flexible and portable solution for onstage monitoring - this little box is fantastic!
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EB
Purchased 4 of these as foldback monitors
Bought a single one initially and then bought 3 more, they are a cheaper equivalent of a Behringer model which in itself is a cheaper version of the Mackie SRM150. Very nicely finished and surprisingly effective. Only downside is the delay button which doesn't offer up much of a choice of settings, but for our use that doesn't really matter. Good product at a great price and saves us having to use in ear monitors on stage.
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J
A good idea
As an alternative to in-ear monitoring, this is good for small stages which will not fit large floor wedges.
I’ve used mine a few times and I’m not sure how I feel about it yet. The sound quality is very mid/high frequency focused. I think I expected a little bit more from this product.
I’ve used mine a few times and I’m not sure how I feel about it yet. The sound quality is very mid/high frequency focused. I think I expected a little bit more from this product.
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G
Dissapointed
A bit disappointed with this item. My main goal (when I bought it) was to use it as personal monitor like this: Mic -> MA5 -> Mixing. If I connect like this the sound is barely audible and sounds like a thin can. It only works reasonable if I connect from the monitor out of the mixer to the input of the MA5 - but this scenario is not ideal because, as a small band, we use a small mixer with just ONE monitor output and, this way, I hear everybody on my monitor which was not what I needed. I bough this so I can hear my voice properly and isolated from the rest.
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T
Gets the job done
Mackie has a similar product that does sound better, but this definitely gets the job done. If you need loads of clarity and details from your monitor this won’t do, but I’ve used it for coverband-gigs and it does that job well. I can hear myself and the rest of the music which it’s all about for me. That it’s so compact and easy on the bank account makes it a good purchase!
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T1
Great wee amp and a good monitor. Out of its depth if you are using 400 watt RMS speakers and above, but a great wee personal monitor on smaller rigs
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GY
terrible
Complete waste of money .Cant begin to understand why an Echo is on this unit !! What purpose does it serve ..
Its not a Pro bit of kit , might be ok in a bedroom
Its not a Pro bit of kit , might be ok in a bedroom
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NN
It's ok, but not for me
It's a nice little amp, but the power is less robust than expected. Also the echo makes it very "karaoke". A simple reverb would suit better. The sound is ok, just not too loud... Of course it is supersmall, which makes it easy to bring along. In my case however it has become my amp in the garden, playing mp3's...
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sh
Not worth the effort
Underpowered and low quality. OK for the money I suppose but the Behringer equivalent is far superior. Handy for the echo effect.
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E
Great little speaker.
This is a great little speaker with plenty of volume, multiple inputs, 3 band EQ and phantom power. It should keep the bass player happy at our next gig (whenever that's going to be due to covid19)
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