Are These Speakers As Good As The Reviews Suggest? (Audioengine)

Amazon's got these speakers, which supposedly are some of the best you can get: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DQMJE7E

The reviews seem to bear this out, but damn - even at the sale price of 199/pair (50USD off), that's quite a bit to spend on computer speakers.

The fact you can use them via USB because they have a DAC is nice though.

yeah, seem pretty deece.

Thanks - does anyone (especially folks who might use these as studio monitors) own/have owned these, and can attest to their worthiness?

I've been using audioengine a5s (passive, original version) for about 10 years now, both for casual listening and as near field monitors, and I've been really happy. I've thought about adding a sub but it would be silly in my current little music room. I also have a pair hooked up to the TV.

NB: I suck at/ am totally untrained re: mixing and mastering

I imagine the a2s would be pretty good. Probably a little boxy in the bass. Maybe not ideal for super dedicated production work, but ideal for nice quality bookshelf or desktop speakers.

The price is good, but I'm wary of 3rd party sellers on Amazon.

this is their frequency response, it's not bad for such inexpensive speakers, you will probably be able to kill that mid-bass hump with some simple EQ if it will bother you.

  On 6/15/2017 at 12:26 AM, baph said:

I've been using audioengine a5s (passive, original version) for about 10 years now, both for casual listening and as near field monitors, and I've been really happy. I've thought about adding a sub but it would be silly in my current little music room. I also have a pair hooked up to the TV.

 

NB: I suck at/ am totally untrained re: mixing and mastering

 

I imagine the a2s would be pretty good. Probably a little boxy in the bass. Maybe not ideal for super dedicated production work, but ideal for nice quality bookshelf or desktop speakers.

I was thinking of them as good computer speakers, just so anything I happen to listen to while I'm on the computer doesn't sound like ca-ca.

why not buy a Hi-Fi instead if they're just for listening?

  On 6/15/2017 at 12:36 AM, doublename said:

The price is good, but I'm wary of 3rd party sellers on Amazon.

Seconded.  I've got no experience with those speakers but I've got experience enough with third party Amazon sellers to be highly skeptical of them (the sellers, not the speakers).

  On 6/15/2017 at 3:39 PM, messiaen said:

why not buy a Hi-Fi instead if they're just for listening?

You mean like a stereo? I suppose, but that's another bit of kit, speakers, etc. plus unless it has Bluetooth or streaming capability, that's another wire from the computer...

Depends what your after really, hifi just tends to sound a bit better than active monitors for listening purposes

there's nothing special about monitors, they can be designed to sound like regular passive stereo speakers and vice versa.

I've had these since 2005, still in perfect condition, and they sound amazing:

https://www.amazon.com/Behringer-B2030a-High-Resolution-Reference-Monitor/dp/B000Q6EHA2

I have these exact speakers, have been using them for a couple of years now. Been really happy with them. 

As can be seen in the picture, I'm not using the internal DAC on the speakers, I'm using an external audio interface.