Mackie SRM150 Personal Monitor

[The Real MC]

Our drummer brought one of these personal monitors to rehearsal last night. He could hear it over his drum kit, and we do play loud. Reviewing the owners' manual it looks like a sweet package. I've been looking for a small format monitor with decent output and I might get a couple of these for events where I don't need stage volume. Anyone using these?

[Delaware Dave]

Two bands I was in used them as monitors. They do the job.

[AnotherScott]

It has a single ("full range") 5.25" speaker. Fine for a vocal monitor, not so good for keys. I think there are similar designs from others that are 2-way.

[Docbop]

I ended up buy the Beringer version of this monitor. I first discover the Mackie version seeing a trumpet player having one on top of his Rhodes for practicing. I use mine a lot for a monitor for my laptop and my old slab board. I find it a handy thing to have around for various small amp/speaker uses.

[confidence]

I use the big version SRM450, with 12" horn, as my "keyboard amp". Loud, clear and uncoloured, much better than anything sold as a keyboard amp I've ever used.

[David R]

I have one. I use it on small rehearsals and small gigs, and has come in handy a couple of times when excrement has hit the air conditioning (in the words of Vonnegut). It does the job but obviously with a 5.25" speaker it has next to zero bass response. It came in handy to have my own personal keyboard-only monitor in addition to whatever the soundguy would send me.

[Cabo]

I had a pair I used for keyboard monitors for awhile.

 

One of them just stopped working and I moved to QSCs K-10s at that point. But the bottom line was that the sound quality just wasn't good enough for the keys.

[AnotherScott]

It does the job but obviously with a 5.25" speaker it has next to zero bass response.

and also, with no additional high frequency driver, little in the way of highs, either.

[vortmaxx]

I've been using one for about 10 years, off and on. When the first died after about 7 years of moderate abuse, I looked hard at the Behringer 205 and the TC Helicon voice-solo, but ended up getting another SRM150. I have to say that I don't think the newer one sounds as good. I can't exactly quantify how, but to my ears it just doesn't quite sound as good as the older one did.

 

It's a handy little tool though. Great for my needs, which was light and just for keys, mostly at rehearsals and as a reference. The mixer is very handy along with the XLR out. In most situations, I would let the P.A. do the heavy lifting. On smaller gigs, or festivals when set-up/tear down time is limited, it was kind of my go to. But when I had time, and space, I would usually break out the K10.2 which is obviously a different horse altogether.

[stoken6]

I got the clone of the clone of this. Mackie was first, Behringer cloned it, SoundKing in China cloned Behringer and offered their product for rebadging to a load of "own-brand" retailers (mine says Studiospares). It's pretty clean and neutral, but limited bass response obviously.

 

Cheers, Mike.

[Pianoman JC]

I also have the Behringer version and have been using it as a monitor at gigs for about 8 years. Works great and gets plenty of volume.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

JC

[jeffincltnc]

I have one. I picked it up to use as a hot spot for a restaurant/acoustic gig where everything went straight through a Bose array and I set it next to me to self monitor. It's good for that and I carry it in a napsack with a handle or straps and a pocket for cables. It's not stellar fidelity or anything like that, but it's better than a lot of cheaper hotspot monitors for sure.

[Rusty Mike]

I have one as well. I use it for quick in-and-out festivals where we get FOH and I don"t know what kind of monitor mix I"ll get. I feed the keys into the SRM and out to FOH. I can then control my own monitor volume and not worry about the guy at the board.

 

 

Plenty loud. Decent enough quality for a personal monitor. Good tool as well if your running your own amplification and need a feed across the stage for other instruments.

[lsj]

try the Behringer eurolive B208D. reasonable, compact, plenty bass. it literally blew me away the first time I tested it.

[HSS]

try the Behringer eurolive B208D. reasonable, compact, plenty bass. it literally blew me away the first time I tested it.

Agree... I picked up a pair of B208d's recently and was very pleasantly surprised, especially for the price. Although the B208d's are portable, 2-way, and IMO sound a lot better than the B205d's/SRM150's, they are heavier (~14 lbs.), don't have the mixing capabilities, and are too big for a mic stand.

 

Having said this, I went with the B208d rather than the B205d, B207d,and SRM150 when I compared them just because the B208d sounded so much better for keys.

[AnotherScott]

Yes, B208D is a great speaker and great value if you don't need those other things. Apart from the bass, it sounds basically the same as the bigger Behingers. Not EV/QSC quality in terms of quality for piano, but not bad, and in a whole different category from something like the SRM150. And even when Behringer electronics were known for high failure rates (I don't know if that's still the case?), the speakers seemed to keep plugging away. Maybe because there are so many fewer points of potential failure in them, compared to something like a mixer with 100+ knobs/sliders/buttons/connectors.

[pjd]

I'm good with the Behringer 205D (the SRM150 equivalent, not the B208D). I play in a crazy small church space and can place the monitor at ear level. We don't play at gut-busting volume.

 

I compared the B205D against Roland CM-30 and QSC K8 in order to EQ it for the sound I like. It gets close at modest SPL and is lighter. Recommended.

 

All the best -- pj

[The Real MC]

What part of "Mackie SRM150 Personal Monitor" do you folks NOT understand?

 

I did not ask about Behringer.

 

I have zero interest in any Behringer product. Never have, never will.

 

Stop hijacking threads to pitch Behringer products.

[AnotherScott]

Well if we restrict ourselves to taking your OP literally, the only answer is "yes." ;-) Seriously, any time anyone asks about a piece of gear, it is likely that people will also mention their experiences with alternatives, especially if they liked them better. Often, that can be a good thing.

[The Real MC]

Seriously, any time anyone asks about a piece of gear, it is likely that people will also mention their experiences with alternatives, especially if they liked them better. Often, that can be a good thing.

 

That's fine, except that I refuse to patronize a chronic plagiarist who sues Internet forum critics so Behringer is off my list.

[MuzikTeechur]

I had an SRM150. It died after about 2 years. Just failed to to power up on the gig one night. Disappointed.