I have listened to them both, but not in the same space, so my impression may be space related:

In my opinion:
The mr8's have a bit clearer mid / high end, and a little better imaging. However, they seriously lack on the low end.

I passed a few reference tunes I am very familiar with mix-wise ( my own and others ), and found the low end almost missing.

According to the spec sheet, they go down to 35hz, but I am sure they roll off a bit before that.

I also think I found a typo in the schematic in the spec sheet: they put a hi-end gain stage before the crossover stage.

I personally won't mix on them without a sub since I know I will be overcompensating the low end in the mix.

In short:
If you are on a budget they are good, just get a sub!

__________________


.:.: Things Are :.:.
.:.: Intel 2:.:.
.:.: Hoochie Beats 5 :.:.
myspace ?soundcloud ?

MR8's have a crossover frequency @ 3khz, so you're getting more midrange through the larger driver. Combine that with a lower power handling and you get 'better' response at lower listening levels, which translates to an overall impression of them 'sounding better'. However cone breakup occurs much faster as you increase power (due to the lesser amps/baskets and higher crossover frequency) and as phpSelectah mentions they will be lacking in subbass compared to the passively ported HR824's. These are also soft dome tweeters which is more in line with the HR824 with the -2dB down switch set on the HF side (voicing the titanium dome tweeter there down a tad). Great monitors on a budget but I know SEVERAL people who ignore the upper limit on their power handling and have blown the woofer on the MR8's (which means the MR5's probably need not even apply). MR8's are probably a much better fit if you have a very small apartment bedroom in a shared living situation due to the lesser bass response.

HR824's have a crossover frequency @ 1900hz (1.9ghz) and so more information 'appears' to come from the tweeter until you start pushing the monitor. Ie, at lower listening levels the titanium dome tweeter will be more 'forward' and have more of the upper mid content apparent, however the 824's also benefit from being pushed a bit harder than the MR8's. At double the power handling (more or less) go figure...they also have active protection which means they're a lot less likely to be blown, but people who run theirs at 100% will find they dislike the built in limiter since it starts coloring the sound. I never run my Mk1's at higher than 50-60% of their limit because that's plenty loud for me, so the limiter is never an issue to me, for people who do have issues with this stepping up to Dynaudio (or one of the nicer ADAM models etc) is probably a better option. For those that do NOT need Dynaudios, the HR824's can still have too much bass for some smaller rooms/spaces (hence the multiple controls on the rear for lessening low end response).

HR824's have had 3-4 versions btw, there are the 'pre-China' versions when Mackie first started making them (made in the USA) which I own and like. Then Mackie was bought out and there's the Mk1 'Chinese' versions which also seemed to change a lot of the components, then they came back to the US and had less reliability issues with builds but still used apparently the same components as the 'China' versions (making them still sound different and slightly more harsh than the 'first' USA made version)...and now there's the Mk2 and tbh I forget where they're even making them now or who owns Mackie these days (either it went employee owned or was purchased again...I knew this a few years back but have forgotten now).

God forbid I ever blow a driver on my first run units though, the replacements often alter the sound of that 1 monitor enough to make stereo imaging uneven (have seen tons of reports on this from the 'first run USA made' owners) resulting in a need to replace that component in both monitors at the same time

__________________
Any technology not indistinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
http://kief.net/

wow great responses.
i find the lack of bass strange since the mr8 are supposed to go down to 40hz (+-3db) which is only 1hz less than the 824s...

Nevertheless, seems like they arent really better than each other but more different? I wonder if the mr8s actually yield a better mixdown since u seldom mix on high volume anyways and i think the 824 also dont mix very well unless the room is very well treated?

Have the MR8 more accurate bass than the HS80M at least?


edit: I'm not convinced that the soft dome tweeters are necessarly a drawback, i know a lot of ppl have their 824s on -2db in the highs anyways coz they sound a bit too sweet.

Get second-hand 824 mk1s off ebay. Saw some go for £410 the other day.

Yeah u find the mackie 824s quite alot on gumtree or ebay.... but same can be said about the mr8s (usually around 200-250 pounds) although less often. Havnt been around for long enough i guess. I am actually quite shocked that the Mr8 seem to have a lack of bass. They always seemed to me like a less accurate hs80m monitor with more bass. Take the bass away and u might as well go for a different monitor alltogether...

Voicing is personal taste, but the main thing I was pointing out re: the tweeters was the crossover point on each.

Also keep in mind that not only are the woofer baskets/cones & amp/crossover network completely different, but the MR8's are a rear ported design while 824's/624's are a passive radiator in the rear. Ports are much 'peakier' in their response being basically a bandpass filter of sorts (poor cone control below the cutoff even) and colored transient response at the corner frequencies of the port's tuning. By comparison the 824's can be a bit 'mushier' than higher end monitors thanks to the passive radiator, and some of the 200-350hz area can be obscured by the excessive low end if a track has heavy presence of both (again in comparison to comparable monitors in their pricerange that are voiced more for typical instrument recording duties...or say dynaudio/adam p22's or god forbid barefoot mm27's & up).

In 2001 when I got these Mackies I either had the choice of paying $400-500 more for comparably voiced Genelecs 8031's (due to US import tariffs) that Mackie somewhat copied or lower end models...there was nothing else in the ~$1k pricerange until you got closer to 2k unless you had a botique builder in the area. Genelecs were of course not import tariff challenged in the UK/EU, whereas Mackie was making them look less attractive compared to the 8031's to most buyers at the time not in the US. Fast forward to today and you have so many other options in the same priceranges as the MR & HR series I am not sure they'd even be in the first 3 unit's I'd recommend at a given pricepoint.

__________________
Any technology not indistinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
http://kief.net/

Interesting, how come so many of the upper price range speakers use a port rather than a passive radiator?

The Mackie 824 mk1s can be grabbed very,very cheap 2nd hand, saw a pair pop up the other day for 300 pounds, whereas for comparable monitors i dont really find that the case (The genlecs seem to be around 500-600 pounds 2nd hand). I was thinking about the hs50m, but then I'd probably need a sub as well, which is expensive and I do not like mixing with a sub, not even talking about the acoustical issues...

I'd actually quite happily stick to my Alesis monitors but they dont go very far down, the mids sound really undefined, and they seem to have some dip in the highs (which i find otherwise ok) somewhere which always results in kickdrums sounding really clicky if played on another system.

I also had a look at some KRK VX8s but, every KRK which i have heared so far sounds like a hifi speaker and the mids and highs really mushed up. So I'm not very keen on those. Adam A7s i dont even see 2nd hand... maybe they are just that good that people never wanna get rid of them... hehe...

I went through the whole Genelec vs. Mackie thing ( since I used Genies in school ), and after doing some research the 824s were designed by the same person as the 8031s.

I know they are targeted for a completely different price point, but after knowing ( and loving ) the Genies, that was enough for me to pick up some 824s.

I sourced some early US/run 824 mk1s end of story... I bought another pair recently just in case!

I agree with the port creating peaks assertion. Passive radiator or open air sub is the way to go, IMHO

__________________


.:.: Things Are :.:.
.:.: Intel 2:.:.
.:.: Hoochie Beats 5 :.:.
myspace ?soundcloud ?

Well as with all things designs differ, I was speaking in particular about a lower end (MR series) monitor with a ported design. High end monitors with multiple ports of different lengths, better internal baffling, significantly better power handling and stronger composites in the cone, better magnets in the basket translates to much better cone control and less breakup below the tuning frequency of the port. Still go look up speaker design and you'll find that ports are indeed a filter, and the 'order' of the enclosure can be increased by creating additional chambers with ports leading to other chambers etc. Anyway many people actually prefer the sound of the MR8's to the 824's at lower listening levels...you just have to keep in mind the power limits and try to keep your tunes clear of DC offsets and excessive levels of sub (below 30hz) which is a good idea anyway.

Again there are 3 different Mk1 models...and most people don't know this so the whole line has a reputation as I outlined above (seeming to be more expensive than they're worth in the EU compared to other speakers from that era etc). I still prefer them to the Yamahas, KRK's, Tannoys and etc you'll find at lower pricepoints. And yes 5" cones are going to be too small imo...

The original A7's were actually lacking in sub anyway imo, though they offered very fine low mid clarity compared to my 824's as a result. A7X's seemed to improve on this somewhat and if I'm not mistaken ADAM just released yet another low end line of speakers (or updated the A series line perhaps) right around NAMM/Messe time.

What you really need to do is decide on your ideal and peak monitoring levels (86dB K-weighted, 110dB @ -8dB RMS or etc) and then select a pair based on the size of the room they'll be installed in, features and budget.

__________________
Any technology not indistinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
http://kief.net/