Mackie HR624mk2 6 inch Powered Studio Monitor Reviews

Having spent the past seven years in a studio using the original HR824's, you'd think it'd be a relatively simple decision to make when it came time to build my own home studio setup. Right? Not quite. Let's just say I took a detour, which ended up costing me time and money, only to arrive back to my original verdict: go with the Mackies. My detour consisted of going with another brand of monitor with distinct yellow cones. The price was the same as the HR824's and the reviews were all stellar. So I thought, why not? To make a long story short, I spent almost a month with them and returned them. I won't go into detail about why they didn't work for me, with some of the reason being my own fault and some being performance based. After returning them (one unsuccessfully - always claim a value on items over $100 when shipping), I did more research and arrived back at the Mackies. After my experience with the previously returned monitors, I knew an 8" would be a bit overkill. So I went with the 624's. For my application, they're perfect. Here's why:

The sound: they're a fairly flat monitor (+/-1.5dB). Each speaker comes with a certificate showing that speaker's unique response variance and the conditions under which it was tested. It's filled out by hand. My monitors were tested within ~hour of one another - which is pretty cool. To me, they sound honest. If something is lacking, you'll know. If something is accentuated, you'll know. On top of flat response, these provide great spacial imaging and depth. Monitors get you most of the way when it comes to production, so you should be comfortable and familiar with them. Ultimately, they're tools. And knowing your particular set makes all the difference.

Things I particularly like: the sealed enclosure yields accurate bass and less chance of room interaction vs open front/back ports. The tweeters are metal, which some people are not a fan of. But alas, they're titanium polymer suspended (vs the original aluminum). This cuts down/eliminates fatigue, something I have yet to experience with these monitors. The tweeters are also protected by a mesh grill, which provides excellent prevention against an accidental dome crushing. And perhaps one of my favorite qualities is the class A/B amps - which means: these monitors are exceptionally quiet at idle. Which was a major point of contention in my trials with the previous monitors. My typical proximity/triangle is ~three feet. I consider a quiet idle to be essential for my purposes. These monitors are perfect in that respect. Some monitors I've checked out that cost twice as much as the 624's still produce considerable idle hiss, which was enough to deter me, despite incredible reviews and brand reputation.

The features: they're loaded with them. Three input options are available: RCA, XLR, and TRS. Three power modes available, including auto on/off after eight mins of zero signal. Three room modes available, which is handy if you must position them close to walls. Hi/low EQ compensation. Front power switches - YES. Plus, they also have a pretty elegant appearance. I don't get tired of looking at them. The LF and HF drivers are rated at 100W and 40W respectively. The front power indicator will light up red if pushed to the point of clipping. I have not tested this, as sheer power/volume is not important to me in a monitor. It just matters that they sound good. This is a point I feel some other manufacturers miss. The previous monitors I tried had double the power. But on the flipside, the amps (basically wide open at idle) caused considerable idle hiss. Not a true flaw per se, but a major turnoff.

In summary, these monitors suit my needs very well. They sound true and are loaded with accommodations. They're professional in nearly every aspect, right down to the packaging. One of the previous monitors I tried, upon return shipping them, arrived having been compromised due to a drop/puncture and no longer functioned. I can't say the same fate would have befallen one of these 624's. It's the details. And Mackie just gets it. I feel great about my investment. My sweetwater rep Nick mentioned something to the effect of these monitors not getting a lot of attention. I can't really say why. Maybe because most amateurs prefer to spend less? Maybe because it's not fashionable to have Mackies? Who knows. Regarding cost, I find these to be in a major sweet spot in the price vs quality area. After the Mackie HR series, prices start to rise by considerably larger margins. Whatever the case may be, these are the perfect monitors for me and I'm looking forward to having them for a long time. Worth the detour? I'd say so.

These speakers are Great! I know there are speakers that are more expensive and have that high high end price tag. Believe me I"ve been looking and researching for about one year. I knew I couldn"t afford the 2 & 3 thousand $$$$$ per speakers. Yes there were some between 14 & 15 hundred for a pair. But after talking with my man Tye I decided on these puppies. I really like the acoustic controls on the back of the speakers, and they are a fairly flat speaker. All I know is when I set these HR624mks up and got them running I could tell where my mixes were off in the balance and placement of the instruments. Yes they have a slight mid and up push but they work very well for me. The best thing is they translate well when I listen to mixes on my older set of Fostex with the 8 in woofer, which I"ve had for at least 15 years, after I"ve made the adjustments on the Mackies. They are a tight speaker and are a sealed cabinet which was another reason I was drawn to them. I am a bass player and I know bass frequencies can get out hand easily. So these help me tune the bass frequency easer along with the other instruments. I"ve had these monitors for about 3 weeks or more and I"ve been mixing and recording with them almost every day. They have not disappointed me in any way. Like I said in my review title Yes!! Thanks Tye for helping me and answering my questions. Thanks to Sweetwater! These speakers are all I hoped they would be.

Very accurate you can now mix and master with ease you can hear everything

Extremely Happy with these monitors. Like the advertisement states, "You simply can't go wrong with these Pro-Caliber monitors." They have a very accurate and natural frequency response. Perfect for my smaller studio. They are terrific. Thanks for the quick delivery.

Im a sound engineer and I`ve been looking for a studio monitors that suit me best I listen to everything genelecs, yamaha, m-audio, krk, and narrowed my options to adam a7x and mackie hr 624 mkII. My bet, mackie won they are simply amazing and its really easy to make them sound great in any room because of their acoustic space adjustment.

These sound just great in my home living room system. I've had electrostatics, BWs, Rogers, Maggies - these are more accurate (and thus less fatiguing) than any speakers I have had. They also play much louder and cleaner. Plus, the amps are included, saving real money. The looks are fine for a living room as well.

I'm an Audio Arts and Acoustics major at Columbia College Chicago with a concentration in Audio Design and Production. These were the first monitors I ever owned. At the school we have listened to Genelecs, other Mackies, and what not. I don't know how I was ever able to do my assignments before. If you sit in an equilateral triangle in relation to the mackies with your ear between the driver and tweeter, you get the best sound there. For the price, it's really fantastic. If you have the money for the upgrade to the 824, do it. If not, you won't be disappointed.

I build my new studio for mixing one years ago. The monitor bored me much,Genlec 1030,1031,8040,danyaudio,adam audio s2a...many some of them put it at my living room is very good, for example adam, But I can't use them to work, I have very used the sound of genelec 1031, I use it for mixing over 8 yesrs, But I have better choice now, Mackie 624 mk2, It sounds better than mk1, a little bit lack at HF of mk1. Mk2 is very good at 16-21K and leave the very good LF of mk1.

I was looking for a compact professional monitor for my new studio - finally got a great room and needed a suitable classy monitor. Tried many different ones from Genelec, Dyn and even K+H..... But these simply blew me away. The fact that they are way less expensive than the competition is simply a bonus.... Cannot recommend them more!!

I had one of my older 624 go bad after 16 yrs and dcided to get them again so i only bought one to replace the broken one til i could get money to replace the other. Dont get me wrong these speakers are awesome! Down fall is i guess after 16 years i was kinda expecting a huge difference btween the old and new. To be honest there wasnt much if any difference. Very satisfied customer tho

I have owned these monitors for over two years now and have been using them to mix and master various projects. I have done plenty of experimenting with them in my room and have gone through lots of different acoustic treatments and speaker settings to get them to work in my room. Now don't get me wrong, these speakers sound excellent. However, I have always struggled with mix translation issues between my monitors and other sound systems. It's almost too easy to make things sound good on these monitors and as a result, it masks other mixing issues that become apparent when I reference (specifically with de-essing and the low-midrange). It could still just be user error, but if these problems continue I will invest in a second pair of speakers and make these reference monitors. I will be recalibrating them in the next couple months and redoing my studio layout with different monitor placement and room configuration so hopefully they give me the extra 15% I need.

I don't regret buying these and I love listening to music with them. Overall, excellent build quality, excellent feel, and very clean.

The Mackie HR624mk2 completed my first real near field/mid field monitor setup. Unlike each superceding monitor I've purchased, the Mackie's didn't need the same kind of break in time. It was a curiosity, they did eventually "ease into themselves" or I should say, "ease up on me". They always sounded fantastic !

There IS a certain inherent "color" to these units. But, it could be argued who wants to really listen to a speaker that is super flat, super cold and not inspiring for hours on end ? I know don't : ) They're fun, while still critical and detailed. The color part about these speakers is tastefully applicable. It doesn't get in your way or take you way off base when you've gone down to the car or to the mastering house to mix check. They'll keep you in the game. From my experience, the 624's make excellent near-fields and pretty good mid-fields. I'm sure the 824s (which appear beastly) are more suited for mid-field work. Those possess that "Unfolding mid-range" much like the HS8's, but with more detail and music in the basement. Curious, Mackie points out that the 624's mid range driver are actually just under 7". Whereas the 824's are almost 9 inches !! That ... is a big boy. Don't worry ... the 624's can still crank... very much so. Trust me. At 140 watts/channel, there is no shortage of power issues.

I gave these 4 stars because sometimes the tweeter is a little overly-persistent. But thats why we take ear breaks, yeah ? The trade off: 2 - 5k range is right. there. but smooth enough to cut what you need to cut.

Probably the best purchase I've made in a long time! The Mackie speakers let you hear every part of your mix clearly and that's what I've been searching for. I think I can take my production to another level at this point! Thanks Mackie and Thanks to sweetwater! Great product!