I have recently been puzzling my mind regarding monitor controllers. Since I've already made a lot of expensive purchases for my studio setup and my remaining budget is quite limited, I decided that Dangerous Music stuff (unfortunately) is now out of the question. No money for that anymore!

So, I ended up with a couple of rather-non-expensive choices. Even though the first one is more than double the price of the second, please don't take this parameter into account. I just want the best of the two! I am talking about Presonus Central Station Plus and SM Pro Audio M-Patch 4M. Has anyone had an experience with these two pieces?

Please note that for an obsessive reason I would like my monitor controller to be rack-mounted. No compromise with that! Both of my shortlist-choices are. So in case you would like to suggest other options, make sure they are rack-mounted.

It's been nearly 24 hours since I have created this thread and there was absolutely no response from the 180 viewers of my question. Shall I take this as a warning sign that both Presonus and SM Pro Audio monitor controllers are totally crap? If nobody has ever had an experience with any of these two pieces, then I guess I must just forget about the whole thing about monitor controlling!

The Presounus isn't bad at all. Do you have multiple monitors? Have you checked out Welcome to colemanaudio.com ?

Thanks for your response! Yes, I will have multiple monitors. Genelec 8050A will be the main pair of speakers. They are already sitting in my control room. I have a pair of DAS ceiling speakers in a pergola construction close to my studio (I want people waiting for recording to be able to hear my sessions over there). I'll also get a pair of cheap speakers for extra reference.

Check out the Coleman products, they have tons of options for you. Look both under Controllers and Switchers on their site.

I did. Coleman Audio products seem to be really good stuff! Thanks for the link. However only CMC4 meets my remaining budget (and this one is actually reaching my limits). Every other controller costs more than a thousand euros. CMC4 is a controller for sub woofers (according to the link you sent). Would that do for me?

In your first post you said that Presonus Central Station Plus is not bad at all. Well, a completely passive path is what I am really looking for. Do you think the Presonus piece would satisfy this requirement without any doubt?

The SM Pro is a totally passive controller. If you have decent cables between the controller and the spakers and the cable isn't too long, a passive controller is great and more transparent than any active one.
My friend has a smaller SM Pro controller (M-Patch 2) and it's well made and works great.
You've got to be nuts to pay a grand for a passive monitor controller.

You know you can still get a Dangerous Source. It's limited compared to the Monitor St if that was what you were originally lusting for. But it does give you two sets of speaker outs, two headpone outs, two digital inputs, and analog inputs.

I don't know if they would benefit you but the converters are killer for the price. The monitor section is clean and transparent like you need. Also it is rackmountable.

I've had one since the begining of this year and I did it. Monitor St will be mine eventually but the source is still great for portable mixing in the box or just listening to music through those converters when at home.

I am pretty positive the CMC4 is passive, all the Coleman Audio is top not and used in multi million dollar studios.

The Dangerous is also a great unit, bad thing it's not rack mountable. I personally have a DBox and love it. But I do plan on adding a Coleman for a 3rd set of monitors I have.

How about a little used analog mixer?

A lot more function that a single volume pot box (easily DIY).

Oh yes, I think you are right! That's why SM Pro Audio M-Patch 4M was my initial thought. But do you think the 600-euro offer I got for Presonus Central Station Plus is still too much for what I get? It's a passive controller too. I don't know why I got the impression that SM Pro Audio stuff are generally not solid in terms of manufacturing. Perharps I am wrong. To be honest the only advantage about M-Patch 4M (in comparison with the Presonus piece) - apart from its lower price - is the summing function it provides. However your opinion about SM Pro Audio does count a lot! Thanks for your post.


Dangerous Music Monitor ST costs about 2 thousand euros and yes, this is what I was originally lusting for! But there is no way to spend 2 grand for a monitor controller. I've already bought a lot of expensive stuff (such as SSL Nucleus, UA Apollo Quad, Genelec 8050A, Neumann U87 Ai) and I am now running out of budget! Which Dangerous Music rack-mounted piece did you have in mind for my case?


The product description on the Coleman Audio site says: "The CMC4 gives you the control of your sub woofer. Once a balance is set between the main speakers and the sub woofer the main level control will control both. There is also a mute switch to check your mix with or without the sub".

Isn't this piece too specific? I won't use any sub woofer. Do you think this is the passive monitor controller I need for a pair of Genelec 8050A, a pair of DAS ceiling speakers and a pair of really cheap speakers for extra reference?

The Presonus isn't bad and also has a lot of functions and the price isn't that high if you think of what you get, but I think that the M-Patch is technically better.
The remote on the Presonus is connected via standard VGA (at least it looks like that) cable and the attenuator is the potentiometer on the remote - audio passes through this cable twice.
The M-Patch 4M uses a stepped attenuator (rotary switch with resistors).
The main advantage of this is that the left and right channel are better matched. Stereo potentiometers often tilt stereo image when used at very low setting. My friend (not the one with the SM Pro) has a Presonus Central Station and while he likes it, the potentiometer has this problem.
The good thing about the Central Station is that you don't have to have a lot of cables in front of you and you might prefer it's ergonomics.

I understand your scepticism about the SM Pro Audio, they had some less than average sounding preamps, but IMHO their monitor controllers aren't bad. My friend's controller is a few years old and the only "problem" is that some of the letters written around the knob got scratched by nails, but I've seen this on many € 50k+ consoles.

A good option is the Steinberg UR28, it's a combined monitor controller + audio interface

M-Patch has only mediocre quality, I had a lot trouble with this. The newer having only this replaceable volume knob because of the massive critics about the stereo image. But the other components are the same (I asked SM Audio about this).

Go to the Coleman Audio website Welcome to colemanaudio.com and look around, to see which one will fit your needs. You never know if you may add a sub down the road.

THIS looks like a pretty bare bones, yet High quality and fairly affordable type of deal.
http://www.khozmo.com/

I use this. To me very transparent and with a mono sub output
http://spl.info/index.php?id=1307&L=1

It's not rack-mounted and it has 2 stereo outputs. I need at least 3.

I went over to a friends studio the other day who has the Presounus and it is a very nice unit. Clean sounding, lots of options and pretty cool with the remote. He has them hooked up to both a set of Barefoots & NS10's so I know how they sound and I didn't hear any coloring.

Coleman CmC4..I think you were right, is your best bet for the money. However, the Presonus Central Station is excellent for the money..passive circuitry...Don't under estimate that unit for the name.

The product description on the SM Pro Audio website says: "Master attenuator features a discrete film-resistor network for exceptional accuracy at all volume levels". I am not sure that I understood that 100%. I am not an experienced audio engineer and I am not familiar with some of the things you wrote in your post. I understand that an attenuator is exactly the opposite of an amplifier, right? But what is a stepped attenuator and what's the difference between rotary and linear switches? If these are not important stuff, then I would say Presonus ergonomics may eventually count more for my final choice.

What is your opinion about the stereo-to-mono summing function of the M-Patch 4M? Is it really an important advantage for that piece, if we take into account that Presonus Central Station does not provide this feature?


There will be 3 audio interfaces in my studio. I have already bought SSL Nucleus (for controlling purposes), UA Apollo Quad (for my Mac Pro) and I am about to order Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 (for my PC). So if I got Steinberg UR28, it would be the fourth interface!

By the way - would you prefer Focusrite Liquid Saffire 56 over Scarlett 18i20? These are my shortlist-options for the audio interface on my PC. Has anyone of you had an experience with them?


The worst thing I have heard about Presonus Central Station Plus so far in this thread was "it's not bad at all", which is a rather good comment, isn't it? Clean sounding, no colouring, passive cicuitry are phrases which have almost convinced me to go for it!

Believe me, if Presonus provided a stereo-to-mono summing feature too (M-Patch 4M does), I would have bought it a long time before creating this thread!

Yes.Rotary switch: Rotary switch - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Term "linear" usually isn't used with switches, but with potentiometers it can mean: a) fader b) a potentiometer whose resistance changes proportionally with the position of the wiper (alternative which is usually used in audio is logarithmic potentiometer whose resistance changes logarithmically)

Stepped attenuator is a multi step switch which has each contact connected to a different resistor therefore it provides different level of attenuation at each position. It is an alternative to the potentiometer. The main advantage of the stepped attenuator is that it's easier to make left and right channel (also + and - in balanced version) matched at all levels.
Well... these things are the main difference which influences the technical performance of any passive monitor controller. You have to decide what you prefer.
The Central Station also has the "mono" button which sums L and R channel.

Hi
Unless the 'controller' is literally a switch or two and an 'attenuator' and on the proviso that you use SHORT cables from the attenuator to the power amplifiers/powered monitors then a decent ACTIVE controller would be likely to be the better quality.
Despite the apparent simplicity of a 'passive' controller, they are hampered by some basic physics that they can't overcome, same as you personally cannot fly without a machine of some sort.
Matt S

I bought the Central Station many years ago when they first came out (I'm not sure mine is a "Plus") and have been very happy with it. It has a lot of features that I don't use. I mainly use it to switch between my main JBL monitors and my headphone monitor system. I do not have a separate control room. Just a large room with a control area.

Have you noticed any sound-colouring in your speakers?

A decent active controller would be an expensive purchase and I am running out of money! I wish I could go for a Dangerous Music controller, but this is not possible anymore. That's why I have to choose between M-Patch 4M and Central Station Plus. I am just trying to figure out which one will suit me better in terms of clear sound.

Have you looked at the Radial MC3? Radial makes great gear thats always built like a tank. Id get this before the m-patch or central station.
Radial MC3 Monitor Controller

Thanks for your post. Unfortunately Radial MC3 is not rack-mounted. And this is a must for obsessive reasons!

Salpion, I just need to make sure you know the Dangerous music 'source' is its own product, retailing around 750 euro just doesn't look rack mountable...
I was confused at first thinking the ST was the unit being referred to, when in fact it was the 'source'

BAM
Installing the Source Rack Kit- Dangerous Music - YouTube

I have experience of both the Central Station and SM Pro Audio M-patch (however 2, not 4M). I'd say that the M-Patch sounds a hair better, but is not well put together. The headphone jack failed after a few months and after less than a year the volume pot started affecting the stereo image, especially at low levels. Eventually, the unit started delivering some 5 dB less on the left side.
The Central Station was more reliable, but did also mess up the stereo image at low levels.
Even though both units are passive, the sound has to go through the volume pot, of which both have quality issues.
I'm now a happy Coleman M3PH MKII user...