Mackie CR3

Between studio monitors and computer speakers

The American company Mackie has never been considered a first-class player in the field of studio monitors. In the minds of consumers, this brand was more associated with concert acoustics and mixers. But with the release of the "monitor" CR series, they managed to get into the heart of the fast-growing home studio market. And all because Mackie made not so much serious studio acoustics, which will be discussed due to the curvature of the frequency response, but compact multimedia speakers with an application for music production. This is evidenced by the affordable price tag (less than $200 for a pair), and additional features like a Bluetooth connection (not available for all models).

Price per couple

The speakers are supplied in pairs: one of them is a leader with a built-in 50 W amplifier, the second is a slave. Both use a 3" polypropylene coated woofer and a 0.75" soft dome tweeter. They can be connected to a sound card using a pair of conventional 6.5 jacks and "tulips" (RCA). All this goodness sounds approximately at its own expense: moderately expressive and accurate, but with small blockages and humps in the frequency response. If you do not mess around with DSP-correction, then they lack bass and clarity in the upper register, and the mid-bass, on the contrary, sticks out to compensate for the lack of sub-bass.

Democratic price tag

Given this characteristic and the popularity of these kids, we can derive the formula for the success of this line: a very affordable price tag + acceptable sound quality + compact size. And yes, they look cute. In studio acoustics, predominantly black colours and strict design reign, but here there is some kind of variety in the form of a stylish green edging. The disadvantages of the CR3 are mainly related to the low-cost and form factor. The build quality and materials are never premium, and the bass is frankly lacking. But we did not expect any miracles from a 3-inch speaker.