Top pick
This pair is good for music listening and audio production, and it features Bluetooth support and a helpful variety of inputs. But its bass is less deep than that of the larger pro monitors we like.
The Pioneer DJ DM-50D-BT set combines sound quality approaching that of professional monitors with the convenience and low cost of a home system. It offers compact size, a variety of inputs, and many convenient features.
It sounds good enough to use for serious audio production. A switch on the left speaker’s back selects Production or DJ mode. The DJ mode boosts the bass, which we thought made the system sound better with hip-hop, heavy pop, R&B, and movies; we preferred the more natural sound of the Production mode for jazz and classical, as well as for audio production.
In fact, the Production mode put out the most neutral, accurate sound we’ve heard from a consumer-level computer speaker system, making it great for audio production and entertainment alike. In our tests, through most of the audio range, its response was nearly as smooth and natural as that of the larger, more expensive JBL Professional 305P MkII monitor.
I used the DM-50D-BT system several times for editing my podcast, as well as for mixing original bumper music for it. I found the results similar to what I achieved using the 305P MkII, so I’d be comfortable using this set for serious production—with one caveat we’ll discuss below.
It has plenty of inputs. Besides built-in Bluetooth support, the DM-50D-BT has three types of analog inputs on the back of the left speaker to accommodate a variety of sources. These inputs are always live, so you have no way to switch among them—if you have sources playing on multiple inputs, you’ll hear them all simultaneously. (This is common on computer speakers.)
The system also has a signal-sensing feature, which powers it up automatically when it receives a signal from one of your source devices. Thanks to this feature, if you connect an Amazon Echo Dot, the DM-50D-BT will work much like an Alexa speaker—except that it will cut off the first couple of seconds of Alexa’s response, which is potentially annoying if you’re asking Alexa for information, such as what time it is.
This set includes several features that are convenient for desktop use. The left speaker has a front volume knob that shuts off the power when you turn it fully counterclockwise; also present is a front headphone jack that shuts off the speaker’s output.
The speakers measure well. In our measurements, the DM-50D-BT had an impressively flat frequency response in the midrange (where voices and most instruments reside), but the treble response was somewhat weak. However, none of our listeners complained about a lack of treble, which would, for example, make cymbals sound dull. The DJ mode boosted the bass a lot—by about 7 decibels—and added a mild treble boost of about 2 decibels.
We measured the bass output at 111.2 dB from 40 Hz to 63 Hz, more than we got from any of the other home-oriented computer speakers we tested, and even more than from a pair of JBL’s 305P MkII monitors (though the JBL monitors produced 5 decibels more sound at the lower frequency of 32 Hz).
The DM-50D-BT system is available in black or white. A non-Bluetooth version, the DM-50D, is also available.
Flaws but not dealbreakers
It might not be great for mixing music with lots of acoustic instruments. If you’re recording music with a lot of trebly instruments, such as cymbals and acoustic guitars, you might not want to trust the DM-50D-BT system for production. Our measurements showed a dip above 7 kHz or so that maxed out at about -10 decibels. This effect might persuade you to crank up the acoustic guitar in a mix, only to find it too boosted when you listen through other speakers or headphones.
This isn’t an issue if you’re editing podcasts or videos, but if you’re doing serious music production, you’re better off spending more for a pro speaker with flatter response, such as the JBL Professional 305P MkII.
It lacks tone adjustments. Most pro and semi-pro monitor speakers have some sort of tone controls that let you tune the sound to your liking or to compensate for the acoustical effects of nearby walls and other objects. The DM-50D-BT doesn’t, so if you want to tune its sound, you have to do so through an app on your phone or computer.
