Hello there, back again with another great article for you! This time, we will be looking at a must-have product for bedroom producers as well as professional audio engineers, which is IsoAcoustics ISO-55!
Table of Contents
For those who have never heard of IsoAcoustics company, let’s start with a quick introduction.
IsoAcoustics Inc. is a Canadian pro-audio company that focuses on speaker and monitors isolation products. They have been actively manufacturing isolation products in the pro-audio industry since 2012.
Why do you need isolation stands for your studio monitors?
As you may have already experienced yourself, studio monitors and speakers are constantly interacting with the room you place them in. They are not only interacting with the room itself but also with every object and where they stand. As their first contact point would probably be the desk they stand on, studio monitors immediately excite them and this may cause low-frequency coupling between the desk and the monitor and you may highly likely end up having vibrating surfaces.
Having a proper recording, mixing and listening environment requires a lot more than just decoupling your monitors from the desk surface. However, it’s also the easiest to start with!
Try this experiment: If you already have a pair of monitors and you have been placing them on your desk, find some folks to lift them up for you at about your ear level. Then do an A/B test, touch the surface of your desk and compare! You will definitely see and hear a big difference with this little tweak to your desk.
IsoAcoustics ISO series isolation stands and pads are just designed for this purpose.
Most of us, bedroom producers and audio engineer-wanna bees are not able to build a professional studio environment, but instead, we try to do our best usually in very small living spaces. In my opinion, IsoAcoustics ISO stands are one of the best to start improving your room acoustics and bringing clarity to your listening sessions.
IsoAcoustics ISO series actually come in different sizes for different use cases. In the table below, you will see all ISO series products with crucial technical specs.
IsoAcoustics ISO Series Comparison Table
Model | ISO-130 | ISO-155 | ISO-200 | ISO-200SUB | ISO-430 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Isolation stand for | small speakers and studio monitors | medium-sized speakers and studio monitors | large speakers and studio monitors | for subwoofers | studio monitors, guitar, bass and other instrument amplifiers |
Dimensions Short Setting (WxDxH) | 5.1x6x2.8″ or 130x152x71mm | 6.1x7.5x3″ or 155x190x76mm | 7.8x10x3.75″ or 200x255x95mm | 7.8x10x3.75″ or 200x255x95mm | 17x9x3.5″ or 430x230x90mm |
Dimensions Tall Setting (WxDxH) | 5.1x6x8.25″ or 130x152x210mm | 6.1x7.5x8.25″ or 155x190x210mm | 7.8x10x8.5″ or 200x255x215mm | NA | NA |
Tilt | Up to 6.5 degrees | Up to 6.5 degrees | Up to 6.5 degrees | Up to 6.5 degrees | Up to 6.5 degrees |
Weight Capacity | 20lbs (9kg) | 40lbs (18kg) (Short setting) | 75lbs (34kg) (Short setting) | 75lbs (34kg) | 100lbs (45kg) |
35lbs (16kg) (Tall setting) | 60lbs (27kg) (Tall setting) | ||||
Quantity | 2 Stands (1 pair) | 2 Stands (1 pair) | 2 Stands (1 pair) | 1 Stand (Single) | 1 Stand (Single) |
You can easily choose your ISO stands by using this table. All you need to determine if you would like to buy these for a pair of studio monitors, a single subwoofer or a guitar/bass speaker.
Then you need to make sure you are buying the correct size and correct load capacity version.
IsoAcoustics ISO-55 is the best-selling among other model as it can support most studio monitors people usually prefer.
If you also would like to buy a pair of studio monitors along with your ISO stand, just check their sizes and weight information. Most likely, you will also go for this model!
How to Assemble IsoAcoustics ISO-55?
Assembling your ISO stand is a piece of cake, except for the force you have to apply! 🙂
With ISO-130, ISO-155 and ISO-200, you have the option to choose a tall or short setting (all included in the box content).
You can also use small plastic add-ons to tilt your ISO stands up to 6.5 degrees angle. In order to show you how easy it is, I have just made a video!
Depending on your listening position, and the surface area of your desk you may want to tilt them as well. With regards to this video, I was actually trying possible assembly of my ISO-55 and as you can see I was building a back-lifted, tall setting. However, since I live in a very small place, I have been using front-lifted so the 5″ drivers do not face towards the floor.
You may also have noticed that I was applying firm pressure to put these steel rods into the pockets. I suggest you do a couple of rounds of pushing as it sometimes is required to have four rubber touchpoints be equally aligned on the surface.
IsoAcoustics ISO-155 Sound Demo
Here we have the fun part! To be honest, I have spent my whole Sunday shooting these videos and writing the content you are reading now. But I feel like it’s worth it!
I have been using Creative Gigaworks T40 Series II multimedia speakers for some time. I was always on the move so I didn’t really want to invest in a pair of good studio monitors.
However, recently things have changed and I have started building my humble studio again. Very recently, I got myself a pair of KRK Rokit RP5 G4 studio monitors along with an IsoAcoustics ISO-55.
Since I have obtained everything I got to at least provide my visitors with a nice, on-point comparison video, I sat down and recorded a bunch of videos and edited them to give you a quick and easy comparison and A/B testing possibility.
First, I quickly made a song that you will hear throughout the video. For this tune, I used my Fender American Standard Stratocaster electric guitar, Ibanez SRC6 bass guitar, ENGL E570 preamp, ENGL Cabloader, RME Babyface PRO, KRK Rokit RP5 G4, Keith McMillen QuNexus, ujam Beatmaker 2 DOPE and Valhalla Supermassive reverb plugin.
Then I played this song thru KRK and Creative speakers, placed them on my desk and on IsoAcoustics ISO-55 recorded the audio with Canon EOS M200 built-in microphone as well as t.bone MB-85 Beta microphone.
I’m sure some of you will think that this is not how you can test and present it as these audio-capturing methods I have are not really ideal. But at the end of the day, it’s still a scientific approach.
Also, you may complain about why I also tested Creative speakers. The reason was that I can, while I have the chance. I know these products are not made for these, but at least you can hear how setting any speaker at ear level makes a huge difference. To really feel how much low-end I would end up without IsoAcoustics ISO-55, you should be definitely in the same room with me! Ads - Check out these ads to support this web page
There’s definitely a lot of low-end produced and excitement by these speakers touching the surface of the desk. And I believe, these can not be easily captured to make such a video. However, this video will definitely prove to you that the listening position (ear level setting) is so crucial and makes a huge difference even with a consumer-level speaker.
IsoAcoustics ISO-55 Review & Sound Demo (no talking)
Conclusion
To be honest, I found the IsoAcoustics ISO series stands a bit too pricey at the first sight. But when I researched other options, such as buying a generic monitor or desktop stand, I was suddenly convinced that these products definitely had an edge over their competitors.
I can justify the price because I think you can use these for long long years. For your information, there are designed in Canada but made in China. I think they are worth the money and a long-term investment. Ads - Check out these ads to support this web page
Also, their claims about how they improve sound are 100% legit and correct! Don’t take this brand and its products as if they were kind of snake oil traders, they are a very successful, driven company already. I recommend anyone with a pair of speakers to try these out once. I’m sure you will like them and never regret this buying decision.
Check out IsoAcoustics ISO-55 availability and price here.
I hope you have enjoyed this article and found this insightful and honest! Thanks for visiting my website and reading my articles again. Hopefully, I will see you in the upcoming articles and content.
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