PMC Loudspeakers PMC 8-2 XBD Active Studio Monitors - Pair

The PMC8-2 XBD is a full-range, free-standing studio monitoring system featuring a pair of PMC8-2 Active Studio Monitors and a pair of PMC8-2 SUB active subwoofers. The ‘XBD’ DSP mode ensures the perfect marriage of the two units, providing an impressive 6dB greater bass headroom.

The PMC Loudspeakers PMC8-2 XBD combines the PMC8-2 mid-field full-range monitor with the PMC8-2 SUB subwoofer, forming a perfectly integrated loudspeaker with the sub. Like the smaller active XBD systems, the PMC8-2 XBD configuration gains an impressive 6dB greater bass headroom than the main speaker alone.

The XBD configuration delivers a supreme monitoring experience with a sense of boundless headroom and immediate visceral attack. But these qualities aren´t about sheer volume; there´s no need to monitor at high level as the full dynamic range and depth of bass remains consistent at all listening levels and for everything from dance to full scale orchestral material. The XBD format delivers superlative and effortless full-range monitoring quality in modest to larger control rooms.

In an XBD configuration the audio input signal connects to the PMC8-2 monitor and is passed to the sub via the digital ‘through’ output. Once in the XBD mode the highly sophisticated DSP engines in each cabinet ensure perfect acoustic dovetailing of the two units creating an awesome performer with the option of further enhancements made with the intuitive SoundAlign™ web interface.

PMC8-2 XBD Features:

• 3-way active, twin cabinet, mid-field reference monitor with ATL™ bass loading
• Frequency response: 25Hz - 25kHz (- 3dB @1m full space, on-axis)
• State-of-the-art Class-D amplifiers: HF 400W, MF 400W, LF 2 x 400W, SUB(XBD) 2 x 400W
• Analogue / AES3 digital input (16/24-bit, 18 -192kHz sample rate)
• Digital ‘through’ output (AES3 24-bit 96kHz)
• SoundAlign™ network control interface for single or group EQ & settings
• Sophisticated DSP crossover, driver protection, EQ, and delay/polarity options
• Optional dedicated 19” floor stands

PMC SoundAlign Software

The SoundAlign web interface is a highly intuitive and responsive means of controlling and configuring our nearfield and mid-field active DSP monitors (and the two associated subwoofers). Each monitor speaker incorporates an internal web-server accessible over a standard wired Ethernet connection using any typical web-browser on any smart-phone, tablet, PC, or Mac computer.

Loudspeakers can be controlled individually or in defined groups of multiple speakers (up to 16), and every DSP menu function and parameter can be viewed and adjusted, with configuration settings stored and recalled instantly as presets or copied between speakers. Facilities are provided to configure the input format and level, boundary mode correction, delay, and polarity options, as well as an EQ section with interactive graphical display offering five parametric bands plus high and low shelf sections.

The SoundAlign interface also makes it very simple to upload new firmware to all selected speakers, when necessary, and a group filter mode allows defined subsets of speakers to be displayed and controlled entirely separately from other groups – a brilliant asset in complex multi-room installations or with multichannel speaker arrays.

A dedicated network is not necessary – the loudspeakers can be connected to any standard LAN as the SoundAlign data happily co-exists with other network traffic (Internet access is not required, either). Alternatively, individual speakers can be configured by connecting a standard Ethernet cable directly back to the Ethernet port on a PC or Mac, or by using the controls on the rear panel.

ATL Technology

PMC’s unique ATL™ (Advanced Transmission Line) enclosures have taken loudspeaker design to the highest level, using sophisticated cabinet construction, proprietary drive units, and patented absorption materials and techniques. The benefits are enormous compared to the relatively simple sealed and ported designs currently available elsewhere.
PMC’s innovative approach places the bass driver near one end of a long cavity ATL™ (the Advanced Transmission Line). This cavity is heavily damped with acoustic material specified carefully to absorb the upper bass and higher frequencies radiating from the rear of the bass driver. The lowest frequencies are allowed to pass down the line and emerge from the large frontal vent in the same polarity as the driver’s direct radiation, the vent acting essentially as a second bass driver.

ATL™ bass-loading technology offers the following advantages over ported and sealed monitors:

• Exceptional LF extension with no colouration
• Identical tonal balance at all levels
• Higher SPLs without compression or listener fatigue
• More efficient
• A truly accurate response that translates

Laminair Technology

PMC's holistic design process has led them to study the physics of every part of monitors thoroughly, including air flow. Their powerful Studio drivers produce high-velocity air movements at the exit vents from the transmission lines, and careful analysis shows that the flow can become resistive and turbulent if uncontrolled. This wastes energy and leads to colouration, audible in our otherwise ultra-low-noise designs.

To address this, PMC's Laminair™ technology, visible on the PMC6, 6-2 and 8-2 in the form of the distinctive hexagonal profiling at the vents, produces a controlled, laminar air flow. The result is faster, higher-definition bass with accurate timing, and the widest possible dynamic range.