The focus of the PreSonus Air XD loudspeaker line is to deliver professional-grade, high-definition sound in a portable, user-friendly, affordable, and lightweight package. They are designed specifically for live bands, club venues, corporate events, gigging musicians, and mobile DJs. An update from the original Air series, the newer Air XD series steps up with powerful Class-D bi-amplification, up to 1,500 Watts, to provide plenty of sound and clarity up to 134dB SPL.
Control of the Air XD 12 is achieved through the LED back panel and scroll knob. Five operational modes are available with distinctly different voicings. FOH (Front of House) is the standard, neutral default mode. It provides a balanced frequency response ideal for general live sound reinforcement. DJ mode optimizes the speaker for prerecorded tracks, boosting the low-end punch and high-frequency crispness. Enhance mode scoops out mid-range frequencies while warming up the lower frequencies for a more hyped sound that engineers call the “smile EQ curve.” Monitor mode tailors the response specifically for floor wedge use, rolling off low-end that would acoustically couple with the floor and taming feedback-prone midrange frequencies. Speech mode strongly rolls off the low frequencies and boosts the presence range of 2 kHz to 4 kHz to maximize vocal clarity for public speaking. All these modes sound very different than one another and are great starting points for the applications specified.
Additional acoustical voicings are available with Locate Modes. These modes adjust the speaker’s acoustic profile depending on how and where the physical cabinet is physically mounted. In Stand mode, EQ is calibrated for a standard tripod stand or a subwoofer pole mount. A standard size mounting hole is available at the bottom of the unit. A secondary Monitor mode filters out boomy bass frequencies caused by floor coupling and attenuates specific mid-range frequencies predetermined as feedback prone and enhances the upper mid-range and high frequencies. Bracket mode attenuates for the low-end acoustic coupling effect that occurs when a speaker is mounted flat against a wall.
The Air XD 12 paired with an iPhone instantly. At first listen in FOH mode listening to various recorded material, the 12” speaker sounded a bit boomy, but this was easily tamed with a quick roll off of bass. The onboard EQ provides ±10dB of bass or treble gain. The Air XD can get extremely loud, most likely louder than you will ever need. It is a very clean and punchy sounding speaker with a lot of kick and versatility. Speaker control via a phone is limited to volume only. Be warned that the speaker on first powerup defaults to full power on, but on next power up the Air XD 12 will remember whatever the last volume setting was.
The Air XD 12 features an integrated mixing and wireless setup. Inputs to the onboard 3-channel mixer are combo 1/4”-XLR mic/line connectors and a miniplug auxiliary input.
$549
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