In May, as production commenced, the d&b monitor Clan met to share a quaich of the amber liquid to celebrate the initiation of their latest member. McSporran the Clan chief, often known as M2, welcomed the new M4 stage monitor to full membership as only he could, with a skirl of the pipes that raised the roof. Not to be outdone, other clan members MAX and MAX12 also participated by showing that they too had a few new tricks up their kilts.

The far from diminutive M4 is a visually discreet, 2-way high performance stage monitor employing an integrated 15"/1.3" exit coaxial driver with a CD horn and passive crossover network. In its standard 50º x 70º dispersion configuration it provides a precisely defined coverage area on stage. The M4 can optionally be operated in 2-way active mode by changing the d&b D12 amplifier‘s configuration without any modifications to the loudspeaker. For its compact dimension and mere 20 kg (44 lb) it produces an incredible 138 or 140 dB SPL when driven in passive or active mode respectively.

The latest firmware for the d&b D12 and E-PAC amplifiers now contains the tricks mention above, a dedicated MAX configuration for passive operation of MAX or MAX12 cabinets. The "linear" configuration is also still available to drive loudspeakers from other Clans. The new MAX configuration has a high pass filter, low-end equalization and an excursion limiter specially tuned for the MAX loudspeakers, this provides increased headroom and improved low frequency performance. The characteristic of the D12 amplifier MAX 2-way active configuration has also been modified to provide a similar performance enhancement.