IK dev team breaking flagship product functions and unwilling/unable to fix
I pre-ordered from IK after having had their iLoud Precision MTM ($2000/pair) and remote ($99) for a year and liked them. Adding the three 6.5" radiators extends the bass in a way the ports on the MTM's just can't. IK forces you to upgrade the Precision MTM's firmware to use with the iLoud sub, which uses their new ARCX software, replacing the X-Monitor software that comes with the precisions. The Precisions now no longer work with the X-Monitor software ARCX replaces. Problem is, they didn't fully transfer any of the functionality of the flagships to use with the sub within the new ARCX software (such as the speaker profile switching from the $99 remote). The remote no longer fully works in the 2-way fashion of X-Monitor, allowing you to swap speaker profiles (some with bass cuts) from the software to speakers/remote or from speaker/remote to software (Which is why the Precisions each use a usb port). In ARCX, the remote now only changes the profile in the speakers, but no longer works with the software when using the sub (Which also eats up another usb port). The sub only responds to the profiles and cuts bass via the software remote. This makes the sub a useless addition to the speaker setup for profile switching and at no point has IK noted this would happen. It's clearly a software bug, as the functionality only changed when the software changed. I notified them of this bug in Dec 2025 and they said they'd let the dev team know. 7 months later as of June 2026, their best answer is "The hardware remote was not designed for use in the Stereo + Sub layout. The team suggests using the software remote in this case." Sounds almost reasonable as the "Stereo" layout profile still kind of responds 2-way with the remote in ARCX, except a few problems with the logic: 1. The hardware remote 2-way functions existed long before the Stereo + Sub layout and the software syncs via the usbs, which means IK could have easily ported the same functionality to the newer software layout while planning the iLoud Sub's release. It's not milled aluminum, it's software. UPDATE IT. They either don't want to, or the current "team" doesn't know how to (More likely, as the free X-Monitor software had functionality in V1.0.0 that ARCX still does not have in V2.0.2! I'd bet money IK fired the previous developer for a cheaper team.) 2. ARCX dumps your entire layout every time you close it. That means to use the software remote, you have to: 1. Open ARCX 2. Select the correct speaker (via serial and blinking light) and sub in the layout section 3. Click on the remote tab 4. Use the software remote This is a deeply ridiculous expectation when you've already charged people $99 to be able to do this with a button press on $2,000 speakers. They know it, they just don't care. If this is the level of customer support they think you should accept on their MOST EXPENSIVE FLAGSHIP PRODUCTS, imagine how much less support they'll give you on any of their other products.