Within the last two to three days I had the opportunity to compare some very big name (and some of them just plain very big) studio monitors. Here are my thoughts. This is not at all scientific; no controls were present, so you'll just have to roll with it. My reference speakers are my home studio's KH310s. I used the same music with all of them as a reference point - in particular, Leprous's 2019 album "Pitfalls".
The speakers tested are:
- ATC SCM25A Pro
- ATC SCM200ASL Pro
- Griffin Design G1.5
- Focal Trio11 Be
- Barefoot MM27
Okay, so:
SCM25A Pros: Consistently good sounding. Slightly mid forward, but only a very little bit. Not much low end extension, but extremely clean as low as they went (ballpark 40hz). Reminded me of the KH310s but with a slight mid bump. May be my upgrade path from the KH310s if that ever is in the cards. Reverb tails were very easy to pick out, bass:kick relationship was immediately evident. Lots of mixers using these makes perfect sense to me. They're super quick to get mixes sounding great on.
SCM200ASL Pros: These are absolute monsters, and they should be for the money. Effortless, endless volume, great extension, and super even sounding. Tons of detail, but not the hyped presence kind of false detail.
Griffin G1.5s: Really didn't like these! They have a presence bump that makes them instantly grating sounding, and very quickly. Gobs of low end extension though... In that room, I would be mixing on the SCM25As and maybe checking super low end information on the Griffins. Kind of remind me of the Adam house sound a bit?
Trio11 Bes: These are cool! The low end does not mess around either - it's super clean down to below 40hz easily at sane listening volumes. A bit of the "cheap hifi boom and sizzle" going on, but not in such a way that mixes would be off-course. Be a fun pair to produce on for sure.
Barefoot MM27 (1st gen, with the dome tweeter instead of the ring radiator): These didn't do it for me. Treble was sharp and harsh, bass was kind of boomy. Exciting to listen to at first, but I got tired of them quickly. I see why people like them, but... not for me.
Ones I didn't listen to yet:
ATC SCM150 ASLs: I don't trust the room these are in, the room has a very obvious high frequency up-tilt from reflections.
The speakers tested are:
- ATC SCM25A Pro
- ATC SCM200ASL Pro
- Griffin Design G1.5
- Focal Trio11 Be
- Barefoot MM27
Okay, so:
SCM25A Pros: Consistently good sounding. Slightly mid forward, but only a very little bit. Not much low end extension, but extremely clean as low as they went (ballpark 40hz). Reminded me of the KH310s but with a slight mid bump. May be my upgrade path from the KH310s if that ever is in the cards. Reverb tails were very easy to pick out, bass:kick relationship was immediately evident. Lots of mixers using these makes perfect sense to me. They're super quick to get mixes sounding great on.
SCM200ASL Pros: These are absolute monsters, and they should be for the money. Effortless, endless volume, great extension, and super even sounding. Tons of detail, but not the hyped presence kind of false detail.
Griffin G1.5s: Really didn't like these! They have a presence bump that makes them instantly grating sounding, and very quickly. Gobs of low end extension though... In that room, I would be mixing on the SCM25As and maybe checking super low end information on the Griffins. Kind of remind me of the Adam house sound a bit?
Trio11 Bes: These are cool! The low end does not mess around either - it's super clean down to below 40hz easily at sane listening volumes. A bit of the "cheap hifi boom and sizzle" going on, but not in such a way that mixes would be off-course. Be a fun pair to produce on for sure.
Barefoot MM27 (1st gen, with the dome tweeter instead of the ring radiator): These didn't do it for me. Treble was sharp and harsh, bass was kind of boomy. Exciting to listen to at first, but I got tired of them quickly. I see why people like them, but... not for me.
Ones I didn't listen to yet:
ATC SCM150 ASLs: I don't trust the room these are in, the room has a very obvious high frequency up-tilt from reflections.
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