Genelec 8341 AP

[1231rq32r1qw32r]

Hello everyone!

I'm a new member here so I'll do a little introduction first.

I'm a huge music enthusiast, I run a modest production studio and have a keen interest in electronic music production (lots of old vintage synths in here). My current system is a pair of Yamaha HS7 and a single Yamaha HS8S sub. They are driven with a MOTU 24IO (or a HD192 depending on circumstances). Everything is run though a miniDSP 2x4 Balanced - this does the crossover and some low end <500hz correction. I've got an Objective 2 headphone amp and some HD600 phones - but I don't use them much now.

So the time has come to make a change to all this. I've been considering the Genelec 8341 AP and a Genelec 7370 APM for a long time - ASRs measurements have now sealed the deal for me. I do have some questions tho, and I was hoping some of you could help answer me.

1) Is there a difference in quality between feeding these Genelecs with balanced analogue or AES signals? How do I determine what is best?
2) If I was using AES, how do I control volume? I assume the Genelec 9310AM will work but I'm not sure yet. I will of course have the GLM set 3.0.
3) The GLM software - does it need to run permanently on my system? Or can I use it once and the speakers maintain the config? Is this true even if I'm using the 9310 volume controller?
4) I will be ordering the GLM set 3.0 - but I see the software is now GLM 4.0. Is there new hardware coming? Is it required?

Thanks a lot everyone!

 

[echopraxia]

1. Technically the digital (AES/EBU) input will be better, since this is a digital speaker, and analog inputs are internally converted into digital first anyway, before the speaker can use it. Since converting always adds some noise/distortion, using analog inputs to a digital monitor like this can only ever be worse than using the digital inputs directly. With that said, unless your DAC is really bad, I doubt anyone’s ears can tell a difference anyway.

2. There are two ways. You can either control volume digitally from the source (for example, my miniDSP SHD volume knobs will do this for its digital outputs, and my Sonos Port audio streamers can also be configured to do this, and any PC will do this by simply via the standard system volume controls). For PC, just set your output audio format to use the highest bits per sample you can, and you shouldn’t have to worry about any loss of dynamic range from digitally attenuating the volume this way. Alternately, you can control volume via GLM. GLM software has a volume slider you can use with your mouse (which is unrelated to the computers output volume), or you can plug in a volume knob Genelec sells for $100 or so into the GLM controller to adjust the digital volume of all your speakers. You can use or even make your own volume knob too I believe, as it works with any standard potentiometer I think (I don’t know the specs though). The downside of using GLM for volume control (vs just attenuating the digital input signal) is that you need the GLM controller and all the Ethernet style cables connected between all your speakers at all times, for it to work.

3. GLM software allows you to save all your calibration and other settings directly to all the speakers. If you don’t do this, the speakers will reset back to defaults when GLM is not connected and running. You also need to flip a dip switch on the back of some Genelec models to tell it to use the stored configuration. Once you do this, assuming you’re not using GLM to control volume, you can completely remove the GLM software, controller, and Ethernet cables from your system after you’ve stored calibration to the speakers. This is what I do for one of my Genelec desktop setups, while for the other one I leave the GLM connected (though this does increase the tangle of wires). It’s nice that you don’t need to buy multiple GLM kits even if you have multiple sets of Genelec speakers.

4. I have GLM set 3.0 and run GLM software 4.0 and it works fine. I think 4.0 is just a software release, but I could be wrong.

 

[1231rq32r1qw32r]

Thank you very much for the detailed answers, these help a lot.

I think I'll get the GLM controller as I'm not sure how MacOS would handle system audio and that of a DAW (which presumably bypasses the audio stack in MacOS). Having the GLM stuff hooked up isn't much of an issue for me - I leave me gear on at all times.

Have you had any issues with the GLM software? Crashes, freezes etc? What OS do you run?

Thanks

 

[Χ Ξ Σ]

Just so you know, this dealer offers bundles in which the GLM kit is basically free.

 

[1231rq32r1qw32r]

Just so you know, this dealer offers bundles in which the GLM kit is basically free.

Thank you, unfortunately I am in the UK :-(

Thomann appear to have the best deal I can find

 

[pierre]

Thank you very much for the detailed answers, these help a lot.

I think I'll get the GLM controller as I'm not sure how MacOS would handle system audio and that of a DAW (which presumably bypasses the audio stack in MacOS). Having the GLM stuff hooked up isn't much of an issue for me - I leave me gear on at all times.

Have you had any issues with the GLM software? Crashes, freezes etc? What OS do you run?

Thanks

I do not have issue with the current version of GLM running on MacOS 11.3 (Big Sur). If you do electro music, the sub is useful. 8341+7370 is a killer combination in a small room.

 

[1231rq32r1qw32r]

@pierre, thank you, that's good to know.

Gah! I've just realised that if I buy from Thomann I will likely get hit with huge import tax (UK). Anyone go decent deals for these in the UK?

Thanks

 

[onion]

I got Genelec stuff from KMR Audio in London - worth calling them. Great service by them.

 

[1231rq32r1qw32r]

Thanks Onion. The price is a bit much at KMR - the sub is £700 more, and the speakers £600 more. It would be cheaper for me to pay the import tax

 

[onion]

Still worth calling and asking for a discount

 

[1231rq32r1qw32r]

I’ll try that, thanks!