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Genelec 8361A Review (Powered Monitor)

Rate this speaker:

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 6 0.9%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 4 0.6%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther)

    Votes: 28 4.1%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 638 94.4%

  • Total voters
    676

waldo2

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I too would be skeptical of an individual report of a listener Like me. I understand the issue with people all over the internet reporting different opinions With no control. I also would like to have an easily codified way of identifying perfect speakers to eliminate judgment. I just don’t think we are there yet, despite the great desire of most of us to get there. maybe I am wrong, butworld of generally imperfect recordings, perfect playback may be problematic. Those are the recordings we have, howeve.
 

mkt

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dfuller

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I too would be skeptical of an individual report of a listener Like me. I understand the issue with people all over the internet reporting different opinions With no control. I also would like to have an easily codified way of identifying perfect speakers to eliminate judgment. I just don’t think we are there yet, despite the great desire of most of us to get there. maybe I am wrong, butworld of generally imperfect recordings, perfect playback may be problematic. Those are the recordings we have, howeve.
That's the "Circle of Confusion" that gets talked about. If something is mixed and/or mastered on less-than-great speakers, it will not sound good on all sources.
 

Joachim Herbert

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Congrats
Do you feel the soundstage is small or anything is "off"with the sound compared to non coaxial speakers?
Coming from Adam S3V* I find the stereo image to be more stable when moving my head.

One recording that caused some irritation today was "when I go to heaven by John Prine-. It features very intimate solo parts versus wide, maybe out of phase chorus passages. Stark contrast via headphones, not so much via the Genelecs. Demystified, sort of.

Will have to listen to this via my Neumann desktop setup tomorrow.

* Great value, though lacking GLM functionality.
 

waldo2

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Let me elaborate a bit more about my experience with GLM. It nicely adjusted the bass, but, as others here have said, doesn’t do much for upper mids and higher frequencies, and may have emphasized them a bit more. That is what I couldn’t fix with additional eq after GLM. That may be my fault because i was just trying different eq settings to get sound I was looking for and I may have not expert at that. Nevertheless, after GLM and without further tinkering the speakers were as I have described them and even after further adjusting the higher frequencies with GLM, I could not make them sound close to natural on acoustic recordings. Blame my ears, my eq settings, my room, my recordings, or All of them together. But, now i have given as complete account as I can.
 

Sancus

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We have very few excellent recordings of classical music, in my opinion. Most of it is close miked, and a bit harsh and not very natural.

Huh? One of the most popular methods of recording classical/acoustic music is using the Decca Tree or a modern version of it which is not close-miking and typically captures a lot of room reflections.

I agree uneven recording quality is a problem with classical, but I don't think the issue is typically the recording techniques. I think the issue is mixing. Close-miked records can sound great when the post-recording steps are done well.

I realize now that few people here likely even listen to acoustic music and I tired to say that I like the speakers much better with electronic instruments and processed studio recordings.

Yes, that's why we have a 30-page thread about speakers used to mix classical music, because no one listens to it or cares about it.

That is what I couldn’t fix with additional eq after GLM. That may be my fault because i was just trying different eq settings to get sound I was looking for and I may have not expert at that.

See, that's totally reasonable. GLM and these speakers are after all foremost designed as a tool for professional engineers. So it's somewhat assumed that you will have a good understanding of EQ if you wish to customize the automatic profile GLM gives you. It's definitely a flaw that GLM's customization is very poor if you aren't practiced at building your own filters.

IMO the "Sound Character Profiler" is a pretty bad substitute for target curves.
 

Pearljam5000

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Coming from Adam S3V* I find the stereo image to be more stable when moving my head.

One recording that caused some irritation today was "when I go to heaven by John Prine-. It features very intimate solo parts versus wide, maybe out of phase chorus passages. Stark contrast via headphones, not so much via the Genelecs. Demystified, sort of.

Will have to listen to this via my Neumann desktop setup tomorrow.

* Great value, though lacking GLM functionality.
Thanks
Do you feel the bass is comparable to Adam S3V?
 

waldo2

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Huh? One of the most popular methods of recording classical/acoustic music is using the Decca Tree or a modern version of it which is not close-miking and typically captures a lot of room reflections.

I agree uneven recording quality is a problem with classical, but I don't think the issue is typically the recording techniques. I think the issue is mixing. Close-miked records can sound great when the post-recording steps are done well.



Yes, that's why we have a 30-page thread about speakers used to mix classical music, because no one listens to it or cares about it.
Unfortunately, fewer than 1% of recordings sold are classical, and much of that of the pop variety. Don’t want to get into recording techniques as i am no expert, but I disagree about classical recordings. I posted before, but found this interview with Tony Faulkner helpful on classical music recording techniques.
 

waldo2

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Unfortunately, fewer than 1% of recordings sold are classical, and much of that of the pop variety. Don’t want to get into recording techniques as i am no expert, but I disagree about classical recordings. I posted before, but found this interview with Tony Faulkner helpful on classical music recording techniques.
sorry, forgot the link:
.
 

Sancus

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Don’t want to get into recording techniques as i am no expert, but I disagree about classical recordings.

Well, I cite the fact that the tv/film industry frequently uses close miking for their recordings and they generally sound pretty good. In fact, sometimes credits music mixed for Atmos sounds better than any available stereo recording of the same material.

Unfortunately I don't have time to watch an hour long interview right now but I'll try to take a look at some point. And I acknowledge that there are many varied opinions on how to record and mix classical, in fact I think classical maybe has more variance in this aspect than any other genre.
 
Last edited:

Joachim Herbert

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Thanks
Do you feel the bass is comparable to Adam S3V?
Too early to tell. I had a pretty good bass EQ for the Adams and will have to work on the GLM results. I just took one single point measurement and have not optimized for wall distance.

Having said that there is lots of well defined bass. I'd say it can play much louder than the S3V without loosing shape. But the Adam is loud enough for all practical purposes.
 

dfuller

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I realize now that few people here likely even listen to acoustic music
Not ragging on you, but even I (a massive fan of loud distorted guitars) listen to a fair amount of acoustic music - albeit, usually bluegrass. But that has fiddle, which is subject to the same issues as classical violin because it's the same instrument. Classical recordings in my experience often emphasize the really biting parts of a violin's tone, even with good players. Which is odd, because that nails-on-a-chalkboard thing is the exact thing that separates good violinists from bad ones. Bad ones have it bad, good ones don't.
Don’t want to get into recording techniques as i am no expert, but I disagree about classical recordings. I posted before, but found this interview with Tony Faulkner helpful on classical music recording techniques.
When I've done orchestras, it was a mix of whole-orchestra (i.e. Decca Tree or similar) setups and per-section mics. The only things close miked were the basses and some of the percussion.
 

Sancus

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Classical recordings in my experience often emphasize the really biting parts of a violin's tone, even with good players.

I wonder how much this is intentional and how much it might be a result of hearing damage or age-related loss among the audio engineers? Because while common it's definitely not universal either. Obviously, another explanation might be using speakers with a darker tilt for mixing.
 

ahofer

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Sitting next to a violinist or violist gets a pretty biting tone, relative to the audience-distance perception of massed strings.
 

turnip_up

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That's the "Circle of Confusion" that gets talked about. If something is mixed and/or mastered on less-than-great speakers, it will not sound good on all sources.

Has there been any scientific testing to determine that is the case? I mean... we don't even know what music he is talking about, much less what speakers may have been used during the production process.
 

Ardrazzt

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Probably happens everywhere, to some degree. There is certainly a lot of noise on gearspace... but there are also a lot of people there who have notched up some very serious hours of critical listening over long careers.



They are great sounding speakers, but I still think placement is key to getting the most out of them. I have a pair of S360s here too. Sticking them side by side about 2 to 2.5 meters away, and the S360s just trounce them in every way shape, and form. Their soundstage, depth and clarity is just incredible. Move them all closer, to about 1m away and the story changes entirely.
So, is "better" the S360 for 3 meters away?
 

dfuller

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Has there been any scientific testing to determine that is the case? I mean... we don't even know what music he is talking about, much less what speakers may have been used during the production process.
We do, he linked some of it further back. And yes, it was from Toole himself as I understand it.
 

pozz

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I wonder how much this is intentional and how much it might be a result of hearing damage or age-related loss among the audio engineers? Because while common it's definitely not universal either. Obviously, another explanation might be using speakers with a darker tilt for mixing.
Violin directivity. A lot of the HF radiates upward from the soundboard, and a common technique in classical music is to use overhead mics.

Few people recording understand the individual directivity patterns of each instrument.
 

pozz

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I too would be skeptical of an individual report of a listener Like me. I understand the issue with people all over the internet reporting different opinions With no control. I also would like to have an easily codified way of identifying perfect speakers to eliminate judgment. I just don’t think we are there yet, despite the great desire of most of us to get there. maybe I am wrong, butworld of generally imperfect recordings, perfect playback may be problematic. Those are the recordings we have, howeve.
Fair comment. Part of what we discuss here is the state of knowledge in audio. Lots of journal papers and so forth. They are good guides, since individually we only know so much, and each of us can bring something to the forum by doing the work of reading research. There is an implicit attitude here that if you find yourself in an unfamiliar area, the right thing to do is to investigate, and consider what you know suspect in the meantime.

Helps that we have so many members with professional and science backgrounds, and many others that are very knowledgable enthusiasts.

It's very nice that you've decided to remain part of the discussion.
 
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