Kali IN-UNF - new ultra nearfield speakers

[sweetchaos]

Erin has measured them:

Kali Audio IN-UNF Ultra-Nearfield Studio Monitor Review (by ErinsAudioCorner)

Erin has posted another review for us to look at. This is the Kali Audio IN-UNF, which retail for US$600/pair. Spinorama: Erin's video review: Erin's written review: https://www.erinsaudiocorner.com/loudspeakers/kali_in_unf/ Discuss!

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[mellowflight]

I spent a few days with these and am considering returning them. A few points of feedback:

The USB input sounds significantly better than the analog TRS inputs -- signal chain is Windows -> MOTU M4 -> Kali IN-UNF.

While there is no noise with the analog inputs, it sounds like a "blanket" or "dark veil" is thrown over the speakers and the channel balance skews heavily towards the left side. Switch back to the USB input and there is instant clarity and snares/vocals/etc. are dead center.

Unfortunately, ADC seems like an afterthought?

The other annoyance is that the gain knob makes no sense when using the USB input. Attenuation is digitally stepped, and one "click" is almost too loud with Windows volume maxed out. Anything above 2-3 steps is deafening, rendering the knob somewhat useless.

Otherwise, the speakers sound surprisingly good and I love the form factor, but I have to decide if I'm willing to live with the I/O limitations.

Hey there!

What did you end up deciding? I'm looking at purchasing the IN-UNF's but I'm a bit hesitant after hearing your experience... I'm also using the TRS output from a MOTU M4!

Thanks

 

[sphykik]

Hey there!

What did you end up deciding? I'm looking at purchasing the IN-UNF's but I'm a bit hesitant after hearing your experience... I'm also using the TRS output from a MOTU M4!

Thanks

I returned them to Sweetwater and decided on a pair of Genelec 8010a with a Yamaha studio sub. Very happy with that setup.

Ultimately, I would not recommend the IN-UNFs. Kali almost got it right, but the not-so-transparent ADC and oddly-stepped digital input attenuation were deal breakers for me.

 

[Ondra]

I finally got these. I'm fairly satisfied with the sound. Only two caveats, the bass is sometimes fairly localizable, depending on what's playing not at all and other times it's like the bass guitar is literally inside the bass module. The USB audio implementation is very finicky: doesn't work at all with Android or Linux; On Windows it only works if the system volume is 44%+, under that it's muted.

I'm considering returning them, will give a few more listens and give the shop a call.

I just purchased these and for me, it seems it's working on Linux and Android;

• Android phone: Samsung S23, connected via USB-C -> USB-C, music played using VLC player
• Linux laptop: Dell Precision 7520, Intel® Xeon(R), Ubuntu 22.04, first connected via USB-C -> USB-C, then USB-A (laptop) -> USB-C (KALI), music played using VLC, but it seems online players work as well (youtube, soundcloud, videos on social media etc.)

No DAC used in between in all cases. It seems to me that the driver took a while to download and initialize. I was online on both devices and it seems to me that on Android it was slightly faster, nevertheless, it took about 0.5-1 minute to recognize and set up. I turned the "Standby Off" feature off (Switch 7 UP), nevertheless, it occasionally takes few seconds to kick in, sometimes I need to play with volume on the laptop to "wake it up". I also realized that all speakers must be connected. When I tried only with the core part, nothing was recognized. If you have trouble to make them work, try connecting to the internet, plug everything in, let it rest for few minutes (driver init) and then play with the sound settings (mute, unmute, change volume), maybe try different player.
Regarding volume, my laptop and phone are on minimum (first step before mute) as well as KALI, otherwise it's really loud.