I’m hoping to get some suggestions on new monitors but this may also serve as an anecdotal review of several speakers for those who are interested.
I have a small “bedroom studio” that measures around 2 meters wide and 3 meters long with limited room treatment and can’t-annoy-the-neighbors-volume restrictions. I make electronic music but not necessarily bass-heavy club music. I’m fine with a 50hz cutoff because my Slate VSX headphones are very effective for mixing low frequencies
I’ve been using NS-10m Studio with a Behringer A800 amp and Genelec 8030a monitors. DAC is a Universal Audio Apollo 8p.
Basically what I’d like to do is switch out the Genelecs for something else. I know they measure well and are darlings of ASR, but I’ve had them for more than 10 years and I’ve never got on well with them. The treble is very fatiguing to my ears and the lower mids are somewhat concealed. I know that this could be addressed through better room treatment but to be honest I’d rather get a pair of monitors that play better in my room as it is.
I’ve auditioned the Amphion one15, the Geithain rl906, and the Eve SC305 in my room and I like them all.
I slightly prefer the rl906 because the small size, coaxial design, and top-facing ports make them very easy to place. To me they sound like a more pleasing version of the Neumann KH120, with that flat/dry frequency response for clinical editing tasks. But unlike the KH120 they are not “boring.” And I am able to work on them for long periods without fatigue. As a bonus, when I’m not mixing they serve as fantastic speakers for listening as well.
I liked the Amphions because they were somehow able to tell me the problem areas in my mix—I can’t explain why but they were easy to mix on and translation was great to other speakers. Also very good as listening speakers. However they are very expensive and seem prone to blowouts.
The Eves are a three-way design so lower mids were clear and bass sounded very upfront and easy to mix; on the other hand I wasn’t a fan of the ribbon tweeters as it was too easy to boost high frequencies that became piercing on less forgiving speakers. Another point against the Eves is the rear-facing port and horizontal placement. It was a bit of a challenge to fit them far away enough from the wall and around my computer monitor. They also suffer from the Neumann clinical sound, especially in the higher frequencies. Good for mixing, but not so much for listening.
Since I’ve started reading reviews on this site two things I’ve learned are that you can’t always trust your ears and that you definitely can’t trust manufacturers specs. None of the speakers I’ve auditioned have been reviewed on this site so what I’m hoping for is a second opinion on any of these monitors. I’d hate to put 4 grand into new monitors only to come back in a few months and see that they measure badly.
Thanks for reading and I look forward to any opinions or suggestions.
I have a small “bedroom studio” that measures around 2 meters wide and 3 meters long with limited room treatment and can’t-annoy-the-neighbors-volume restrictions. I make electronic music but not necessarily bass-heavy club music. I’m fine with a 50hz cutoff because my Slate VSX headphones are very effective for mixing low frequencies
I’ve been using NS-10m Studio with a Behringer A800 amp and Genelec 8030a monitors. DAC is a Universal Audio Apollo 8p.
Basically what I’d like to do is switch out the Genelecs for something else. I know they measure well and are darlings of ASR, but I’ve had them for more than 10 years and I’ve never got on well with them. The treble is very fatiguing to my ears and the lower mids are somewhat concealed. I know that this could be addressed through better room treatment but to be honest I’d rather get a pair of monitors that play better in my room as it is.
I’ve auditioned the Amphion one15, the Geithain rl906, and the Eve SC305 in my room and I like them all.
I slightly prefer the rl906 because the small size, coaxial design, and top-facing ports make them very easy to place. To me they sound like a more pleasing version of the Neumann KH120, with that flat/dry frequency response for clinical editing tasks. But unlike the KH120 they are not “boring.” And I am able to work on them for long periods without fatigue. As a bonus, when I’m not mixing they serve as fantastic speakers for listening as well.
I liked the Amphions because they were somehow able to tell me the problem areas in my mix—I can’t explain why but they were easy to mix on and translation was great to other speakers. Also very good as listening speakers. However they are very expensive and seem prone to blowouts.
The Eves are a three-way design so lower mids were clear and bass sounded very upfront and easy to mix; on the other hand I wasn’t a fan of the ribbon tweeters as it was too easy to boost high frequencies that became piercing on less forgiving speakers. Another point against the Eves is the rear-facing port and horizontal placement. It was a bit of a challenge to fit them far away enough from the wall and around my computer monitor. They also suffer from the Neumann clinical sound, especially in the higher frequencies. Good for mixing, but not so much for listening.
Since I’ve started reading reviews on this site two things I’ve learned are that you can’t always trust your ears and that you definitely can’t trust manufacturers specs. None of the speakers I’ve auditioned have been reviewed on this site so what I’m hoping for is a second opinion on any of these monitors. I’d hate to put 4 grand into new monitors only to come back in a few months and see that they measure badly.
Thanks for reading and I look forward to any opinions or suggestions.
Last edited: