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April 2009
Speakers that Produce Sound as true as Your Own Ears
I remember the first time I listened to music through a decent pair of loudspeakers. I had just arrived as a freshman at a music high school in Stockholm, and it was my first time in real a studio. I remember the sound being clear and very strong, unlike anything I had ever heard before. It was as if someone had taken away all the things that obscured the music and for the first time I was able to hear music in the way it was meant to be heard. This experience was, unfortunately or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, not with a pair of Genelecs. My experience with the speakers that produce sound as true as your own ears was yet to come.
When I started to actually pay attention to how the speakers and the listening environment affected the way I and others experienced music, I became very interested in getting a speaker system that could produce sound as close to reality as possible. I started to learn everything there was to know about different speakers and all the different brands that were available in order to determine what I needed to achieve this. Unknown to me at the time, there would be quite a tricky path with twists and turns before I would arrive at the speakers I rely on today.
I wanted to move up a level from the mixing system I had at the time, which consisted of either headphones or the speakers that came as an extra with my 2002 iMac (!). I had visited the Swedish public televisions (SVT) sound studios and there Id had my first intimate encounter with the sound produced by a fully fledged Genelec system. To say the least, my previous experience of speakers was, as myself, blown away. It was just unlike anything I had ever heard in terms of clarity, loudness and low-end definition. Even though I was stunned by the performance (I had listened to a pair of 1037Cs and 7070A and a pair of 8040As in the near-field), I was a bit sad because I knew that this was something I could never afford. The future however, would prove otherwise.
As we all know, students budgets are always very tight, and so was mine. Therefore, I could not even begin to imagine how to pay for the system I dreamed of. I could not even scrape enough money together to come near a single 8030A. This was however, during the early months of 2005 and thus prior to the release of the 8020A. I kept checking around for more inexpensive alternatives and in 2006 when I had saved enough money I finally settled for a reasonably priced pair of another brand that I could afford. This pair of speakers were, to say the least, not very accurate. But I did with what I had and produced good sounding music in perspective to what I had to work with. But every time I was not happy with my mixes I kept remembering the Genelecs I had heard at the Swedish public television and how good they had sounded.
Fortune seemed to wish to inspire me further, and so I found myself working as a recording engineer for a movie dialogue in early 2007. This was in a far greater studio then my own tiny one I had started to build up at home and there, just like at SVT, there was Genelecs. This time however, I was at the mixing desk, and for the first time I had the very great pleasure to work with a pair of Genelecs. The session went great, and a lot of it was thanks to the great speakers I was using.
When all was said and done and I was back at my own home studio once again, I decided that this was it. I had to have a pair of these, no matter what. The most affordable ones were the recently released 8020A. I started to look around the internet for cheaper alternatives then my own local music store, and there were many. But most importantly there were also reviews of the 8020As saying that they were the absolute best punch for the penny and they were overall great performers in tiny listening environments. That settled the deal, so to speak. I was going to get them. Now I just had to get the money.
So, to be able to buy the 8020As I worked the whole summer during 2007 as a mailman and a few weeks after my final paycheck, the 8020As finally arrived. I was as excited as a child at christmas (partly because this was like christmas for me) and went and plugged them in at once. I put on one of my favorite songs, turned up the volume, and became, once again, blown away. I had never heard anything remotely like it. If listening to the speakers in the studio in my high school had been like taking a towel from the speakers, this was like taking the musicians and having them play in my own room.
I still rely on my 8020As on a daily basis for all kinds of audio work, and they have yet to disappoint me. Sometimes I find myself thinking that maybe I should upgrade to a larger system, but I always find myself to be extremely pleased with the 8020As great performance. For me there have been others that have revolutionized the way I write, work and think about music and sound editing, but none have earned all my respect, love and trust by one sole great performance. Except, of course, Genelec.
Equipment:
MacBook Pro 2.0 GHz Intel Core Duo 2GB RAM, Motu Ultralite, Genelec 8020A x 2, Rode NT2-A, Line Audio CM3 x 2, TLAudio Fat Man Stereo Compressor, Line 6 Pod XT Live, Various stompboxes.
When I started to actually pay attention to how the speakers and the listening environment affected the way I and others experienced music, I became very interested in getting a speaker system that could produce sound as close to reality as possible. I started to learn everything there was to know about different speakers and all the different brands that were available in order to determine what I needed to achieve this. Unknown to me at the time, there would be quite a tricky path with twists and turns before I would arrive at the speakers I rely on today.
I wanted to move up a level from the mixing system I had at the time, which consisted of either headphones or the speakers that came as an extra with my 2002 iMac (!). I had visited the Swedish public televisions (SVT) sound studios and there Id had my first intimate encounter with the sound produced by a fully fledged Genelec system. To say the least, my previous experience of speakers was, as myself, blown away. It was just unlike anything I had ever heard in terms of clarity, loudness and low-end definition. Even though I was stunned by the performance (I had listened to a pair of 1037Cs and 7070A and a pair of 8040As in the near-field), I was a bit sad because I knew that this was something I could never afford. The future however, would prove otherwise.
As we all know, students budgets are always very tight, and so was mine. Therefore, I could not even begin to imagine how to pay for the system I dreamed of. I could not even scrape enough money together to come near a single 8030A. This was however, during the early months of 2005 and thus prior to the release of the 8020A. I kept checking around for more inexpensive alternatives and in 2006 when I had saved enough money I finally settled for a reasonably priced pair of another brand that I could afford. This pair of speakers were, to say the least, not very accurate. But I did with what I had and produced good sounding music in perspective to what I had to work with. But every time I was not happy with my mixes I kept remembering the Genelecs I had heard at the Swedish public television and how good they had sounded.
Fortune seemed to wish to inspire me further, and so I found myself working as a recording engineer for a movie dialogue in early 2007. This was in a far greater studio then my own tiny one I had started to build up at home and there, just like at SVT, there was Genelecs. This time however, I was at the mixing desk, and for the first time I had the very great pleasure to work with a pair of Genelecs. The session went great, and a lot of it was thanks to the great speakers I was using.
When all was said and done and I was back at my own home studio once again, I decided that this was it. I had to have a pair of these, no matter what. The most affordable ones were the recently released 8020A. I started to look around the internet for cheaper alternatives then my own local music store, and there were many. But most importantly there were also reviews of the 8020As saying that they were the absolute best punch for the penny and they were overall great performers in tiny listening environments. That settled the deal, so to speak. I was going to get them. Now I just had to get the money.
So, to be able to buy the 8020As I worked the whole summer during 2007 as a mailman and a few weeks after my final paycheck, the 8020As finally arrived. I was as excited as a child at christmas (partly because this was like christmas for me) and went and plugged them in at once. I put on one of my favorite songs, turned up the volume, and became, once again, blown away. I had never heard anything remotely like it. If listening to the speakers in the studio in my high school had been like taking a towel from the speakers, this was like taking the musicians and having them play in my own room.
I still rely on my 8020As on a daily basis for all kinds of audio work, and they have yet to disappoint me. Sometimes I find myself thinking that maybe I should upgrade to a larger system, but I always find myself to be extremely pleased with the 8020As great performance. For me there have been others that have revolutionized the way I write, work and think about music and sound editing, but none have earned all my respect, love and trust by one sole great performance. Except, of course, Genelec.
Equipment:
MacBook Pro 2.0 GHz Intel Core Duo 2GB RAM, Motu Ultralite, Genelec 8020A x 2, Rode NT2-A, Line Audio CM3 x 2, TLAudio Fat Man Stereo Compressor, Line 6 Pod XT Live, Various stompboxes.