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Tannoy Monitors - The modern kind?


Declannz

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Hi Guys,

 

Well, I'm back from holiday and have some money left over, which feels weird.

 

My band will be recording in a month or so, therefore it's time to buy some of the required gear. One thing I need is monitors because my Linns would probably be a bit... coloured. Because I'm weird, I'd rather not go for wee near-fields. What I have my heart set on in some Dual-Concentricness.

 

To that end, does anyone have any 12" Tannoys of the modernish variety they'd like to move on? The Little Monitor Golds look sweet, but reviews are mixed on whether they are shite or not. But that gives you an idea what I'm looking for.

 

I have the opportunity to pick up some of the older Monitor Golds, but I have a feeling they may not be accurate enough to mix/master on. Your thoughts?

 

 

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Do you require high resolution mastering? The Tannoy's I have heard would not be suitable for mastering anything which I would like to consider to be of saleable quality. They fudge the detail to the degree of not really knowing just what is going on. Even masking digital clipping to a degree. You probably could get a great master for those who have similar gear, but for those who have high resolution playback systems, specially the headphone listeners who care about the sound quality, are going to have a hard time getting past what the mastering process missed simply because the monitors did not reveal what was required.

 

 

 

Genlec, Dynaudio, Focal, Krk, Adam audio.. Those are the brands which are now amongst the more popular. At the Tokyo EP show I most recently attended, the Genlec and Focal studio monitors appear to be the most prolifically used in studios which are frequented by artists who appear to be concerned about the quality of the final product. I also have noted a trend that now the monitors which are most popular for music monitoring also appear to be the most popular in the motion picture industry - something that twenty five years ago I simply never noted.

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Ignore Robert's post I suggest.   I think he is making things up to sell his products or Friends products judging by his post, or making it up just to make post.   Common on these forums I have learned to understand.

 

Tannoy Dual Concentrics are what most Vinyl/Analogue  music has been mastered on.

 

 

 

Tannoy Dual Concentrics are nothing but revealing.  Take bad mastering and they will make it sound worse than rubbish.

 

I do not have any for sale.   They are about.   Modern non dual concentrics don't seem to be the go.   There were some Tannoy 800 monitors on trademe recently.   They are Near Field though.

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Thanks for assuming incorrectly that I either sell or have contacts with the sellers of the gear I mentioned. I actually worked in the recording industry for quite some time many moons ago, but of course, you assumed you knew better. That is most certainly common on forums I understand.

 

Tannoy DC speakers are old fashioned sounding without great extension or accuracy outside of the lower midrange. Great for many to listen to, but not suitable for mastering at all in the modern world.

 

As far as I know, Genlec,  Dynaudio, Focal, Adam audio and KRK are sold by different people. I don't really care what Declannz chooses to master on,  and to be honest, I don't really understand why when you have an opinion which differs from another's,  you have to assume you know that they know nothing as opposed to accepting that everyone has an opinion, many of which are valid and have solid reason behind them.

 

 

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Thank you both. I'm hoping to have both available for doing the work on. I think the vintage tannoys are more in tune with my ears, which is why I'm reluctant to use them initially. Maybe as a second monitor they would be nice. I'm fond of warm "pipe-smoking" english sound, which is why my main hifi speakers are Linn, Kef, or cool oddities with Kef/Coles drivers.

 

Mostly my mixing and mastering has been done on my sadly gone JBL 4311's, which were great, as long as you didn't care about anything 17khz or above.

 

This time, I'm looking for neutrality, but on a budget. I've heard some genlecs and find them quite shrill. I can't listen to them for too long, which might be a problem with my hearing or the speaker. It's hard to tell.

 

Robert, do you have any experience with the Yamaha HS8 or HS80 models? So far they are looking best bet in my price range, unless I can get something second hand that's better. If so, what do you think of them?

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Hello Declannz.

 

 

 

Genlecs being shrill to your ears does not surprise me now knowing just what you are used to listening to. I have found that the entry level Genlec's are a little hot for my tastes also, and often find the resulting mix a little less than bright unless the engineer really knows the speakers well. The full size main monitors are really very good indeed, but revealing, and possibly lacking a bit of soul. For monitoring, lacking a bit of soul is not the sin that it is in the hifi world where most people claim they want one thing, but actually want something which adds appeal to the music by way of coloration.

 

The small Yamaha's I am not hugely experienced in. From what I remember of them, the midrange was quite exceptional for a budget monitor, but they lacked bass extension. What sort of music are you wanting to be using them predominantly for?

 

 

 

KRK do some quite good speakers in the lower end of the market. I am not super familiar with the models, so can not offer you much assistance I fear.

 

 

 

I looked briefly on Trademe and there are some quite well regarded Adam audio A77x's but they might be well outside what your wanting to spend if your looking at the Yamaha's. There are also countless budget speakers which make claim to being studio monitor speakers, but I strongly suspect that if you tried to use them for such a purpose you would end up with a rather unbalanced result.

 

 

 

Are you aware that KEF make some smaller studio monitors. Dual concentric type and they may suit your tastes, although modern KEF and old KEF are quite different beasts in the hifi world. I have not heard the KEF monitors.

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I have never heard complaints about music that is mastered and/or recorded on Tannoy DC and JBL studio gear.

 

Well done that you have done things in the recording industry Robert.  I'm sure you know things I don't.    Unlike you I do not and will not state my credentials to try and win a forum argument. [Yes I have some matey]  Facts are what is Important.     The Facts are.    Modern mastered music sounds rubbish more often than not.

 

A reflection on what the studio engineers hear and the Master hears?    Likely.

 

For the record Tannoy DC and JBL studio ranges make the pretenders look silly in specs.

 

The like [examples] of what you have produced, have left out spec's that make their speakers look average of below.   eg: what is the distortion figures at rated power?  What is frequency range +/- at rated power?    Not interested in theoretical rubbish.

 

Declannz ...I hope you find some great speakers.   Sorry about the thread argument.

 

 

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"An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations and share opinions..."

 

O-pin-ion

noun

 

1. A belief or conclusion held with confidence but not substantiated by positive knowledge or proof.

 

Fact

n.

a. Something demonstrated to exist or known to have existed.

 

Just a thought... :)

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Well, after looking around a lot, I've decided on the new Focal Alpha 80 range. They're just a tad over budget, but the guy I'm mixing with has the CMS series in his UK studio, so I figure I may as well get something that he's more familiar with. If I can scrape together enough money while wiating for them to arrive I might get the Tannoy Golds as well to use as the B speakers. I reckon between the two we should be okay.

 

Now for the next fun part: Microphones!

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Hi Declannz.

 

 

 

I have not heard those focals but if they are anything like the rest of the focal family they will not disappoint.

 

 

 

Certainly if you can get alternate monitors to do back to backs with you will moderate anything which one or the other accentuates or masks.

 

 

 

Testing on a run of the mini system never goes astray of your target audience tend to listen via then.

 

 

 

Good luck with them! Let us know how your feeling once you have used them. Specially if you put them side by side with the tannoysame.

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