mattavall's Reviews
2 reviews Back to mattavall's Equipboard
120
A little too good?
When I went into the DJ business in the early nineties I was told by everyone that Genelecs were the best. It was the golden standard. I even spent a lot of time with a friends 8030s and I had to agree, the Genelecs were indeed fantastic. I never actually bought a pair though since the price was out of my range. Genelecs are very pricey, but you do get what you pay for.
Some twenty odd years later I finally bought my own Genelecs. Started out with the 8010s and a bit later upgraded to 8020s. And I love them to bits. I still think the larger versions are too pricey though, that's why I'm looking elsewhere if I decide to go larger. But anyways, the 8020s are a fantastic set of speakers. The build quality is about the best in the business, tech support is great and they sound amazing throughout the spectrum even though they're only 4". In fact, they sound a little too good. You have to work really hard to make these sound bad, they're kind of the opposite to the NS10s in that regard. I want to hear where and if I made a mistake. I don't want my main monitors to camouflage it.
Imho, the Genelecs are best suited as a secondary pair on which you play back your recordings to your musicians, clients, vocalists or just for casual music listening. They just sound too good to be analytical. To circle back to the beginning, these are also great for DJs, because even if they're a bit more Hi-Fi than superflat monitors they are extremely clear, detailed and precise. Would I recommend these to producers and DJs? Absolutely, in a heartbeat. Just be aware of what you're buying: a very very good sounding, and/but forgiving, speaker.
120
Bullseye for Arrow
I've been going through a LOT of interfaces through the years. Starting with a PCI-based E-MU, onto the brilliant Impact Twin from T.C Electronic, to the not so great Scarlet from Focusrite, via the unstable and unreliable Apogee One and Duet. All before I finally landed in UAD-land and felt like home.
I chose the Arrow over the Apollo Twin mostly for the Thunderbolt 3 native support and also the portability via the bus-powering. This ironically turned out to be the only downside to the interface. The quality and stability of the Arrow is second to none. It never ever fails. BUT, the headphone amp is a little too weak. I work mostly in my bedroom studio and therefore mostly with headphones, and the Arrow just can't drive anything above my ATH-M40x with sufficient power. My DT 770 Pro 250 ohms and ATH-R70x's run out of headroom really quick with the Arrow.
But, I would still recommend this interface every day of the week, just be aware of the headphone amp.