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monitor roundup: Tannoy Reveal, Tannoy PBM 6.5 II, Event 20/20 v1
This afternoon, two friends and myself did an informal shootout between
these three passive monitors in my studio. We played a large variety of music through these monitors including classical chamber music, jazz piano trio w/vocalist, jazz vibraphone trio, techno, and pop songs. Most of the material is stuff that each one of us had composed and mixed ourselves, so we were intimately familar with what the material should sound like through any given set of speakers. Third Place: Tannoy Reveal. Many people like these monitors and it's easy to see why. Everything seems to sound pretty good on them. That's actually part of the problem with these speakers. They were the darkest sounding of the three and the midrange seems to be "compressed". One of the test CDs was a piano disc in which the midrange eq varied wildly. Where we should have been able to detect a change in the midrange eq, the differences were minimized and sounded almost exactly the same on every song. This is a detail that you should be able to hear on speakers in this price range. How could someone correct this problem if they were not able to hear it? In general, vocals and brass seemed to disappear or sit further back in the mix than where they really are. This was especially interesting because we would have never guessed that there was a mdirange dip just by casually listening to the speaker. One positive, the fundamental tone of the bass was very clear and tight, almost as if slight compression was applied to the bass part. If I had to transcribe a bass solo using one of the speakers we tried today, this would be it. In terms of its clarity, it was almost as if the bass part was transposed up an octave. Second Place: Tannoy PBM 6.5 II. At first listen, they seem to be less rich sounding than the Reveals, but the overall frequency balance was more accurate overall. The bass was more subdued than the Reveals, but this may be the reason why the mids were more open and didn't hide the vocals. This speaker has a more pronounced top end as well. I'd be curious to hear how they stack up against the current replacement for this speaker, the Tannoy Proto-J, which sell for only $200/pair. Although they look almost identical, the drivers for the two speakers are not the same. If anyone has compared the PBMs and the Proto-Js, please let me know your thoughts on how they stack up against each other. First Place: Event 20/20 (v1). The midrange of this speaker is truly spectacular. It was almost like going to 3-D compared to the other two speakers. The details were very easy to hear and they sounded very "uncompressed", particularly when compared to the Reveals. One of the songs, a vibraphone track had a LOT more dynamics apparent compared to the other speakers. The top end on this speaker is perhaps slightly hyped, but very pleasant to listen to. They weren't hyped to the extent that the KRK V series are, however. The low bass on this speaker seems to extend below the range of the Reveals, but it sounds flabbier. The fundamental wasn't as clearly pronounced. The consenus was that it is better to be able to hear lower frequencies, even if they're looser because at least you would know that they exist and need adjustment. We'd like to compare the unpowered Event 20/20 with the new powered Event TRS6. Although we auditioned the TR6 at Guitar Center and liked them very much for their gorgeous midrange and tight bass, they did not have any unpowered monitors connected at any of the 4 GC stores we went to for comparison. Further, none of them had Tannoy Reveals, although the SoCal Tannoy distrubutor said that GC carried their product! It's hard to make a final decision when you can't A/B speakers you like the most. If the TRS6 speaker has the bass clarity of the Reveal with the midrange and top of the 20/20, they have a combination that can't be beat in their price range ($400/pair). When and if we get to the bottom of this puzzlement, I'll pass the information along. Cheers, Jonas |
#2
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monitor roundup: Tannoy Reveal, Tannoy PBM 6.5 II, Event 20/20 v1
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#3
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monitor roundup: Tannoy Reveal, Tannoy PBM 6.5 II, Event 20/20 v1
Where could I find 'em? I've been to Guitar Center, Sam Ash, and West LA
Music, and I seem to run into the same 4 or 5 monitors everywhere. It's actually a bit frustrating. "Rick Hollett" wrote in message ... How would you rate the Blue Sky system w/12"sub? I find a clear balance across the spectrum and all the mixes do translate well. FWIW Rick Hollett Record Time Productions "WillStG" wrote in message ... "jonas aras" Second Place: Tannoy PBM 6.5 II. At first listen, they seem to be less rich sounding than the Reveals, but the overall frequency balance was more accurate overall. Ummm - I worked with those puppies in a well designed, tuned studio every day for the better of 3 years Jonas. You didn't notice a bit notch in the midrange that Tannoy thought made them "less fatiguing" to listen to all day? The bass was more subdued than the Reveals, but this may be the reason why the mids were more open and didn't hide the vocals. In other words, they do have better low end extension than the PBM 6.5's, yes? Look, if you think that hearing the low end extension makes it harder to hear the middle, your room is likely very poorly tuned. Furthermore you're not used to listening to full frequency program when you judge the overall balance of the frequency spectrum. Look I've been there and no way around it, it's an acquired skill and an enviroment that you have to get used to. In a poorly tuned room where low end reproduction clouds the program, any listening test results are less than optimal or emprical. First Place: Event 20/20 (v1). Your new "Mastering" speakers choice? Dude! At least _consider_ a pair of active bi-amped Dynaudio BM6A's! I know a guy with 8 pairs of them, $1420 a pair till they're gone. If you're gonna be "Mastering", buy some decent tools! Will Miho NY Music & TV Audio Guy Off the Morning Show! & sleepin' In... / Fox News "The large print giveth and the small print taketh away..." Tom Waits |
#4
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monitor roundup: Tannoy Reveal, Tannoy PBM 6.5 II, Event 20/20 v1
"WillStG" wrote in message
... Ummm - I worked with those puppies in a well designed, tuned studio every day for the better of 3 years Jonas. You didn't notice a bit notch in the midrange that Tannoy thought made them "less fatiguing" to listen to all day? Will's right, Jonas. I still have a pair and use them as a as a low resolution reference speaker. There is a hole there - you can work around it, but only if you know that it exists. -- Dave Martin Java Jive Studio Nashville, TN www.javajivestudio.com |
#5
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monitor roundup: Tannoy Reveal, Tannoy PBM 6.5 II, Event 20/20 v1
Second Place: Tannoy PBM 6.5 II.
I have listened to familiar instruments through these at friends' houses & found them totally lacking any sense of three dimensional depth. Less useful to my way of working than NS10s, but possibly good as a worst case reality check to see how something translates to a really crappy home stereo. I've never liked these speakers. First Place: Event 20/20 (v1). I did a CD of extremely dynamic bass heavy music (bagpipes, snare drums, bass drum) at a studio with these. The low end was HUGELY exaggerated, which was tons of fun for tracking, but nowhere near accurate enough for mixing. Not balanced or three dimensional enough for me to do realistic serious work on. Two subsequent CDs with the same band, tracked & mixed on my KEF 103.2s ended up with NO corrective EQ in mastering at Bernie Grundman's, so I believe I can trust them. Scott Fraser |
#6
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monitor roundup: Tannoy Reveal, Tannoy PBM 6.5 II, Event 20/20 v1
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#7
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monitor roundup: Tannoy Reveal, Tannoy PBM 6.5 II, Event 20/20 v1
1. You infer several things about my room that aren't true. The room is
asymetrical in shape and I've judiciously used some Auralex. One of the other reviewers is a well respected chamber music performer/composer who has an ear for rooms that would make Keith Jarrett blush, and he did not note anything out of the ordinary. 2. The Reveals do have better bass extension than the PBMs and upon casual listening they also seemed flatter thanthe PBMs until I noticed the vocals and brass on a couple of CDs being 3-5 dBA softer than on any other speaker (ghetto blaster and car stereo included) and the fact the midrange is certainly homogenized to make it all sound the same. The PBMs, which I'm sure have a dip as well, at least didn't cover up these instruments and allowed us to hear that there were eq differences in this range. The mids on the Reveals aren't the greatest. Given a choice between the PBMs and the Reveals, I'd go with the PBMs, in spite of their shortcomings. They're less messed up. 3. I'd love to send you a copy of a project that was completed using nothing but the PBMs and very poor source material. If you think that I'm deaf, then so be it. "WillStG" wrote in message ... "jonas aras" Second Place: Tannoy PBM 6.5 II. At first listen, they seem to be less rich sounding than the Reveals, but the overall frequency balance was more accurate overall. Ummm - I worked with those puppies in a well designed, tuned studio every day for the better of 3 years Jonas. You didn't notice a bit notch in the midrange that Tannoy thought made them "less fatiguing" to listen to all day? The bass was more subdued than the Reveals, but this may be the reason why the mids were more open and didn't hide the vocals. In other words, they do have better low end extension than the PBM 6.5's, yes? Look, if you think that hearing the low end extension makes it harder to hear the middle, your room is likely very poorly tuned. Furthermore you're not used to listening to full frequency program when you judge the overall balance of the frequency spectrum. Look I've been there and no way around it, it's an acquired skill and an enviroment that you have to get used to. In a poorly tuned room where low end reproduction clouds the program, any listening test results are less than optimal or emprical. First Place: Event 20/20 (v1). Your new "Mastering" speakers choice? Dude! At least _consider_ a pair of active bi-amped Dynaudio BM6A's! I know a guy with 8 pairs of them, $1420 a pair till they're gone. If you're gonna be "Mastering", buy some decent tools! Will Miho NY Music & TV Audio Guy Off the Morning Show! & sleepin' In... / Fox News "The large print giveth and the small print taketh away..." Tom Waits |
#8
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monitor roundup: Tannoy Reveal, Tannoy PBM 6.5 II, Event 20/20 v1
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#9
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monitor roundup: Tannoy Reveal, Tannoy PBM 6.5 II, Event 20/20 v1
"jonas aras" wrote in message
. com... 1. You infer several things about my room that aren't true. Geez, the room is just one component. Will's right, Jonas. Whatever your ears are capable of, your current speaker selection doesn't relate to getting a lot of jobs from people here, but then again, if you are getting in jobs that require the level of fixes you're talking about, then you aren't doing them any favors by guessing at what you're doing. And if you're getting the money and comeback clients, then you owe it to them to continue stepping up the ladder, adding money to your rates because of the equipment expenditures, and build yourself a business. I mean, ****, I'm a nobody, and I don't have a lot of money just to **** away in audio equipment. I have to justify the expenditures, and one of my speakers cost more than your current set. I have a large reference set that cost $1000 each (cheap in the world of professional audio), so you need to maintain your current desires and talent, and push a little on the equipment end. Like I said, if you've got people coming to you for these jobs then you need to be able to provide them a product about which you absolutely have total knowledge. I'd liken it to a post from Dave Collins in the 384 kHz thread where he talks about mastering engineers that say they've made some changes maybe at 2.5 kHz by .1 dB as if that's going to be audible to anyone. It's a fallacy. The change may well have been made, don't get me wrong. But it's effect on the overall product is absolutely zero. Do you want to be listing your mastering changes in .1 dB increments, or do you actually want to make a positive difference on the final product? Talking about the speakers you've been looking at, you aren't even in the .1 dB change range yet. -- Roger W. Norman SirMusic Studio RAP FAQ and Purchase your copy of the Fifth of RAP CD set at www.recaudiopro.net. See how far $20 really goes. The room is asymetrical in shape and I've judiciously used some Auralex. One of the other reviewers is a well respected chamber music performer/composer who has an ear for rooms that would make Keith Jarrett blush, and he did not note anything out of the ordinary. 2. The Reveals do have better bass extension than the PBMs and upon casual listening they also seemed flatter thanthe PBMs until I noticed the vocals and brass on a couple of CDs being 3-5 dBA softer than on any other speaker (ghetto blaster and car stereo included) and the fact the midrange is certainly homogenized to make it all sound the same. The PBMs, which I'm sure have a dip as well, at least didn't cover up these instruments and allowed us to hear that there were eq differences in this range. The mids on the Reveals aren't the greatest. Given a choice between the PBMs and the Reveals, I'd go with the PBMs, in spite of their shortcomings. They're less messed up. 3. I'd love to send you a copy of a project that was completed using nothing but the PBMs and very poor source material. If you think that I'm deaf, then so be it. "WillStG" wrote in message ... "jonas aras" Second Place: Tannoy PBM 6.5 II. At first listen, they seem to be less rich sounding than the Reveals, but the overall frequency balance was more accurate overall. Ummm - I worked with those puppies in a well designed, tuned studio every day for the better of 3 years Jonas. You didn't notice a bit notch in the midrange that Tannoy thought made them "less fatiguing" to listen to all day? The bass was more subdued than the Reveals, but this may be the reason why the mids were more open and didn't hide the vocals. In other words, they do have better low end extension than the PBM 6.5's, yes? Look, if you think that hearing the low end extension makes it harder to hear the middle, your room is likely very poorly tuned. Furthermore you're not used to listening to full frequency program when you judge the overall balance of the frequency spectrum. Look I've been there and no way around it, it's an acquired skill and an enviroment that you have to get used to. In a poorly tuned room where low end reproduction clouds the program, any listening test results are less than optimal or emprical. First Place: Event 20/20 (v1). Your new "Mastering" speakers choice? Dude! At least _consider_ a pair of active bi-amped Dynaudio BM6A's! I know a guy with 8 pairs of them, $1420 a pair till they're gone. If you're gonna be "Mastering", buy some decent tools! Will Miho NY Music & TV Audio Guy Off the Morning Show! & sleepin' In... / Fox News "The large print giveth and the small print taketh away..." Tom Waits |
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