iLoud, Genelec, sound, and reliability

I would definitely not consider iLouds at all crappy… in fact, they are some of the most revealing speakers I’ve ever heard (mids and highs at least) with a super-detailed soundstage. Despite their shortcomings I find them to be a joy to use.

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I think you may be mixing up the iLoud MTM and the iLoud Micro Monitors.

Your all-white setup looks killer. So good.

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…gosh, bass response is sooooo loved and overjudged…
especially in the early years, when u get started…

when u hear people saying…hey!..anything under 8" won’t get u any kind of truu low end on a studio monitor…
well, then u know his or her level of experience and focus when it comes to proper mixdowns…

there’s no studio monitor in near or mid field range where u have the fun of low end rumble AND the accurate responsiveness of all the other, way more important frequency ranges at once…

while even 5" translate pretty fine all the way down to 60hz…with a perfectly suited frequency roll off…
anything below 50hz is only for the fun of physicality…
and for that, any fun boombox can satisfy u…
and keep in mind, even biggest pa’s have a total cutoff beneath 25hz…and starting their roll off under 40 hz…

a gentle, clear and strong lowest octave can only be judged with dedicated subs, perfectly suited for an accousticly treated room, that makes, as mentioned before, always at least half of all ur listening experience…
and since pretty much nobody can call that their daily standard, visual help via metrering and headphone control remains a must…if u want more than just mush mush dronedrowning low ends…

with the years u’ll find urself killing low end and low mids on pretty much all ur individul signals, since there’s always tooo much of it all over the place…
basslines grow in power once they really get the space to rule and start to breath with pretty much the only other low end actor there is… the kik…
and tune tune tune tune ur low end, if u want truu punch…
don’t fool urself with just too busy 8" membranes on nearfield monitoring…
and hey, once u got a truu accurate lowest octave within ur mix, cause u relly kept an eye on all low frequencies and shaped the perfect basic tuning, suddenly u got a great bass experience even on laptop speakers…
ooops but yup, the miracle magic of math and physics will reward u… :wink:

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Can confirm. 305s are fantastic. My new apartment has thinner walls so I am currently using them for my TV heh :sweat:

Once I move to something more suitable those will go back to the studio. Just using DT 990 Pros for now…

I also like the iLouds and never had that high pitch hum issue. Maybe I just got lucky. However I think I am also confusing the MTMs and whatever I bought at Guitar Center heh

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It unfortunately all boils down to room treatment. In order to achieve “the best experience”, you need to go crazy and measure your room, place tuned diffuser/absorbers and thick bass traps in all corners, first reflection points, ceiling etc etc.

Now I believe that speakers do make a difference regardless of the room. I have initially had Kali Audio LP-6s, too much hiss, returned. Then got the T7Vs, horrible and cheap speakers, returned. Now I have Focal Alpha 65s and they are way better than the above mentioned speakers but I still cannot hear the bass the way I want it due to my untreated and overcrowded room.

I cannot say anything about Genelecs or iLouds as I didn’t have the chance to try them out but I can say, after months of trial and error, that buying something else and forgetting about it sadly doesn’t work when it comes to acoustics, as it is purely mathematics. Small speakers for small rooms is also not correct, as speakers don’t know the room they are being fired in. The distance between drivers being too far can be a problem if your listening location is too close to the speakers, but that doesn’t mean you need to let go of your 8 inch speakers just because your room is somewhat small.

So I would spend my time and money to proper room treatment first and then try different brands to find that sweet spot for your liking.

Room treatment would be great, but I don’t have a dedicated space. It’s also a living area, so bass traps and acoustic foam are out.

That said, it’s arranged with lots of soft stuff at irregular angles, so I’m not making life easy for those rogue soundwaves :grinning:

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I love my MTMs and haven’t experienced any whining like you’ve described. That said, I wouldn’t use them outside a studio environment. I think they excel at low dB listening, but they don’t behave nicely once you start pushing the volume, and the sweet spot is relatively narrow. The JBL LSR series are a tad noisier, but have an overall decent sound (maybe more hifi than studio precise) and are worth checking out. I’d definitely try out a pair of the smaller Genelecs to see if you like them. It’s been a long time since I’ve used any of their stuff, so I can’t speak on how they compare.

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8010s with the small sub can be quite nice imo also, that or just reference headphones for subs on 8020s. It is good to mix with out subs from time to time also so you know it will translate well to systems without a sub. Build on genelecs is very impressive. I’ve heard great stuff about the ilouds also though… just no actual experience with them. End of the day you will probably always need to reference with headphones in an untreated space so you could skip the sub and reference more often 8010 or 8020 should be fine imo.

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In that case, there is really no point in spending lots of money to different high end speakers. It’s frustrating to sit in front of thousands of dollars worth of speakers and cannot recognize the song you have been listening to for decades. Downgrading to a 5 inch speker won’t solve your problems as they don’t produce the frequencies that cause trouble in the first place. It’s like a doctor saying psychotherapy is pointless because they cannot measure the illness (might be a poor anology, I am drunk).

Take my advise with a grain of salt but I think it is best to keep what you have or go back to HS8s and invest in some decent headphones, providing you don’t have one. Even if you get the best speaker out there, you won’t manage to overcome basic physics. I still mix 90% of my time with DT-770s, which I am not content about really.

Same here, sound wise the iLoud micro are very good, I do think they could be built a bit better though - the annoying whine when first powering up and the low level hiss and hum they emit when no music is playing annoys me a bit, but in use they are adequate and they translate pretty well (for small rooms at least).

I just wish the electronics/psu was a bit better, I’d rather pay 100 more for them if these issues were fixed, but as it stands I’m still happy with them for the price they cost because they are very easy on the ear, and a great contrast to the Equator D5 I use which have a slightly duller mid range.

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don’t have much details to add but i recently acquired a genelec bundle, (8010’s & sub).

to me, with a compromised studio area and the quality of sound from the Gens, i think they’re keepers for the long run.

really can’t go wrong with that.
plus they’re very compact and easy to find a nice spot somewhere.

when you start caring more about bass, the sub is always there.
just get a dedicated pedal for on/off.

just my 2 cents.

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I also have this setup and they work great for me. I think the Genelec sub is only 6 1/2”. It works well for a smaller space and there is no disconnect between the sub and the 8010’s, they sound like the same speaker.

I use my trusty Sennheiser HD-650’s to check things though because I’ve had them for many years.

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pedal?.. intrigued?

yeah. so you don’t have the sub always on versus beatmaking and mixing.
lil tippy tap to check the bass here and there.

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I have an update. Thanks to some lucky circumstances, I’ve been able to try the Genelecs out with my own setup.

First impression after trying those amazing iLouds is that the Genelecs were a bit lacklustre. However, after a day of using them for both background listening, for active evaluation, and for making music, I think they’re much better.

I haven’t yet done an A/B test, and perhaps I won’t. They never seem so useful to me, because it’s not like speakers are the same but with just one or two differences. It’s the whole package that counts.

The iLouds really are great. Punchy, clear, and with amazing bass. They’re just impressive.

But maybe they’re a bit like those oversaturated TVs in the showroom?

The Genelecs are less flashy, but don’t seem to be trying as hard to impress. They’re the cool lady or gent sitting off to the side, smoking a cigarette, and only speaking when they have something interesting to say.

One thing I find odd about these Genelecs is the bass. Music seems bass-light. That is, on sections where I’m used to hearing a big bass punch coming in, the Genelecs don’t kick.

The odd part is that, if I turn up the bass on my mixer’s EQ, they can produce it. Easily. Real desk-rattling stuff. I wonder what’s happening.

Anyway, if anyone has any questions about the differences between iLoud MTMs and Genelec 8030s, now’s the time to ask!

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I havent tried the iLoud MTM’s. But if they have a calibration setup with a mic, i think that can be why they seem better. Calibration does help alot.

I got the 8330’s with a sub, and GLM kit. And it is night and day difference when i turn off the calibration.

How do you calibrate the Genelecs? I see how you can use EQ on a computer, but I mostly use a mixer with instruments hooked up direct.

As you say, the iLouds store their calibration internally.

Edit: I see you have the 8330s. I mis-read that as 8030s.

Another edit: I found that the Genelecs’ dip-switches are surprisingly effective when used as detailed in the manual. Yes, I read manuals, and I like it :slight_smile:

And the Genelec manuals are very good. At least some of the older ones i found. Good description of how audio works, and how to place the speakers.

Pretty sure the 8030’s and 8330’s have a similar sound. But 8330’s have the calibration that helps.

You could use Sonarworks for calibration. People seem to like it alot.

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I think that might be due to a flatter frequency response, and it’s helped me find a balanced mix. I’m starting to feel the bass from my old monitors were masking other frequencies further up the spectrum.

Have you bought the Genelecs now? I bought them in their Raw colour, and they’re very unique but ugly. They might be a hard resale - which I thought you should know.

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