For a balanced sound image
Waited for the new Eve Audio speakers to arrive
Pughouse Studios, designed by Dave Flett took over one year to build and opened its doors in Feburary 2012. Located in Thornbury (inner Melbourne), the studio is operated by musician/composer/producer Niko Schäuble.
"We had been looking for a second pair of studio monitors to add to our existing near field set up at Pughouse Studios as an alternative listening source. These monitors should be active, have a good representation of low frequencies (eliminating the need for a subwoofer), have a wide and strong throw (to better facilitate client evaluation) and have a different sonic character (for comparison during mix & mastering)."
"Courtesy of our local store Manny's in Melbourne we were able to evaluate several sets of monitors (larger 2-ways and 3-ways) ranging in price from $3,500 to $9,000. The guys at Manny's suggested we wait for the new Eve Audio speakers to arrive, before making a decision. Great advice!
I picked up a pair of SC307's (still factory sealed) the day they arrived at the shop. Dave Flett, Pughouse Studio's designer, dropped over, bringing along his RTA equipment to take some measurements.
Upon Dave's suggestion we set up the EVE's as near fields, which posed no problem because of their compact size. The SC307's would certainly be powerful enough to be positioned as mid fields in a room this size, but placing them in front of our very effective corner absorbers seemed not a good idea."
Consistent in their character
"Having positioned them, we plugged them in, switched them on, pressed play and... WOW: Solid and focussed bass response, transparent mid range and wonderful clarity in the higher frequencies. Especially the spatial placement of the instruments seemed more defined. The overall sound scape was more '3D' (an overused phrase, but very apt in this case) and revealed reverbs and ambience with great clarity.
Both Dave and I were very impressed by the out-of-the-box sound of these monitors but wanted to see what the on-board DSP EQ would do (the RTA also suggested that some slight adjustments could be made). Time to have a look at the manual.
"After having adjusted the EQ settings using pink noise and frequency sweeps, we ran a variety for audio material through the monitors (contemporary classical, pop/dance, more acoustic music) and found the speakers to be consistent in their character."
Plenty of headroom
"Adjusting the various frequency curves is quite a simple procedure with the results ranging from subtle to obvious. This built-in DSP EQ feature is fantastic and allows for a high degree of fine tuning. A vast improvement over simple +/- db dip switches, used by many other manufacturers. We could not discern any undue coloration of the audio (sources we used included a jazz quartet album, recently recorded at Pughouse Studios, as well as recordings of my own drum kit). Apart from the great sound out-of-the box, this EQ/room correction aspect, allowing fine-tuning the set-up to suit different locations and rooms, is a feature that played an important role in my decision to purchase the SC307's." "The SC307's have plenty of headroom (we never managed to crank them up fully) and while there is obviously a sweet spot, as there is with every speaker set up, the sound field does not change too much, when moving out of this position. An important aspect for clients sitting on the couch behind me." "I have used my SC307's for several weeks now, tracking, mixing and mastering, at times for 10 hours or more per day, days on end, and have not found them fatiguing in any way. My first impressions have been confirmed and Pughouse Studios' clients love them, too. It is important to consider a room's acoustic characteristics when choosing a monitor. So being able to evaluate speakers set up in your own space is vital (thanks again to Manny's)."