BUNDLE

Aside from these alterations there’s not a lot separating the Player model from its American predecessor. Both sport GraphTech Tusq nut and deep C-shaped 12-inch radius mahogany neck, with only 1mm differences here and there for neck width. Fretboard material is rosewood for the Player, whereas the American is ebony, so there’s some difference in tone there – nothing much to write home about. Both feature ‘narrow-tall’ frets eking out to 22 frets (should you really need that 22nd), and both models come with Fender staggered height tuners.

Each instrument also arrived bundled into Fender’s Deluxe 1225 gig bag. Some may wonder, especially at this price, why the Acoustasonics don’t include a hard case, but I imagine due the the nature of the Acoustasonics (a take-it-anywhere instrument you’re likely to be traipsing between gigs and your cohort’s studios), a gig bag is the more prudent choice. And as far as gig bags go, the Deluxe 1225 is the business – extreme padding, super comfortable back-straps, plenty of pockets, and, when combined with the Acoustasonic’s 2.3kg weight, the package comes in at a featherweight 4.8kg. Fender also include a Boveda two-way humidity control pack designed to keep your plank of wood between 45 and 55% humidity. A nice touch.

GO PLAY

You don’t have to look far across the web to find enthusiastic references to the Acoustasonic’s versatility and playability, so I’ll not go too far into my impressions, apart from confessing my reluctance to put the thing down. Price-wise there’s an appreciable discount for the Player compared with the U.S. of A. model – in Australia you’re saving a good $1200 or so. Still, the Player Acoustasonic isn’t cheap at a $1700 street price ($2199 retail). You’d collect a Mexican Player electric Telecaster for around a grand if you hunt around. Regardless, if the Acoustasonic is what you’re after – and rest assured it could cover you in countless scenarios (writing, recording, gigging – amped or otherwise), maybe the asking price isn’t so steep. In short: go play one.

TWO’S COMPANY

As always the Duet 3 is the epitome of design. Apogee were somewhat cosy with Apple back in the day, and take a similar approach to design. The Duet 3 measures about 155 x 100 x 17mm, and presents with a sleek piano-black upper surface with silver Apple-esque underside. It’ll match your MacBook Pro or iMac nicely.

The only control is a single 55mm rotary encoder which doubles as a push-button for switching between headphone/main levels and input levels, and is under-lit with delightfully dulcet blue LEDs. It looks superb, as is the feel of the rotary encoder. The underside is rubberised to minimise slippage on your work-surface.

To the rear of the Duet are three connections: two USB-C ports; one for connection to your Mac (or Windows) DAW, the other for additional power if your computer USB ports aren’t delivering enough. Apogee supply a USB-C cable that incorporates a USB-A adaptor if you’re connecting to older machines without USB-C/Thunderbolt ports. A final mini D-Sub-style connector adorns the rear for the breakout cable. Yeah, I know. Breakout cables. I’m not a fan of moulded-plug squid cables either, but these days those little moulded plugs seem to last a lot longer than they used to. However, if you really can’t stand the breakout cable scenario, Apogee supply an optional ‘Duet Dock’ which replicates the breakout cable connectors with ‘real’ connectors – well worth the additional expense.

Connection-wise the breakout cable provides two XLR mic inputs, two high impedance instrument jack inputs, and 1/4-inch TRS jack left and right monitoring outputs. If you stump up for the Duet Dock you’ll get a 1/4-inch headphone jack thrown into the bargain – arguably, a superior option to the front mounted minijack headphone socket.

So now we’re here, a word on compatibility. MacOS 10.14.6 (Mojave) or later is supported on both Intel and M1 processors, along with Windows 10 20H1 “or greater”. I couldn’t tell you when Apogee commenced Windows support but for a good while Apogee clobber was a Mac-only affair. Maybe it’s an inclusionary thing – I dunno. Anyway, the Duet 3 functioned admirably on my Catalina system, and was recognised natively prior to any driver installation. Windows 10 played happily with the Duet 3.

DSP TIME

Any audio interface manufacturer worth its salt these days builds onboard DSP into its gear. In that light, I’ll proffer Apogee has included something quite special. Included with the Duet 3 is Apogee’s Symphony ECS Channel Strip. This is no slouch sonically, offering a tidy channel strip scenario. The Symphony ECS Channel Strip incorporates an LA-2A-ish compressor 3:1, 5:1, and 10:1 compression ratios with a wet/dry mix, high-pass filter, low-shelf variable EQ, mid-peak semi-parametric with narrow or wide-band Q, and a variable high-shelf EQ. This is rounded down into a final ‘drive’ circuit and overall output level.

This DSP setup is accessed via the supplied Apogee Control 2 mixer software and can be ‘printed’ to your record channel or not. Bear in mind this DSP is only available via input to the Duet 3. But it’s low-latency processing right there at input. Whether it matters to you or not, the DSP has been ‘tuned’ by Bob Clearmountain, and Bob’s included a bunch of presets, too. Cheers Bob. If you’re after the same plug-in for your DAW, Apogee is offering a software version to Duet 3 owners for fifty bucks (I assume USD).

Apogee Control 2 also provides access to instrument/mic input channels, gain, phase, 48V phantom power, panning, levels, along with headphone levels, sample rate (up to 192k), metering characteristics, +4/-10 output level, monitor dimming… heck, you can even control the brightness of the dashing blue LEDs beneath the controller knob. Swell! Incidentally, if your DAW habitat is Logic ProX you’ve got access to input gain control directly from within the Logic Pro X channel strips – even sweller.

SOUND COMPARISONS

As alluded to, Apogee doesn’t muck about with sonic quality, and the Duet 3 seriously won’t disappoint. At this price point, however, Apogee don’t give away any real-world empirical specifications – so there are literally no numbers and measurements to report. That said, I’d propose, no complaints with the mic preamps. Dynamic, condenser, ribbon; there’s ample of gain for all. Then whack a bit of drive via the Symphony ECS Channel Strip to guitars via the instrument inputs and you can possibly forego some hefty outboard. In terms of monitoring, whatever Apogee is doing with the Duet 3 trumped my Apogee Ensemble (Firewire) in spades. A splendid stereo image, consolidated bottom-end, and a silky top end.

At this end of the market you’d be pushing to find a more compelling option. Not only does the Apogee Duet 3 look and feel good, it sounds great. It’s portable, comes in a sweet travel case if you’re the laptop type, and takes up only a modicum of space at your workspace. Get the Duet Dock if you’re keeping it in situ, though.

TOUR ‘ROUND 360°

Installation of the SSL 360° software is quick and painless, and the tutorials for interfacing with various DAWs, in both PDF and video formats, are comprehensive – a straightforward setup. Currently the UF8 is fluent with ProTools, Logic Pro X, Cubase, Nuendo, Ableton Live and Presonus Studio One. Other DAWs could feasibly be integrated as the UF8 uses Mackie Control and HUI MIDI formats. SSL assures further integration templates are in the works.

Uniquely, the SSL 360° application allows several control layout ‘Layers’. Three layers can be set to different DAW applications and you can quickly flip from one layout to the other at the touch of a button. Clever.

For a little SSL icing on the UF8 cake, the company includes two plugins from the SSL Native collection, namely: full licences of Vocalstrip 2 and Drumstrip plug-ins, SSL Native’s highly regarded vocal (it’s also great for speech/VO work) and percussion production tools. Giving you a range of professional quality processors suited to music, audio and post-production tasks

LAYING IT OUT

First up, faders. Smooth and responsive to touch without any of that ‘zippered’ feeling experienced in cheaper fader surfaces. The 100mm travel is precise and gratifying. Each fader is complemented with Select, Cut (‘mute’), and Solo buttons.

To the right of the faders are ‘Selection Mode’ buttons that alter the Select button to record enable or to Zero each channel strip.

To the left is a dedicated ‘Flip’ button to throw the faders to panning duties.

Moving up each channel strip are rotary encoders which double as pushbuttons, defaulting to pan with the pushbutton action dedicated to returning pan to centre position – standard fare for any controller.

Above each is an impressively large LCD TFT display offering scads of information. This alters according to selected modes, of course, but includes panning position, track names, plugin parameters, send and bus selection and send levels. There’s even ladder-style level displays for VU levels from each track.

The topmost section of each display indicates what the above soft-keys operate: Send selection, plugin and instrument selection, solo, marker points etc. These soft-keys are also where transport controls are set, which I find a little short sighted as I’d have preferred to see dedicated transport buttons. Bear in mind, these soft-keys can be reprogrammed via the SSL 360° application to whichever DAW function you wish, and there’s a dedicated ‘360°’ button to the left of the UF8 that immediately calls up the app onscreen when pushed. A second prod minimises the app to the dock in MacOS, or the Task Bar in Windows 10. This programmability alone sets the UF8 uniquely apart from so many other control surfaces – rearrange the soft-keys to affect whatever you wish, including key-commands set for tasks within the DAW.

Some front panel buttons are dedicated, however, such as the lower left automation mode buttons: Read, Write, Trim, Latch, Touch, and an Off button. Bank switch buttons to the lower right are dedicated and are accompanied by a larger rotary encoder marked ‘Channel’. This will skip through channels individually rather than in banks of eight, yet has another useful property when hitting the nearby ‘Focus’ button. When ‘Focus’ is engaged, any variable parameter your mouse cursor is positioned above within your DAW can be adjusted using this encoder. Mixer settings, plugin parameters, whichever – it’s quite clever.

Below this are four navigation buttons for moving between tracks and/or regions/clips, with a centre button that when engaged alters the navigation buttons to control zoom. And here’s my only complaint with the UF8. Most folk use their mouse or trackball with their right hand, yet the ‘Channel/Focus’ encoder and navigation buttons are on the right. If you’re positioning your cursor over DAW parameters with your right hand and wishing to adjust those parameters with the UF8’s Focus encoder, you need to reach across the entire control surface to do it with your left hand, or constantly flit between mouse and Focus encoder with your right. It feels so unergonomic. I’d have preferred to see the Selection Mode buttons, Channel/Focus encoder and navigation buttons swapped from right to left with the Send/Plugin and Automation buttons repositioned on the right. Mouse in right hand; Focus Controller and navigation buttons on the left.

TOP SHELF

The UF8 is without doubt a top-shelf control surface, and you’d expect nothing less from SSL. The MIDI-over-USB functionality is quick and responsive, the faders are silky-smooth, fast and chatter-free, and integrates solidly with the DAWs I used it with, namely Logic Pro X and ProTools in both macOS and Windows 10. I’ve not come across a controller that allowed me to leave the mouse or trackball behind completely, but the UF8 comes closer than others. A masterstroke from SSL.

In stark comparison, remember those $20k DSP-assisted Pro Tools systems I mentioned earlier? There’s no latency roadblock. What enters the mic is heard via the system less than an imperceivable millisecond later – and less at higher sample-rates. All the time, every time, regardless of the speed of the CPU, and you can load that input track with plugins should you wish. That’s why those interfaces go for the big bucks. Dedicated DSP ain’t cheap.

As I outlined initially, the entire concept of the audio interface has evolved from basic I/O into the ‘nerve-centre’ paradigm. Now a single unit typically takes up those multiple outboard duties. Alongside a plethora of I/O you’ll find multiple headphone outputs, switching between different monitor pairs, dedicated talkback microphones (or the option to add talkback via a mic input), metering, high impedance instrument inputs and more. Which brings us to the pinnacle of the concept: Avid’s latest all-in-one ‘production centre’ interface: Pro Tools | Carbon.

CARBON AVB

Unlike many interface choices, Carbon doesn’t connect to your host computer via USB or Thunderbolt. Avid has taken the Audio Video Bridge (AVB) route, as MOTU has with its professional line of interfaces and as Presonus with its live audio products. Connection is via a Cat-6 ethernet cable, or if you’re using a Thunderbolt-equipped Mac you can use Apple’s Thunderbolt-to-Ethernet adaptor. Avid has limited Carbon’s compatibility to Thunderbolt equipped Macs only and macOS 10.15.6 (Catalina). I assume, as is the Avid way, the company is treading the compatibility line with an abundance of caution. While AVB is an open standard that can function in Windows environments, and via USB 2 and 3, not all ethernet chipsets support AVB, and USB2 connection would possibly not play nicely with Carbon. As it happens, the ethernet chipset used by Apple supports AVB so this is where the compatibility cards fall. Equally, Carbon runs Pro Tools only. Why’s that? Oh do read on…

Here’s the big deal. Carbon has in-built DSP. Carbon is touted by Avid as a hybrid device in the sense that it can use native CPU-based plugins, just like any other native-based interface, but it can also utilise DSP-assisted plugins courtesy of its eight built in HDX DSP chips. These are the very same DSP chips you’ll find on an HDX core card, albeit eight rather than 18. What this means is that Carbon can provide sub-millisecond latency when recording, even when using plugins instantiated on record tracks, into Pro Tools – precisely like those expensive systems I mentioned earlier.

Now I hear the shouting. Yes, I know there are other audio interfaces on the market offering onboard DSP. Universal Audio’s Apollo range immediately springs to mind but there are others – they’re all at it – but those systems still require a separate mixer/monitoring application to monitor audio directly from the interface to alleviate latency. Carbon, on the other hand, combined with Pro Tools, avoids this conundrum completely by virtue of Avid’s AAX plugin format. Because AAX plugins run in both the native CPU arena and on Avid’s DSP processors, it’s transparently simple to swap from one processing base to the other (CPU or DSP) and maintain the exact same sonic effect. Everything is done within Pro Tools. Conversely, with the Universal Audio example, UA’s plugins run on UA’s DSP – and nowhere else.

How’s all this integrate? Within Pro Tools the switch between DSP and native AAX is virtually seamless. Each channel strip within the Pro Tools mixer has a small lightning bolt icon. Clicking the lightning bolt icon to ‘on’ switches the channel and and any instantiated AAX plugins over to Carbon’s DSP mode for latency-free monitoring, then switching it off flips the channel and plugins back into native CPU processing. It couldn’t be any simpler. Absolutely no need to flip over to that third-party mixer app for latency-free monitoring. Pro Tools also takes care of any plugins that may be instantiated downstream that are associated with the DSP-assisted record channel, such as effects returns and subgroups. If there happens to be plugins on those returns and subgroups that can’t be converted to DSP-assisted processors, you can switch those channels to DSP safe mode – in which case they’ll remain in the native DSP domain. In some cases this may be perfectly acceptable, for example, a reverb send isn’t going to suffer from a few milliseconds of pre-delay on an auxiliary track. It really is the best of both worlds. Super low latency when you need it, alongside a plethora of native processing and seamless switching between each.

CARBON LOADING

As for the mechanicals of Carbon, there’s a bunch going on. The single rack unit Carbon houses eight of Avid’s 126dB (A-weighted) THD+N 105dB (0.00056%) 20Hz–20kHz mic preamps using combo Amphenol (!) connectors. Spec-wise these are decidedly respectable and are in a similar ballpark to the Pro Tools | HD Omni mic preamps. What’s unique to the Carbon mic pre lineup is that preamps five to eight offer variable impedance switching, as do the two front panel instrument inputs. The mic preamps offer three input impedances (1kΩ, 5kΩ and 50kΩ) while the instrument inputs provide five options (32kΩ, 72kΩ, 90kΩ, 230kΩ and 1MΩ). Line level I/O is via DB25 connectors, and their 125dB (A-weighted) dynamic range surpasses the HD Omni’s line input specification of 118dB greatly. Next up are dedicated 6.5mm TRS jack monitoring outputs with 120dB (A-weighted) dynamic range and THD+N of -110dB (0.0003%) – again, virtually identical to the HD Omni specification give or take some inconsequential decimal places. An additional two monitor pairs can be fed from the output D-subs, and assigned within the Hardware Setup window within Pro Tools. These can be switched via dedicated buttons on the front panel. I’d have liked to see a digital coax output for some dedicated upmarket D-to-A monitoring, but I guess you could do this via the ADAT ports if you’re that keen. Bear in mind this is a production station, not a mastering rig. ADAT expansion follows the standard S/MUX layout, so your sample-rate I/O mileage will vary accordingly. BNC wordclock ports are available, then there’s two ‘NET’ ethernet ports. One for connection to the host computer, with the other I assume for expansion options in the future. AVB is, of course, an infinitely expandable platform – so expansion might include things like external fader controllers, additional mic preamps, bridging to Dante networks, or more. Have a look at what Presonus and MOTU are creating using the AVB protocol and you’ll see the potential.

Out front there are two instrument inputs, mic/instrument gain pots, buttons for impedance switching, phantom power, polarity invert, eight I/O LED bar-graph meters, left/right monitoring meters, monitor switching and level control, mute and dimming buttons, and (wait for it) four headphone outputs. Four! Enough for your smaller ensembles. These are rated at 100mW into 300Ω and 200mW into 32Ω – so plenty loud enough.

SOFTWARE

Software supplied includes a one-year subscription to Pro Tools with a perpetual license and 116 AAX plugins (including about 70 AAX DSP plugins). These include UVI Falcon, Celemony Melodyne 5 Essential, the Avid Complete Plugin Bundle, and HEAT (ya gotta love HEAT!), three free months of Antares Auto-Tune Unlimited, including Auto-Tune Hybrid, and a 5.4GB sound library. Plus you get Arturia Rev PLATE-140, Purple Audio MC77, Embody Immerse Virtual Studio, McDSP 6050 Ultimate Channel Strip HD, Native Instruments Vintage Organs, UVI Model D, along with Brainworx bx_console N, bx–rockrack and bx_masterdesk.

CONCLUSION

Overall, it’s a killer package to my mind. Until now there’s been nothing like Carbon, and certainly not at this price. I must admit I’ve been a little spoilt over the years as I’ve predominantly owned and worked with Digidesign HD and TDM DSP assisted systems, so on the few occasions that I’ve been forced to record in native systems I’ve been left disappointed with the direct monitoring fiasco. For me it’s a big fat horse-fly in the ointment – I don’t know how you guys with native systems put up with it. So if your DAW of choice is Pro Tools and you’re still in the Apple world, six grand is a no-brainer compared with a base level HDX system at 14 grand. Everything’s built into the one box: monitoring, mic pre’s, instrument inputs, headphone outs, the fabulously creative option to play with impedance loadings, and no latency issues ever. Plus you can run this from a qualified MacBook; no aging cheese-grater or ten grand Mac Pro tower required. It’s the best thing since sliced bread – go get one.

Many years ago I had a grand to blow on a pair of nearfield monitors. I’d come to the realisation that my mixes weren’t translating well; I simply couldn’t nail it. The out-the-back-of-a-white-van home stereo speakers I’d repurposed were utter garbage. Mixing 101, I know, but I was at the beginning of my mixing journey. It was time to sink some money into monitoring rather than sequencers, synths and MIDI cables.

Back then the nearfield monitoring options at the sub-$1000 mark were thin on the ground. After traipsing around the usual Sydney instrument stores auditioning various contenders, scrutinising pages of specifications and absorbing everything remarked upon in audio mags, the choice came down to a measly three candidates… and they were all passive so I needed to buy an amplifier as well. The candidates were a two-way pair of Tannoys, the venerable Yamaha NS-10s, or JBL’s early foray into the home-studio market: the 4206. All three were from respectable manufacturers. Surely I couldn’t go too far wrong?

Down the track I learned I’d completely made the wrong decision, jumping on the JBLs when I should have gone with the NS-10s. At the time the NS-10 sound reminded me of poor old Nipper, the His Master’s Voice pooch, sitting in front of the gramophone cursing the excruciatingly uninspiring reproduction of his favourite 78s. In comparison, the JBLs projected a way fruitier bottom-end, and I was producing electronica. Please sir, take my money.

The JBLs skewed my mixes in yet another wrong direction, and I eventually moved on. In their defence they did instigate my phobia of metal dome tweeters — they tore my hearing to shreds, making long sessions feel even longer. I still use them for domestic background duties, all the while surreptitiously reminding me of the NS-10s I almost owned.

WHAT’S NEW?

These days the landscape is quite different; it’s awash with affordable nearfield monitors. There’s a minefield of nearfields, if you will, from Adam Audio, Behringer, Dynaudio, EVE, Genelec, IK Multimedia, JBL, KRK, Mackie, PreSonus, Tannoy, Yamaha, some crew called Monkey Banana, and others kicking around, with many scraping in at less than $500 a pair. Unlike my choices from years ago, they’re all powered. Winning.

So what’s brought all this about? The primary factors are advances in Class-D amplification and switch mode power supplies. Class-D amps are extremely efficient and run relatively cool, whereas linear design amps are less efficient and run hotter because they dissipate the wasted energy as heat. There’s also an advantage using switch mode power supplies as the unit can be powered via multiple international AC standards, which undoubtedly aids manufacturing and shipping costs. The upshot is an amp that is light and comparatively small – there’s no need for heavy heatsinks, so the amp can be housed in less space than an analogue design. Combine these factors with advanced front baffle and waveguide designs, add some clever DSP, and the results are both inexpensive and far more sophisticated than 25 years ago.

So, marvel of marvels, I have two pairs of inexpensive monitors to compare. The first from KRK, an established monitor manufacturer, and the second from Presonus, a relative newcomer to the monitor market.

KRK ROKIT RP7 G4

First up we’ll look at KRK’s Rokit RP7 G4. The G4 series is the fourth generation of KRK’s Rokit lineage and is a complete redesign utilising trickled-down technology from the company’s V Series. Pertinent is the use of a Kevlar tweeter rather than a soft-dome driver as found in the earlier G3 series. Also unlike the G3 series, the G4 series uses class-D amplification and DSP equalisation. This is really quite neat. KRK has integrated an LCD into the rear of the G4s to visualise settings and simplify setup, with adjustment made via a single stepped potentiometer that also acts as a push-button switch to cycle through parameters. This keeps the rear panel uncluttered, with the remaining features being a combo TRS/XLR input jack and the power switch.

When it comes to massaging that on-board DSP EQ, KRK provides a free iOS and Android app called ‘KRK Audio Tools’ which provides a spectrum analyser, level meter and phase checker. It also includes an excellent tool for adjusting the alignment of your monitors; sit your phone on top of a monitor, select whether you’re altering the alignment of the left or right monitor, then align it until the display reads 30°. Genius! More important is the EQ suggestion feature. This plays pink noise while you adjust the positioning of your phone at ear-height at your listening position. After 20 seconds or so the app will suggest the EQ preset options to select from the rear panel of the monitors. Super genius! I’m sceptical of the accuracy, but it’s an excellent toy. It’s a freebie so grab it whether you use KRK G4 monitors or otherwise; at the least you can align your monitor angles symmetrically.

This is clever tech for monitors at this price point. For under $800 you can get a pair of Rokit RP7 G4s with a seven-inch low-end driver. For a couple of hundred less you could opt for the cheaper Rokit RP5 G4 with a five-inch low-end driver, or, if you’ve got the room, stump up for the eight-inch driver version (Rokit RP8 G4) at still less than a grand.

PRESONUS ERIS E8 XT

Looking at the monitors they have on offer, I get the impression that Presonus are trying various monitor designs until they get their head around what sticks. With forays into single-point dual-concentric drivers (Sceptre series), through to ribbon tweeters (R series) and D’Appolito designs (Eris E44, E66), the company isn’t afraid to discover what it does best. There’s nothing wrong with that, and the results aren’t to be sniffed at. Following the company’s previous Eris E8, the re-imagined Eris E8 XTs sitting on my stands retain the ‘woven composite’ low-end driver of the previous E8 but include the addition of a waveguide surrounding the 1.25-inch silk-dome tweeter. Presonus say the waveguide widens the sweet-spot, which it does.

They’re a solidly built cabinet with a ‘no bells and whistles’ approach to design. Instead of class-D amplification, Presonus has stuck to an AB amplifier design, although they use class-D amplification in their more expensive monitor offerings. Like the KRK Rokits reviewed above, and pretty much all nearfields hitting the market these days, porting ejects from the front baffle.

Inputs are provided for anything line-level: XLR, TRS and RCA. Above these input connectors are three continuously variable knobs with centre-detents. One adjusts gain, while the remaining two allow up to ±6dB adjustment of mids (1kHz) and high frequencies (10kHz). There are also ‘Acoustic Space’ settings (flat, -2dB or -4dB at 800Hz) to compensate for placement close to walls or corners, and a high-pass filter switch with three options: off, 80Hz or 100Hz. With continuously variable pots for the mid and high EQ adjustments, getting them aligned precisely in stereo will take a lot of measurement and effort. In all honesty, I’d be leaving the mid and high pots set flat, and maybe instigating the room setting switches if things weren’t translating so well. With all the adjustments set to flat I wasn’t disappointed by the Eris E8 XTs. Imaging was perfectly acceptable and midrange detail was forward and amply detailed. If you hustled around, I reckon you’d get a pair for $800.

CONCLUSION

The unavoidable conclusion here is that you get a lot of bang for your buck when it comes to monitoring these days, even at the cheaper end of the market. But regardless of how far the technology has come (and it’s come a very long way), there’s no substitute for auditioning monitors in your own space. You should still do your homework. Read the reviews and peruse the forums, and seek out what will suit your requirements. Don’t use eight-inch drivers if you’re working in a 3.6sqm bedroom because you’ll just end up shaking the house about and annoying the locals. Most importantly, look out for the balderdash and gibberish. As with both the monitors mentioned here, there are features that may not add up to what the manufacturer claims, and/or may be inconsequential to you. Only your room, your ears, and how the mix translates will tell you the truth.