Neumann KH 80 DSP

Korvasin näillä kotistudio- ja yleiskäytössä olleet Behringer Truth 2030A:t, jotka ovat edelleen hyvät 15 vuoden jälkeen ja siirtyivät telkkarikäyttöön. Neumannit ovat niihin verrattuna hyvin samankaltaiset, mutta alataajuuksiin tuli aivan huomattava parannus. Behkuilla alakerta tuntui olevan ihan jees, mutta kun näitä kuuli eka kerran, niin melkein leuka loksahti kuinka paljon tarkempi alakerta näissä on. Todella tiukka ja jämäkkä - basisti tuntuu melkein soittavan samassa huoneessa! Muilta osin soundi on terve ja korostamaton, kuten pitääkin.

Kooltaan ovat yllättävän pienet - noin 2/3 tavallisen 24" näytön ruudun koosta - mutta soundi on joka tapauksessa iso. Mitään matopurkin kaltaisuuttakaan ei ole ja äänentasoa löytyy enemmän kuin tarpeeksi keskikokoiseen huoneeseen. Ehkä jossain isommassa huoneessa voisi harkita isoveljeä eli KH 120, joskin siinä on vanhempi design, joka ei kuulemma ole ihan yhtä hyvä kuin KH 80.

Sellainen erikoisuus on, että näiden virtajohto on sellainen pöytälampun/mankan litteä 2-pluginen malli (kts. <a class="article link" href="the_sssnake_kgskabel.htm">the sssnake Powercord Euro 2-pin</a>), joka jännitesuojan kanssa vaatii erillisen liitinkappaleen väliin, tyyliin tällaisen: <a class="article link" href="stairville_kaltgeraete_adapterkabel_1m.htm">Stairville Adapt IEC - EU Coup 1,0m</a>

Näissä on myös jonkinlainen huonesäätö-ominaisuus, joka käsittääkseni menee jotakuinkin:
Kännykkä -> koti-wifi -> wifi-reititin -> ethernet-piuha -> Neumann
Jonka jälkeen kännykkään asennetaan Neumann.Control -niminen appi, jolla saa tuunattua kajarit omaan huoneeseen sopivaksi. En ole vielä kokeillut, eikä ohjekirjassakaan ollut kummoista kuvausta miten tuo toimii.

Päivitys 6 vuoden jälkeen:
Toinen näistä meni rikki ja alkoi tuottaa radiokanavan säätöääntä ilman inputia. Otin yhteyttä Neumanniin ja he vain sanoivat, että mahdollinen korjaus on päivittää kaiuttimen firmware käyttäen heidän MA-1 -softaa. Päivittämiseen tarvitaan verkko-switch ja ainakin kolme ethernet-kaapelia, joista yksi tietokoneesta switchiin ja yksi jokaiseen kaiuttimeen.

After much research looking for some small sized studio monitors for my bedroom I decided to go with these KH80s. I was tossing up between these and the iLoud MTM monitors, as much as I've heard the bass response from the MTMs are amazing I'm glad I went with these as they are very, very impressive! Not only are the mids and highs extremely detailed the bass is definitely there, but more controlled and punchy for such a small speaker. I have to say one of the things that blows me away is the centre imaging, it's almost scary how well these monitors present the sound. Extremely impressed.

Anyway there's already plenty of reviews out there for these so if you're on the fence about getting them, just buy them...I love them and I can already tell after the short amount of time my mixing is better for investing in them.

Five stars.

I bought these about 9 months ago, so I've had time to learn them somewhat and get past the honeymoon phase. I'm a hobbyist now, but I ran a small-but-busy recording studio in the past, mostly working with local bands.

TLDR, I have nothing bad to say about these, I think they're fantastic.

I'm using them in a very small, but reasonably well-treated room in combination with the MA1 calibration system. Even without the calibration they're great, but it's a big help in my room, which has some pretty big issues with standing waves in the low and lower-mid range. I'd describe the character of the monitors as 'grey and unexciting, but not boring'.

Long story short, they're terrific. I'm very happy with my mixes and they translate well. I find the monitors accurate and unhyped, and they show me what isn't working. If something sounds 'off' through these monitors, then it's off. If it sounds good, then it probably is. For me, there's a lot less guess-work than I've had in the past. I simply mix so it sounds good on the monitor, no intellectual exercises required. Stereo imaging is great, centre imaging is great, depth-of-field is great.

I also have a single Mixcube to check mono compatibility, mid-range and transient response, but I usually don't have to make too many adjustments after working on the Neumanns. With this setup, I rarely get any surprises after I check on real-world systems (phone, laptop, earbuds, TV, clock radio, etc).

I also check the low end on Beyerdynamic DT880pros and Audio Technica ATHm50s', but I don't find too many surprises there, probably because I tend to high-pass quite a lot.

Less related to the monitors, but one unexpected benefit of my small room is that, if I stand 2m back from my mix position, the Neumann's (surprisingly) are still putting out frequencies as low as 40Hz, which gives me a ballpark idea of whether or not my hi-pass EQs are set right, especially when compared to reference mixes. It's a quirk of my room so won't apply to everyone, but it helps reveal woofiness in the low end.

I've had Yamaha HS50m's, Adam A7X's and Genelec 8030's in the past, but I prefer the Neumanns. For my purposes, I think they're all I'll ever need and I trust them 100%.

I strongly advise against purchasing this product, not because of the sound quality but because of the software. It's full of bugs, sometimes rendering these speakers temporaly unusable and not turning on again. Standby problems. I've spoken to support and they're aware of the issues, but they've been around for years. I don't think they have an adequate development team. You'll end up with a very expensive Ferrari with a dead battery.