Have recently added some 8331As as nearfields to existing recording studio (& alongside other well-known main monitors). Several things strike me:
1) Very annoying that the system boots with the 8331As disabled, no sound. And this occurs whether in calibrated GLM mode or standalone. Would seem that the only way to 'wake them' is to launch the GL4 app. None of the GLM4 settings re. wake or sleep seem to make any difference to this behaviour. Perhaps someone may have advice about this?
2) Initially was disappointed with the sound of the 8331As & especially given the relatively high price and the promise of 'The One' design. My package came with a GLM kit & so I assumed this would perform extremely well given it should speak directly to the speakers' internal DSP etc. However, that process and result was fairly underwhelming as well - and using multiple tries at calibration, different settings etc including: same speaker bass, different bass; same speaker EQ, different EQ, slightly different mic positions, single source & mult-point calibration. They simply do not yet stack up against know known reference mixes, my own work, and other speakers in the room.
3) Eventually I had an 'ah ha' moment, put the 8331s back into manual mode & added a little bass tilt for this room position on an isolated meter bridge. Then I used Sonarworks Reference to calibrate (have been using this for years now). Some of the differences in the process here include: different calibrated mic & the the capsule points AT the speakers (not UP like the GLM kit mic); the system first measures the position of the speakers, distance between them, and listening position - all as different steps. After that, it then guides you though moving the mic to many recommended positions - a LOT of them - then finally calculates its curve.
4) Net results - far, far superior to the GLM 4. Only now do the 8331As begin to reveal their promise. Still, these still tend to underwhelm a little, although possibly some of that may be related to 'burn in', both for the speakers themselves, and for my own adjustment to their character.
And so my thoughts for now are that the GLM4 is a dog and may have been a waste of time. The difference between this and Sonarworks is clearly night and day. However, I could be well missing something here but have not been able to find advice via various Genelec resources. Rather, the Genelec promo seem to make the GLM calibration seem (too) fast & breezy, and guides usually focus on doing a single measurement with the mic. Given the vastly differing results with Sonarworks, I am now curious to go back and do more with the GLM & multi-point measurement but there appears to be zero information available about that, nor does the software provide any assistance. You simply have to move the mic around and do guesswork by yourself (again, very unlike the guided positioning zones given in Sonarworks).
I wonder if anyone here has experience and or suggestions about multi-point measurement in the GLM? It would seem logical to want to do this within the 8331As' DSP & not via an external filter like Sonarworks. Thanks in advance.
