8010A Studiomonitori

SCUT’s system uses a total of 200 Genelec 8010A compact speakers in a custom spherical installation, consisting of nine layers built on a frame just 2.25 metres in radius. The speakers are positioned so that the horizontal spacing of each speaker on a layer is the same, and the distance from every speaker to the centre of the sphere is also identical. Each speaker is fed by a single discrete channel, and the whole system is located in a semi-anechoic acoustic environment.

In such a large audio installation, it can be difficult to ensure that the sound reproduction is accurate enough to meet the strict requirements of experimental research. “The frequency response, sound quality and consistency of Genelec loudspeakers allow us to use them with confidence," comments Professor Zhao from SCUT.

The monitor loudspeakers placed on the control cabinet are used for switching and checking the signals of different channels.

SCUT’s audio installation was designed and installed by Digital Media Technology (DMT). "Only when the individual differences between speakers are small enough can the accuracy of experimental research be guaranteed,” explains DMT technical engineer Deng Zhuowen. “During the system debugging process, we measured the frequency response of each Genelec 8010 speaker one by one, and the results were highly consistent."

The loudspeakers are numbered one by one, and the corresponding position of the frame is also numbered.

With a setup involving so many speakers, total reliability and a low system noise floor are also crucial. "In 2016, we participated in an experimental installation project using 100 Genelec loudspeakers, and the success of that project gave us enough confidence in Genelec,” revealed Deng Zhuowen. “A system of 200 speakers is obviously more challenging, but we chose the most reasonable transmission mode – coupled with the excellent performance of Genelec speakers – to ensure that the final results were in full compliance with experimental research standards.”

As part of the project, the system needs to operate in different acoustic environments, so DMT’s engineering team carefully designed the structure of the installation. Each 8010 speaker can be easily removed and re-installed, and the spherical frame can be quickly moved and rebuilt. Amazingly, the entire sphere can also be suspended – so the compact size, light weight and excellent sound performance made the 8010 a perfect choice for this project!

What inspired you to start making or recording music?

My Dad played guitar and liked to jam to Tears for Fears in an old Camry. What more do you need as a kid to make you want to pick up an instrument?

What was your first ever piece of recording gear?

It must have been four times my age at the time - a Tascam 4-track cassette tape recorder that my Dad used back in college. I eventually saved up enough money to buy Sony Acid 3 for my PC, and from there it was ‘off to the races!’

What was the last piece of gear that you bought?

My RME UFX+. I was on an Apollo for a long while, and finally made the plunge for more I/O and better drivers.. all I have to say is wow, I had no idea what I was waiting for.

In which room in your home is your studio based, and were there any challenges in setting it up?

I’m really lucky to basically have the bottom floor of my house dedicated to my studio setup. Better yet, it came partially set up with some treatment, patchbays and grounded outlets all ready to go - so all I had to do was add more treatment, furnish it and get all the gear working.

Which Genelec models do you have?

My mains are the 8351s, and my travel monitors are the 8010s.

What type of projects do you use your speakers for?

A little bit of everything. I feel super fortunate to produce and write in many genres, from EDM and Pop to Latin, K-Pop, C-Pop, Film & TV, you name it really. My speakers are an integral part of every project I work on.

What do you think of the speakers, and what do you like about them?

I waited a long time to spring for the 8351s, and now that I have them I honestly don’t know how I lived without them. The stereo image is surgically accurate, the frequency response is insane ‘sans-sub’, and the presentation is such that I can work on them for a long time and not get the same level of ear fatigue I would experience on other monitors. And of course nothing beats the 8010s for tossing a few indestructible, great sounding speakers in a bag and hitting the road.

Have you used GLM software to tune your speakers to the room, and if so what difference did it make?

I use GLM to tune to my room - it’s an awesome feature. I have used other VST-based solutions, and while they’re insanely impressive I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t forgotten to leave them on the master buss once or twice. GLM gives you the same level of tuning and room compensation, but without adding latency or sucking up valuable CPU cycles.

Describe your perfect day in the studio.

Oof, tough. As a creative I pretty much live for the moment in songwriting/production when, for lack of better words, the trees suddenly become a forest.. you’ve been playing with parts, caught bits of inspiration here and there, and all of a sudden the fog clears and you hear the “song” for the first time. It’s electric, inexplicable, and magical every time. It doesn’t happen every day in the studio, but I live for the days that it does.

Mixing in-the-box or not? What do you prefer?

Apples and oranges! I love the freedom of mixing in the box, being able to start a mix in LA, jump on a plane and tune vocals, then put final tweaks on it in a studio halfway around the world the next day. That will always blow my mind. That said, there’s something about sitting down to do a mix on a console that is pure magic. Your toolset is a little limited, but running everything through the same circuits creates this imperfectly brilliant glue that binds things together in a way that is almost impossible to replicate in the box… it’s a luxury I cherish when I get to work on records in the analog world.

What’s your top tip for being creative at home?

Show up every day (with the exception of some time off to let the brain rest, of course). Doesn’t matter if you’re inspired or not, put the axe to the grindstone and see what comes out. And whenever I get really stuck, I stop to think about what I might really love about the creative process - maybe it’s making a funny beat with a weird-found sound, writing a satirical song with zero commercial potential, or even something beyond music like 3D modelling furniture or long-form prose. What is important is to show up to the arena every day, put in the time and trust that the habits you’re forming will help you create effectively in the long run.

Have you come across any new gear or apps to make home creating easier?

Shoutout to Audiomovers - amazing VST that streams high quality audio over the web, so those Zoom sessions don’t have to have terrible computer audio for the production. I’ve also loved using Google Duo for sessions when I can, it’s much higher quality and lower latency than most other options.

Which three artists would you love to collaborate with in a Zoom lockdown session?

Chance the Rapper, Jon Bellion, and Adele. I know, greedy as hell, but why not?

Have you picked up any new skills during lockdown?

I’ve done more demos than I can count using WhatsApp voice memos for lead vocals (something I never thought I’d be doing at the top of the year). I’ve had to get pretty good at cleaning and improving the vocal sound to be good enough for the demo, part of which is manual, part of which is accomplished with awesome tools like Soothe, Gullfoss, iZotope RX, etc.

If there was one recording session you could have attended, which one would it have been and why?

Billie Jean with Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones. If I recall correctly, Michael famously wrote the song, down to almost every last part, on a voice recorder and brought the arrangements in. I would have killed to be a fly on the wall and see that song go from stacks of vocal loops to the masterpiece that it is.

Since working at home, what has become your ’Desert Island’ piece of gear? What can’t you live without?

I really don’t want to say my Genelecs just because y’all are asking.. but outside of my laptop and a mic they’re the most inspiring part of my studio for me. When I’m mixing they’re a microscope, when I’m creating they’re a stadium sound system.. they’re the greatest luxury in my studio and also in many ways the greatest necessity. Thank you for making such great gear!

Do you want to be featured in our ‘At Home’ series? If so, just post some pictures of your home setup on Instagram using the #GenelecProAtHome hashtag. We’ll be keeping a look out for the most interesting home rigs, so who knows? We may be in touch with you!

The Finnish Sports Museum housed at the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki has recently reopened to the public with a completely revitalised permanent exhibition after extensive renovations closed the venue for five years. The new exhibitions celebrate Finnish sport using the best of what modern technology has to offer, including a state-of-the-art Genelec Smart IP audio solution. All audio, video and control technology was supplied by AV integration specialists Studiotec Oy, with AV and sound design by building services engineering experts, Granlund Oy.

Granlund’s Aki Päivärinne and Timo Muurinen were responsible for the AV design. “Our aim was to put the visitor in the middle of the action, to make them feel as if they are really there,” says Päivärinne. “It’s hard to think of any sport where sound is not a crucial part of the experience. Sounds from various sports are accompanied with occasional musical layers specially composed for the exhibition, and UX (User Experience) sounds. The sound design was realised using object-based sound design tools – immersive audio is the key to making the experience as complete as possible.”

The Smart IP speakers are definitely the most important element of
the audio solution.

Päivärinne specified Genelec’s Smart IP range of loudspeakers for most of the sound design, as they met all of his criteria for quality and particularly for ease of deployment. “The ability to use the museum’s existing CAT cabling infrastructure for both power and audio signal transport simplified the system design and installation enormously, as we didn’t have to worry about any analogue cables – everything just sits on the existing network.”

Project manager Pauli Lamsijärvi from Studiotec agrees. “The Smart IP speakers are definitely the most important element of the audio solution and certainly made life easier for us in terms of installation,” he notes. “They operate on the Dante network which carries both audio and control signals. It even delivers power to the speakers via PoE, which is something of a revolution in the audio world. The audio quality is what we’re used to hearing from Genelec – in other words, world class – so we’re very pleased with the results.”

The result is a fully immersive experience that truly brings the action to life for the visitor.

One of the largest exhibitions is Finnish sporting heroes across the ages. Visitors are treated to a massive video projection by Finnish visual artist, Janne Ahola, combined with a 10-channel immersive sound design using Genelec 4430s that places sound objects in space relative to what is happening on the screen. The result is a fully immersive experience that truly brings the action to life for the visitor.

Another exhibition is dedicated to winter sports. “Winter sports are important for us Finns, so this was another area where we wanted to make the experience as real as possible,” says Päivärinne. “Once again, we have a multichannel sound system using eight 4430 Smart IP loudspeakers in a stretched diamond layout that works with a short movie projected onto a 98” LED screen. Visitors will find themselves amongst children playing in the snow, skating on a frozen lake or even swimming in the lake – since Finns are a bit mad like that! Another part of the winter sports section takes us up onto the slopes with skiers and snowboarders. There is even an authentic double chair lift from 1965 with a huge screen behind it to reinforce the impression of being out on the slopes. Here I used four 4430s.”

The final area to use a Smart IP solution is the water sports exhibition which is brought to life using a 4-channel immersive sound system with four 4430s. Visitors experience the thrills of scuba diving below the waves to sailing above them, before being hurled into a canoe to negotiate the rapids.

Where the requirement was for stereo rather than immersive sound, Päivärinne opted for Genelec 8010 and 8030 loudspeakers, as the media players are located close to the loudspeakers. The larger installations with immersive multichannel sound designs all use Genelec Smart IP loudspeakers run from dedicated media servers capable of outputting Dante signals.

All of the museum's AV equipment is controlled from a single touch screen linked to the control system. All the projectors and dozens of monitors can be turned on and off at the touch of a button. It also enables control of all the loudspeakers and the content fed to them, and the control system also manages signal delay to keep the pictures and sound in sync.

The museum’s development director Kaisa Laitinen is delighted with the results. “Through spectacular visuals and a strong world of sound, the museum visitor's experience is better than ever,” she declares. “Studiotec and Granlund have done a great job in bringing our vision to life. The use of the latest technology enables visitors to share in the adrenalin, the triumphs and the disappointments along with all the emotions and feelings that sport brings. I’m very proud of what we have achieved and I’m excited to share it with the public.”

What was your first ever piece of recording gear?

I’ve had direct contact with recording equipment ever since I was a child, and I’ve always been passionate about machines (maybe that's why an “Olivetti” was born!). I’m the daughter of a singer (my mother) and a maestro (my father), so my playground was our home studio - and my favorite toys were a Studer A80 and an SSL 48-channel console!

Today I have a home studio that perfectly meets my demands. My setup basically consists of a Neumann U89i condenser microphone, a Focusrite Scarlett Solo audio interface, two Yamaha keyboards and Genelec monitors…among other little things.

What was the last piece of gear that you bought?

A Maschine MK2 by Native Instruments.

In which room in your home is your studio based, and were there any challenges in setting it up?

My studio is on the mezzanine level of my apartment, a small open room on the top floor without any acoustic treatment. For this reason I looked for reference monitors with compact size, dynamics, precision and innovative design.

Which Genelec models do you have?

A pair of 8010As, little giant ones!

What type of projects do you use your speakers for?

Mainly for music production, and also to make pre-mixes of my projects and to be able to evaluate the masters that come from outside. I also use them to curate soundtracks for my clients, and to create mixtapes on my Pioneer XDJ- RR.

What you think of the speakers, and what do you like about them?

My relationship with the Genelec brand is pure affection. My father took care of his 8050As very carefully and when he passed away we needed to sell them. Genelecs have always been an object of desire for me and when I started my own projects on Pro Tools I didn't think twice: I knew that I needed to have my own Genelecs. Today, I am totally satisfied with the true performance reference that they provide me.

Describe your perfect day in the studio.

My day starts early. At dawn I go into the studio with a strong coffee, open the curtains and let the sun in, which inspires me a lot. It's at this moment that I can pump the volume and feel the result of everything I created the night before. The afternoon is totally dedicated to my family. I come back after dinner, and that's when my creativity comes out.

Mixing in-the-box or not? What do you prefer?

In-the-box. I usually do a pre-mix at home, and then I send it to a second specialized professional who mixes and masters in-the-box too.

What’s your top tip for being creative at home?

For me in particular, the biggest tip is to keep the studio organized. A good atmosphere is essential to achieve great results at work. Your house, your rules, so light some incense, help yourself with a good wine, work by candlelight and let the music out of you.

Have you come across any new gear or apps to make home creating easier?

I really like my Audio Technica M-50x headphones and when I need some extra concentration, I use them. Plugins are essential in a home studio because we don't have space for hardware. Websites that sell sample packs are also interesting to visit, loopmasters.com is a good choice.

Which three artists would you love to collaborate with in a Zoom lockdown session?

Opolopo, Phillipi & Rodrigo (Fatnotronic) and Marcos Valle.

Have you picked up any new skills during lockdown?

Yes, I learned to make music! During the pandemic I potentialized the whole theory that graduation taught me. I am also studying my Maschine NI and all its functions. I took some courses on Music Business and Copyright. Overall I learned lots in the pandemic, both about music and life.

If there was one recording session you could have attended, which one would it have been and why?

I wish I had witnessed a complete recording of the album "Thriller". I am passionate about the music of Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson and this record is a masterpiece, it will always be a reference for many generations. I went to Quincy's show in Paris in July 2019 and it was a unique experience: Quincy and his orchestra played, among many other songs, the entire “Thriller" album for 50 thousand people.

Since working at home, what has become your ’Desert Island’ piece of gear? What can’t you live without?

My monitors, my Pro Tools and a simple Akai MPK Mini controller.

Do you want to be featured in our ‘At Home’ series? If so, just post some pictures of your home setup on Instagram using the #GenelecProAtHome hashtag. We’ll be keeping a look out for the most interesting home rigs, so who knows? We may be in touch with you!