Product launches are often hit or miss, I find. Sometimes they drag, sometimes they don't; sometimes the kit is spectacular, sometimes it's, well, not. Having a launch at a major recording studio complex always gets me excited - and Metropolis is certainly that. Genelec took over pretty much the whole building to unveil 'The Ones', and thankfully the products lived up to the Pinot Noir on offer, and some.
It may be because we at Headliner are in the process of building our own writing room/recording space that we took such interest in these little beauties (hint, hint), but considering Grammy-winning mix engineer (and Headliner columnist) DJ Swivel just cut The Chainsmokers' debut record on a pair of Genelec's flagship 8351s, the idea of a smaller format version was very appealing indeed. And that's exactly what Genelec have delivered, in the guise of the smaller format 8341, and the even smaller 8331.
After these two new monitors were unveiled (see pic below), we were asked to sit through a very technical but at the same time engaging presentation - a lot of smart thinking technology has gone into the creation of these new products, and the Genelec guys made it clear that these are designed to last - they want to see 'The Ones' in your mix room in 10 or 20 years time, not just until next year.
These are three-way monitors, and the first coaxials without sonic compromise. This means you can get up close and personal with your mix - half a metre from the speaker, in fact, and without any fear of fatigue. That will raise an eyebrow or two with bedroom producers, for sure.
