Blue Sky Monitors.. Whats the word?

[nemisis633]

Anyone have any experience with "Blue Sky" System One monitors? How do they stack up to say Genelec 1030A's and a Sub...

thanks,
Jon

[pisser]

After testing out almost everything in this price range (including the Genelecs) we couldn't help but put in a full 5.1 system. The sub is so well matched that it's hard to tell it's even there! Very smooth with great detail.

[mml]

I've had these for over a year now, and I'm very happy with them. They're a little bright, but not harsh. The imaging is great, and the sub is sonically invisible. They're a great deal compared to the Genelecs, but I'd say similar, in that they're both a little hyped. Between these and the Tannoy passive Reveals we have, you get a great picture of what's going on. The Tannoy's expose the mud in a mix a bit better, with more lower mids. The Blue Sky's just sound so open that sometimes I miss when things get muddy, so it helps to have the Reveals or something similar to compare.

[AlphaDingo]

I've got a pair and they rock. awesome, clear, accurate. totally worth the money.

[MikeC]

Any more info about the Blue Sky Monitors? I'm looking to equip a small 5.1 room and was thinking of the small 1029 Genelecs + 7060sub. How do you think these compare? I plan to audition them all beforehand but just looking for other people's experience.

Cheers,

Mike

[Fuzzy Logic]

theyre the great bang for buck speaker set.

I have a 2.1 setup.

[Jules]

I THOUGHT THEY SOUNDED GREAT at the last NYC AES when I was looking to get away from my Genelec 1031A's (I fancied a change after 7 years)

(I ended up with some large ADAM's in the end....)

[africk]

been extremely happy with mine. my mixes translate well to the outside without too much mud. things to have to sound pretty darn sizzly on them if you want that full-on commercial release high end HYPE. but i find that a reasonably bright but balanced mix on my blue skies sounds good outside. and that ranges from CD mixes in my car to theatrical surround mixes on the dub stage...

i do often forget that the satelites aren't doing ANYTHING below 80hz or whatever - the sub is in fact transparent.

i never directly a-b'ed them to genelecs, but with the great deal that they were i couldn't pass them up.

-a-

[nemisis633]

I actually ended up purchasing the blue sky's and I was extremely happy with them. Mixes translated very well, but one of the amps crapped out on my right satellite. They're under warranty, but their tech support number is hopeless, and my emails keep bouncing from the support email. this is NOT the kind of service I was hoping to get into. Maybe I'll get it all worked out soon.

Cheers,
Jon

[thethrillfactor]

To my ears they sounded a little "cloudy". Actually, I was a little dissapointed after all the hype.

There are so many other speakers to choose from right now.

[Pascal Sijen]

Originally posted by nemisis633
I actually ended up purchasing the blue sky's and I was extremely happy with them. Mixes translated very well, but one of the amps crapped out on my right satellite. They're under warranty, but their tech support number is hopeless, and my emails keep bouncing from the support email. this is NOT the kind of service I was hoping to get into. Maybe I'll get it all worked out soon.

Cheers,
Jon

Please e-mail me and we will address your problem ASAP.

pascal@abluesky.com

Just as an FYI, our NY office moved over the weekend and they have had some problems with their e-mail system and their phone system.


Pascal Sijen
Co-Founder
Blue Sky International
www.abluesky.com

[nemisis633]

I often times don't realize the likes of those who browse gearslutz. After I made the post regarding my frustrations with blue sky's support, Pascal emailed me and is having a rep call me to remedy the situation. This is a noteworthy gesture and I'm sure that everything will get worked out. Thanks to blue sky for coming through!
Cheers,
Jon

[africk]

here here! i had one of the earlier BMCs off the line, and there was a problem with one of the channels. after troubleshooting with me over the phone and email for a few days with no luck, i sent it to them on my way out the door on a friday, they fixed in saturday, and it was waiting for me monday morning!

-a-

[PlugHead]

I have a Sky System One recently setup in the studio for evaluation: I had a shaky start (bad LF driver in one of the sats) but have them ready to do more listening. I'm a bit uncertain with the imaging - sound is extremely out of phase anywhere but in the sweetspot, which seems very narrow. I've been going back and forth between 20/20 bas and the BlueSky's, and I haven't found 'em to be as pleasing as the 20/20's, but in fairness, the sat's placement isn't optimum till the stands arrive in a couple of days. Anyone else experience an extremely narrow sweetspot, and phase related issues? I will experiment more with placement before passing judgement 'tho...

Also, they're not as bright as I was led to believe - the 20/20's are leagues brighter than these little guys - makes me wonder if something is drastically wrong - checked all cables/connections, and made sure nothing is wrong on the wiring/cabling side, but still don't have the big bright "air" factor I was expecting...

I have 30 days to decide (before purchase), so will spend a bit more time with'em before deciding, tho having a sub is a real eye opener for the low end I've missed till now

[Flyline]

I installed a pro desk 5.1 system in my home cimena last week. Amazing that great sound, very clear and especially the sub is just great. I love the remote control with it's very easy to learn operating system. Definitely a gear to buy!!!

[pisser]

Originally posted by PlugHead
I have a Sky System One recently setup in the studio for evaluation: I had a shaky start (bad LF driver in one of the sats) but have them ready to do more listening. I'm a bit uncertain with the imaging - sound is extremely out of phase anywhere but in the sweetspot, which seems very narrow. I've been going back and forth between 20/20 bas and the BlueSky's, and I haven't found 'em to be as pleasing as the 20/20's, but in fairness, the sat's placement isn't optimum till the stands arrive in a couple of days. Anyone else experience an extremely narrow sweetspot, and phase related issues? I will experiment more with placement before passing judgement 'tho...

Also, they're not as bright as I was led to believe - the 20/20's are leagues brighter than these little guys - makes me wonder if something is drastically wrong - checked all cables/connections, and made sure nothing is wrong on the wiring/cabling side, but still don't have the big bright "air" factor I was expecting...

I have 30 days to decide (before purchase), so will spend a bit more time with'em before deciding, tho having a sub is a real eye opener for the low end I've missed till now

I used the Events for a while until I realized that they were probably one of the worst transfering monitors on earth. Mixes never sounded the same on anything else. Bottom end is bizarre and the top is shall we say a tad "hyped". They are very HiFi.

Now, if you are not getting any top out of the Blue Sky's then something is very wrong. i find them very smooth on top (at times maybe even too bright), but I can honestly say that if my mixes sound good on them they will sound good anywhere. I just finished mixing a flash cartoon that ended up as a 64 Kbps mp3 file. It sounded great on my Blue Sky's and sound great streaming over the net

[MikeC]

Looks like there are mixed feelings about these speakers. One of the main attractions to me is the BMC. If I were to choose the Genelecs (or another brand), what can people recommend for a 5.1 monitor control?

Thanks for the responses .....

Cheers

Mike

[MikeC]

Originally posted by mdbeh
Just to state the obvious...

Monitors are such a personal thing, almost more than any other piece of gear, so that almost always happens.

(I haven't heard the Blue Skys, but I can't stand Genelecs. But that's just me...)

Obsolutely. Where would we be without opinions, eh?

[Pascal Sijen]

One thing that is often overlooked when talking about monitors and their performance characteristics, is the room. The single biggest factor in how a monitoring system will perform is the room / studio it is placed in. Additionally, speaker placement within that room also has a great impact on the perceived spectral performance, imaging and localization. Always pay particular attention to HF reflections off of boundaries such as the mixing console, side walls, ceiling, floor and any other “reflective” surfaces. Try to keep speakers at seated ear height, or if that is not possible, aim them towards the monitoring area.

At low frequencies understand that all studios have room modes, which will greatly impact a speaker’s performance. How they impact the performance is determined by where the speakers are placed relative to the studios boundaries.

For more information on this, follow these links (hope this isn’t considered SPAM)

http://www.abluesky.com/p/p5s7.html
http://www.abluesky.com/p/p5s8.html

Finally if you are looking at spending “X” amount of money on upgrading the monitoring system for your studio, always include the room and any possible acoustic upgrades, as part of the monitoring system upgrade.

Although I would love to sell everyone a new set of monitors, I often see people upgrade monitoring systems, which they keep placing in rooms that have relatively simple acoustic problems (especially MF and HF issues) that greatly influence performance, but are not being addressed.

Anyway, hope that helps…

[MikeC]

Hi Pascal,

The room I'm looking to put them is quite small - 8x10, and I've expericed quite a bit of low end problems due to the lack of low end obsorption with solid brick walls. I currently have a pair of Tannoy System 800's which are ok but not brilliant. I could, of course, look at getting the remaining rear, centre and sub speakers to go with these but I might end up with better speakers than the L & R's! So, something that suits the size of the room is really what I'm looking for which is why the blue sky's and the genelecs were on my short list. I've also been thinking of looking at the Krk V4's.

The main mix room has PMC IB1s + Bryston amps which are nice so we'll be looking for comparable speakers when it comes to getting that room set up for surround. I need a smaller setup for authoring and editing.

Cheers,

Mike

[Pascal Sijen]

Originally posted by MikeC
Hi Pascal,

The room I'm looking to put them is quite small - 8x10, and I've expericed quite a bit of low end problems due to the lack of low end obsorption with solid brick walls. I currently have a pair of Tannoy System 800's which are ok but not brilliant. I could, of course, look at getting the remaining rear, centre and sub speakers to go with these but I might end up with better speakers than the L & R's! So, something that suits the size of the room is really what I'm looking for which is why the blue sky's and the genelecs were on my short list. I've also been thinking of looking at the Krk V4's.

The main mix room has PMC IB1s + Bryston amps which are nice so we'll be looking for comparable speakers when it comes to getting that room set up for surround. I need a smaller setup for authoring and editing.

Cheers,

Mike

I don't really feel comfortable posting a direct sales pitch on a message board, but feel free to e-mail me directly and I will walk you through some suggestions regarding our speakers and your room. You may want to read the links I posted above, which explain the benefits of using a bass-managed system to address LF problems.

pascal@abluesky.com