Focal Solo6 Be's (too much low mids!!)

[youngmain]

Look, I love my Focal Twin 6be's. I recently went to a studio that had event ASP 8's, ironically the kind I previously owned, and dammit, they were harsher than hell! My ****ing ears were ringin after 1 hour! I listen to my focals for hours and feel fine. Now, my complaints are that of other owners, they do distort with some synth sounds. Primarily those that have a whole lot of information across the frequency spectrum. It DOES GET ON MY NERVES. SIMON, can you explain???

[Dopamine]

<< your main broadband reference should be really nice, and reference material should sound glorious on them. >>

Gotta agree with Peeder on this one. I don't want to hear issues with my favorite mixes.

[DSD_Mastering]

If anyone can't get a good sound out of the Focals, then something else is broken. Either your room sucks or you have a console that is creating comb filtering or something!
We have Twin6's as the L/R and Solo6's as C/LS/RS with Sub and it's the best sound I've ever gotten in my room!


Regards,
Bruce

[strewnshank]

Originally Posted by j-madd

I personally find the information in the low-mids to be of great value when mixing, but my speakers are about 10 feet away (about 1/3rd depth of my room) from my front wall, so we may not be talking about the same amount of emphasis. This is the very reason I like these monitors as my old mixes had too much going on in this area. Also, It's really important to have treatment on the parallel walls between you and the speakers to decrease reflection. I am happy with the solo 6's, but they may not suite your ears. Everyone hears a little differently.

Justin

This is my position exactly. I do find the low-mids to be significantly more present than on my previous speakers (event 20/20's), however, I certainly don't find it to be a hinderance. I am feeling a little lost on the sub 50hz frequencies, so I think I'll be adding the sub soon.

[Doc Mixwell]

Originally Posted by peeder

A dealer can rely on a variety of psychological and practical side effects telling people to do entire mixes on a system before judging it.

What are you talking about? You have to listen to the monitors to judge them correct?

[Sui_City]

Originally Posted by Dopamine

<< your main broadband reference should be really nice, and reference material should sound glorious on them. >>

Gotta agree with Peeder on this one. I don't want to hear issues with my favorite mixes.

Sorry, but that argument is flawed.

What happens if there are in fact issues in your favourite mixes?

Just because you think it is a good mix, doesn't mean it actually is.

[mdjice]

Originally Posted by Sui_City

Sorry, but that argument is flawed.

What happens if there are in fact issues in your favourite mixes?

Just because you think it is a good mix, doesn't mean it actually is.

+1

[Dopamine]

<< Sorry, but that argument is flawed. What happens if there are in fact issues in your favourite mixes? Just because you think it is a good mix, doesn't mean it actually is. >>

I have a reference cd of songs I know well and have been listening to for years in professional studios. I know exactly how they should sound. On the Focals I have the urge to put a dip in the lo-mids.

[Juan2daPaab]

I've heard the Solo's in a couple different environments and felt that they were tubby in the low-mids, so you're not alone. I loved the detail in the highs but the lower freqs did not sound right to my ears.

Then I auditioned the Twins and fell in love They had the detail of the solos but they were much more balanced in the lows and low-mids.

[George Necola]

you can't hear the distortion of the new metallica CD on Focal solo 6... there is no detail in the highs.. there is something wrong there..

something is phasy.. it sounds like chhhhhhrzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz (that describes the highend very well)

cheers

[tomdarude]

Originally Posted by George Necola

you can't hear the distortion of the new metallica CD on Focal solo 6... there is no detail in the highs.. there is something wrong there..

something is phasy.. it sounds like chhhhhhrzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz (that describes the highend very well)

cheers

George... Honey

hi-end phasey on the focals?? but you like adam´s ??? WTF are you hearing?

that death-metal stuff is doin your ears no good...lol


you got no clue, but I love you anyway!!
when the hell will you be over here, we must sit down and chat soon

cheers

[George Necola]

Originally Posted by tomdarude

George... Honey

hi-end phasey on the focals?? but you like adam´s ??? WTF are you hearing?

that death-metal stuff is doin your ears no good...lol


you got no clue, but I love you anyway!!
when the hell will you be over here, we must sit down and chat soon

cheers

Mr. Tom,

I hope for Focal that there is something wrong with my pair.. come over and listen. something is very wrong

youu have to come to SWIZZZ

cheers

[Doc Mixwell]

Originally Posted by George Necola

Mr. Tom,

I hope for Focal that there is something wrong with my pair.. come over and listen. something is very wrong

youu have to come to SWIZZZ

cheers

George,

I think there is something wrong with your speakers,

There is absolutely nothing wrong with the top end on the solo's I have at my project studio. They are the least ear fatiguing [40hz-40K] monitors I have ever heard.

[George Necola]

Originally Posted by Roc Mixwell

George,

I think there is something wrong with your speakers,

There is absolutely nothing wrong with the top end on the solo's I have at my project studio. They are the least ear fatiguing [40hz-40K] monitors I have ever heard.

they just do not represent the sound (highs and low mids) very well.

the same as the SM8.. the SM8 sound boxy.

hm.. maybe I am not a Focal-guy (no LOVE FOR THE FRENCH!)

today, my birthday..be patient with me

cheers

[mdjice]

Originally Posted by George Necola

they just do not represent the sound (highs and low mids) very well.

the same as the SM8.. the SM8 sound boxy.

hm.. maybe I am not a Focal-guy (no LOVE FOR THE FRENCH!)

today, my birthday..be patient with me

cheers

Happy birthday.!!!...even though I AM A FRENCH !!!

[youngmain]

Revised: If worst come to worst, I will have to ship mine off for repair! I hope not, but I conducted a mono bass test a lil over a week ago and one of my twins has a very slight rattle that my other twin doesn't. I am getting some more bass traps to make sure my room is playing a major role here. I know their are no rattles in my room but dips in the room can maybe distort my hearing. Im starting to think they aren't built for music with lots of low end but my tests have only begun.

Mind you this particular bass guitar has plenty of mid low range detail. Goes to figure.

[Jack Ruston]

That's a faulty driver issue. There were some. There won't be any more apparently. You'll know if yours have this problem. It's not subtle.

[van Overhalen]

Originally Posted by masterblaster

I don't like the extra thick lo-mids in the Focals... I find the top end odd as well.

My room is treated.

Same here.

[pronto]

hmm... very interesting threat.
please continue stike

[Dopamine]

Originally Posted by pronto

hmm... very interesting threat.
please continue stike

Update: i moved my studio to a new location and the CR is much larger. I consulted with an acoustician, invested many more thick bass traps, and set up everything optimally.

Guess what? I still hate the way they sound. I finally got the IK Multimedia ARC system. Sure enough, it confirmed what I hear and did drastic cutting on the lower mids.. and a slight boost on the top.

Now they sound listenable, but only with the drastic ARC curve.

[pronto]

thanks for your long-term review.

greets

[glissando]

Originally Posted by peeder

What I find is the dealers push hardest the products that need the promotion the most.

For instance, have you ever seen a dealer push GML? I can't remember the last time I heard a dealer yelling at people to buy GML. If you try GML you really don't need to try anything else. People who sell GML are really just distributors.

But Focal? Now that's where hard-sellers earn their pay. Go stick it to'em boys! Move those puppies, those cretins out there won't know the difference! It's not their money, IT'S YOURS! GRAB IT!

You don't need to try anything else besides GML?....please.....that's like saying because every high end studio has a manley Vari Mu that you don't need any other compressor. Ridiculous and use them a lot less than other pieces of gear kicking around....just like an SSL Bus compressor it's great when it works, but it works great maybe 15% of the time. I can't believe you posted that.

I 've mixed one project on a pair of focals and I have to say I don't "like" the way they sound HOWEVER they translate very well and they make you work to get your mix sounding good...which is a good thing as speakers that flatter can mislead you for hours...I like having both. Focals to to the grunt work and others to flatter the client when they walk in later.

[Arksun]

Very surprising thread, just when I thought everyone sung the praises of the Focals.

Mine is a bedroom studio too, some acoustic treatment but not as much as I'd like/can fit.

I'm curious if everyone thats experiencing the low-mid bump has them closer to a boundary wall?.

When you say low-mid, what sort of freq range exactly?.

[PopularDemand]

Originally Posted by Reg

Look who just crawled out of the wood work to give all of us a lesson on what's good and what's not.

That post is 3 years old as are most in this thread

I worked in a spot with some focal twins for a few days- Nice. However, I don't think I would purchase them if I was in the market for some new monitors.

[j-madd]

I've had no issues w my solos. They give a good amt of low/mid info, but in a good way.

Sent from my DROIDX using Gearslutz.com App

[fdc]

now i read this thread i´m gonna sell my focal solos.

anyway i dont have any problems with them. mixing became so easy on my solos...dirty mixes, clean mixes...no problem...they sit on recoils on my desk. room is full with basskillers. could need some more but all good. best speakers i´ve ever had. mixes translate well. so what could i need more?
also my mixes normally have more lowmid than the average mixes i listen to on my speakers. my style. so if there would be too much low mids from the speakers, my mixes would lack low mids on every other system. or?

[Tube World]

I have one problem with the Focal Solo's and Twins; with the mid forward sound...it does help mix the mid freq's which are very busy with lot's of instruments and voices. The problem is when you play back your music on a stereo the mid's are no longer forward since most stereos don't push the mid's forward. They are blended in with the high's and low's. The mid's lack the soaring vocals or lead solo forwardness you were trying to get while mixing. It's there on the Focals but not in your mixes on different sources.

I like the PMC TB2A's and even the Genelec 8050's better. At least with both of these monitors when you push the mid's forward, the mid's are still forward when you play back on other sources.

[GMR]

that's why you must try in your room before you buy and that's what i did. tried them for 5 days and really like them, and returned them. tried something else