Event Opals / Review w. Pics and clip

[crillemannen]

Hello,

So i got my hands on the opals yesterday took them home to my studio and been trying them for 2days now. The stereo image are really good, really really open. Nice highs and good bass response. The highbass (180-300hz) isn't as revealing as what i hoped for actually. I always thought that was the hs80 weakest point but i can't say that the Opals are any better at that frequency either.

Both monitors have their strong points and in my opinion equally good, just different. (preparing for shit storm haha)


Coming from Yamaha hs80's which are really mid forward (which i like) i can now say that i wont be buying the Opals. I got a really good treated room so and i was really astonished that the difference wasn't that big. You might think im crazy but on the other hand many top mixers use cheap monitors too, so i guess it is all about knowing you monitors and have a treated room.

Here's a pick, (and i didn't placed them like this when i did the test)

And here is a mix i did on the opals. Although i checked it on the hs80 later on and did some adjustments
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/12967127/opal_mix.mp3

Cheers / christian

 

[mickrich]

If you want accurate high bass and low mids get Focal Twins.
I went from Hs80s to focal twins and my mixes got much better straight away.
It is very easy to zone in on low mid mush with the twins.
When I played back some HS80 mixes when I first got the twins I could hear all sorts of low mid resonances that the HS80s didn't reveal.
The twins are expensive but worth every penny.

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

It's actually pretty refreshing seeing someone trying high-end stuff and not being that impressed for a change. And no, you're not crazy, the HS80's are actually very good monitors for the price. I A/B'd them with my Twins before selling them, and while it was an easy choice for me (yes, the Twins smoked the HS80's), the cheap yammies really held up surprisingly well. In my case, the most apparent differences were precisely in the mud area (100-400Hz or so).

That being said, I still urge you to keep looking and trying different stuff and maybe you'll find the pair that gives you the same "holy shit, NOW I'm hearing stuff" feeling as I got. 8050's, BM15's, Twins, Adams... There are a lot of great options in that price range!

 

[Soundlurker]

Very surprising indeed. So much hype around those. Is it possible they have some defects like in that thread a few months ago?

 

[gabriel g.]

try out the Neumann KH 120 !!!!

Maybe this is exactly what your are looking for

 

[Death_Work]

We have a set of opals where I work, and I wasn't blown away at all actually.
Kinda dissapointed, Like my Adam A7x better

 

[mickrich]

Just had a look on Thomann.
These Events are €1400 each!

You should send them back to wherever you got them and get Focal Twins for the same price and never worry about monitors ever again.

Not only do the Focals sound fantastic, they look amazing too and will impress bands coming to the studio. Most bands I record ask about the twins within a few minutes of arriving at the studio.

 

[Mikaël-ange]

K&H 0300 Christian, you know you want it

 

[PhilTheBeard]

K&H 0300 Christian, you know you want it

+1 amazing monitors and the focal twins look very interesting to me..... hmm..... might be my next monitor investment.

 

[crillemannen]

@Mikeal. Yeah man i think they are. But they are also a 1000euro more expensive :S a little bit to much for me atm.

@Jarrko. How would you describe the Twins? Are they a bit more midforward? And do they have a similar character to the hs80's? I think im looking for a more refined hs80
if that makes any sense haha


And btw. my local music store let me borrow a pair so i haven't bought them. Would never buy such an expensive tool without trying it

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

@Mikeal. Yeah man i think they are. But they are also a 1000euro more expensive :S a little bit to much for me atm.

@Jarrko. How would you describe the Twins? Are they a bit more midforward? And do they have a similar character to the hs80's? I think im looking for a more refined hs80
if that makes any sense haha


And btw. my local music store let me borrow a pair so i haven't bought them. Would never buy such an expensive tool without trying it

You can check out my feelings of the Twins, both first impressions and after using them for a while from this thread: http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/equipment/678616-first-impressions-focal-twins.html

 

[gabriel g.]

Check out the Neumann KH 120. They are K+H! Neumann bought K+H. They are so detailed in the mids its mind blowing!!!

 

[dcb]

i upgraded from the hs80m 3 years ago to the opals and it was a huge step up.
i recently was forced to mix on the hsm80 again, because one of my opals died.
those mixes really didnt translate at all, while my opal stuff does that really well.

i do think that the lower midrange isnt as revealing here. i think a great alternative is still
yamaha ns10 + subwoofer (cla style).

though im not sure if its your room acoustics?
but the difference between the hs and opals especially in the high mids is huge (to my ears).
but as always it takes some time "learning" new monitors. i do understand that people have
different opinions on different speakers. goddamn, i even like esi nears 05 for guitar mixing ;-)

 

[crillemannen]

i upgraded from the hs80m 3 years ago to the opals and it was a huge step up.
i recently was forced to mix on the hsm80 again, because one of my opals died.
those mixes really didnt translate at all, while my opal stuff does that really well.

i do think that the lower midrange isnt as revealing here. i think a great alternative is still
yamaha ns10 + subwoofer (cla style).

though im not sure if its your room acoustics?
but the difference between the hs and opals especially in the high mids is huge (to my ears).
but as always it takes some time "learning" new monitors. i do understand that people have
different opinions on different speakers. goddamn, i even like esi nears 05 for guitar mixing ;-)

The biggest difference in my opinion is in the highs around 2-4k between those 2. where the hs80 are way sharper and more forward if that makes any sense. Which i don't consider as bad, just different. And of course coming from the hs80, knowing them well that is what i prefer haha. I also thought the Opals sounded a bit unexcited and boring in lack for a better word.

My room has practically perfect frequency response, so the room is superb. Especially where my mix position at is. And my mixes translate great because i know my hs80 very well. But my main concern is the lowmids-highbass 150-400hz, where the hs80 are at their weakest. Perhaps i should look at the ns10 combo haha. CLA mixes pretty well ,right?

I guess my point is that you can do well with practically any monitor as long as you know them. Perhaps i'll buy a SSL alphalink instead :S

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

My room has practically perfect frequency response, so the room is superb. Especially where my mix position at is.

Out of curiosity, can you share the measurement data of your room? The low-mid detail is (in my experience) the most obvious difference between low and high end monitors, so this sounds a bit strange to me. I have never used the Opals, but a lot of other monitors and speakers from the same price range and that's something I've pretty much found in common between them.

 

[Ermz]

Well, you can't please everyone. At least you tried.

Re: the Twins, I've tracked on them many times. They're revealing and good, but their high mid response is too abrasive for me. I have real issues listening to distorted guitar sounds on them for prolonged periods. For me the Opals were a better choice, but once again, your mileage may differ.

The O300s are amazing. Some of the best monitors around. The only 'fault' is that they don't go insanely loud.

 

[Melb_shredder]

The biggest difference in my opinion is in the highs around 2-4k between those 2. where the hs80 are way sharper and more forward if that makes any sense. Which i don't consider as bad, just different. And of course coming from the hs80, knowing them well that is what i prefer haha. I also thought the Opals sounded a bit unexcited and boring in lack for a better word.

My room has practically perfect frequency response, so the room is superb. Especially where my mix position at is. And my mixes translate great because i know my hs80 very well. But my main concern is the lowmids-highbass 150-400hz, where the hs80 are at their weakest. Perhaps i should look at the ns10 combo haha. CLA mixes pretty well ,right?

I guess my point is that you can do well with practically any monitor as long as you know them. Perhaps i'll buy a SSL alphalink instead :S

I don't own a pair of Opals, but considering the amount of time I've been lucky to spend around them (3 close mates who own them) I get what you mean about being unexciting but to me that's WHY I want a set.

They don't exaggerate like the Yammies do etc, what you hear.. is well exactly what you're hearing. I think Ermz may have said??? when you mix on the Opals you mix till it sounds good. And I get that... I've mixed on a few different monitors where I'm always working against their flaws, there lack of bass, or hollow mids or pushed mids etc and I was always mixing to how the speakers were so to speack.

I entirely feel that with the Opals you mix in them until it sounds right, and 9/10 it's going to sound great everywhere else..

But hey, my next monitor budget isn't huge so given your review I'm still eager to try the HS80's and my place

 

[crillemannen]

^

Well the thing i like with the hs80's as that a great mix sounds awesome on them and it gets me excited and that is what it is all about for me. Pretty boring to sit all day on clean monitors that sounds borring :S WEll well always fun to read about monitors because no opinions are the same haha

 

[Mikaël-ange]

@Mikeal. Yeah man i think they are. But they are also a 1000euro more expensive :S a little bit to much for me atm.

)

I know this

Maybe you can try to find an other monitor set that add what lacking with HS80

And don't go with the ns10 + sub way
Other monitor+ sub and ns10 work great but ns10+sub only don't imo...

Quick question Ermin but do you like ns10?

And for insanely loud, that why main was created

 

[PhilTheBeard]

Ill just stick with my a7's and hr626's for now