first impressions...Wharfedale 8.2a's

[travelin travis]

I ordered the wharfedale's, along with a 1010LT sound card, based on the many suggestions I have read on the bbs. They came in a couple days ago but my little recording space was in no shape to setup em up........Wendy's sacks surrounding my chair, a seriously overflowing ashtray, multiple half-full paper cups of coke surrounding the pc monitor, little pieces of paper piled up on all sides with half written songs...........all the result of spending the last couple of weeks emerged in the homerecording bbs......should I get these, those, that one, this one........FUCK!!! It's all too much to decipher.

Ok, back on track.......stopped by wally world tonight to pickup one of those 6 ft. fold-up tables for $50 (a little pc desk was just way to damn small for the wharfs and a pc monitor, cleaned up the bunker, setup the wharf's in a triangle formation, got the 1010LT installed within a couple of minutes. I headed straight for one of my favorite tunes, Ryan Adams - Come Pick Me Up, in my mp3 directory. Fuckin A, I can't stop smilin........harp in my face, toms sound from center to right, Ryan's singin right down the middle, right in front of my face...this is too cool. I would say the first thing I noticed is the stereo imaging.....nice. Next thing, the highs are'nt piercing my ears. They actually sound a little subdued.......now that I think about it, nothing is really stickin out, nothing is overly bassy, middy, or trebly. I can hear the mp3 compression during the quiet passages. I have never owned a decent stereo so I never really heard how severe the compression noise is. Even the stereo in my truck is a wally world special. I'm still smilin and about to grab a cd, The Beatles - Abbey Road to see what I can hear..........I'm outta here......just wanted to share my first impressions and thank everyone that suggested these monitors. I'm still smilin.

[jamtheguitarman]

i recieved mine yesterday aswell. i also came to the same conclusions as you. you can just hear everything!. try playing Passion and Warfare by steve vai. ive never heard anything so good. evrything is there, all the little sound effects, it just sounds so full.
quick question though. im using them with the delta omni i\o. ive got the monitors turned to full and then i just adjust the volume with the omni monitor volume knob. is this correct?

[Cheeky Monkey]

Originally Posted by jamtheguitarman

i recieved mine yesterday aswell. i also came to the same conclusions as you. you can just hear everything!. try playing Passion and Warfare by steve vai. ive never heard anything so good. evrything is there, all the little sound effects, it just sounds so full.
quick question though. im using them with the delta omni i\o. ive got the monitors turned to full and then i just adjust the volume with the omni monitor volume knob. is this correct?

I received mine about a week ago. I agree with your assessment. As for the volume, unless someone advises otherwise, I'm leaving mine at half volume (and increasing volume through my mixer) because I've noticed a very slight hum at full volume. Anyone else notice this? I just assume it's normal with such devices at full volume with no sound coming through. I doubt this hum is an issue when listening at mixing volumes though.

[travelin travis]

Mine are set at half volume. Everything seems quiet enough and I'm getting more than enough volume so I will leave mine at half. Also, for entertainment use only, in media player, I'm increasing the 16k eq slider.

[MadAudio]

I have mine set at 12 o'clock and use a passive attenuator to control the volume, and I can get 'em plenty loud. I would advise against leaving them set full blast. An accidental loud transient could blow those speakers!

[thane1200]

Originally Posted by MadAudio

I have mine set at 12 o'clock and use a passive attenuator to control the volume, and I can get 'em plenty loud. I would advise against leaving them set full blast. An accidental loud transient could blow those speakers!

Good call Lister! I mean, Mad. LOL!

[drummersteve]

according all goes 2plan, mine should be here on friday, and i cant wait!! many people seem dead pleased, no doubt i will be too. whoop!

[distortedrumble]

cheeky monkey, travisinflorida, jamtheguitarman......welcome to the fold.....you understand the difference now, you hear the difference now and i belive you'll find it hard to go back to some multi-media speakers. when i built my new comp for me to have at home...i plugged in some multi-media speakers and got so frustrated that i just unplugged them and put on headphones.

[jamtheguitarman]

whoopppieee!!!!! music is ruined for ever.

[distortedrumble]

exactly....gone are the days where playing it loud was the only thing...now you'll hear everything and think about the mix and how they did something.

[travelin travis]

I'm already developing an appreciation for good mixing. I have alot to learn!

[jamtheguitarman]

i ordered a couple of trs cables and they came yesterday. the dumbass sent me tr cables though. i have them plugged in and they seem okay. will it cause any damage?

[travelin travis]

is the omni i/o balanced/unbalanced? if it handles unbalanced, you're ok. otherwise I don't know. i know the wharf's handle balanced/unbalanced.

to anyone considering getting these monitors: don't expect them to sound great. personally I don't think they sound great but thats not the reason I bought them in the first place. they sound neutral, nothing exaggerated. I don't think I would buy them for use as home stereo speakers because I have heard some really nice sounding speakers out there. what they do is make the stereo image clear and let you know when/where your tracks need to be tweaked. everything seems obvious. compared to what I'm used to, the wharf's make the stereo image of some tunes so obvious that it's like listening to one of those 3D pictures that you used to see in the mall. it's a very cool experience to hear this for the first time.

I'm in the middle of making some hardware upgrades so I can't really try mixing on them yet but from what I hear, I think they will do a fine job. i have tried mixing with phones, pc speakers, and some cheap edirol micro monitors. the phones were impossible, the pc speakers did'nt put out any lows and very limited highs, the edirols are very bassy. Actually, the edirols translated ok after getting used to the exaggerated bass but they just won't get up to a decent volume without distorting, so they're no good for monitoring during tracking and they don't put out a good stereo image.

I think the wharf's will be fine monitors for a home setup, plus I got mine as a scratch and dent special (one corner on the back of each cabinet is dented) for $260, free shipping. can't beat that.