Genelec 1030a’s or Mackie H824’s? Which would YOU buy?

S

Synth2k

New member
Well, I’m in the market for a pair of new monitors and it has come down to two choices – a pair of Genelec 1030a’s or Mackie HR824’s. Now my question to all you gurus out there: if given a choice between the two, which one would you choose to buy and why? I’m not sure about the Mackie’s given the size of the room that they will need to go into (they might be too much for the size of the place). Any thoughts?
 
I think they are 2 different monitors. Do you need nearfields and have a pair good mains? Or do you need a "Mains" on a small scale?
 
I demo the mackies and they are very nice for the price point. I belive I heard the genelcs for a short time a while ago. I highly recomend you demo both. Overall I don't think you'll be dissapointed with either. Honestly to close to tell for me.
 
Thanks for the input guys. I have demoed both and they both sound good to me. The thing I was concerned about with the mackies is that the room I'll be putting them into is quite small - I am afraid that they might be just too loud. Friends of mine who own the Mackies have also told me that you have to have them up to a pretty fair volume to mix properly, whereas with the Gens you can get away with mixing at a lower volume. Any thoughts on that?
 
I've always mixed at about 80-85db because around the ranges is where the ear responds the flattest while, it's also not to loud to fry my ears! So which ever you liked the best should be your choice.
 
I'm not the best person to give advice about this topic-because i'm fairly new to it, but if it's a really close call-i'd go with the company that concentrates all of its efforts in the production of a singular product. I'm pretty sure Mackie makes all kinds of gear and that Genelec produces fewer products, if not just Speakers. IMHO I'd go with Genelec.--Keep in mind I've never heard either one of these speakers.
 
OK Synth2K:]

Suggest you listen to a pair of Yorkville YSM-1 monitors.

[Unless you were born to spend.]

Clean and nice tight base. Cost in Michigan was 107.50 per speaker; they cost less in Canada where they are made.

I have no doubt that the other speakers you are comparing are very good. But, the Yorkvilles are fine stuff for the low price. I understand that Yorkville is coming out with amped speakers soon.

I was so impressed with the YSM-1 monitors that I bought a Yorkville mic for my studio the following week after I plugged in my monitors. A very good mic for less than 150 pezzutos.


Green Hornet
 
Yo Hornet!

If you don't work for Yorkville, you should. You'd be racking up the comisssion! :)

BTW- I got that Apex 430 mic, its really nice. But thats for another forum.
 
ive used the Mackie 824's. we have them in our mastering suite and teh video suite. they are REEEEALLy nice. lovely sound. BUT, i dont like using them for the mix. it's true what someone said, you do have to turn them up a little bit. they're great for mastering though. i use them to check mixes at their final stages. but for mixing, hmm, they just sound too nice!! if that makes sense.
 
Hey synth,

I was faced with that decision to make about 3
months ago. First of all between the two you have
mentioned there is at least a $500 differrence in price
with the lower of the two being the Mackie,s. Second
to be a fairer comparison, you would have to step up
to the 1031a's to get the bass response to match the
Mackies..now youre talking about a $1000 dollar difference.

Based on that I chose the Mackies. And I have no
regrets. I have a small studio also ,and them being
too loud is not a problem. In fact they sound so good
you are gonna want to turn them up:) Just remember
to connect to the C/R outs and not the mains like I did.
Yep rookie mistake :)

On both of your choices youre gonna have attenuation
so that if they are too loud you can crank them down.
They also have a separate bass response control to
compensate for where they are placed in the room.
The genelecs have additonal tweeking on the mids and
treble. (If I remember correctly)

I would like to say, that at the time I was making
my decision, I had convinced myself through what
I had read, heard and briefly experienced, that I had to
buy a monitor at the $1000 range otherwise I wouldnt
be getting anything that I could trust. Well I dont believe
that to be true today. The mackies didnt automaticly
make my mixes better. I had to learn them and I had
to tweak them and I had to know what my reference
material sounded like on them.

If I had to do it all over again, Ive read enough
around here to give those Yorkvilles a good try.
Or any of the others. I would go powered just
to have the added versatility. I mean, you are
gonna wanna crank them every now and then :)

If youre intent on spending the money:
The Mackies..great tech support by the way
an 800 number..these guys will talk to you prior
to your purchase.

Hope this helps!!
 
based on what elbenj and longwave studio said,

I think you'll be better off buying the mackies AND a pair of ns10ms than buying the genelecs. For the same price, you get a better view
 
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