Live 'Trio Test' High End studio monitor speakers

We are going to test some very nice studio speakers: the Grimm LS1be, Dutch&Dutch 8C and the ATC SCM100A... so: high-end studio gear.

Index:
0:00 - 10:59 - Intro
11:00 - 21:10 - Introduction speakers and specs Dutch & Dutch 8C
21:11 - 51:34 - Music and conclusions Dutch & Dutch 8C
51:35 - 56:24 - Swapping for the ATC SCM100A
56:25 - 1:37:35 - Playing with the ATC SCM100A
1:37:36 - 1:44:42 - Swapping for the Grimm LS1be
1:44:42 - 2:22:50 - Playing with the Grimm LS1be
2:22:51 - 2:30:25 - Concluding

𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗿: For a completely fair comparison of loudspeakers, the playback level between speakers has to be matched. Otherwise, the slightly louder loudspeaker is likely to be perceived as better. In future live tests, we’ll make sure the levels are properly matched, but it’s not done perfectly in this one. The Dutch & Dutch played at a lower level than the others, the Grimm the loudest. These level differences have been fixed in post-production, but not in this video. Therefore, for the most accurate listening comparison, please listen to the files hosted in the Alpha Audio Sample Database.

[TheAlphaAudio]

Check out the written review and samples on:

[IrenESorius]

Those Grimms, , liberatingly good. Thank you much for your time and work guys. 💖

[DJURBANBG]

21:10 DD 8C / 1:00:00 ATC / 2:01:14 GRIMM ... ok, why the music is so much louder on the GRIMM, that not fair at all !

[benhoog]

Het blijft toch uitermate vreemd/ raar. Dat zelfs op je (redelijke) PC-speakers alle verschillen kunt horen. En wéér die Grimms. Ik hoorde ze eens op de Xi_fi en was er helemaal ondersteboven van. Het mooiste wat ik ooit heb gehoord. En zelfs nu hoor ik het. Alles zo los van elkaar. Daarna meteen op mijn eigen setje de muziek luisteren, wat een dichtgesmeerd zootje heb ik dan maar. En ik was er nét zo blij mee. (Harbeth's SHL5 40th op JK-Acoustics-blokken). Dank voor deze video. En sowieso wat jullie allemaal doen! De manier zoals jullie over Hi-fi spreken is erg fijn. Vooral opvallend, niet eindeloos de nummers noemen die jullie gebruiken...zoals zo vaak in reviews. Gewoon stukjes muziek draaien.

[wdkbeats]

I really love sound of ATC's (I use them for mixing) but... Grimm is on a whole another

[janspaan]

Ik had gisteren tijdens de live-streaming helaas geen tijd om te kijken/luisteren. Vanmorgen alsnog gedaan en ... wow ... met name de Grimms, zelfs thuis met een hoofdtelefoon op proef je de klasse ... Bedankt voor jullie moeite om deze test te realiseren. Blijft alleen de vraag, wanneer je de Grimms eenmaal hebt gehoord, ben je dan niet zo verwend dat je hetgeen je thuis hebt staan, beoordeelt als mwahh :) ...

[mndlessdrwer]

Okay, back to comment about the speakers themselves:
-Dutch & Dutch 8C: absolutely bonkers, and they really mean what they say when they claim it to be one of the most accurate monitor speakers on the market. The design only works because of the DSP correction and active crossover network design, because the cabinet volume is inadequate otherwise. I personally really like the sound based on what I can judge from the video, but with the speakers being so accurate, neutral, and clean it just means that I like the current tuning of my IEMs. I can still understand what you mean about not actively preferring it for mastering because it feels fatiguing - it isn't that there is any gain or peaks in the treble, but that there is simply too much resolution and the amount of detail it finds and extracts from the music makes it tiring to listen to. I've had this experience before with one of my IEMs that has since died a cruel death by being eaten by a dog. It had a very flat response and was considered a bit "dark" because it had thick mids and slightly rolled off upper treble. Even so, the amount of detail they could pull out of songs meant that if they hadn't been tuned that way, you wouldn't want to listen to them for more than a few hours because of the mental fatigue of their resolving capacity.

-ATC SCM100A: Still insane, but in a big retro cabinet speaker kind of way. They're still very resolving, but the sound seems less analytical and not quite a purely neutral compared to the 8C. There is something to be said for forward-firing integrated subwoofers in studio monitors. They hit different compared to the rear-firing ones on the 8C. Honestly, that alone might be why they sound warmer to me.

-Grimm LS1Be: Understandable why this is a favorite. The way they've corrected the bass in particular is bonkers. There's no delay, at all. The bass impact feels like it's hitting perfectly in time with the lower mids. The coherency of the timing is impeccable and the bass feels properly impactful without impacting the rest of the frequency range. Super clean. One of the things they're mentioning is related to the reason why most people who are used to a dynamic driver IEM really do not like the sound of balanced armature bass. And this is despite the fact that Sonion's 38 series BA drivers have gotten so well developed that you can actually feel bass impact from them. The problem is a matter of decay. The decay of BA drivers is typically very, very fast. If it isn't recorded in the track, you aren't supposed to hear it with properly sized BAs that lack a large resonant chamber. The LS1Be's bass is faster and tighter than most, particularly when directly compared with the SCM100A, and the decay is more strictly managed so it inherently feels "off" despite being technically more accurate to the recording. I sometimes wish that I understood the physics behind sound recording and reproduction well enough to properly explain this, but I changed majors before I would have gotten to these topics. Optical physics was already enough to break me. The last track played on these really was a good choice because it sounds so massive. The IEM's I'm currently stuck with don't have particularly good sound stage size, but the speakers disappeared and the sounds seemed to come from really far away. It's really impressive how they mixed and mastered that track and how well the LS1Be reproduce it.

If you ever decide to revisit these kinds of really expensive studio monitors, I hope you can find someone to loan you their set of the DIY kit from SEAS, the King RO4Y Mk.III. It's a really nice DIY kit that retails for around 3, 000EUR, plus the cost of cabinet materials and your time and effort to build and finish the cabinet and program the DSP amplifier boards. I'm curious how it would compare with some of these more ludicrously expensive monster speakers. Is it on-par with them in terms of performance, but at a lower cost? Is it worse? I'd be interested to hear the opinion of someone who has heard a LOT of different speakers like the team at Alpha Audio.

[bigjay]

Love this type of video. Branch out to the high mainstream audiophile products and you have a winner!🤗😉😇

[iepdeklein]

Great test! Track suggestion: Simin Tander “I See You” in MQA.

[stevesmith]

With the ATC I immediately heard their ability to move air. The bass sounds a little thick though and punchy in an overly stiff way. the real problem with them is their forward glare and shoutiness and their lack of air. Too much emphasis on attack but not enough spread. The Dutch would be nice if they bottom end was richer with more bounce, punch and flow. From 100hz up they're really nice.

[Michiel]

Articulation of the bass is way better too of the ATC SCM100A compared to the Dutch&Dutch. It's not only the punch.

[ГенаМих]

Please test Genelec 8361a and Genelec S360

[dirkbusche]

I fear the Speaker stands doesnt have the stability for reprocäducing exact sound details. The dCS are making a better job than with dutch & dutch on this stands, sorry.

[JA-ipmz]

Wobbling the woofer with James Blake and playing Jacques Loussier again (can't hear it anymore, it is the same as playing the forbidden song in a guitar shop almost ;-)), come on guys, it's not that good of a track, so is the James Blake test not a very normal track to listen to or very special imho. But you guys are improving, you also start to play other songs? But other than that, I like to see this kind of gear being shown to the public.

[abielpangga]

Dutch and Dutch easily wins. they are probably the flattest out of all the models. Atc having too much mids which is not flat at all and the grimm just lacks bass. While it gives a tighter bass impression, it is in no way accurate.

[hjbuunk]

Roel from Pura audio (D&D and Kii dealer overhere in the Netherlands) shared his thoughts on his website about this test:

[JayBeBerg]

Excellent shootout, thank you! 
Only left me wondering why you chose to set up the speakers up against the wall, considering all the space in the room?

[AK-sjle]

I'm considering getting the D&D 8c to replace my ATC SCM19v2 bookshelves. There's always a lot said about the bass of the 8c but not so much about the clarity of the highs (e.g. violins, acoustic guitar, drum cymbals). What I dislike are speakers that come across as veiled or muffled in the highs.

I've gone through the lossless recordings between the ATC SCM100A and the D&D 8c, and nothing suggests that 8c are any less clear in the treble than the ATCs. However, on John Mayer's Vultures, Mark found the 8c "timid", "mellow" and that he's used to snares with more energy. This worries me a little bit.

@TheAlphaAudio, you were listening directly to both speakers. What was your take on the D&D's clarity/energy in the upper registers as compared to the ATC SCM100A?

[autonomous-hmyf]

Grimm's are all mids and fatigueing. The ATC active 40' are better than these, the 100 's are a level up.

[darkfiles]

What a restrained, boring sound the dCS DAC has.