few points to add: 1) actual big advantage of such coaxial design is, you get more "even" reflections from the room, significantly reducing perceived impact of the lackluster acoustic treatment most studios have (and even more noticeable once you get into more complex sestups 5.1 or atmos) 2) I'd politely disagree about subwoofer not being needed - I'd say if the room is big enough (and having reasonable insulation) then having a dedicated subwoofer (like Kali WS-12) will significantly help to leverage load from the IN-8 woofers, regardless of volume, which can be very handy for almost all genres (especially dense film scoring or dub) 3) I think Kali stated they lowered the self hiss by about 10-12 dB compared to first gen, probably still not enough for a very silent studio, but definitely an improvement
My LP-6 v1 have a pretty loud hiss. You don’t hear it when playing audio, but it’s annoying when things are paused. Glad the v2 are a lot better. Wish there was a way to improve mine without having to replace them.
Very nice review, Mike. I'm planning an investment on a pair of near field monitors next year and this helps narrowing down the options. I'm yet undecided between two brands, Kali or Adam, and a couple of models from each. It would be fantastic, if you could review more models from these two brands in the context of small, roughly treated control rooms. Well done, once again.
I just bought the Adam Audio A7V monitors for my room about 2 weeks ago. I looked at the Kali Audio, 5" and 8". I thought 8" was just too much for my small room and have the Yamaha HS5 already. So I went with Adam Audio A7V. After watching your review and listening to your reasonings, it sounds like I made the correct choice for my room, and I love them. Thanks for all you do Mike, you are a great help to many of us folks out here in the world.
I have listened to different monitors in the local music store but chose the Tannoy Gold 8 and loving there sound. Got them online from Germany. I'm happy with them and curious why there are so few tests from established UA-camrs. Maybe the next speaker test Mike? :-)
And they are beautifully quiet! Outstanding monitors for the price and the ones I bought a few months ago after trying pretty much everything in that price range. In fact, I even went from 7" to 8" because the difference in price was not that significant.
I own a pair of these I bought brand new and have been mixing on them for almost 3 years now. My mix room would probably be considered on the smaller side (16F long, 12F wide), but it's treated (all GIK acoustics material per their recommendation). I came from a pair of Yamaha HS80Ms. They were a significant jump in sound quality for me and I've really loved getting to know them and mixing with em. I've actually be considering a pair of the new Barefoot Sound Footprint03's. After all the research I've done they seem a logical upgrade but I'm still not sure as I really think the IN-8 V2s are at level above what they ask for them. We'll see. Great review, thanks.
Hi! thanks for the Video - i was in a testing phase and had the LP6 and IN8 2nd and Focal shape 65 - after 2month the final decision were the Focals - but i really was going back and forht between IN8 and Focals - the final reason was, that in my room the IN8 had a issue in the lower midrange, i copuld not difeine it perfectly but as i mixed on every speaker - the transaltion was the best on the focals, although i like the Kalis a lot!
I have a concern about monitors with DSP. The quality of A/D and D/A conversion is considered of primary importance in audio, and engineers spend thousands of dollars on accurate converters, which obviously can't be matched by the converters in speakers which cost less than than what is often spent on converters alone. It doesn't seem to make sense to take so much care and go to so much expense refining the audio signal only to submit it to lower quality processing in the final stage of monitoring.
Smooth and punchy studio monitors. Terrific value. I enjoy them a lot and don’t get ear fatigue from them. I compared them to high end PSI audio monitors, and of course the level of detail you get from high end monitors such as the PSI is much higher. However, they will perfectly suit the needs of music producers/composers; not that much those of sound engineers.
I have them and they are great considering the price. But I still have a few complains. They have quite a small sweet spot. Moving your head even slightly (up/down, left right) could change the sounds you perceive especially in the upper mids and highs. So basically you need to stay perfectly still in the triangle position when you are making decisions. Another thing is that although the bass is tight and punchy, and because of this, it really needs rightly treated room to make the low end accurate. (This is certainly not particular to this monitor.) The DSP selections were not so useful at least in my case because it dips/boosts the wrong frequency along with the bass EQ. For the sweet spot issue alone, the high end monitors like Focal, Adam, ATC are much better suited for professional studio environment because of having many outboard gears on your side/behind or a larger console to operate. But for in the box mixing or typical small home studio environment where you can stay in the sweet spot all the time, they are good monitors to have. For the sound quality itself, they are honest and accurate sounding monitors. In other words, they certainly lack the "wow" factors that come with those high-end, much more expensive studio monitors.
I had a pair of Kali IN-5'S and a Kali WS-6.2 subwoofer. When I moved to a larger room I found the 5's were being pushed a little bit too hard. I could have upgraded to the IN-8's but went for the Adams A8H's instead. I have them going through the Kali subwoofer and the sound is superb. I have to say though that all the Kali gear is fantastic value for money and the stereo WS-6.2 subwoofer is in a league of it's own. 😎
The V2 versions are AMAZING! I previously did what I thought were pretty good mixes on a pair of Mackie MR8 speakers. After sending one crashing to the floor, and then crying incessantly, I ended up getting these (in white!), and OMG, suddenly my mixes are over-the-top incredible! I'm glad I destroyed that old speaker now. 😂 Word of warning, though -- these speakers are in huge demand, and will be made worse yet due to this video, so expect a wait. It took me about 5 months to get mine. But trust me, they are totally worth the wait! Be careful not to buy the V1 speakers on the used market. A lot of people got rid of them.
The early LP6 and LP8 monitors had horrendous noise problems from the amplifier. Kali later fixed it with the LP six and LP eight version two. on a price to prefer it ratio the LP sixes were amazing. I assume these monitors aren’t even greater improvement. Thank you for the video.
Have them. Got the pair of whites from Thomann for USD600. As everyone, I looked at Neumann 310 and Adam A8H but internet convonced me to go with Kali IN8. My room is fairly treated acoustically, it's a dedicated studio space, small 9ft x 12ft. I paird them with ARC 4 studio room correction box and I never looked back. The sound is just awesome. Higher tier monitors might be better but I doubt that the difference in the price will be equal to quality difference in my room. I swear I did the freq sweep test and i could clearly hear 36Hz at about -6dB. I know Kali stated that reaponse goes from something like 42dB but I swear I could hear 36 fairly loud. And I really doubt that I would add sub at this point. They sound full, rich and have amazing stereo placement. If you are thinking and contemplating, just get them and you'll be happy.🎉
I hadn't heard Kali's, though I was impressed by their price point and the favourable reviews from liked Tuba's, (Yoo Toobers), nobody likes Tuba's. I suggested the tiny mini really little miniscule, near field ones to a friend of mine who lives in a cupboard (closet) and he is totally blown away by how good they are for the price. My friend isn't in the closet, it's just that his room is really small.
Never heard of Adam audio A7V's or any other of their models being harsh at all. Especially being driven by the ribbon tweeter. I've heard nothing but great remarks in regards to mids and highs. And being an owner of Adam A7V's (without being biased) and many other comparable monitors I own and have owned (including Kali's) I can contest that the Adams are undeniably smooth and can listen to them for very long periods without ear fatigue. With Adam's if your mix is sounding harsh it's probably due to your mix. Not the speaker. Not a matter of opinion.
I was disappointed with mine. Every mix in my treated studio immediately sounded bright and harsh no matter how much I turned up the IN-8’s tweeters. They’re just too dull.
There was nothing of substance to this. Sounded like you are regurgitating ad copy. What are the driver materials. Who are the driver oem. Freq, phase and waterfall response graphs ? A waterfall will reveal cone break up and resonances as well as impulse response....viewers. this was just an advert not a review.
This was obviously not an in depth technical review, which is not wht every review has to be. It is an overview of the distinguishing features of the speakers and a subjective description of Mike's impression of them. Nothing wrong with that. This was not a regurgitation of ad copy. He discussed both positive and negative characteristics.
Whilst maybe not a geek-fest review, it certainly wasn’t ’just an advert’. People like you rejoice in making provocative comments just because you know it will cause a flurry of comments. Trolls are all too common on gear review channels these days. Sad that you can’t appreciate what people actually do to bring us these reviews, but I guess you can’t.
The best transducer is a paper woofer that is linear in response and then it comes down to distortion. This all comes down to construction and design of the transducer. A planar transducer is linear in phase, but becomes a phase mismatch with traditional transducers. DSP fixes all sins in loudspeaker design.
few points to add:
1) actual big advantage of such coaxial design is, you get more "even" reflections from the room, significantly reducing perceived impact of the lackluster acoustic treatment most studios have (and even more noticeable once you get into more complex sestups 5.1 or atmos)
2) I'd politely disagree about subwoofer not being needed - I'd say if the room is big enough (and having reasonable insulation) then having a dedicated subwoofer (like Kali WS-12) will significantly help to leverage load from the IN-8 woofers, regardless of volume, which can be very handy for almost all genres (especially dense film scoring or dub)
3) I think Kali stated they lowered the self hiss by about 10-12 dB compared to first gen, probably still not enough for a very silent studio, but definitely an improvement
Thanks for the info... and also, the internet needs more polite disagreement. Appreciated :)
I didn't realise all of Kali's Gen one projects had that problem, I understood that it was only on the first generation Lone Pine models.
My LP-6 v1 have a pretty loud hiss. You don’t hear it when playing audio, but it’s annoying when things are paused. Glad the v2 are a lot better. Wish there was a way to improve mine without having to replace them.
Very nice review, Mike. I'm planning an investment on a pair of near field monitors next year and this helps narrowing down the options. I'm yet undecided between two brands, Kali or Adam, and a couple of models from each. It would be fantastic, if you could review more models from these two brands in the context of small, roughly treated control rooms. Well done, once again.
Cheers Pedro. Of course, even if we were both in the same room, we have different ears! The plot thickens :)
I just bought the Adam Audio A7V monitors for my room about 2 weeks ago. I looked at the Kali Audio, 5" and 8". I thought 8" was just too much for my small room and have the Yamaha HS5 already. So I went with Adam Audio A7V. After watching your review and listening to your reasonings, it sounds like I made the correct choice for my room, and I love them. Thanks for all you do Mike, you are a great help to many of us folks out here in the world.
I have listened to different monitors in the local music store but chose the Tannoy Gold 8 and loving there sound. Got them online from Germany. I'm happy with them and curious why there are so few tests from established UA-camrs. Maybe the next speaker test Mike? :-)
And they are beautifully quiet! Outstanding monitors for the price and the ones I bought a few months ago after trying pretty much everything in that price range. In fact, I even went from 7" to 8" because the difference in price was not that significant.
I also have the Tannoy Gold 8… worlds best kept secret bad ass monitors!!
I own a pair of these I bought brand new and have been mixing on them for almost 3 years now. My mix room would probably be considered on the smaller side (16F long, 12F wide), but it's treated (all GIK acoustics material per their recommendation). I came from a pair of Yamaha HS80Ms. They were a significant jump in sound quality for me and I've really loved getting to know them and mixing with em. I've actually be considering a pair of the new Barefoot Sound Footprint03's. After all the research I've done they seem a logical upgrade but I'm still not sure as I really think the IN-8 V2s are at level above what they ask for them. We'll see. Great review, thanks.
Kali makes good stuff. I'm enjoying my LP-UNFs.
Nice review Mike - hope you are well!
I have it!Love it!sound amazing ❤️
Hi! thanks for the Video - i was in a testing phase and had the LP6 and IN8 2nd and Focal shape 65 - after 2month the final decision were the Focals - but i really was going back and forht between IN8 and Focals - the final reason was, that in my room the IN8 had a issue in the lower midrange, i copuld not difeine it perfectly but as i mixed on every speaker - the transaltion was the best on the focals, although i like the Kalis a lot!
I have a concern about monitors with DSP. The quality of A/D and D/A conversion is considered of primary importance in audio, and engineers spend thousands of dollars on accurate converters, which obviously can't be matched by the converters in speakers which cost less than than what is often spent on converters alone. It doesn't seem to make sense to take so much care and go to so much expense refining the audio signal only to submit it to lower quality processing in the final stage of monitoring.
Thanks again for your reviews! Aways helpful!
Smooth and punchy studio monitors. Terrific value. I enjoy them a lot and don’t get ear fatigue from them. I compared them to high end PSI audio monitors, and of course the level of detail you get from high end monitors such as the PSI is much higher. However, they will perfectly suit the needs of music producers/composers; not that much those of sound engineers.
I have them and they are great considering the price. But I still have a few complains. They have quite a small sweet spot. Moving your head even slightly (up/down, left right) could change the sounds you perceive especially in the upper mids and highs. So basically you need to stay perfectly still in the triangle position when you are making decisions. Another thing is that although the bass is tight and punchy, and because of this, it really needs rightly treated room to make the low end accurate. (This is certainly not particular to this monitor.) The DSP selections were not so useful at least in my case because it dips/boosts the wrong frequency along with the bass EQ. For the sweet spot issue alone, the high end monitors like Focal, Adam, ATC are much better suited for professional studio environment because of having many outboard gears on your side/behind or a larger console to operate. But for in the box mixing or typical small home studio environment where you can stay in the sweet spot all the time, they are good monitors to have. For the sound quality itself, they are honest and accurate sounding monitors. In other words, they certainly lack the "wow" factors that come with those high-end, much more expensive studio monitors.
Thanks for this, Mike! Question: what do you consider a "small space"?
I had a pair of Kali IN-5'S and a Kali WS-6.2 subwoofer. When I moved to a larger room I found the 5's were being pushed a little bit too hard. I could have upgraded to the IN-8's but went for the Adams A8H's instead. I have them going through the Kali subwoofer and the sound is superb. I have to say though that all the Kali gear is fantastic value for money and the stereo WS-6.2 subwoofer is in a league of it's own. 😎
The V2 versions are AMAZING! I previously did what I thought were pretty good mixes on a pair of Mackie MR8 speakers. After sending one crashing to the floor, and then crying incessantly, I ended up getting these (in white!), and OMG, suddenly my mixes are over-the-top incredible! I'm glad I destroyed that old speaker now. 😂 Word of warning, though -- these speakers are in huge demand, and will be made worse yet due to this video, so expect a wait. It took me about 5 months to get mine. But trust me, they are totally worth the wait! Be careful not to buy the V1 speakers on the used market. A lot of people got rid of them.
I love my Kali IN-8’s. In their price range they’re second to none.
Yeah, I hear them every day in my studio for over a year now! I think that I didn't had a better option for the price! 😁
considering the design,they are worth the hype
The early LP6 and LP8 monitors had horrendous noise problems from the amplifier. Kali later fixed it with the LP six and LP eight version two. on a price to prefer it ratio the LP sixes were amazing. I assume these monitors aren’t even greater improvement. Thank you for the video.
Have them. Got the pair of whites from Thomann for USD600. As everyone, I looked at Neumann 310 and Adam A8H but internet convonced me to go with Kali IN8. My room is fairly treated acoustically, it's a dedicated studio space, small 9ft x 12ft. I paird them with ARC 4 studio room correction box and I never looked back. The sound is just awesome. Higher tier monitors might be better but I doubt that the difference in the price will be equal to quality difference in my room.
I swear I did the freq sweep test and i could clearly hear 36Hz at about -6dB. I know Kali stated that reaponse goes from something like 42dB but I swear I could hear 36 fairly loud. And I really doubt that I would add sub at this point. They sound full, rich and have amazing stereo placement.
If you are thinking and contemplating, just get them and you'll be happy.🎉
Ma secondo te, vanno bene per un ascolto casalingo? Intendo come sistema hi-fi. Grazie e saluti dall'Italia 🍀
I hadn't heard Kali's, though I was impressed by their price point and the favourable reviews from liked Tuba's, (Yoo Toobers), nobody likes Tuba's. I suggested the tiny mini really little miniscule, near field ones to a friend of mine who lives in a cupboard (closet) and he is totally blown away by how good they are for the price. My friend isn't in the closet, it's just that his room is really small.
Never heard of Adam audio A7V's or any other of their models being harsh at all. Especially being driven by the ribbon tweeter. I've heard nothing but great remarks in regards to mids and highs. And being an owner of Adam A7V's (without being biased) and many other comparable monitors I own and have owned (including Kali's) I can contest that the Adams are undeniably smooth and can listen to them for very long periods without ear fatigue. With Adam's if your mix is sounding harsh it's probably due to your mix. Not the speaker. Not a matter of opinion.
Very nice 👌 👍
I was disappointed with mine. Every mix in my treated studio immediately sounded bright and harsh no matter how much I turned up the IN-8’s tweeters. They’re just too dull.
Im just not a ported monitor guy.... But don't mind a 3 way design....
Yamaha HS7.
Period.
Yamaha hs 8 is better
There was nothing of substance to this. Sounded like you are regurgitating ad copy. What are the driver materials. Who are the driver oem. Freq, phase and waterfall response graphs ? A waterfall will reveal cone break up and resonances as well as impulse response....viewers. this was just an advert not a review.
I found it very helpful! But if I were an expert like you, I'd be far too busy to have time to watch videos and leave negative comments.
This was obviously not an in depth technical review, which is not wht every review has to be. It is an overview of the distinguishing features of the speakers and a subjective description of Mike's impression of them. Nothing wrong with that. This was not a regurgitation of ad copy. He discussed both positive and negative characteristics.
Really? 🙄
Whilst maybe not a geek-fest review, it certainly wasn’t ’just an advert’. People like you rejoice in making provocative comments just because you know it will cause a flurry of comments. Trolls are all too common on gear review channels these days. Sad that you can’t appreciate what people actually do to bring us these reviews, but I guess you can’t.
The best transducer is a paper woofer that is linear in response and then it comes down to distortion. This all comes down to construction and design of the transducer. A planar transducer is linear in phase, but becomes a phase mismatch with traditional transducers. DSP fixes all sins in loudspeaker design.
You should be more transparent when you do adds!