I know you get compliments all the time on the quality of your videos, But here is my compliment:) I run a pair of focal trio's as well (trio 6be) and was planning on making a video abt them also. I saw your video go up and watched it, while looking at my paper of notes, and you have stolen the words out my mouth! I had the exact same experience's as you! I planned on describing the use of that tweeter, from the maag eq air band, I planned on describing focus mode by saying I didn't need ns 10s anymore etc.... So I guess my point is, that not only do you make great videos about your own experiences I think you have the right to say your opinions are almost objectively true and accurate! you are truly a source of inspiration in this field. I have learned so much from your channel. So in short thank you! cheers from @thesideyardstudio
You are REALLY good at connecting with your viewers. I destroyed my hearing as an active alcoholic going to too many bars and listening to music at EXTREME volumes. I so appreciate all of your descriptions on how you hear ..... Well Done Sir ! God Bless.... PS ... clean and sober for 37 yrs,
Wow - my absolute dream studio monitors.... drool.... I can only imagine the level of emotional response they invoke. I just purchased a pair of Focal Shape 50 near-field monitors, and have had them in my little hobby studio for about a week now. I've run them in, and finally got them set up on their own stands at a proper distance and angles just last night. I put a favourite song on, and I can completely relate to the emotional response. I had the hair stand up on the back of my neck, and tears literally streamed from hearing the music the way it was intended to be heard. It sounded THAT good. So I can only try to imagine what their flagship model must sound like. Thanks and please keep these coming!
Man, they completely dwarf my Trio6's. I knew they were bigger but seeing you handle them, I realized they are absolutely massive haha. Really looking forward to this video series!
@@davidbmixing The Smyth Realiser A16 is used for production/mixing of Dolby Atmos material, two channel mixing is obvious but you have upto 24 channels to chose from... ... it has the ability to emulate any speaker of your choice upto 24 channels... once setup you can't tell the difference between the real speakers and what you hear in the headphones... obvious that you don't FEEL the speakers when using a headphone, but that is overcome by using shakers in a listening chair... but those aren't required... so if you wanted you can load the A16 with a set of 24 speakers that would cost you in a store $1 million... and it sounds like it cost $1 million... it comes with two complete Studio emulations... I put a link for the demo of the genelect 8351b speakers... hope that youtube lets the link show for you
I love my Trio11Be, one of the best monitors I have ever tried, the dynamic is crazy! on those monitors, the reverbs sound completely 3D, is hard to explain. definitely, they need more than 60hrs to get the final "Sound" from the speakers, Thank you for sharing!!
When I watched this video the first time before the other videos came out for the other monitors I had already known you were going to choose these, and then after watching the individual videos I was only more certain. I can't explain it but there was a certain way you were speaking at the end describing your experience that just conveyed that sense of "I've made up my mind" lol
Brilliant review bro! Thank you so much for making this, you have given me a reason to save up for these… I know what you mean about the emotional response. Beautifully put!
Have contemplated grabbing these down the road further down in my career. Great to see this review thank you! Excited to see your review of the Other ones👏🏽👏🏽
Once was time to upgrade monitors in my studio, have been through 8 different brands! the final choice was between Adam A77x and Focal Twin Shape Duo. The last ones won the challenge! they sound really flat and accurate! I have simply fallen in love with Focals! My studio partner was tired already about "10 hours burn in"....Don't wanna imagine about 60 hahahah!!! great series, keep it on Colt ;)
Thanks for this. Been waiting to see this. Absolutely loving my Trio6's. I too thought the focus mode would be a cheap gimmick but it's really amazing. That 5" woofer really punches, even when the sub is engaged. Got rid of my HS5's as well. Lol.
Not sure what you are driving at. Hard to compare an ATC to an Adam Audio or Focal product, as the ATC costs a good 300 to 400% more, driver by driver, similar size & form factor. I would compare this Focal top dog to Adam Audio, Eve Audio, Hedd Audio topliner models first. I am still not understanding why it would be a "no-brainer" to pick a Focal over a comparable Adam Audio model, let alone one from stratospherically priced ATC?
@@frankfarago2825 Oh so we are comparing speakers solely based upon price are we? Price is totally subjective in these days of tons of new products constantly coming out touting to be the next best thing with big technical buzzwords to generate sales. I know that ATC has the distinguished reputation to transcend that but, I was more interested at a comparison of performance to my ear between similar form factors. When I compared them to ATC I was comparing them to SCM45A, which are priced $5k higher for the pair at a similar form factor while still missing 12 Hz of bottom end extension over the Trio 11s. Because of this, I decided to focus my efforts on determining whether the mids and high end + stereo imaging would justify paying $5000 more for the pair and, TO MY EARS, the answer was NO. Add on the fact that Focal gave me the pair for $7200 (instead of 8k) and 48 month 0 interest financing and yes...it ABSOLUTELY was a no brainer especially when I could pick out little benefit in speakers that were way more expensive. A lot of people write Focal off because they think the SM9 is still the flagship but these are a whole another animal from the SM9. As for Adam S3H, I found the low end to be lacking and wasn't a fan of the ribbon tweeter top end even in Adam's new iteration at a similar price point to the Focal, after my discount of course. Your mileage may vary but I have been extremely happy with my purchase
@@DJEventHorizonz Okay, so I think how they sound to YOUR ears -- is a moot point. Provided you do some of your recording, mixing, mastering work as "work for hire" as well. Two, say you replace your current monitors with a pair costing 400 percent as much. Are you absolutely certain you can charge 400% of your usual hourly, day session or project rate because of this gear upgrade? Re. Focal... they seem to be a Hi-Fi home speaker company first and foremost that decided to use some of the Hi-Fi speakers with internal amps and call them studio monitors. I went to their US website and also to their the EU website. Seems they have no physical address, no E-mail address, no telephone number. Hmmm.... No way could I ask them anything in the pre-purchase phase. Which sort of makes me wonder about their post-sale setup for warranty service & parts orders.
A tip for you about how to "break" monitors for many hours without disturbing everybody all around: Put one monitor just in front of the other, 1 or 2 inches, , plug one of them out of phase and send the noise.
@@ColtCapperrune Actualy, and I'll be realy honnest with you, I've never tried this tip, I've learnt it recently and I haven't any brand new monitors to break now, but it make sens. I guess the sound is not totaly canceled because there're maybe some leaks thru the gap between the speakers before the phase cancelation occurs but it should greatly reduce the volume. Congratulations for your buy, Colt, I'd love to get such pieces of 90 pounds of French Qualität but even if I live not so far from the factory their price is the same here. (This high quality range of monitors is hand made in France, the lower range is unfortunately made in China 😩.)
Awsome Video! I yeah monitors is that thing that we just have to listen in our room to see if it works! Focal is top notch! Hope you got more coming! Cheers!
The room & the focal finish looks awesome. It would be interesting to compare this Focal Monitors with the Neumann KH420 - spec with Sub and MA1 Measurment
I figured i havent commented here in a while... So Hello there man. Good job and btw what happened to the coffee ☕ bro? Lmao. Very entertaining as always 👏
hi Colt! U know I'm in luv with Focal speakers. but I have to shoot out one major thing: even the best speakers in the world - which i suppose focal are one of them - will just sound as good as your room treatment is done. I'm building a DIN-norm mixing suite at the moment at my home base to have reference sound in any case and I can tell you Colt - even the cheapest hifi wedges sounding AMAZING in this room cause of the precise and accurate waterfall graphs. besides that - I luv your channel, mixes and your style of informing the crowd! tnx for your great intention of good ;)
Focals are super high quality speakers. I had the Focal 6's but needed a bigger woofer to hear the kick. I didn't want to pay the $ for the sub. But what you said about the reverb trails and effects is true. I, like you, Colt, have Yamaha NS10 Studios. I can't hear reverbs for shit on those, but I simply go to my headphones to dial those in which works. But the Focals reveal EVERYTHING, the good the bad and the ugly. I sold mine cuz I really wanted a bigger woofer, but highly recommend theses beasts.
Nice studio monitor and you are Loki to have the room size to experience the sound, unfortunately my studio size won't let me consider this monitors. I order a pair of the barefoot prints 01 and can't wait to try them in my studio. Thank for the presentation and I looking forward for the next monitor tryout.
Hey colt! My room size is 20 feet in length and 10 feet in width, do you think the Focal Trio 11’s together with the Focal Sub 12 will work well in my room? I was thinking to use the Trio 11’s strictly for the high and mid frequencies and sub for the low end. Look forward to hearing from you soon. Thank you!
You should try Adams. S5V (more similar to Trio 11 be) or the smaller S3 series. Having Adams myself and being happy I am wondering if Focal SM9 or Trio 11’s would have been a better choise.
Mr Unicorn, I knew straight away when you said “since three years” that you were German 😂😂 but I checked out your channel and subscribed. Those videos building the studio is genau mein Ding 👍
Hi there Colt ! Hope you’re doing great ! These are huuuge speakers 😱 Can you give any insight on the why you changed your Event Opal pair ? Is it because they lack something ? You wanted a chance ? Or because these new Focal can give you 2 sets in 1 pair ? I personally have the Opal for years and I can’t get enough ! 😊 Cheers from France !
Hey! Thank you so much for your great reviews. I think I saw you using the opals in horizontal before. Did you rotate the tweeter yourself? I just threw mine on the side and everything was better! Now I‘m thinking of rotating the tweeter but the manual says: this operation should only be carried out by qualified service personnel. Sorry for being off-topic a bit;)
Your room is awesome. Are you familiar with the PSI AVAA C20 active bass trap? Those could treat your sub frequencies and take your room to holy grail status. They would fit just right in the lower corners of your rear wall. I own a pair and I think it's the most under rated piece of gear in the world. Worth every penny
Love your awesome, entertaining, and informative videos! I saw in one of comments that you have experience with ATCs. They are a sort of holy grail status in my mind, and seeing as you have used them and this great set of focals how do they compare? Are they worth comparing? How does their price factor into their quality?
If you'll be reviewing other monitors to see which you'll be working with, you've already set the bar pretty high with just this first set! They also look great.
Joshua is a cool dude, he talked to me on my channel when I got my focals. You mentioned it was more detail when you turned it sideways. And the bass build up was more present when you turned it sideways and you didn’t like that. My only question to you is you preferring them vertical, the tweeters and mid are shooting well over your head. The detail came horizontal because the tweeter and mid driver was on the level with your ears. How are you enjoying that being that they are so much higher than your listening position? Or is your listening position now raised to the height of the tweeter and mid driver? In my opinion the horizontal position based off of your review it would make the most sense. And if the bass is too much it’s because that is what is happening in your room if you’re saying your readings are flat. Which can be addressed. Either way you have a dope set of monitors, one step above mine. And I know my bass sounds amazing so I can only imagine how amazing your sounds.
I'm not Colt but I have the Trio11s too - I've tried them in every position, and actually since the tweeter has such a wide dispersion, they are a little less sensitive to being exactly at ear height than most. I've found that as long as you're within +- 15 degrees to the axis of the tweeters, there's very little discernable difference, and if you're listening at 2+ meters away, they can "look" way too high and still sound perfectly fine - every main monitor in studios that I've worked in has tweeters that shoot over your head but still sound balanced, again, it's angle and distance combined with wide dispersion. The big bass speaker seems to be more "height sensitive" with regards to room modes so I get the best results by finding which orientation makes the bass sound the best in the room and then rotating the mid/tweeters up or down to taste.
well done 3 way speakers usually have a soul that 2 ways do not. A 2 way has a design focus on the high or the low but a 3 way can focus in the mid and build top and bottom from there. Kinda like taking your little "full range" speaker and adding top and bottom to suit. The magic is in the mid, the bump is in the bottom, and the tinnitus is in the top lol. If all you got is bottom and top then where are you going to find the magic? LOL EDIT. Holy shit. I commented before listening to the whole thing and yo said the magic is inn the midrange too. I feels kinda stupid now ha ha .
As an aside -- KRK hasd a 3-way with exactly the same size drivers (10-inch LF woofer, etc.), same type of Class D amping, and priced at under USD $500. The KRK also has a neat DSP with a backlit LCD menu screen on the rear panel. Just sayin'....
Man those look fantastic. If I spent 8k on new monitors, I would be emotional as well. Because I would be broke for a while 😅 Guess I have to make do with my HS7 for a bit longer, they served me well so far for the price.
@@ColtCapperrune Yeah. I'm not there in my journey yet. Still more on a hobby basis for me. But i really enjoy learning. And I really like the content you have put out regarding mixing and producing.
I felt absolutely no need for a subwoofer with these monitors, the low end is rocksolid and goes down plenty deep enough for any style of music. Thanks for watching!
Wow. Hey Colt please check out Paula Cole’s ‘This Fire’ song on these monitors. There’s a bottom end on this song that’s beyond amazing. I swear this is a song you’ll always check future monitors on 😄👍🏾
@@ColtCapperrune Another suggestion... Morph the Cat from Donald Fagen. Somehow they managed to get the bass end to be enormous even on small speakers, whilst at the same time get an incredible transparency. Needless to say it sounds awesome, even on my Focal Alpha 80s.
@@timbeaton5045 Hey Tim, I concur. That mix has amazing bottom end. Another 2 would be ‘The Race’ by Yello super wide frequency response, ‘Lose yourself to dance’ by Daft Punk is another. & of course anything by Steely Dan 👍🏾
LOL, I should have said I need to hear down that low. Didn't mean I could hear the difference between a monitor the stops at 30, and one that stops at 32 😂
Hi Colt, great videos! Have you been able to compare the Trio 11 be with the Trio 6 be? Do you think that with Trio's 6be you would need a subwoofer? Thank you !
Hey, thanks! I just received a pair of trio6 2 days ago, they are almost done breaking in. I’m kind of giving some updates sporadically on Instagram. But there will likely be a comparison video coming in a week or two
If you could find a pair of Emotiva Stealth 8 monitors, I think you'd love them. We used them at Dark Horse Recording in Franklin, TN. Unfortunately, Emotiva does not build them anymore.
Unfortunately I’m pretty adamant about not running a sub, which will be part of the discussion in the final video. I’d be interested in trying Neumann 400 series, but anything smaller than that won’t have the low end I am looking for. Thanks for following along!
@@ColtCapperrune I have seen couple of people having some reserve regarding using a sub, I think mainly because of speaker placement, I would be curious to see how the calibration software are performing to come over those concerns. As far Neumann is concern, they have 2 ways doing this, one with an interview script on the app, asking questions about the room, distances, dimensions and apply a pre-can set of settings, two with their calibration mic that measures how the room is actually responding. I have tested option #1 and I ended up calibrating it with my ears and how I would feel the room would sound the best. I've tried using REW, but this kind of hard to figure out what is an issue on the freq responses and how to fix it.
If you’re going to be listening to other monitors, I hope the Adam s3h’s will be among them. Honestly, they are outside of my current budget, but I’ve been really curious about them.
Man, I would seriously like to get your opinion on the PreSonus Sceptre S8. As that is their “Professional” series. Or even the Eris e66 for someone who can’t spend Focal kind of money.
Last I was over there, Nathan Dantzler (mastering guy for One Direction, Keith Urban, etc) had a pair up along with his B&W’s and had nothing but good things to say about them. I personally have no time on them though. Thanks for watching!
Question. I noticed you didn't put foam blocks under the monitors for isolation from the stands. Is that all that important? Best of luck with the new monitors... beasts!
So foam is not a great isolator anyway. I do plan to try a few products like isoacoustics And what not after I’ve settled on what pair of monitors I’m gonna go with, and then ordering new stands specifically for those monitors. Thanks for watching!
To your point of having the monitors vertical, I noticed through the video decreased high end transient imaging while they were horizontal. This, to me is also a taste thing, and it’s one that I prefer. I’d put them back horizontal for this reason (the low end differences weren’t as perceivable through my tv and soundbar/sub
hey, colt you mind sending me your room dimensions ... or even the schematics lbvs. I'm looking to build a house next year and after seeing how nice and flat your studio is I would like to model mine after yours if you wouldn't mind.
What a great timing of this video, hey brother i am confused with 4 sets of speakers - Adam Audio S3H, Neumann Kh310, Genelec 8351b & Focal Trio 11be ! looking for your response
I love Focal monitors, but at the same time I really don't like the stand-by mode, it can be very frustrating especially when I'm working on quiet volumes. Unfortunately in my model I can't deactivate it.
For me, it's simple. I do not want a stand-by auto shutoff circuitry, period. But if there is one, fine. Then it must have a slider kill switch in the back so I can engage it or disengage it at will. Even better would be some options to set the sensitivity (signal strength) level that needs to arrive to the monitor for it to wake.... and the reverse to go to sleep. Now, with some FLUID AUDIO coaxial models, you need to disassemble the monitors and remove some sort of a jumper -- to disengage the audio switch-off. Yeah, right.
@@frankfarago2825 Yes, it seems quite obvious to have those features, but unfortunately not in my model. They can turn to stand-by mode even when I'm mixing. It can be really, really frustrating.
@@oveesounds Sounds like a fricking nightmare. Unfortunately, for most of the studio monitors sold today, the mfrs' specs fail to mention the existence or absence of this bothersome auto-shutoff feature. Safest bet therefore is to purchase monitors only that have a SLIDER SWITCH on their back panel, showing AUTO-SHUTOFF or POWER-SAVING as either in the "ON" or "OFF" position. Basic protection of one's peace of mind.
You're a totally Focal Guy right? I'm a Genelec Guy and I've bought the big Genelecs 8361a from The Ones Series as well as the little 8320's. They where shipped to me also on a Palette and are 32KG heavy per Piece. But unfortunatelly Genelec don't make Headphones like Focal's MG Pro :(
What testing software did you use or recommend? I'm thinking of these speakers.. Does it come with it's own room testing software like the higher end Genelecs?
My first impression, which never went away, is that they are quite large for near-fields...are all the monitors you're planning to audition in the same size range?
So personally I’m looking for something that is a bit of a crossover between Nearfield and midfield. My room is 26‘ x 24’ x 12’. So I’ve been needing a larger pair of speakers for quite some time. I think in rooms much smaller than these the Trio 6 would be a great option. All the rest of the monitors I plan to try will be walking the line between Nearfield and midfield. Thanks for following along!
If you have any questions on these monitors drop a comment and I’ll try to get back to everyone!! Thanks for watching!
I know you get compliments all the time on the quality of your videos, But here is my compliment:)
I run a pair of focal trio's as well (trio 6be) and was planning on making a video abt them also. I saw your video go up and watched it, while looking at my paper of notes, and you have stolen the words out my mouth! I had the exact same experience's as you! I planned on describing the use of that tweeter, from the maag eq air band, I planned on describing focus mode by saying I didn't need ns 10s anymore etc....
So I guess my point is, that not only do you make great videos about your own experiences I think you have the right to say your opinions are almost objectively true and accurate! you are truly a source of inspiration in this field. I have learned so much from your channel. So in short thank you!
cheers from @thesideyardstudio
Great video, brother. My Trios are on the way.
Wow I love the Speakers man..
@@thesideyardstudio man that means a lot, thanks so much!!
@@rpwbass bad ass!!
You are REALLY good at connecting with your viewers. I destroyed my hearing as an active alcoholic going to too many bars and listening to music at EXTREME volumes. I so appreciate all of your descriptions on how you hear ..... Well Done Sir ! God Bless.... PS ... clean and sober for 37 yrs,
Thanks so much man!
Wow - my absolute dream studio monitors.... drool.... I can only imagine the level of emotional response they invoke. I just purchased a pair of Focal Shape 50 near-field monitors, and have had them in my little hobby studio for about a week now. I've run them in, and finally got them set up on their own stands at a proper distance and angles just last night. I put a favourite song on, and I can completely relate to the emotional response. I had the hair stand up on the back of my neck, and tears literally streamed from hearing the music the way it was intended to be heard. It sounded THAT good. So I can only try to imagine what their flagship model must sound like. Thanks and please keep these coming!
Even the sweep sounds good on the computer. You did a great job setting up your room.
the shot of you pushing the boxes in the room.... so damn good
So damn heavy 😂
Crazy to think these are made like 5 miles away from my house and are ending in yours !!
Great purchase !
That’s amazing! I’d love to visit the factory someday. It looks unbelievable. Thanks for watching!
Man, they completely dwarf my Trio6's. I knew they were bigger but seeing you handle them, I realized they are absolutely massive haha. Really looking forward to this video series!
They are definitely huge LOL. I think they could still be used as a Nearfield, but are more at home as a mid field. Thanks for following along!
ou should hear them 24 speakers at a time in Dolby Atmos 15.1.8 ... :-)
@@dixter1652 is that an actual setup somewhere?
@@davidbmixing The Smyth Realiser A16 is used for production/mixing of Dolby Atmos material, two channel mixing is obvious but you have upto 24 channels to chose from... ... it has the ability to emulate any speaker of your choice upto 24 channels... once setup you can't tell the difference between the real speakers and what you hear in the headphones... obvious that you don't FEEL the speakers when using a headphone, but that is overcome by using shakers in a listening chair... but those aren't required... so if you wanted you can load the A16 with a set of 24 speakers that would cost you in a store $1 million... and it sounds like it cost $1 million... it comes with two complete Studio emulations... I put a link for the demo of the genelect 8351b speakers... hope that youtube lets the link show for you
@@davidbmixing can't post a link.. it gets taken away ... try 3d sound shop without the spaces...
Heard these at NAMM a few years ago and was blown away. Congrats on the purchase
They are crazy good! But they are not mine yet. Stay tuned 😜
Your room is incredible Colt!!! Which makes the speakers sound better!!!
Thanks so much!!
I was genuinely concerned for your back doing this!! It’s like the WSM Atlas Stones 😆
These are way bigger than I expected. Great review!
I love my Trio11Be, one of the best monitors I have ever tried, the dynamic is crazy! on those monitors, the reverbs sound completely 3D, is hard to explain. definitely, they need more than 60hrs to get the final "Sound" from the speakers, Thank you for sharing!!
Same experience here! Thanks for watching!
When I watched this video the first time before the other videos came out for the other monitors I had already known you were going to choose these, and then after watching the individual videos I was only more certain. I can't explain it but there was a certain way you were speaking at the end describing your experience that just conveyed that sense of "I've made up my mind" lol
Brilliant review bro! Thank you so much for making this, you have given me a reason to save up for these… I know what you mean about the emotional response. Beautifully put!
I love the joy you bring to every video you do. Keep up the good work.
Thank you!!
Just discovered this channel. Just some feedback to say fantastic content - shoulder to shoulder with my favourite audio production channels. Subbed!
Have contemplated grabbing these down the road further down in my career. Great to see this review thank you! Excited to see your review of the Other ones👏🏽👏🏽
Thanks for watching!
I already love the start of this journey!!!
ME. TOO.
Once was time to upgrade monitors in my studio, have been through 8 different brands! the final choice was between Adam A77x and Focal Twin Shape Duo. The last ones won the challenge! they sound really flat and accurate! I have simply fallen in love with Focals! My studio partner was tired already about "10 hours burn in"....Don't wanna imagine about 60 hahahah!!!
great series, keep it on Colt ;)
Love it! Thanks for watching!
Hey how are the Focal Shape Twins treating you about a year later? I'm thinking of getting a pair! :)
I just bought pair of Barefoot MM45s. Waiting on them to get here. Would be interested to see you compare some Barefoots with the Focals.
Great video man! I LOVE my Focals!
Thanks man!
Thanks for this. Been waiting to see this. Absolutely loving my Trio6's. I too thought the focus mode would be a cheap gimmick but it's really amazing. That 5" woofer really punches, even when the sub is engaged. Got rid of my HS5's as well. Lol.
You got Trios now? I thought you were rockin the Alphas!!? Still got those too?
@@TripleXbeatz Yeah man. Switched to the Trios in July. Sold the Alphas.
Nice!! Thanks for watching!
I've had Trio 11s since June 2019 and couldn't see myself without them. Compared with Adam and ATC and it was a no brainer for me.
I can dig it 🤘🏻
Not sure what you are driving at. Hard to compare an ATC to an Adam Audio or Focal product, as the ATC costs a good 300 to 400% more, driver by driver, similar size & form factor. I would compare this Focal top dog to Adam Audio, Eve Audio, Hedd Audio topliner models first. I am still not understanding why it would be a "no-brainer" to pick a Focal over a comparable Adam Audio model, let alone one from stratospherically priced ATC?
@@frankfarago2825 Oh so we are comparing speakers solely based upon price are we? Price is totally subjective in these days of tons of new products constantly coming out touting to be the next best thing with big technical buzzwords to generate sales. I know that ATC has the distinguished reputation to transcend that but, I was more interested at a comparison of performance to my ear between similar form factors. When I compared them to ATC I was comparing them to SCM45A, which are priced $5k higher for the pair at a similar form factor while still missing 12 Hz of bottom end extension over the Trio 11s. Because of this, I decided to focus my efforts on determining whether the mids and high end + stereo imaging would justify paying $5000 more for the pair and, TO MY EARS, the answer was NO. Add on the fact that Focal gave me the pair for $7200 (instead of 8k) and 48 month 0 interest financing and yes...it ABSOLUTELY was a no brainer especially when I could pick out little benefit in speakers that were way more expensive. A lot of people write Focal off because they think the SM9 is still the flagship but these are a whole another animal from the SM9. As for Adam S3H, I found the low end to be lacking and wasn't a fan of the ribbon tweeter top end even in Adam's new iteration at a similar price point to the Focal, after my discount of course. Your mileage may vary but I have been extremely happy with my purchase
@@DJEventHorizonz Okay, so I think how they sound to YOUR ears -- is a moot point. Provided you do some of your recording, mixing, mastering work as "work for hire" as well. Two, say you replace your current monitors with a pair costing 400 percent as much. Are you absolutely certain you can charge 400% of your usual hourly, day session or project rate because of this gear upgrade? Re. Focal... they seem to be a Hi-Fi home speaker company first and foremost that decided to use some of the Hi-Fi speakers with internal amps and call them studio monitors. I went to their US website and also to their the EU website. Seems they have no physical address, no E-mail address, no telephone number. Hmmm.... No way could I ask them anything in the pre-purchase phase. Which sort of makes me wonder about their post-sale setup for warranty service & parts orders.
@@frankfarago2825yeah I didn’t get that either lol…I mean I’ve spent a lot on equipment and said dumb shit also to justify the money spent 🤣🤣🤣
Got a pair in my studio, superb speakers!! About to calibrate with the Trinnov.
They are really really good monitors! Oh and that Subaru at the beginning looks pretty nice too
Appreciate it!! Love the WRX!
A tip for you about how to "break" monitors for many hours without disturbing everybody all around: Put one monitor just in front of the other, 1 or 2 inches, , plug one of them out of phase and send the noise.
Never would have thought of that!! Luckily I was able to let them rip all night long. Thanks for watching!
@@ColtCapperrune Actualy, and I'll be realy honnest with you, I've never tried this tip, I've learnt it recently and I haven't any brand new monitors to break now, but it make sens.
I guess the sound is not totaly canceled because there're maybe some leaks thru the gap between the speakers before the phase cancelation occurs but it should greatly reduce the volume.
Congratulations for your buy, Colt, I'd love to get such pieces of 90 pounds of French Qualität but even if I live not so far from the factory their price is the same here. (This high quality range of monitors is hand made in France, the lower range is unfortunately made in China 😩.)
I did that with my Focals. Worked great for me.
@@dstagl Cool, good news, less divorces... 😁
I've had these monitors since January 2021. Love them. I might upgrade to the Barefoot MM12's next. I have to demo them first.
Awsome Video! I yeah monitors is that thing that we just have to listen in our room to see if it works! Focal is top notch! Hope you got more coming! Cheers!
Huge! They really look well built! Congrats brother!
The room & the focal finish looks awesome. It would be interesting to compare this Focal Monitors with the Neumann KH420 - spec with Sub and MA1 Measurment
The KH420 would be a great comparison!
Great review. Love Focals. The Twin be and 6be's are my top choices to get someday. But for now +1 on the Sceptre S8 review if you can.
Very cool and very happy for you. Exciting stuff, no doubt!
Appreciate it!
I figured i havent commented here in a while... So Hello there man. Good job and btw what happened to the coffee ☕ bro? Lmao. Very entertaining as always 👏
Hahaha I most certainly had multiple coffees each day, how none of them made the video is beyond me and I need to be better 😂
hi Colt! U know I'm in luv with Focal speakers. but I have to shoot out one major thing:
even the best speakers in the world - which i suppose focal are one of them - will just sound as good as your room treatment is done.
I'm building a DIN-norm mixing suite at the moment at my home base to have reference sound in any case and I can tell you Colt - even the cheapest hifi wedges sounding AMAZING in this room cause of the precise and accurate waterfall graphs.
besides that - I luv your channel, mixes and your style of informing the crowd! tnx for your great intention of good ;)
Focals are super high quality speakers. I had the Focal 6's but needed a bigger woofer to hear the kick. I didn't want to pay the $ for the sub. But what you said about the reverb trails and effects is true. I, like you, Colt, have Yamaha NS10 Studios. I can't hear reverbs for shit on those, but I simply go to my headphones to dial those in which works. But the Focals reveal EVERYTHING, the good the bad and the ugly. I sold mine cuz I really wanted a bigger woofer, but highly recommend theses beasts.
Thanks for the comment! I agree, they are pretty unbelievable. Hope whatever you landed on is working for you!
Nice studio monitor and you are Loki to have the room size to experience the sound, unfortunately my studio size won't let me consider this monitors. I order a pair of the barefoot prints 01 and can't wait to try them in my studio. Thank for the presentation and I looking forward for the next monitor tryout.
Great review!
Thanks for watching!
I bought these & they'll be here next week, cannot wait
que tal tu experiencia con los Focal?
@ very nice
Skid Loader vs Pallet Jack wow how the English language changes from region to region. lol
Loved the video brother . Focal gang all the way!
Haha thanks man!
Can't wait to get your thoughts on the Adams. I would consider the Focal or the Adams when I do finally make the move.
Certainly both top contenders in this price range. Video on the Adam coming soon
@@ColtCapperrune s3v or the bigger one?
Hey colt! My room size is 20 feet in length and 10 feet in width, do you think the Focal Trio 11’s together with the Focal Sub 12 will work well in my room? I was thinking to use the Trio 11’s strictly for the high and mid frequencies and sub for the low end.
Look forward to hearing from you soon. Thank you!
I own a pair of these Focal Trio11 BE’s. The best monitors I’ve ever had 👌
They are unbelievably good!
how much r they lol
@@alexanderwu6654 $ 11693.33 for the whole set 🎶 Two Adam S3V’s and two Adam Sub12’s.
You should try Adams. S5V (more similar to Trio 11 be) or the smaller S3 series. Having Adams myself and being happy I am wondering if Focal SM9 or Trio 11’s would have been a better choise.
The Adam S3H is up next
Love These I Got Trio 6 BE And Love The Sound I Get From Them
Amazing!! Thanks for watching!
beautiful! Been eying these for a while, but I think they might be a bit too big for my room. anyway, great vid!
I would love to see you try out the KS Digital A200 MK2, they look awesome 😁
That’s awesome, do you have a video discussing the detail of your desk build ?
ua-cam.com/video/i3F495DneNk/v-deo.html
Beautiful Speakers. I Have the Trio BE since 3 Years and i love them
Awesome! Do you have the 6, or 11?
Mr Unicorn, I knew straight away when you said “since three years” that you were German 😂😂 but I checked out your channel and subscribed. Those videos building the studio is genau mein Ding 👍
Have you heard and compared these to the Barefoot Sound MicroMain 26
Maybe the Barefoot 01’s or 02’s next? 😋Looking forward to the upcoming videos to see what you decide on keeping
Stay tuned! Thanks for watching
Love these monitors, hope your comparing the Dynaudio core 59 😎😎😎as well 🤔. Great videos
Hi there Colt !
Hope you’re doing great !
These are huuuge speakers 😱
Can you give any insight on the why you changed your Event Opal pair ?
Is it because they lack something ? You wanted a chance ? Or because these new Focal can give you 2 sets in 1 pair ?
I personally have the Opal for years and I can’t get enough ! 😊
Cheers from France !
So beautiful speakers 😍
Nice review! Man those are huge! If you are eventually going to buy a pair of monitors, I'd recommend you try the Amphion Two18 and sub.
I was searching for new monitors this year to. I still want to try dyn audio LYD48's but I ended up purchasing the barefoot Footprint 02's
Nice!!
Hey! Thank you so much for your great reviews. I think I saw you using the opals in horizontal before. Did you rotate the tweeter yourself? I just threw mine on the side and everything was better! Now I‘m thinking of rotating the tweeter but the manual says: this operation should only be carried out by qualified service personnel. Sorry for being off-topic a bit;)
nice camera shots bro
Thanks so much!
Your room is awesome. Are you familiar with the PSI AVAA C20 active bass trap? Those could treat your sub frequencies and take your room to holy grail status. They would fit just right in the lower corners of your rear wall. I own a pair and I think it's the most under rated piece of gear in the world. Worth every penny
Thanks so much! I’m not familiar, but I’ll look into it!
These are Gorgeous Speakers
Cot dayum
Love your awesome, entertaining, and informative videos! I saw in one of comments that you have experience with ATCs. They are a sort of holy grail status in my mind, and seeing as you have used them and this great set of focals how do they compare? Are they worth comparing? How does their price factor into their quality?
ATC will most certainly be part of the conversation in the final video, as well as how I would compare them to these. Stay tuned 😜
Those look sooooo rad!!!!
Couldn’t agree more!
If you'll be reviewing other monitors to see which you'll be working with, you've already set the bar pretty high with just this first set! They also look great.
The bar is so incredibly high, no doubt!
Joshua is a cool dude, he talked to me on my channel when I got my focals. You mentioned it was more detail when you turned it sideways. And the bass build up was more present when you turned it sideways and you didn’t like that. My only question to you is you preferring them vertical, the tweeters and mid are shooting well over your head. The detail came horizontal because the tweeter and mid driver was on the level with your ears. How are you enjoying that being that they are so much higher than your listening position? Or is your listening position now raised to the height of the tweeter and mid driver? In my opinion the horizontal position based off of your review it would make the most sense. And if the bass is too much it’s because that is what is happening in your room if you’re saying your readings are flat. Which can be addressed. Either way you have a dope set of monitors, one step above mine. And I know my bass sounds amazing so I can only imagine how amazing your sounds.
I'm not Colt but I have the Trio11s too - I've tried them in every position, and actually since the tweeter has such a wide dispersion, they are a little less sensitive to being exactly at ear height than most. I've found that as long as you're within +- 15 degrees to the axis of the tweeters, there's very little discernable difference, and if you're listening at 2+ meters away, they can "look" way too high and still sound perfectly fine - every main monitor in studios that I've worked in has tweeters that shoot over your head but still sound balanced, again, it's angle and distance combined with wide dispersion. The big bass speaker seems to be more "height sensitive" with regards to room modes so I get the best results by finding which orientation makes the bass sound the best in the room and then rotating the mid/tweeters up or down to taste.
@@sethtsui I def learned something know today. 💯
well done 3 way speakers usually have a soul that 2 ways do not. A 2 way has a design focus on the high or the low but a 3 way can focus in the mid and build top and bottom from there. Kinda like taking your little "full range" speaker and adding top and bottom to suit. The magic is in the mid, the bump is in the bottom, and the tinnitus is in the top lol. If all you got is bottom and top then where are you going to find the magic? LOL EDIT. Holy shit. I commented before listening to the whole thing and yo said the magic is inn the midrange too. I feels kinda stupid now ha ha .
As an aside -- KRK hasd a 3-way with exactly the same size drivers (10-inch LF woofer, etc.), same type of Class D amping, and priced at under USD $500. The KRK also has a neat DSP with a backlit LCD menu screen on the rear panel. Just sayin'....
Did you check out the Kii Three speakers? Im so happy I invested in them, they paid for themselves many times over!
Have you heard of the Dutch&Dutch 8C? $12k for the pair.
i am praying for your homemade diy stands to resist and never collapse
Man those look fantastic. If I spent 8k on new monitors, I would be emotional as well. Because I would be broke for a while 😅 Guess I have to make do with my HS7 for a bit longer, they served me well so far for the price.
Not a cheap speaker, no doubt… Well worth the money if they are appropriate for where you’re at in your musical journey though. Thanks for watching!
@@ColtCapperrune Yeah. I'm not there in my journey yet. Still more on a hobby basis for me. But i really enjoy learning. And I really like the content you have put out regarding mixing and producing.
Thanks for this Boss , Did you feel like hooking an external subwoofer for extra lows or that 10” was more than enough ?Much appreciated 🙏🏽
I felt absolutely no need for a subwoofer with these monitors, the low end is rocksolid and goes down plenty deep enough for any style of music. Thanks for watching!
@@ColtCapperrune 🙏🏽
Wow. Hey Colt please check out Paula Cole’s ‘This Fire’ song on these monitors. There’s a bottom end on this song that’s beyond amazing. I swear this is a song you’ll always check future monitors on 😄👍🏾
Thanks so much for the suggestion! I’ll definitely check it out
@@ColtCapperrune Another suggestion... Morph the Cat from Donald Fagen. Somehow they managed to get the bass end to be enormous even on small speakers, whilst at the same time get an incredible transparency. Needless to say it sounds awesome, even on my Focal Alpha 80s.
@@timbeaton5045 Hey Tim, I concur. That mix has amazing bottom end. Another 2 would be ‘The Race’ by Yello super wide frequency response, ‘Lose yourself to dance’ by Daft Punk is another. & of course anything by Steely Dan 👍🏾
@@ColtCapperrune Colt, my bad. It’s the opening track on Paula Cole’s ‘96 Album ‘This Fire’ The track is called ‘Tiger’ 😅
Song @ 0:30 is Sharir - Heyson
Is it really possible to hear the difference between 30 and 32 hz? ahah love the video man!
LOL, I should have said I need to hear down that low. Didn't mean I could hear the difference between a monitor the stops at 30, and one that stops at 32 😂
Hi Colt, great videos!
Have you been able to compare the Trio 11 be with the Trio 6 be? Do you think that with Trio's 6be you would need a subwoofer? Thank you !
Hey, thanks! I just received a pair of trio6 2 days ago, they are almost done breaking in. I’m kind of giving some updates sporadically on Instagram. But there will likely be a comparison video coming in a week or two
If you could find a pair of Emotiva Stealth 8 monitors, I think you'd love them. We used them at Dark Horse Recording in Franklin, TN. Unfortunately, Emotiva does not build them anymore.
Beauful monitors, great looking work station
Thanks!
Can you compare the Trio 11 with the Trio 6?
Would be great.
It’s coming!
Looking a bit like the PSI monitors. You should check them out
Real 3-way. None of that coaxial bs. 👍🔥
Hey Colt, what about reviewing Neumann KH120 + Sub KH750 ? They do have a calibrating mic as well would be worthwhile evaluating.
Unfortunately I’m pretty adamant about not running a sub, which will be part of the discussion in the final video. I’d be interested in trying Neumann 400 series, but anything smaller than that won’t have the low end I am looking for. Thanks for following along!
@@ColtCapperrune I have seen couple of people having some reserve regarding using a sub, I think mainly because of speaker placement, I would be curious to see how the calibration software are performing to come over those concerns. As far Neumann is concern, they have 2 ways doing this, one with an interview script on the app, asking questions about the room, distances, dimensions and apply a pre-can set of settings, two with their calibration mic that measures how the room is actually responding.
I have tested option #1 and I ended up calibrating it with my ears and how I would feel the room would sound the best. I've tried using REW, but this kind of hard to figure out what is an issue on the freq responses and how to fix it.
To finish off, I'm eager to watch your last video and to get your take about subs. Thanks Colt !
If you’re going to be listening to other monitors, I hope the Adam s3h’s will be among them. Honestly, they are outside of my current budget, but I’ve been really curious about them.
S3H are next 😜
@@ColtCapperrune, cool! lol
Man, I would seriously like to get your opinion on the PreSonus Sceptre S8. As that is their “Professional” series.
Or even the Eris e66 for someone who can’t spend Focal kind of money.
Last I was over there, Nathan Dantzler (mastering guy for One Direction, Keith Urban, etc) had a pair up along with his B&W’s and had nothing but good things to say about them. I personally have no time on them though. Thanks for watching!
Question. I noticed you didn't put foam blocks under the monitors for isolation from the stands. Is that all that important? Best of luck with the new monitors... beasts!
So foam is not a great isolator anyway. I do plan to try a few products like isoacoustics And what not after I’ve settled on what pair of monitors I’m gonna go with, and then ordering new stands specifically for those monitors. Thanks for watching!
Great video! :)
They need to make an option where you can disable the noise notification when they turn off and on.
Hi Colt, No need for bass traps with the fabric wall and those monitors ?
To your point of having the monitors vertical, I noticed through the video decreased high end transient imaging while they were horizontal. This, to me is also a taste thing, and it’s one that I prefer. I’d put them back horizontal for this reason (the low end differences weren’t as perceivable through my tv and soundbar/sub
hey, colt you mind sending me your room dimensions ... or even the schematics lbvs. I'm looking to build a house next year and after seeing how nice and flat your studio is I would like to model mine after yours if you wouldn't mind.
What a great timing of this video, hey brother i am confused with 4 sets of speakers - Adam Audio S3H, Neumann Kh310, Genelec 8351b & Focal Trio 11be ! looking for your response
I’ll go ahead and say that the S3H will be the next video. Feel free to shoot me a message on Instagram
I love Focal monitors, but at the same time I really don't like the stand-by mode, it can be very frustrating especially when I'm working on quiet volumes.
Unfortunately in my model I can't deactivate it.
What model do you have??
@@ColtCapperrune Focal Alpha 80 here.
For me, it's simple. I do not want a stand-by auto shutoff circuitry, period. But if there is one, fine. Then it must have a slider kill switch in the back so I can engage it or disengage it at will. Even better would be some options to set the sensitivity (signal strength) level that needs to arrive to the monitor for it to wake.... and the reverse to go to sleep. Now, with some FLUID AUDIO coaxial models, you need to disassemble the monitors and remove some sort of a jumper -- to disengage the audio switch-off. Yeah, right.
@@frankfarago2825 Yes, it seems quite obvious to have those features, but unfortunately not in my model. They can turn to stand-by mode even when I'm mixing. It can be really, really frustrating.
@@oveesounds Sounds like a fricking nightmare. Unfortunately, for most of the studio monitors sold today, the mfrs' specs fail to mention the existence or absence of this bothersome auto-shutoff feature. Safest bet therefore is to purchase monitors only that have a SLIDER SWITCH on their back panel, showing AUTO-SHUTOFF or POWER-SAVING as either in the "ON" or "OFF" position. Basic protection of one's peace of mind.
You're a totally Focal Guy right? I'm a Genelec Guy and I've bought the big Genelecs 8361a from The Ones Series as well as the little 8320's. They where shipped to me also on a Palette and are 32KG heavy per Piece. But unfortunatelly Genelec don't make Headphones like Focal's MG Pro :(
Honestly Ive been loving this Focal stuff lately!! They are crushing it.
Hi colt, the 2 French beauties looks awesome. whish large computer monitor now you have there ? i love the size
Thanks! I believe it is a Samsung 34” ultra wide
@@ColtCapperrune thanks Colt ;)
What testing software did you use or recommend? I'm thinking of these speakers.. Does it come with it's own room testing software like the higher end Genelecs?
My first impression, which never went away, is that they are quite large for near-fields...are all the monitors you're planning to audition in the same size range?
So personally I’m looking for something that is a bit of a crossover between Nearfield and midfield. My room is 26‘ x 24’ x 12’. So I’ve been needing a larger pair of speakers for quite some time. I think in rooms much smaller than these the Trio 6 would be a great option. All the rest of the monitors I plan to try will be walking the line between Nearfield and midfield. Thanks for following along!
No replacement for displacement.
I just bought pair of Barefoot MM45s. Waiting on them to get here. Would be interested to see you compare some Barefoots with the Focals.
@@ColtCapperrune would be great if you test the quested v2108.
No iso pads for them to sit on. Don't you think the coupling to the stands to the floor could be effecting the sound.
Dude I’m waiting for Amphion, hope you can make it
I hope I can as well!
I want these badboys sooo much, one day ill have them!
All in time my friend! My gear collection is the result of spending every single spare penny on it for 18 years. Thanks for watching!
Would you recommend monitor for a stereo TV home set up? (Listen to a lot of music and not a fan of surround sound clutter/wiring etc)
Can you post a sound demo video of them playing some music? Thanks!
Please test the Atomics SixTens, if you can. I'd love to see what Detroit is capable of offering!